More Legion...aires? Another update

Howdy folks,

I hope all is well with you and yours...we are winding into the mid-point of summer and hopefully we're all getting rested and relaxed.  I was able to push through with some more progress and purchasing of more great looking Star Wars Legion figures.

For accounting purposes...so far:

From the core box, I have finished off 2 x sections of stormtroopers, 2 x sections of rebel troops, 2 x speeder bikes...from expansions I have worked through 1 x rebel troopers, the Emperor, the Fett man, Han Solo, and 1 speeder.  All in all, I have really enjoyed these models...I like the molds, the dynamic poses, etc...and to offer some balance, I have had some issues with how the arms fit into some of the figures, but overall this is a pretty small stressor.

So, with that in mind, I have continued to purchase various expansions as they come up and have pushed through with the painting over the past couple of months.

Enjoy the pics...take care.

Imperial Specialists...

 

the droids...

 

Imperial Commander

 

 

This figure was pretty straight forward...solid body with only the 2 arms to attach...I base coated with the left arm unattached so that I could properly paint up the chest and rank badge.  I chose to go with Vallejo olive green, partly because I wanted a variance in the uniforms because I do have a hard time with painting the same schemes all the time...and because I wanted to have a figure in a brighter shade of green that what I normally use.

I really liked the results and I think the highlights popped much more because of the olive green without being ridiculous or cartoony.  Afterall, there are a ton of pics online of screen caps where it is really hard to nail down a consistent colour...

 

Communication Specialist 

 

Another fairly straight forward figure...the arms and radiopack where unattached for the most part.  But once I had the front of the figure completed, enough...I attached all and made sure to blend in the arms, etc.  I went with a fairly standard black grey on this figure...again to have a variance, and also to reflect some of the boxart and screencaps from Rogue One.

As these aren't "iconic" figures or commanders from the Star Wars 'verse, I wanted to show some difference between the 'standard' characters and these specialists.  I therefore changed up the basing style for these figures...just a subtle difference, but a difference nonetheless.

 

Rebel Specialists...

 

The droids...traditional astromech and medical droid...

 

Communication Specialist...

a lot of the painted characters so far reflect the boxart very closely...because I wanted to meld this figure in with my Tatooine Wolverines, I had to make some adjustments to the uniform colours to keep a nice flow between the figures.

 

 

Rebel Commander 

 

A very traditional looking figure that could sub into any Star Wars battlespace...I kept the uniform very consistent with screencaps and boxart.  Another great figure to paint up.

 

Rogue One expansions...

 

Jyn Erso was a pleasure to paint up, but definitely was a little finicky on the assembly portion.  The main headache came from her scarf which is in 2 parts that connect just behind her head.

Assembly aside, this figure was really great to paint up...as the boxart and painted figs on FFG's website have the model painted much brighter, I hit the net for some looks from the move.  Needless to say, there are a lot of excellent references online from the movie and if you like concept art books or behind the scenes books, the Rogue One Ultimate Visual Guide is an outstanding reference.

I made some subtle changes to my basing style for this figure...my intent was to keep close to my Tat Militia figures, but have enough of a difference that I could also reflect some of the Rogue One setting...my compromise was a cross between Tat and Jedda.

In the end, I wanted a good balance between the darkness of the wardrobe in the movie and the brightness from the FFG site...I'm very happy with how it turned out.

 

Director Krennic was such a great character in the movie and I must say the figure was just as great to paint-up.  While its another shot of white, painting up his cape and tunic were definitely NOT in the same vein of pain as whitewashing stormtoopers.  The best part was adding in the contrast and showing the highlights. 

 

 

The highlights for this cape were a good mix of challenge and fun when the finished product came to life... 

 

 

2019 Expedition up Mt. Lead.

Painted:
28mm          33 (+10)
15mm          3

Bought:       11 (+10, specialists, rogue one commanders)

Progress:   +25  

Legion Update

Howdy all,

I hope summer is treating you all well...we're starting to get some interesting weather on this side of the continent and certainly hitting some high temps.  Although, from what I see on the Weather Network, others are definitely feeling the heat.  Anyway, I have nonetheless tried to keep a steady pace on the workbench...and I finally have the time to post up some progress that I made leading into summer on my Legion 'lead' pile. 

The main challenge was trying to get black to show well enough without 'graying' it out too much...and for the troops, I wanted to get a high degree of variety amongst the figures to keep going with that 'tatooine militia' theme that I started with.

I hope you enjoy the pics, I'll leave various words with a few of the pics...thanks for the views.

