One more week and another Star Wars Legion painting project. With my core game units and reinforcements done, I decided it was time to work on some specialist units for my CIS army. The next on the list was the Stap Riders speeder bikes. I found two sets at my FLGS and picked them up.
The models are very much like the B1 battle droids and also come in hard plastic on sprues. The detail is very nice and there are a good number of parts that are all very nicely detailed. The models themselves are a bit fiddly, as you have to align the riders with the bikes at three or four (depending on the figure) small contact points. It takes a little time, but is not hard. I opted to keep the riders separate to facilitate painting, so matching things up and glued everything else together using plastic model cement. I also left off the stands, as I wanted to spray paint the base figures.
I started with my usual tan lower spray with a overhand spray of white. I then went back and covered the riders with GW Skeleton Hoard followed by a highlight of Iraqi Sand from Vallejo. I hit the weapons with GW Contrast Black and a Vallejo London Grey highlight.
The riders were done, but I could not decide what I wanted to to with the bikes. So, I watched a couple of episodes of the Clone Wars and look at the Staps (you can find listings of what shows to watch by unit on Wookipedia). I decided I liked the CIS blue scheme the best. The early tan would be the easiest, but I thought it would just look too blended. The Geonosis rust brown could have worked, but I was not a fan. With that, I took the hard road!
I started with some GW Contrast blue (two coats) followed by some Vallejo Electric Blue (I could have skipped the second coat of contrast, but I was feeling my way forward) and some light blue highlight afterward. I then painted the front symbol in white and went back with the electric blue and put in the cross pattern to give the triangle look, I hit the mechanical areas with GW Contrast Black, followed by a Vallejo London Gray highlight. From here, I glued everything back together and affixed them to the bases.
The bases are my usual brown, followed by GW Technical Earth, dry brushed tan, followed by some spiky green tufts from Gamers Grass. A spray sealer and the two units are now ready for the table.
- Mantueffel