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| "It's the trooper you don't see that will get you." |
These six 40mm tall hard plastic elite soldiers of the Tarkin Initiative are produced by “Fantasy Flight Games” and can be found inside the company's Imperial Death Troopers Unit Expansion for "Star Wars: Legion". "Hand-selected from the Stormtroopers Corps by Imperial Intelligence itself", these jet black armoured commandos made their debut in Gareth Edwards' 2016 motion picture "Rogue One: A Star Wars Story".
The "elite variant of the Galactic Empire's stormtroopers" were all primed using two coats of "Citadel" Abaddon Black and mercilessly dry-brushed with "Vallejo" Heavy Charcoal to really bring out all of the sculpts' meticulous details. Each figure was then treated to a more than generous splash of "Citadel" Nuln Oil, so as to help blend the slightly contrasting undercoat and highlight together.
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| "They served as protective details and bodyguards for important Imperial officers..." |
With the majority of the miniatures finished, at least in my tabletop standard books, I decided to 'pick out' all their helmet lights with a combination of "Vallejo" Heavy Grey and "Citadel" Biel-Tan Green and some of their pouches' fasteners with a small dab of "Vallejo" White. I did consider painting all of their eye lenses a deep green as well, but to be honest some of these 'sunken' areas were so tiny that I felt it ultimately wouldn't be worth the effort.
However, having had a good look at DT-F16's figure, I was inclined to break away from the 'official imperial palette' and pigment her main armament's thick leather strap in "Vallejo" Heavy Sienna and "Citadel" Nuln Oil, in order to make the commander stand out that little bit more on the battlefield. In addition, I 'picked out' all of the Death Troopers' belt buckles and E-11D blaster rifle barrels with "Citadel" Ironbreaker and (more) "Nuln Oil.
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| Skull Altar WIP - The "dread monument" has been assembled using twenty-one plastic components |
Moving across to the Mortal Realms of "Age Of Sigmar" by "Games Workshop" I have rather impulsively purchased a Skull Altar for my Blades of Khorne warhost. This "great centrepiece to your Khorne collection" is truly a gigantic piece of terrain, so I was somewhat disappointed to discover that it didn't actually come with any sort of base, and instead relied upon my skills as a modeller to ensure I positioned every since tiny part of its lower segment into the perfect position so as to ensure it stood flat on my tabletop.
As you can probably imagine, I somewhat balked at such a task and have been patiently awaiting for the Nottingham-based company to send me a "citadel" 160mm circular stand for it to sit upon. Now that has arrived, I have not only assembled the brutish building, but both primed it with "Vallejo" Heavy Sienna" and gritted its base...
Great work on the deathtroopers Simon, interesting piece of scenery, shall watch with interest as it progresses
ReplyDeleteThanks Dave. The green leds on the helmet are a bit darker than I had hoped, but the brown and metallic areas have come out just as I had hoped. The Skull Altar is off-puttingly large... so you'll need to be patient before that is finished :-)
DeleteI know someone who would love to play with some Stormtroopers. One piece castings I assume? I may pick up a set.
ReplyDeleteI love the skull alter, I hope that you can store it. I follow your progress with interest ... by the way ... you're going to need a big brush !!!!
Somewhat bizarrely, these Imperial Death troopers each came in four-pieces, Phil. But were dead simple to put together with the exception of DT-F16, whose side-weapon was a major pain to attach. Worringly, I tend to use a 000 for most of my painting these days, so I'm a bit short on bigger-sized brushes.
DeleteBugger, they won't last 5 minutes with a four year old ! Still my Reaper Bones Kickstarter is due for delivery today so they can take a beating instead... well some of them. The rest go into the pile of `the precious'(AKA pile of shame).
Delete"They won't last 5 minutes with a four year old." - Probably not Phil, though the plastic does have quite a bit of give to it. However, they're nowhere near as bendy/flexible as "Bones" is, imho.
DeleteMy mate recently painted up 3 squads of these bad boys, nice work!
ReplyDeleteThanks Fran. I can certainly see why you'd want more, Fran. Though that does mean your friend has a couple of spare DT-F16s.
DeleteLovely job Simon. I am suppose to be collecting a Rebel army, but I keep seeing these and getting awfully tempted.
ReplyDeleteCheers Michael. I'm building both forces currently, though I do seem to just be painting the specialist units...
DeleteNice work mate. I am still looking admiringly at the scout troopers.
ReplyDeleteThanks Simon. I have the Scout Troopers on my painting table currently. Very nice minis indeed.
DeleteNice work on the Death Troopers Simon (note to self: get some Vallejo Heavy Charcoal), and good luck with that alter! :-)
ReplyDeleteCheers Greg. "Vallejo" Heavy Charcoal is my 'go to' paint for highlighting Black, even if the mini just needs a light dusting.
DeleteGreat looking stuff sir!
ReplyDeleteThanks Michal :-)
Deleteneed to get me a box of these. bet theyre easier to paint than the normal stormtroopers. heh.
ReplyDeleteLOL Mr Martin. Much easier :-)
DeleteThose deathtroopers look great. Having recently played my first game of Star Wars Legion I loved the game. Unfortunately they are a few rungs down the painting ladder at the moment due to other projects. I do like the models though! That altar looks awesome. Can't wait to see that finished.
ReplyDeleteThanks Undercoat. I can't wait to see the Altar finished as well, as its an absolute monster of a scenic piece. Great vfm too imho.
Deletepainting Black is the bugbear of many, but I think you've cracked it with these storm-troopers.
ReplyDeleteThe altar looks like quite a challenge and I'm looking forward to seeing how you tackle it.
Cheers Joe. The altar will almost certainly be a slow burn project, at least until after I've finished my Khorne Slaughterpriest and final Judgement of Khorne; both of which are on my paint table currently.
DeleteVery nice to see a non-standard colourscheme on these stormtroopers. Personally I think I'll prefer them in black, but it would make it more difficult for Darth Vader to stand out.
ReplyDeleteThanks Wouter. I'd imagine that's why the Death Troopers were placed with the bright white of Director Orson Krennic rather than Darth Vader or even Tarkin.
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