Star Wars Imperial Scout Troopers
Bryan’s Step By Step Painting Tutorial
Welcome to a step by step painting guide from a galaxy far, far away… Today I’ll be covering the Imperial Scout Troopers from Star Wars Legion, although this process would be the exact same for the more common Stormtroopers.
Step 1 - White primer
Before priming your models I recommend adding any basing material (I have used some slate rocks and crack filler from the hardware store), this saves time later. The obvious choice for priming Imperial Scout Troopers (and indeed Stormtroopers, for which this guide is appropriate also) is white. Here I have used a spray can of Tamiya white surface primer, but Games Workshopand Army Painterboth also produce white primer sprays which will do the same job. I have chosen to begin with a clean white base colour for the armour, as this saves a huge amount of time painting the armour by hand. I will be using washes to shade it in future steps, so no need for a light grey spray to build upon either.
Step 2 - Base colours
This stage is actually the longest, as you need to very carefully paint in all the black areas of the uniform around the white armour. Because we want to minimise mistakes on the clean white armour, I used a small detail brush to apply the base colours.
Undersuit, gloves, visor, weapons:Matte Black (Army Painter)
Utility belt, straps:German Camo Beige (Vallejo)
Helmet mouth pieces, squad leader binoculars:Administratum Grey (Citadel)
Explosives trooper satchel:German Grey (Vallejo)
Belt buckles, weapons*:Leadbelcher (Citadel)*The metallic silver is now painted over the black on the weapons
Base top:Green Ochre (Vallejo)
Base sides:Flat Earth (Vallejo)
Step 3 - Gloss varnish
The next step is to seal the base colours in with a coat of gloss varnish. The reason for this is the technique I am using to shade the white armour is heavily reliant on washes, and the smooth surface created by the gloss varnish goes a long way to aid these. You can use either a hand painted gloss varnish such as Games Workshops ‘Ardcoat, or a spray can like I have. The varnish is also a good idea so your base colours don’t rub off, something which dark colours can easily do when painted over a white primer.
Step 4 - Washes
With the hard work of the base colours complete, it’s time for a really fun and easy stage, the washes. The washes are my prefered method for painting white, which is a notoriously hard colour to paint over large areas. I want to have an Imperial army painted in a reasonable amount of time, so blending my way up from grey through to white would take way too long, and to be honest wouldn’t look as good on the flat surfaces of the armour. The technique here is to use a rather heavy wash to create all the depth we need to make the mini ‘pop’ at gaming distance, without darkening the white too much. The way this is achieved is the washes are mixed with a flow medium (Games Workshop’s Lahmian Medium) instead of water. This helps direct the wash directly into the crevasses and reduces the amount it stains the overall area. The flow medium works directly with the gloss varnish underneath to produce a result that requires no clean up or complex blending.
I have gone for a fairly battleworn look for the armour on my Imperial troops, if you would like yours to look cleaner, simply apply the washes less heavily on your own minis at this stage.
White armour, khaki straps:10/20/70 mix of Lahmian Medium, Agrax Earthshade and Nuln Oil (Citadel)
Metallic weapons, explosives trooper satchel: 10//90 mix of Lahmian Medium and Nuln Oil (Citadel)
Base top:Seraphim Sepia (Citadel)
Step 5 - Highlights
Although the washes will do the heavy lifting on these minis to create the depth, it’s now time to add just a few highlights to really set them off. You will only be doing a single highlight layer on the white armour and black areas of the uniform. Make sure to use a fine detail brush with a good point and keep the brushstrokes thin, I use a size 00 Windsor & Newton Series 7 brush.
White armour,:White Scar (Citadel)
Black uniform: German Grey (Vallejo)
Khaki straps: 60/40 mix of German Camo Beige (Vallejo) and White Scar (Citadel)
Explosives trooper satchel: Stormvermin Fur (Citadel) and then Administratum Grey (Citadel)
Base top:Dry brush Iraqi Sand (Vallejo) and then Pale Sand (Vallejo)
Step 6 - Weathering
This stage is an entirely optional one. If you do not want to dirty your Imperial troopers up then simply repaint the base edge to clean up from the dry brush in the previous stage and your minis are painted! My troops will be deployed to Tatooine to continue the search for those missing droids, so I wanted them to feature a bit of desert dust and scratches. To do this I used two simple techniques with standard acrylic paints.
1. Chipping:Take a ripped piece of blister pack foam and dab this into some of your base colour, in this case Green Ochre (Vallejo). Wipe off most of the paint and then dab the foam onto the armour in areas that would get chipped easily, so the outer edges of knee pads, helmets and shoulder pads. The ripped foam should create a very organic & random pattern as shown.
2. Dust wash:Next up we’ll be adding some dust deposits, again using your base colour, Green Ochre (Vallejo). This time water it down in a rough mix of 80/20 water to paint. I use water instead of the medium so the paint subtly stains the area and doesn’t just sit in the recesses. Then take your fine detail brush and wash this mix into a few recessed areas. Only add these dust pools here and there, not the entire model. The strategic dust deposits will create a bit of interest and backup your chipping.
Step 7 - Basing & matte varnish
With the painting complete, it’s time to give your minis are light coat of matte varnish to take the shine off the gloss varnish. I use Testors Dullcote spray. After this is dry, you can finish the models off by adding any basing materials that you like. Mine have only minimal material, being on an arid planet. Specifically, these are “winter” grass tufts from Gamers Grass and flock from Woodland Scenics.
That’s it! You are now ready to deploy your Imperial troopers to all the corners of the Galaxy to flush out those Rebel scum. This guide was the culmination of me trying to work out a quick but effective way to paint the white armour, so I hope it helps take the pain out of it. You can (and should) use this guide for all types of Imperial Troopers as they are all wearing their distinctive white armour. Here is how this method looks on the more common Stormtroopers.
I am happy to answer any questions you may have on this guide in the comments below, and don’t forget to share your Imperial troops on the Paint All The Minis Facebook group.
Bryan