  

My main inspiration for the Emperor was the box art and some screen caps from Return of the Jedi...I found it tricky getting the black and shades of black right.  I really didn't want to over dilute them with gray, but needed to try to get a decent highlight.  With that, I also had a brief internal debate on how to base him...all of my figs to date are based around 'tatooiney' type terrain...but I couldn't picture the Emperor lowering himself to hit the field himself...so I kept it very RotJ and very DeathStar shiny floor...

The worst part of taking pictures is trying to get the detail in the pic the same to what I see...I really like how the figure turned out...it painted up super quick...I like the gnarled cane, there are some great detail lines in his face and hands...I'll try to get better pics next time.

Tatooine Militia...the second squad/section...I really enjoyed painting these figs up...to make them stand out from the heavy brown/tan/desert looking first section I went with some hollywood 80s inspiration...

 

thank you "Tatooiiiinnne Wolveriiiiinnes"...

My inspiration for this section was Hoth and my impatience for FFG to release the Rebel Snowtroopers...also, at this point I had painted up 2 sections for a desert based force...and I thought, why not Hoth...they could certainly find a place as support troops, installation troops, 'rear echelon' types...any of those.

Going with this theme, the decision on how to paint them was too easy...I relied heavily on screen caps from Empire and box art from FFG.  I adapted the clothing and colours, tried to make sure they looked really really cold...and I have to say, I am very happy with how they turned out.

2019 Expedition up Mt. Lead.

Painted:
28mm          23 (+15)
15mm          3

 Bought:       1 (+1, emperor)

Progress:   +25

Team Yankee Canucks - Recce Support for 4 CMBG

Howdy all,

I know it has been a while since my last update, the way of my world has not included much online time of late, but I am still making headway on my painting.  Earlier, I was able to make a little progress on my 4 CMBG Canuck force with the addition of a recce element.  It is only 2 x Lynx's at the moment, however I'm thinking it might be worth getting a second element.

Afterall, the figs do paint up quite quickly; I think the prep time took longer than the painting time for these figs.  I took the same approach that I have taken thus far with all my M113s...do some research, look at the paint scheme references, and get the colours together.  This time however, to make these little guys 'pop' or show up better on the battlefield, I elected to limit the amount of add-ons, etc.

For the first time, I get to see the entire paint scheme...kinda neat...

Anyway, here are the pics...I hope you enjoy.

 

 

 

2019 Expedition up Mt. Lead.

Painted:
28mm          8

15mm          3 (+3)

 Bought:       0

Progress:   +11

An Attempt at Cruel Seas

Howdy folks,

I've been under the weather over the past week or so...just another top off to an outstanding start to the new year...ugh.  With all the awesome changes in the weather over the past few, it has been truly outstanding for my ears - unfortunately it does take some time away from painting and certainly steals time from gaming.  BUT, it can always be worse and I'm pushing with trying to get caught up with my postings...

Back in February sometime, I had the chance to meet up with Mike and Duncan to give Cruel Seas a try.  Not being very nautical by nature, I nonetheless had seen some excellent reviews and a lot of great looking painting in the blog-e-sphere so I thought what the hell.  First impressions, the game was very quick to grasp, the models looked great, and the gaming process was pretty relaxed and easy to pick up...I can't wait to try again!

Now, because I am a little...deliberate...with my postings (of course by deliberate, I am trying to put a much nicer tone to the word procrastinate)...Mike and Duncan have already went ahead and posted their versions of the tale.

Mike's version of events
The seas from Ducnan's perspective... and of course, thank you for hosting!

Rather than try to invent words and recollections, please enjoy the pics below...I'll have the odd comment with them, but please enjoy...it is an excellent looking game and with the painting and great looking matt...the game truly does look spectacular.

Looking forward to the next voyage...take care.

The setup on my side...left side of the board, Mike is my cohort with bigger guns...

a little wave to Mike...hello

a quick look to the opposite corner, Duncan is marshalling his convoy...

nothing to stress over...move forward, advance to contact, avoid the rocksand shoals...

The big picture...

moving my boats to hit the first one...

Mike, giving the business to Duncan's motor boat...

I push my one boat to the larger ships...my first 2 go after the quick muscle...

Duncan took some pain from my second boat...my first has a surprise in store for him...

...running him down like nautical roadkill!! It ends up working...I think...and I get some serious damage and the kill...

 

I realign my attack path...and let fly with some torpedoes!!

The big ships are skirting the torps pretty good...and there were some duds if I remember...

but some damage does get through...

I launch all 4 torp's from number 2...number 3 takes some hits from the convoy...and number 1 is limping from his 'minor' collision...

If I remember correctly, this was pretty much the end...Mike fired some torp's with some success, I was able to let loose from 2 of my boats finishing off Mike's work and getting a high roll with my second salvo.