So I've decided I would post something I painted a while ago. The model here is one of the characters I painted for a friend who is playing in my Star Wars Roleplaying campaign. He is a cowardly Sullustan who lives by the philosophy, if you have to fight, run. If you have to run. RUN. If you have to negotiate...well....let's talk...but often ends up running anway.
The first picture shows an admittedly low rez version of the original minature of Nien Nunb from the Star Wars Miniatures Universe collection.
My friend wanted to give the model a less flashy look with slighly more subdued colours. Basically he wanted a more Han Soloesque appearance, without the swagger and bravado.
So I took his miniature away, and after an afternoon of painting, came up with this version to represent Siou Lubb!
It's a complete repaint. I started by cleaning off the mould lines. The factory paint wasn't on too thick, and the detail was still very good, so I opted to not strip the model of paint.
Instead, I hand basecoated the model using Games Workshop Foundation Charadon Granite. I thinned the paint to about equal parts with water, and brushed it on with a large basecoat brush. It took two thin coats to fully cover the model, which took all of 10 minutes to apply and dry.
Then, working with my Games Workshop paints, I painted from the inside layers out. Starting with the shirt, I painted it with a basecoat of Scorched Brown. I then layered on Scab Red and Red Gore, blending in Blood Red as I highlighted. I then gave it a very thin wash of Red Ink as a glaze to tie the colours together.
I next proceeded to the black vest, gloves, and pants. The base coat was painted with Chaos Black. I blended in various shades of grey to highlight, depending on the type of material. For the leathers, I used Shadow Grey, and for the fabric vest, I used a mixture of Codex Grey and Bestial Brown to flatten the tone and give it some warmth.
This took me along to the brown leather boots, belt, holster and skull cap. I started with a Scorched Brown basecoat. I blended in some Beastial Brown and finally highlighted up to Snakebite Leather. A nice wash of Brown Ink again unified the colours, and added depth to the recesses.
Next up was the blaster. This was painted a flat Chaos Black. I then mixed Boltgun Metal into the black for a nice deep metallic colour and lightly painted this on. No drybrushing here as it would look out of scale. I then added a touch of Chainmail and painted on a very light highlight, and washed it with black ink. This toned it down to give it a more natural dark metal appearance, and helped shade the detail.
Finally, the face and flesh. To give the model a ruddy look, I started with a mix of Dwarf Flesh and Scorched Brown. The red tones help make the skin look warm and living. I then highlighted by blending in some Dwarf Flesh. I continued the blend with a tiny hint of Elf Flesh. I tried to keep the highlights as smooth and subtle as I could on the face, and kept the paint thin, so the ruddy colours below could show through. This helps keep the scale of the model looking realistic, as well as gives the flesh a translucent effect, like real skin.
Finally, I dotted the eyes with straight Chaos Black.
But when I looked at the finished model, I felt something wasn't quite right. Han Solo had stripes on his trowsers, so I began to paint some red stripes on Siou. But that didn't look right because of the red shirt my friend wanted him to be wearing...so I then figured, what better colour for a coward than yellow stripes?
To tie the outfit together I added stripes on both his legs and his shirt. The yellow was painted with a base of Snakebite Leather. I blended in some Fiery Orange, and then up to Sunburst Yellow. Finally, I added a very thin highlight of Bad Moon Yellow, and gave it a very light wash of yellow ink. Again, this wash unifies the slightly different tones of the paint. If you use white to lighten paint, it also helps eliminate any chalkiness.
So far, this model has proven very enjoyable for my friend, who was extremely eager to get the miniature back. I look forward to painting, and perhaps converting, miniatures for the rest of the adventurers!
