Darth Vader

This week, with fear and trembling, we will color spray Darth Vader from Star Wars: Imperial Assault!

Ah… Darth Vader. Dark Lord of the Sith…

Ummm… Not much to add to that. It’s frickin’ Vader!

Let’s paint him.

After cleaning the mini, I found that the lightsaber was a bit droopy. Vader with a droopy saber?! It cannot be! The best way to fix such things is to apply heat. Just as with the AT-ST, in the previous article, the two main options are a hot water bath or a blast with a hair drier. I opted for the hair drier option. A few seconds of hot air will make the plastic temporarily malleable. Simply soften it up and straighten it with your fingers. Repeat as many times as necessary to get the desired results.

Next, I primered the mini grey and gave the arms, legs, boots and gloves a base coat of Vallejo Model Color Dark Grey. If you don’t have dark grey, a mix of half black and half of a neutral grey will work as well. The cape and armor got a base coat of Vallejo Model Color Black. The lightsaber got a base coat of Vallejo Model Color Glossy White.

Now, we’re dealing with Vader. If there was ever a time to break out some showcase painting techniques, and going hole-hog on a mini, this would be it. But then this wouldn’t be Color Spray… It would be Color Trickle. Not that there’s anything wrong with that! I’m a fan of the trickle myself, but we’re going to stay true to our mission and bang this naughty boy out. If you want to spend more time on him, make yourself some thin grey paint and gently layer on successively lighter colors of grey on the cloak and armor.

That being said, I want to get this guy out the door without a bunch of fuss. Don’t let all the black throw you off. Black can have shadows and highlights, just like any other color. We’ll use the same speed painting techniques we’ve known and loved up to this point.

I made a thin mix of half dark grey and half Vallejo Neutral Grey. If you are mixing your own dark grey, go for something around two drops of black for each drop of grey. Then I highlighted the edges and raised areas of the cloak, going a bit down the sides of each fold.

I also gave a light highlight to the stripe going down the center of the helmet as well as the edges of the helmet, the raised areas of his mask, and the edges of the panel on his chest.

Next, I made a nice thin black glaze and gave the cloak three coats, making sure to let each coat fully dry before applying the next one. The helmet and panel gave me the results I wanted with a single coat of glaze. Then I used some black wash to further darken the recesses of the cloak.

Now for the not black bits! I added a drop of Vallejo Game Color Bloody Red and Vallejo Game Color Falcon Turquoise for the lights on the panel, and some Vallejo Model Color Neutral Grey for the grey bits.

The lightsaber got three thin coats of Reaper Fire Red. With all of the paints used on the lightsaber, I thinned the paint with flow aid, rather than water, to ensure that the colors were as even as possible.

I applied some additional highlighting to the lightsaber, as it is definitely a focal point of the mini. I layered two thin coats of Reaper Phoenix Red on the front of the saber, with one layer on the top and bottom of the saber. Then a thin line on the very front of the saber got a third layer of highlight.

Next, I added some Vallejo Model Color Silver to the phoenix red, and gave the front of the saber a layer, and gave that same line down the center of the front of the saber two more layers.

At this point, I decided I wanted the silver of the lightsaber toned down a bit, so I mixed a red glaze with thinned Reaper Transparent Red. The picture will show that it dulled down the silver quite a bit. Do not panic. I’ll give the saber a coat of gloss before we are done, which will restore much of the shiny. But, if you are going for super shiny, you could reduce or skip the red glaze.

In fact, I was already getting the Vallejo Gloss Varnish ready, and I applied it to the helm, armor and eyes of the mask. I’ll have to reapply this after the dull coat. I got a bit ahead of myself.

I gave the hilt of the saber a coat of Vallejo Model Color Natural Steel, and then gave it and the gloves a couple coats of black wash.

Finally I gave the mini a coat of Testor’s Dull coat, reapplied the gloss varnish to the helm, armor and eyes and also gave a coat to the blade of the lightsaber.

I definitely feel a great disturbance in the force…

Chicken Walker, Taris Ranger

This week we color spray the AT-ST from Star Wars: Imperial Assault! We’ll also take a look at rust and weathering effects.

Ah… The All Terrain Scout Transport… Truly a marvel of modern engineering! Known to be effective in all terrains and against all enemies, who are not rock wielding primitives, the Empire will always send in the chicken walkers when it wants to be taken seriously!

This is one of the few models in Imperial Assault which requires some assembly. I’ve heard tell that folks have had problems fitting the front guns into the “mouth” of the unit. It is a tight fit, designed to stay in place without gluing to preserve its ability to tilt up or down.

If you are having issues getting the gun attached, you have a few options:

Force it: I don’t recommend this. You’ll end up breaking the guns off.

