Friday 22 January 2016

"No. I Am Your Father."

"I find your lack of faith disturbing."
These three 28mm scale plastic “Fantasy Flight” models come from the company’s “Star Wars” “Imperial Assault” range and can be found inside the Core Set and Stormtroopers Villain Pack. The trio were completed as part of a larger submission for the Analogue Hobbies Painting Challenge Epic Fail Themed Bonus Round and based upon the Empire’s attempt to recapture the stolen Death Star plans from the Rebel Alliance...
"These aren't the droids we're looking for."
Darth Vader was initially given several coats “Citadel” Abaddon Black, as for some reason the soft rubber-like model did not seem to like the rather oily Base colour. However once I had a reasonably even undercoat in place it became a reasonably undemanding miniature to paint and I was able to dry-brush the Sith Lord’s clothing with “Vallejo” Charcoal before washing it with “Citadel” Nuln Oil. Once this was finished I applied some Ironbreaker to his neck chain, shoulder plates, light-saber, chest and belt units. These were then also washed with Nuln Oil.

Originally I had tried painting his laser-sword with a combination of “Vallejo” Heavy Red and “Citadel” Carroburg Crimson. But the end result was much darker than I wanted, so it was soon redone using “Vallejo” Dark Vermillion and the “Citadel” Glaze Bloodletter. There is also a definite curve to his weapon’s beam. I did consider heating the model and straightening it out but found myself constantly gripping Vader at this point whenever I was handling him. As a result I felt that it would soon bend back towards the cloak (or worse break) during gameplay so left it alone.
"Open the blast doors! Open the blast doors!"
Having finished the “enforcer of the Galactic Empire” I set about undercoating his ‘escort’ with “Vallejo” White before heavily washing them with Pale Grey. This transparent acrylic not only gave the bucket-heads some much-needed shading but also helped me ascertain where the joins in their overlapping plastoid composite plates were so I could ‘pick them out’ using “Citadel” Abaddon Black.
"Commander, tear this ship apart until you've found those plans.
Once all the ‘gaps’ between their standard Stormtrooper armour had been finished, I washed them with some Nuln Oil, and allowed some of the Shade to occasionally brush over the adjoining areas in order to create some heavier shadowing. Finally their E-11 blaster rifles were simply painted with more Abaddon Black.

26 comments:

  1. Good lord slow down Simon, or you'll have no miniatures to paint by February! I do like your Stormtroopers, very nice.

    No post from me tomorrow as I haven't lifted a paintbrush all week, just starting to feel a little better so hopefully next week it'll be back to normal blog wise but as we stand you are "living the dream" for us both..

    Cheers Roger.

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    1. Thanks Roger. I've actually got a back log of ten odd miniatures to post currently. But they need to be posted on the Analogue Hobbies Painting Challenge site first :-) Get well soon my friend as Saturdays aren't the same without your 'rantings'!!

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  2. Thanks to your excellent Star Wars themed posts I've been looking closely at the "Imperial Assault" game on Amazon and pondering whether to buy it. I am a huge fan of the Star Wars films but three things concern me. First is the cost of the game and all the add-on sets. Yes, if I did buy it, I'd want as many different sets as I could get. Financially, that would hurt! Secondly, all of the figures are unpainted. Where am I going to find the time to paint them all, considering the size of my unpainted figures mountain? Thirdly, I own a huge amount of the WotC collectible Star Wars figures range. These are perfectly acceptable 28mm scale figures and they are all pre-painted to a fairly decent standard. My dilemma is should I invest in "Imperial Assault" or stick with what I already have? I'm kind of favouring the latter option, simply because that would be the easiest and cheapest option. Of course, that won't stop me from appreciating your own posts and enjoying the game as a spectator.

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    1. Cheers Bryan. Very much appreciated. I really do feel your dilemma as I went through it myself until I finally gave in and bought the board game. However what I did do is shop around quite extensively and its amazing just how much cheaper some of the E-stores sell these figures for. Like you I also own a huge amount of "WotC" minis. But I do like the sculpts on these, and as they're a bit bigger they're a little bit more fun to paint. Plus I immediately went out and bought Boba Fett and his chums, something I still haven't managed to afford with the "WotC" game :-)

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    2. Bryan you could use your WOTC stuff and use 7TV2 with the free add on they released for adventures in the Star Wars universe.

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    3. Absolutely. I have the download myself and certainly hope to put up a "7TV2" "Star Wars" BatRep of some sort in the future.

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    4. Funny you should mention that. I plan on buying 7TV2 next month and I've already downloaded the Star Wars supplement along with the Scooby Doo supplement. Your idea has a lot of merit!

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    5. Its a pity you're not closer Byran, as I'd be delighted to take you through the "7TV" rules my friend; especially as I'd try and convince you see how great all your zed minis would be for an epic "ZombieTV" game. A Sixties TV serial entitled "Vampifan Slays 'Em All" would be very popular imho ;-)

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    6. Simon, I'd be in heaven if we could do that! Hopefully, it might happen one day.

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    7. A tour of your part of the UK would be good Bryan, so if the opportunity arises I'll let you know :-)

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  3. Shame about the saber, but he looks nice none the less, very sinister! I would be the same, playability over aesthetics any day ;-)

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    1. Thanks Andy. I too thought it something of a shame. But these are gaming pieces to be used at the end of the day.

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  4. More excellent additions to your Star Wars stuff Blaxkleric. :)

    I am always in awe of your output. :)

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    1. Cheers PulpCitizen. I do like to have at least one painted mini per post if I can so there's something to see finished. Although the pre-Analogue hobbies Painting Challenge posts were rather popular, and that was just models I'd primed and based. Hopefully they'll be some "Batman" and "Pulp City" stuff coming soon ;-)

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  5. Very nice! Imperial Assault is already on the wishilst but you're making it harder to resist!

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    1. Thanks Gordon. Lots more "Star Wars" stuff to come although I'm finding the minis from the Ally packs to be the real draw, as opposed to those which came with the Core Set. Still its about time I caused you to spend, as opposed to what usually happens :-)

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  6. There's the requisite shot of the two droids together. It seems they took a wrong turn on their way to the escape pod...

    ...Lucky for them, the two troopers are about to accidentally shoot Lord Vader in the back.

    Looks great, Simon. Well done on the white armor.

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    1. Cheers Finch. I'm reasonably happy with the Stormtroopers and how I'll paint the dozen or so bucket-heads I have left to do.

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  7. Excellent work Simon. Your starting to make that resolve crumble with these ace posts.

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    1. Good ;-) Glad you're enjoying them Simon. I've a few more to come over the next couple of months.

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  8. Always difficult painting black uniforms but you have nailed the Dark Lord perfectly - fabulous Simon!

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  9. Nice work, Simon. I like your backdrop too. I am currently managing to resist Imperial Assault, but appear to be putting together my own shopping list off the back of my "Beyond Ghostbusters" posts. Guess Star Wars will have to wait...

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    1. Cheers Jez. Your "Ghostbusters" project isn't helping me either I assure you. But three weeks in and I'm still sticking to my New Year's Resolution - and slowly that lead/plastic mountain is being reduced :-)

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  10. Perhaps consider the curve of the sword to represent some sort of (false) visual effect to account for the "swoosh" as he makes his epic upswing, bisecting rebel filth left and right within the corridors of the Tantive IV?

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