Painting Big Spiders

 

I broke out of my painting stupor and finally picked up the brush again, this time to finish off some Clone wars projects.

The spider toys were passable for gaming with as they were, but I thought it only right to try and turn them into proper playing pieces. I started off with painting them a dark grey.

I had a huge success with the colouring of these models by using shifter paints to create a purple sheen over the armour.

I sponged on chips using a silver paint too, especially around the legs. These were the weak spots on these walkers and every Clone knew it.

Here is the miracle paint that created just the look I was after. A purple sheen that will change from every angle.

I find it best to always batch paint these machines so they always end up looking the same.

A added a little watered down green shifter paint to give it a green hue in certain angles. This matches the reference pictures perfectly.

Now it's time to turn the thing on. The optics are created using Clear red over white paint. It's always very effective I think.

A little rust and grime in the leg mechanisms, this wasn't on the reference but my Droids have been fighting in a long campaign. They would be affected by their harsh environments.

Talking of batch painting, I also finished off these War droids. A little rust in the right places looks good I think.

To make this one different, I cut off his head and turned it to the side. This one is scanning for a new target after incinerating the first.

These heavy War bots are going to be a nightmare for the Clones with their flame throwers.

It's been a busy morning with this Clone Mortar team also being finished off.

These troopers are the Advanced Recon, they landed themselves to a mortar team as some had empty hands.

The 15mm mortar was purchased from Alternative Armies.

These are going to be so much full to use on the battlefield. I'll have to make some scatter dice for them

The resin troopers are slightly different from the actual film guys, so I had to tweak their helmet design a little.

15mm Terrain

I bought some terrain I thought might work for the 15mm Clone wars project. These were bought off eBay.
 

These are smaller than I was expecting but seem to work perfectly for the 15mm figures.

These craters were actually larger than I thought they were going to be, but do come in a variety of sizes. They still work for sci-fi though and look like the result of orbital bombardment.

These little rock outcrops look good and should offer a bit of cover.

A good spray undercoat with some dry brushing should make these look great.

I like them and think they feel very 'Star wars'.

Spraying time! 

Just some really simple spraying techniques to capture the shade of the rocks.

Now it's time for some washes. I used Woodland scenic's paints, watered down to give the rocks various shades of browns. I later used some black to add some depth to areas too.

The craters got lots of black to colour the impact blast. I figured heavy lasers would leave a lot of scoring behind.

These could also work for my Little Bighorn games at a pinch.

A touch of black really helps to add some detail to the prints.

Update: I've decided to put some grit and stones on these pieces. Knowing they are going to be terrain, I have soaked the basing sand in loads of watered down PVA glue. Hopefully when this drys it should be quite hard wearing.

The watered down glue should set this grit rock solid.

Update, Glue dry, the sand is now bullet proof.

I gave the bases a highlight of sand colour just tie everything together.

A few tufts help bring the pieces to life and give them a scale. I chose tiny tufts to match the ones on the figure bases.

Update, Everything is flocked and sprayed with Halfords mat varnish. I gave the craters a dusting of Tamiya soot, it's very subtle. I also added some dark earth flock around the craters to act as scorched grass etc.

I think the vanish darkened the Tamiya soot chalk which is good, it's a bit more noticeable now.

A droid patrol pushes into ambush territory...

These larger craters can be used as hard cover.

While the grit was out it was good to base the tank and finish it with a coat of mat varnish.

The heavy tank is now ready for deployment.

I found a single base of droids that had been forgotten about on the painting desk. They were finished up and based with the terrain. They arrived just in time to find themselves facing a Republic armoured column.