X-Wing Showcase : Imperial Lambda Shuttle Repaint

I don't know, ...  fly casual.

The best ride to infiltrate a heavily guarded shield generator, the lambda shuttle is one of the most iconic ships of the original trilogy. I really enjoyed painting it.

With such large surfaces compared to the other ships in the game I had to increase the color modulation on each panel to keep it interesting across the table.

I went for a slightly non canon paint job, adding small red areas to the wings and giving a red tint to the cockpit.

No leds in this one : after trying for half an hour to pry it open, I convinced myself that it wasn't worth it...

I used a new idea for the ball joint with a ring magnet and a ball magnet, expect a tutorial soon!

I kept the folding wings for ease of transport:

 Hope you like it!

Last month I played a bit with the layout of the blog and I added a new page : http://rule37-ica.blogspot.com/p/hobby-links.html that you can access from the top toolbar with a few hobby ressources and links (tutorials and repaint blogs or threads). If you like those I can add more!

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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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3D printing : the future of miniature gaming?

So I just finished painting 2 Jedi Interceptors at 1/270th scale  from Shapeways designed by Mel_Miniatures.

http://www.shapeways.com/model/984898/interceptor-lledi-1-270.html?materialId=61

Is this the future of miniature gaming?

Maybe.

However right now it is no replacement for plastic/resin models.

This model in Frosted Ultra Detail set me back around 11€, 

which is a bit steep considering the level of detail and it's only 20mm long.

Here is a picture in it's raw state:

And with a black undercoat, to get a better view:

The 2 interceptors on the right have been cleaned before priming while the 2 on the left and the 2 Tie Droids have been primed directly. Pay attention to the small lines on the hull and the grain of the back of the cockpit.

Closeup of the underneath before cleaning:

Cleaned with a white coat, to get a different view: 

So basically it is a great way to get the basic shape of a model, but the level of details (the resolution so to speak) is not there yet compared to a plastic/resin model, even in the frosted ultra detail which is the best level of details you can get from Shapeways.

However I bet it would be a great way to create a main body for detailing in order to create a master for casting.

As is you can get great results with a bit of work, but as you can see most of the details on the model where free handed and that's not everyone cup of tea.

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X-Wing Showcase : Anakin Jedi Interceptor

So what I told you was true. From a certain point of view.

Following Obiwan craft, I painted Anakin ETA-2 interceptor from Revenge of the Sith. It sports as expected R2D2 in the droid slot.

As the close ups of Obiwan fighter revealed a grain texture to some panels, I tried to weather the craft differently to hide/decrease the apparent roughness.

Here is a group shot of my 3 latest ships, the Millenium Falcon and the 2 jedi Interceptors:

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Battle report : Fat Chewie VS double Defenders

I'm terribly sorry about all this. After all, he's only a Wookiee!

Having been on the wrong side of the Fat Chewie stick much to often I decided to try it for once against one of my regular opponents Lanyssa. 

You can read his debrief in French on his blog : http://escadronsabre.over-blog.com/2014/08/name-code-2dhlc.html with more pictures from his side of the table.

His list was the classic : how can I fit 2 HLC with Jonus for rerolls?

Jonus, 2 flechette torpedoes

Defender Delta, HLC

Defender Delta, HLC

I was playing:

Chewie, C3P0, Millenium Falcon title, Gunner 51

Biggs 25

2 Bandit squadron Z95 24

I really like the combination of fat Chewie +Biggs, because Chewie is really tough to get in the end game, and Biggs helps him to get there (see Paul Heaver list at the US National). The 2 Z95 are there as fillers being reasonably tough for their points.

Deployment looked like this:

He deployed in triangle formation, to benefit from Jonus reroll. I deployed in 2 groups, with Biggs ready to slide toward Chewie and behind the middle asteroid.

There I made my first mistake, moving Chewie 3 forward in the 1st turn, while the rest advanced only 2. Of course Lanyssa closed as fast as possible with a 5 forward.

Turn 1 picture shamelessly taken from Lanyssa blog:

The 3 forward allowed both Defenders to fire on Chewie, taking a combined 7 hits, while I only took one shield of the defender on my left. I remember thinking clearly : he can move 5 forward, so you have to move strictly less than 3 to stay out of range, not sure why I put a 3 instead of a 2 forward. 

Oh well, mistakes happen.

 

I also made a mistake for Chewie shot on a range 3 defender. I took focus as an action, as I would be rolling 3 evade dices and 3 or 6 attack dices. I rolled hit, eye, eye with Chewie first shot.

Now in this position would you use Chewie focus or not, knowing that you have gunner?

I'm looking forward to your reasoning in the comments.

I did not. He promptly rolled 4 blanks and took a shield and I did not roll a single eye in defense (odds of rolling at least an eye with 3 dices are only 37/64) .

Next turn he banked 2 toward Chewie, while the 2 Z flew 4 forward, Biggs hid behind the asteroid and Chewie advanced 1.

Sadly I misjudged the distance a little bit, and one of my Z could not fire on the left Defender. The rest of my ships did 4 damages, dropping it to 1 hull. In response his 2 defenders reduced Biggs to 1 hull (asteroid power!) and Jonus added another 2 damages to Chewie with a flechette (Chewie is now down to 4 hull).

Close up shot of the action (love the Defender at this angle):

No picture of turn 3, it was basicly a huge pile up of ships, with biggs banking one left, the 2 Z turning 2 left, Chewie doing a one forward. The damaged Defender bomber 5 forward to escape the action, while is wingman turned hard right 1. Jonus bumped into Chewie.

Fire was inconsequential : Chewie failed to finish the damaged defender, and Biggs survived the actionless shots of Jonus and the defender.

Turn 4, he K-Turned the damaged Delta to return to the fight, and bumped with the other one. Jonus took the place of Chewie who flew through the 2 asteroids in front of him. The 2 Z bumped to get firearcs on Jonus.

Jonus died to the combined firepower of my ships while dealing an additional damage to Chewie, and the defender killed Biggs.

Turn 5, Chewie turned right to evade the returning defender, while the Z turn to face it.

The front Z destroyed the damaged defender and lost 2 shields to the other Delta.

Turn 6 and 7 : Chewie maneuvers to get back into the fight, while the 2 Z dogfight with the defender:

Turn 8 : Lanyssa made a mistake and K-Turned behind the lead Z, putting it at range of Chewie and my 3 ships.

The combined fire took it down before it could fire.

The game was much closer than it should have been I think, mainly due to my first mistake with Chewie. Biggs really helped there to put me back in the game. If I had taken another 2 Zs, Chewie would have died on turn 2, and the game would have been much different.

I also think that Lanyssa list would be better with PS 3 defenders, or maybe one PS3 and swarm tactics on Jonus to get a PS advantage against filler ships.

Looking forward to see your choices for using tokens on a first gunner shot in the comment (with a small explanation if possible).

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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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