Armada tutorial : painting Red Squadron X-Wings

Lock S-Foils in attack position!

This article will cover how I painted the X-Wings from Armada core set. I decided early on on a high contrast/high saturation approach to keep them interesting at 1 meter (gaming range).

Armada : First X-Wing painted and laser canons pin tutorial

Hello everyone,

I just got my copy of Armada last week and I could not wait to see what I could do with the fighters.

At around 14 mm long the X-Wings are about 1/3rd the size of X-Wing miniatures X-Wings and of course much less detailed. However with a bit of detailing and freehand you can get a pretty convincing result.

WIP Shots : Anakin ETA 2 Jedi Interceptor

I've been sitting on those pictures for too long, but didn't have the time to put words to paper.

I'm calling this WIP shots, as it's too barebones for a proper tutorial but hopefully you'll get a clear idea of my process and what to expect from those shapeways models.

Tutorial : Ultramarine blue

Over the years I have had  a few people asking how I get my shade of blue for the Ultramarines.

This article will be a quick and dirty tutorial for that (sorry for the blurry pictures).

X-Wing Showcase : Dagger squadron B-Wing with folding foils

For my latest repaint, I was a bit late for my club monthly painting challenge (read : I still had not painted anything on the evening of the last day...) so I decided it was the right time to try a new B-Wing mod : folding S-Foils. Nothing like trying something new and superfluous when you're short on time!

I think it turned out OK, but not as good as I would have liked, the port wing especially is a bit crooked when folded.

Lock S-Foils in attack position!

If you've seen a lot of B-Wings, something should be strange by now. Try to find it or scroll to see the answer.

I used exactly the same techniques as on my first B-Wing for the rotating cockpit and paintjob, you can find the tutorial here.

For the foils it was a pretty simple mod all considered. 

It's just that when I glued the wing back on, I glued the wing inverted! I'm so used to my other B-Wing that is inverted that I glued the wings with the same side up only realizing my mistake when I had to paint the squadron markings. If you try the mod, don't make the same mistake!

You will need: 

- superglue

- a thin paperclip

- a sharp x-acto

- a hand drill of the diameter of your paper clip

Here is what you're aiming for:

First remove the bottom wing ( try to wiggle it off the main peg, applying pressure alternatively on either side, you should hear a small crack when the glue breaks, then just pry it off).

Next remove the foils, they form a single wing.

Now's the hard part: using your X-Acto, make 2 cuts on each wing to separate them from the central core (forgot to take pictures, so this where to make the cuts, just imagine that the wing is separated):

When the wings are cut, drill a hole in the wing for the paper clip :

And 2 corresponding holes in the core of the wing:

Now take the paper clip, cut to size, bend it and glue:

Here is the finished model with my original (notice that the wings have the same side up...):

I was a bit pressed for time and did not strip the paint, now that the model is painted it definitely shows, especially around the cockpit and the engine where the original model had a heavy coat.
It was not necessary on the lambda, but it really makes a difference for the smaller ships.

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Public Service Announcement : for my Parisian readers, there are 2 tournaments coming soon.
1) The Paris Open on the 6th of December 2014: registration and info
2) Uchronies games tournament on the 14th of December 2014 (full already) : info

X-Wing tutorial : Repainting the Millenium Falcon

Would it help if I got out and pushed?

Starting from this line, I knew that to properly represent the Millenium Falcon I would need to push my weathering techniques to the max and get away from my confort zone.

Here you can see the various paints I used:

Main hull:

- pro-color white

- atronomican grey

- ceramic white

- chaos black

- shadow grey

- scab red

- codex grey

Cockpit :

- dwarf flesh

- Fluorescent orange

Weathering:

- mars black (oil)

- burnt umber (oil)

- raw sienna (oil)

The first step was to block out the main colors. On a black undercoat, I airbrushed pro-color white at an angle to keep some shadows, insisting on raised areas. Then I took my trusty raphael 1 brush and painted the colored pannels in scab red and shadow grey. The access holes and engines received a coat of chaos black.

Top:

Bottom:

Next came the weathering. Dipping a torned bit of foam in white and various shades of grey I painted a pattern of small dots on the hull:

The second step was the oil wash. The model was varnished with satin varnish then I prepared my usual mix of black oil paint + lighter fluid and applied generously:

Using Q-Tips damp with lighter fluid, I then removed the excess wash on the panels.
Sorry for the lack of pictures here.

I then highlighted the top edges of all panels with ceramic white:

Then I threw caution out the window, and started experimenting with oils directly on the model.

I first mixed a bit of umber and black to create a dark brown color that I applied lightly with a brush to the area close to the engines (use a special brush for that folks, you do not want to mix oil into your regular acrylic brushes!). You can be a bit sloppy here as the next step will cover mistakes. You should use a dabbing motion more than brush stroke.

Using a lighter fluid damp Q-tip, then I went over the oils, gently fading the edges:

I did the same on the bottom edge of the open access panels. Then painted the canopy with dwarf flesh fading to black toward the front.
At that moment the model was a bit too blue and lacked the characteristic rusty spots of the Falcon so I decided to try some oil filters. I applied raw sienna in small dots to the hull at random points:

Then gently worked them in a general rust stain shape with a dry Q-Tip:

If the rust stain is too intense, you can go over it with a lighter fluid damp q-tip to blend the edges.
That's when I decided it was good enough! Letting the oils dry over night, I varnished again the model with matt varnish.

To give bit more contrast to the canopy I finished by blending fluorescent orange to the rear areas then varnished it with gloss varnish.