File it: You could take a file and shorten the knobs that keep the attachment in place. This may work, but it’s tricky. File off too much, and the guns will be forever falling out of the mini. If this happens, you have to glue it in place and lose the ability to tilt the guns.

Heat it: This is a good option. The two most frequently used methods are to heat some water to near boiling and submerge the mouth of the mini for a few seconds. This will make the mouth, temporarily pliable, allowing the attachment to slide into place. Another option would be to blast the mouth with a hair drier for a few seconds, achieving the same result. If I were using heat to attach the guns, I would use the hair drier method.

Use leverage: This is the method I finally selected and it worked great. Instead of trying to press the attachment into the mini, place the attachment on the end of a table. Then press the head of the mini down onto the attachment. I got it to safely snap into place almost immediately.

With that done, we need a stand that will hold the mini while we paint. I use a cap from an old can of primer. In order to give it a little more weight, I have some modeling putty pressed into the top of the cap. This gives the whole thing a nice feeling of heft.

I primed the mini grey, then gave the armor a base coat of Vallejo Game Color Stonewall Grey. The guns and eyes got a base coat of Vallejo Model Color Dark Grey. If you don’t have a dark grey, a mix of half black and half grey would work fine. Then I dry brushed the guns with Vallejo Model Color Natural Steel.

With this miniature, I am going for a heavily worn and rusted look. My wash was one part Vallejo Oiled Earth wash, one part Vallejo Rust wash and one part Vallejo Black shade. I think it turned out ok. But a black wash would have been fine as well.

I applied this wash with a larger, flat brush and a downward brush stroke. I’ll be applying additional rusting later, and I wanted to get a feel of where water would naturally flow down the unit and where it would pool and cause corrosion.

The guns got a black wash of Vallejo Black Shade.

Next, I hightlighted the flat portions of the armor with stonewall grey. I left more of the the rust wash visible in the interior of the unit and in areas were water would pool. I also applied some black wash to selected areas around the face, as it is the focal point of the miniature, and needed some darker shading.

For additional weathering, I took a page out of the book of historical miniature painters and how they apply rust effects to tanks. I used some weathering powder to apply rust to the armor. The product I use is Weathering System from Bragdon Enterprises. I suspect that it is mostly ground pigment, however they say that there is actual rust in there too. Whatever it is, it works great and is one of those things you buy once and use so sparingly that it’ll last just about forever. What I like about this particular product is that you can just apply a small amount with an wet (older) brush and it goes on much like paint. Many other brands require special preparation or sealers to get the rust effect to apply properly.

If you don’t want to pick up weathering powder, I’d recommend layering on some Reaper Chestnut Brown and then layering some Reaper Rust Brown over the top of it.

I applied the rust with downward strokes in areas where water would naturally stream down the unit.

Note: One of my sons objects to this, claiming that the Empire would take better care of their equipment, even on a remote outpost. Like any good father, I informed him that when he is a mature and sophisticated adult, he can play with HIS little toy soldiers however he likes…

To mute the rust and help it blend in, I mixed a grey glaze and applied it over the armor. Two coats gave me the look I was after. Then I painted the base black and gave it a shot of Testor’s Dull Coat.

With that, we are ready to go crush us some Ewoks! What could go wrong with that?

Trandoshan Lackeys

This week we color spray the Trandoshan mercenaries from Star Wars: Imperial Assault!

Ah… Trandoshans… Nothing says “I really, really want you dead” like sending T’doshok merc. Whether someone owes you money, dumped your favorite cargo, or blew up your super secret not-a-moon battle station, send a Trandoshan when you want to send the best!

In last week’s article, we talked about painting Bossk and got him all dressed up in his bright colors. I wanted these guys to be fairly vibrant as well, but a little more subdued than their boss. In the end, I went with the following for the base coat, plus a dry brush of natural steel on the gun for a metallic overtone.

Scales	Vallejo Game Color Camouflage Green
Suit	Vallejo Model Color Red Leather
Neck & Leg Cuffs	Vallejo Game Color Scarlet Red
Back Pack	Vallejo Game Color Cobra Leather
Chest	Vallejo Model Color Sea Grey
Gun	Vallejo Model Color Green Grey
Buckles	Vallejo Model Color Natural Steel

For shading, I gave the suit, backpack, chest and gun a wash of Vallejo Black Shade. The scales got three coats of Vallejo Dark Green Shade. Be sure to let each coat of shade dry completely before applying the next coat.

Same as Bossk last week, I highlighted the raised sections of the mini with thin layers of the base coat colors. Cobra leather for the pack, red leather for the suit, sea grey for the chest… you get the idea.

For the face, which is the focal point of the mini, I added an extra layer of highlighting. I added a couple thin layers of Vallejo Model Color Golden Olive around the eyes, mouth, ears and the pointy ridge of scales on the head. Then I picked out a few of the larger scales on the arms and legs for some golden olive as well.

