Star Wars - Imperial Assault, The Rebels

Good day folks,

Keeping with the theme from my recent posts...I thought it was time to post on the Rebel Scum that I have been painting up.  At the time when I made the fateful decision to delve into the painting side of Imperial Assault, I was really pumped by some of the online artwork I had seen for the Echo Base Trooper pack.  Just before this, I had found some random 15mm figures that I had ordered from CP Miniatures last fall-ish and thought, hey these figs could serve as a decent figure for 15mm Battle of Hoth...random thought, but it certainly got me looking at the Rebel soldiers from Empire and the Hoth scenes...

Enter Imperial Assault, when I finally made the decision I was able to snap up Kayn Somos, but alas, there were no Echo Base soldats at the Kessel Run....so, I adapted to the situation and overcame the trials and bought the Rebel Alliance Rangers pack instead.  These folks were best represented in the Return of the Jedi movie.

So with that, I went through Kayn...you've seen him here...and then quickly started on the Rangers...my primary thought being that I could not start a new pack until I had finished both Kayn and the Rangers (sounds like a rock band)...looking at the figs, the first challenge was to figure out base colours.  This time I did not have the luxury of a video safety net to look through.  The second thought I had was that I did not want to just do a carbon copy of each figure, so I decided on base colours and then figured out minor variations between all figures to give them some individuality...

The results:

I made some subtle changes to the uniform colours for each figure...it worked well and it gave me an opportunity to try out my new technique and colour choices.  With the power of google, I took a look at a bunch of Return screencaps and some cgi renders for Star Wars Battlefront.  I'm very happy with the results, and I think the middle figure is my favourite.

With these figures, the biggest challenge or single element that I wanted to change and make better was how I painted flesh...Again, I'm pretty happy with the results, you can even make out a slight pink blush to the lips and cheeks of the rangers keeping with the boxart:

Thank you FFG.

Pleasantly surprised about 3 days after I had bought the Rangers, I was checking through another LGS and caught them just after their order had arrived...this can be a big event as I have found they are not able to order with the regularity that we gamers are sometimes after...gotta painting addiction I have to scratch...
 

Well luckily, as I looked through their offerings, I stopped when I saw the Echo Base Troopers! There was much joy and cheering throughout the store...or at least my head...and I brought this pack of troops home.  I didn't want to rely on the boxart for these figures as much...

Instead, I wanted to stay as much to the Hoth troops images from Empire as I could:





Looking at these figures, the paint scheme seemed simple enough...white tunic, headdress, backpack, and boots...with VJ khaki or green/grey pants and boot highlights, along with some stone grey accents on the tunic...a few other colours for scarves and gloves.

The main thing I had wanted to do was to paint the goggles accurately...not sure why this objective popped out for me, but looking at the tinting on these old school ski goggles and I had to try to nail it:

The results:

I'm reaaaaaaallllllllllyyyyy happy with how the goggles turned out, objective one completed! I used VJ flat yellow and painted the lense of the goggles...and then took a watered down VJ german camouflage bright green (833)...I put a few layers of this very watered down colour until I had the right consistency.  The bases for these troops was a very easy decision, I went with VJ offwhite, a dark blue wash (I think citadel nightshade...), watered down layer of VJ white, and then dry brush of white with some selective stippling.

The second objective, staying true to the movie imagery, completed...I made sure the accent in the tunic was not the same colour as the pants and gloves...when I look at the boxart I find that these colours all match...in the movie, they certainly did not...objective completed!

I hope you enjoy the pics...as always your views, comments, and advice are always well received.  Up next, either some more Imperial Assault...or in a somewhat related post, I'll take some pictures of an idea that hatched some time ago...

Cheers.

Star Wars - Imperial Assault, The Empire

Howdy everyone,

I thought I'd post my latest distraction...random figures from Star Wars Imperial Assault...I would definitely classify this as a serious distraction...afterall, as I said a few posts ago, the whole reason I started this 'thread' of painting was inspiration I got from Sorastro's Painting...I still do not own the game...

Although, over March break the lad and I did go down to our local gaming store (Kessel Run Games) partook in their open gaming area and ran through the tutorial mission from the core box.  We both had a good time, I was a little surprised how little actual table space the game took...so, maybe I'll be buying the starter box in the future.

Anyway, I really liked the looks of the figures, and after getting my mitts on them on and off table I think I like them even more.  They are all plastic, molded bases, and have some great detail! I've painted just over a half dozen now, but thought I'd make my first post, the first and latest figures that I've painted over the past few weeks.

Painting up Stormtrooper Kayn Somos was pretty easy...I just had to rewatch the tutorial video from Sorastro's Youtube a couple of times and I was set.  General Sorin was a bit of a different story...I didn't have a video to act as my safety net, so for some of this I was on my own...my google-fu brought me to a bunch of folks that had already tackled General Sorin, some great paintjobs out there!!