I then posted the paintjob online and got quite a few positive returns, but with several saying that the weathering was not pushed enough, that the Falcon was too clean.

Challenge accepted!

First using a mix of chaos black and scorched brown I added lots of water stains, starting from the top of the panels and small details and going toward the edge of the ship. Then using the previous oil technique, I added a dark stain around the central round panel.

Now it really looks the part!

Hope this helps, don't hesitate to ask if you have questions in the comments.

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Ica

X-Wing Tutorial : Pimp my base the return in colorvision!

Quite a few people have asked me how I did my X-Wing bases, so here it is.

The idea is not originaly mine but taken (again!) from Rodent Mastermind.

For this tutorial, you will need:

- ultramarine blue, fuchsia, crimson red and white airbrush paint

- Citadel white scar layer

- your trusty airbrush

- an old toothbrush

- a black primed x-wing base

1) Using white paint with the airbrush at low pressure (1.5 bar), spray random patterns on the side of the base, trying to create roughly parallel lines and going back over some areas to get something from grey to pure white. The low pressure should create  a pattern of very small points, instead of the usual smooth airbrush transitions.

2) Go back to regular pressure, and spray your fuchsia color over some or close to the white patterns you have made, leaving white in places.

3) Spray the blue where the fuchsia color is weak, still leaving some white to show through.

4) Using the crimson red, go back over some of the fuchsia, reinforcing the color in places.

At this stage don't worry to much about cleanliness, the next step should correct any mistakes.

5) Dip the toothbrush in the white scar pot, then using your thumb, spray a pattern of dots on a test surface. When satisfied with the size of the dots, spray some on the base.

Just remember, at this stage, less is more, a few white dots will contrast strongly with the colored background, hiding the mistakes you may have made earlier.

6) Using a black marker, color in black the edge of the cardboard pilot inserts.

I hope you find this tutorial useful.

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X-Wing Tutorial : Millenium Falcon lighting and magnetisation

Pic heavy tutorial of my YT-1300 lighting mod.

She may not look like much, but she's got it where it counts, kid. I've made a lot of special modifications myself.

For this tutorial, you will need 

 - a YT-1300 model

 - a glue gun with 2 glue sticks

 - superglue

 - plasticard

 - 2 blue leds and corresponding circuitry

 - 2 magnets 3 mm in diameter and 2mm high

 - 2 magnets 3 mm in diameter and 1mm high

 - hand drill with 3mm drill bit

 - an X-Acto

 - a scriber (can be replaced with the X-Acto):

http://www.tamiya.com/english/products/74091scriber2/index.htm

1) The smuggling compartiment

You will need to cut open the beast:

Here the scriber tool is really usefull as it created a kind of groove in the plastic, larger than what you would get with an X-Acto,  which really helps with the cut, especially in a circular shape.

2) The diffuser
We need something to diffuse the light from the 2 leds, otherwise we only have 2 beams of light.
Cut one of your 2 glue gun sticks in a square beam 4mm on a side and 8 cm long with the X-Acto, this will act as the light diffuser. Dry fit and cut to length:

Heat the glue beam with your glue gun on one side and  press to the model to glue the diffuser to the model.

3) Structural reinforcement
We need something for the cut piece of hull to rest on.
Draw the shape of the hull cut  on plasticard, using the cut piece of hull.

Now draw a rough shape around your line about 4mm on either side.

Cut the shape and dry fit to the model. You should have something like this.

Using the X-Acto or a pair of scissors, reduce the shape till it fits in the hole.

Glue the shape to the model:

4) Magnetization:
Drill 2 3mm holes in the hull cover on either side to place the 2 3mm * 1mm magnets.
Using the heated glue gun (or a soldering iron), create 2 holes in the diffuser on each side opposite the 2 holes on the cover and place the 2 3mm*2mm magnets (it will be easier to proceed one by one).

5) The electrical circuit

Mine is made with 2 blue leds in parallel, soldered to the switch on one side and the battery on the other with a resistor.

After testing everything a few times I cut a hole in the plasticard shape for the light switch, drilled a hole in the hull cover opposite and glued switch to the model. I then used additional glue from the glue gun to hold the leds in place and act as light conduit to the diffuser.

When closed you should end up with this:

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X-Wing Tutorial : Royal Guard Interceptor winglets

As promised, a quick tutorial on how I made my Royal Guard Interceptor winglets.

Needed:

 - 0.8mm thick plasticard

 - Green Stuff : 

 - Instant mold : https://www.coolminiornot.com/shop/instant-mold.html

 - A Tie Advance model

1) Cut a 5mm large strip of plasticard (you will need a bit more than 8 cm of length)

2) Cut the strip into 4 sections 2cm long.

3) Take each section and draw the shape of each winglet using an interceptor as reference

4) Using some Instant Mold, make a press mold of the texture on the Tie advance wing, this will give us a bigger surface to work with than with an interceptor wing.

5) Cut your winglets and spread some greenstuff on a winglet, making a thin layer about  1mm thick.

6) Press the mold on the greenstuff, trying to get the most of the texture on the shape, as diagonal as possible.

7)Let cure and clean the excess greenstuff, aiming for this (then repeat on the other side):

8) Form a small snake of GS, that you will lay on the outside of the winglet:

9) Cut the excess and flatten the snake with a clay shaper. Let cure and repeat on the other side.
Clean up any mistakes with sanding paper.

10) Glue the winglets on the model.

11) Glue 3 bands of 1mm wide and 0.5mm thick plasticard along the borders of each winglets

12) Clean the edges with liquid green stufff and file smooth

13) Paint

Don't hesitate to comment if you have questions!

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