The last steps were to hit all of the scales with a glaze made from thinned out Vallejo Transparent Yellow. Then a drop of Reaper Phoenix Red in each eye, paint the base black and a coat of Testor’s Dull Coat.

We are now ready to play some Sabacc! Or hunt some bounties! Or over throw some local governments! The choice is yours!

But, seriously, don’t turn your back on these guys.

Who's the Bossk?

This week we color spray Bossk, the Trandoshan bounty hunter from Star Wars: Imperial Assault!

Ah… Bossk… Whether you need someone to eat his fellow hatchlings, skin a renegade Wookiee, or chop a troublesome Jedi into bite sized pieces… Bossk is the reptile for the job! No matter how far they run, or where they hide, Bossk always devours his prey in the end…

Imperial Assault comes with four identical Trandoshans, however there is only one Bossk! As such, I am going to paint one of the minis in classic Bossk colors, and do an alternate color scheme for the other three. However, if you are less persnickety about such things, there is obviously nothing stopping you from painting all four in Bossk colors. Maybe the Kaminoans got a hold of him and ran wild with the cloning thing. Cloning Bossk. Seems like a bad idea.

Bossk has a lot of nice bright colors, so after cleaning I primed him white. I’ll also be using a higher percentage of paints from the Vallejo Game Color line, as they tend to be a tad brighter than the Model Color line.

I gave the mini a base coat with the following:

Scales	Vallejo Game Color Camouflage Green
Suit	Vallejo Game Color Moon Yellow
Neck & Legs Cuffs	Vallejo Game Color Scarlet Red
Backpack	Vallejo Game Color Cobra Leather
Chest	Vallejo Model Color Offwhite
Gun	Vallejo Model Color Green Grey
Buckles	Vallejo Model Color Natural Steel

First, I hit the gun with a dry brush of Natural Steel to give it a metallic effect. Next, I gave everything but the scales a wash with Vallejo Black Shade. The scales I hit with multiple coats of Vallejo Dark Green Shade.

With the model shaded by the wash, I started highlighting the raised sections of the packs, straps and belt with the Cobra Leather base coat color, taking care not to get paint in the recesses that should remain shaded.

Then I  highlighted the raised sections of his suit back up with some thinned out Moon Yellow. I also highlighted the scales with Camouflage Green and then did a second level of highlights around the eyes, ears and mouth with Vallejo Model Color Olive Green. The chest was highlighted with Offwhite, and I also hit his eyes with a couple dots of Phoenix Red

Next I picked out a few of the larger scales and gave them some thinned out Olive Green, and gave his toe claws a coat of Offwhite. Then I hit the suit, scales and claws with a glaze made out of thinned Vallejo Transparent Yellow. Finally I painted the base Neutral Grey and gave him a shot of the Testors Dull Coat.

Our bounty hunter is ready for the hunt! All is missing are some lackeys to do his bidding…

Let Us Spray

Today we color spray the E-Web Engineer from Star Wars Imperial Assault!

Ah… The Emplacement Weapon, Heavy Blaster… Truly the weapon of choice for discerning Imperial officers everywhere! You see… The Empire has, or rather had, a problem. Most of the people living in it were unhappy for pretty much of the time… However, unhappy people who are being shot at become much happier when the shooting stops. Well, some of them do anyway… In any case, the problem is solved! Whether you need to mow down some pesky freedom protesters from a hundreds of meters away… or if you need to level out a crowd to ferret out a cowering suspect… the E-Web is the right tool for restoring peace and order to the galaxy!

After cleaning the model and priming white, I base coated the engineer with Vallejo Model Color Off White. Then I gave the gun and the dark portions of the engineer a coat of Vallejo Model Color Dark Grey.

Next I gave the gun a dry brush of Vallejo Model Color Natural Steel. Not surprisingly some of the metallic paint got on the engineer, so I touched him up as necessary. Remember to use a separate container of water to rinse your brushes when working with metallic paint.

After that, I gave the entire model a wash with Vallejo Black Shade to give some detail and depth to the mini, and to also tone down the metallic highlights.

Next I lightened the engineer back up to a cleaner white with successive layers of off white, in the same way I did the storm troopers earlier. Then I applied some chipping effects with the same technique used on the probots. After that, I painted the bases black.

Lastly, I hit them with the Testors Dull Coat, and gave the armor a coat of Vallejo Gloss Varnish.

I do believe our engineers are ready for their noble mission of happiness and merry-making!

Oh, Officer!

Today we color spray the Imperial Officer in Star Wars Imperial Assault. We will also cover lining which can be used to give greater contrast where differing colors meet!

Ah… The Imperial Officer… Nothing gives comfort to a war weary population like a group of homogeneous special forces, separated from the general population, and given absolute power over life and death! It always ends well. Whether it is an alien species that needs to be taught their proper place, or suspicious planets that need renovation from orbit, there will also be an Imperial Officer on the scene to give the order!