In the end, I tried to go with an inbetween General Veers from Empire and the box art for General Sorin...I really like this figure...his face is so expressive and imposing...I like how the layers turned out and I'm really pumped for my next round of figs...I still haven't decided how to base these figures yet, so I just hit them with VJ black and german grey.

 

thank you for the screen shot Oldenhammer in Toronto...

 

thank you Fantasy Flight Games...

 

I liked the idea of having some battle and blaster damage on Somos...his outer right calf took a stray blaster shot as well as his right tricep...thank the Emperor there's armour

I hope you enjoy the pics...Rebel scum up next! Take care!!

Rogue Stars - Merc recruiting

Hello folks,

In my last post I shared with you a bit of a painting education I received thanks to the awesome tutorials and work from Sorastro's Painting.  I have been very impressed with his approach to painting, his musical talents, and really just enjoying soaking up what I can from his videos.  Like I mentioned before, I'm not sure what it is this time that is making the steps and concepts sink in...but it is, so I'm pretty pumped.

So, with this in mind, I thought I'd share the first figure I painted up after watching his videos and adapting some of his process into mine.  I am still filling out my Rogue Stars Mercenary crew and looking through my wall of painting shame and doom, I thought I'd try a figure from a Cangames purchase from a few years back.

A few or more Cangames ago, I came upon some sci-fi 28mm figs that were nicely priced and I thought they would be fun to try in the future...they are an older figure...the packaging says 1991 and while the company is still around, it looks like they no longer stock the figure.  I selected a figure from Alternative Armies and their Levy troops...I think this one is from the Clearance Squad.

Anyway, I wanted a figure that could look the part of rough and tough Merc, work with the hodgepodge group I was assembling...and that I could also try my new process out on.  Keeping with the colour scheme I established for the Baron's Misfits, I went with a strong red start...as well, I really liked the colour choice for sci-fi armour in large part to the gaming time I spent on Star Wars Galaxies and the Mandalorian Armour suit...my Bounty Hunter wore his in red...

As well, I really wanted to continue with the subtle blue tones to the jumpsuit of the figure, much in the same vein as I did with my sniperbot...I started the base colour for the jumpsuit as a VJ Green Grey and just lightened it up for a few layers and then added a drop or two of medium blue with some stone grey and just kept the layers coming...

 

I'm not really sure what function the backpack serves for this figure...it has a series of fans on it with a 'gas' tank looking container at the top with hosing attached to the shoulder pauldrons and front of the helmet...regardless, the figure was a lot of fun to paint

Normally I've relied a lot on a few layers of dry brushing with a final layer of VJ buff and a strong or dark tone wash to bring out the details...this time however, I didn't use any dry brushing...and I used a very light wash to finish...and then only in specific places... 

I enjoyed the new process very much...I really like how the colours popped on this figure...very happy indeed...and further keeping with my theme...I copied the paint scheme for Backpack Bob that I had on the shoulder of SniperBot. 

 

Cheers.

 

A Little Inspiration...New Technique...and A New Distraction

Hello everyone,

I hope you are all doing well...it is a very rainy...a little cold...bordering on a freezing day here in the Great White North.  With March upon me, I thought I'd try to get back to posting on a much more regular...not so hibernate-y basis.

Over the summer I had posted a link on TMP to my blog post of pics of a few Hasslefree figures that I had completed, Random Hasslefree Figs, and at one point I had mentioned how I did not like painting figures in white.  I had the Bubba figure, a great looking Elvis inspired figure that I elected to paint in red because of my inability to paint white.

Thanks to the TMP community and the Angry Piper, I was given a link to check out of a YouTuber who had a tutorial that covered how to paint white.  For the most part, YouTube for me is about listening to music...I know...that might sound odd...but to be honest, I don't have a lot of time to stay glued to a monitor watching videos...instead, I look up the music I like and have it play in the background...

However, after almost 4 months, I thought I'd give the Angry Piper's suggestion a try...I'm not sure why, how, or what was different this time...but, something clicked...it could be the high production values, it could be the great background music, it is definitely the great painting...but it made sense to me.

So...if you're in the mood to watch someone paint some excellent miniatures, you need to check out Sorastro's Painting...his videos are all self made, he composes the background music, he does his own editing...if you check him out you'll see he has a few painting themes.  The one that has really hooked me can be traced back to the Piper's suggestion video...Stormtroopers from the Imperial Assault boardgame...

 and so since about a month ago, I've watched easily a dozen or so videos...and...in a weak moment, I went and purchased some figures...I don't even own the core boardgame, lol...my first purchases were the Rebel Alliance Rangers (ala Endor, Return of the Jedi) and Stormtrooper Kayn Somos.  I have also starting adapting my technique to include what I've seen in the videos.

I promise to post some pics on my next post.

Take care.