Camouflaging the default Star

Patterning

The shape-breaking pattern I brushed on with grey (VG 72750 Cold Grey) just the way I had done a bunch of times before, while painting some Gamma Galaxy units. I pondered briefly if I should try a digicamo on some of these machines, but that would have to wait for an airbrushable mini. These were done using gut feeling and freehanding all the way.

Timber Wolf

My general understanding about camouflage has always been pretty much that the target's shape was to be broken. Following that my freehand patterns have relied much on a highish contrast in colours and splotches that didn't flow along the natural lines of the target.

Again the first shapes/forms to be broken were the boxy LRM 20 launchers, and from that on I mostly did tight diagonal slashes around the L/C/R Torso, Arms and Legs. I didn't fetch my old metallic Timber Wolves to compare, but while looking at the photo below I got the feeling I've done something pretty similar before.

Nova

While working on the Nova I didn't want immediately do another stripe-based pattern but instead started adding something more dotted. In a bulky machine that felt like a decent approach.

Executioner

The Executioner didn't inspire me with anything new or weird, so I went with a mostly tiger-stripey setup.

Adder

Again I wanted to do something else for the next consecutive 'Mech, so I started doing some flowy arcs. Starting from the top plate's front edge, I started painting a twisting and turning river. Following that I added more squigglies to keep the effect running around the piece.

Grendel

Being the last of fhe Star, Grendel got a bunch of different sized splotches painted on its surfaces. Those funky winglets near the cockpit and the left shoulder's shieldlike plate were the most noticeable things to brake apart, in my eyes. Once again the starting point gave a simple path to follow for the rest of the paintjob.

Elementals

My two-meter-tall friends were so tiny in this scale, despite being inhumanely large in stature, that I didn't really even try to make a specific tiny camo pattern on their Power Armour. I just added some grey areas here and there. The principle remained the same, anyway: disrupt the shape somehow.

Basecoating the default Star

Of all things: yellow olive

From my catalogue of green paints I picked a weird-sounding paint (VMA 71013 Yellow Olive). I just gently applied the paint over all the miniatures. I didn't skip any specific parts, even though I could've left the cockpit panels, missile launcher business ends, the gun barrels and such to wait for their specific paints.

The result was suspiciously dark, but that was something I could tone down later along the line. I'd just get the camo patterns done first.

Timber Wolf

Nova

 

Executioner

Adder

Grendel

Elementals

I just ignored the smoke plumes of those four jumping Elementals. The goal here was to paint the BA first and finally give a shot at the effects that I had never even dreamed of trying.

 

Priming the default Star

Priming

Instead of using white (or red) primer I chose the sandlike bone (VSP 70627 Skeleton Bone). If my memory served, the last time I primed one of the IWM metallic minis I just used flat black paint as my primer. This time I thought I'd give another colour a shot, even though a grey one might've been the most optimal shade.

Timber Wolf

Obviously I started with the most stylish OmniMech in the whole set.

 

Nova

 

Executioner

 

Adder

 

Grendel

 

Elementals

While priming the Elementals I had apparently been even messier than with the Omnis, the hex bases ended up looking somewhat disturbing. Not that it mattered, the tiny humans would get the Power Armors greened pretty soon and then they'd stand out much better.

 

All together now

It was pretty funny that something as simple as a coat of primer changed the look so noticeably. Had I been a supporter of the fleabags, these would've already been halfway painted into the schem of the Beta Galaxy of the Wolves (some sort of sandy top with a grey bottom). Nope, these were going to be much more cool and prestigious!

Project II/22

Operation: Revival

An Omnistar and two Elemental Points

After such a long previous (proper) project I wanted to do something quicker and maybe a bit lighter than a 1:35 Panzer. The Battletech Clan Invasion box (and its extras) that I received with such glee would give me a couple of five-piece miniprojects to do between larger commitments. In case I became insane, I could even paint them in something else than the CJF/Gamma/3rdFTC pattern.

I decided to start with the base box's bits: five OmniMechs and two Pointfuls of Elementals. These images were the same ones from the unboxing post, they had not changed one bit inside the box.

I expected this to be a relatively short project. As individual entities the ten Elementals would take the largest amount of time, I thought.