After cleaning the minis and priming them grey, I went straight to the base coat. I decided on a dark bluish-green for the uniform, and a fair skin tone.

Skin	Reaper Fair Skin
Uniform	Reaper Highland Moss
Boots, belt, gun	Vallejo Model Color Dark Grey
Buckle, medals	Vallejo Model Color Natural Steel
Hair	Vallejo Dark Sea Grey

With the base coat in place, I decided to do some lining. Lining is a shading technique, like the washes we have relied on up to this point. Lining, as the name implies, is simply placing a line of dark color between two other colors, in order to provide a contrast and sharper demarcation.

Lining is often not required when using washes, because the pooling of the wash will usually provide sufficient contrast all by itself. However, lining is often advantageous when two non-black colors meet in a highly visible area. In this case the sleeves of the uniform transition directly to the flesh tone of the hands and the neck. We will be washing both the flesh tone and the uniform. Unfortunately, neither of the wash colors will transition cleanly to the other, which will result in a blurry and sloppy looking area on the miniature.

A dark line will provide shading, and a clean contrast, which will be more pleasing to the eye. Any dark color will do. Most often, people will simply use black for lining. In fact, this technique is sometimes referred to as “blacklining.” In this case, I used Reaper Grey Liner. The Reaper Liner paints are specifically formulated for this purpose, as they have extra flow aid added and a higher concentration of pigment. However you can achieve a similar result by simply thinning black or dark grey paint with flow aid.

With the lining in place, I moved on to washing the miniature. I mixed up a wash using Reaper Jungle Moss. Jungle Moss and Highland Moss are part of a Reaper triad, which means that Jungle Moss is formulated to be a good shade color for Highland Moss. So I used our normal wash formula, using three drops of Jungle Moss, nine drops of water and nine drops of matte medium.

For the skin, I used premade Vallejo Flesh Shade. For the boots, belt and gun, I used premade Vallejo black shade.

For the highlights, I layered some Highland Moss on the raised areas of the uniform, and then did a second round of layers with Reaper Pale Lichen. Then I lightened up the raised areas of the flesh with the Fair Skin.

The final step for the uniform was to mix up a glaze in order to blend the shade and highlight colors together. I mixed two drops of Reaper Green Clear with two drops of Reaper Blue clear and 15 drops of flow aid. This not only helps to blend in the highlights, but will also shift the color of the uniform towards a cool turquoise.

Finally, I added a couple stripes of Vallejo Game Color Bloody Red and Falcon Turquoise to their medals and painted the bases black. After a shot of Testor’s Dull Coat, I gave the boots a coat of half Vallejo Gloss Varnish and half water, to give them a bit of a shine.

Probed!

Today we color spray the Imperial probe droids in Imperial Assault! We’ll also talk about applying chipping effects.

Ah… The Imperial probe droid. It’s a common tale. Boy meets girl. Boy becomes Sith Lord and girl dies under controversial circumstances. Children are hidden in obvious locations and the Sith Lord searches for them. A story as old as time itself… But how, I dare ask, can that Sith hope to find his wayward, and genetically useful, progeny without a good probot? Space is big! Really big! He can’t do it alone! He needs his droids, and he is not known for his patience… So let’s get to work!

After cleaning and prepping the minis, I primed them grey. For a base coat, I wanted a slightly blue tone, so I went with equal parts Vallejo Model Color Neutral Grey and Vallejo Game Color Steel Grey.

With the base coat in place, I dry brushed the mini with Vallejo Model Color Natural Steel.

Next I washed the entire mini black with Vallejo Black Shade. This will darken the mini down to a nice metallic dark blue.

Then I wanted to get some wear and tear on the model and decided to apply a chipping effect by placing some irregular metallic highlights. A simple way to apply some chipping is with a piece of semi firm foam.

The piece I used came from an old Battle Foam tray. I ripped off chunks on one side to get an irregular surface.

Then I brushed on some Natural Steel onto the rough side of the foam. After that, I wiped off most of the paint onto a paper towel, in a manner similar to dry brushing. Finally I applied the foam to the mini in a stabbing motion.

It is easy to go a little overboard during this step. If that happens, just hit the mini with a little more wash to tone things down again.

Next, I painted the lenses. The lenses are suppose to all be back. However, I decided to paint the main lens a deep red to have a more defined focal point on the mini. I wet blended a little black into the red to give the lens a little more depth.

Finally I painted the base black, hit the mini with Testors Dull coat and gave all of the lenses a coat of Vallejo Gloss Varnish to make them shine.

The droids are all ready to go!  Now, where did those pesky kids get off to anyway…

This post was adapted from an article originally published on the Mad Adventurer's Society.