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…
