Next on the CIS miniature train was my unit of IG-100 Magna Guard. I had originally thought I would do two units and was going to get an extra miniature to squeeze out two units. However, I decided otherwise. I already have plenty of droid commandos, so I do not need so many of these. Plus it would be kind of odd to have many, as you normally only saw a few at a time as body guards in the movies and shows. So, I settled on just doing what came in the box.
Another night of model building and catching up on “the Last of Us”. I snipped the parts and glued the figures together to have both special upgrades and a full unit. I mixed and matched the capes, as the kit gives you a few options. I wish they would have given both caped and uncaped options, as you see them both ways, but that is not the case. I sprayed the models tan, with a white zenithil spray on top. I thought this would be the best for the capes. This turned out to be a mistake, as the spray did not layer well and it ended up being harder to do the capes and get the right coverage. Not a disaster, but did slow things down later.
I was trying to decide if the bodies should be gray or silver. They are clearly mostly silver in the movies, but gray in the TV shows. With that said, gray often reflect silver in the animation, so I attributed that to the animation and opted for the silver. So, I painted the main bodies silver and gave them a black wash. I gave them a silver highlight. I then did the pistols and staffs contrast black with a gray highlight.
Now it was time for the capes! I hit them with GW contrast Skeleton horde. I did not get great coverage (as mentioned earlier), so hit them again with a wash. I then layered up with tan and ivory. I finished off with a dust filter to tone down some of the rough spots. The capes online have tiny arrows on them, but I could not figure out how to do those and make them look right in scale, so I left those off for now. Next, I had to finish up the electoral whip and staffs. I hit these with purple and then layered up purple to pink.
I was mostly happy, but thought the silver and tan just needed something. Looking online, I saw that the movie droids had blue worn paint on the shoulders and legs. So, I went back and sponged some blue on these areas to add some character. That seemed to do the trick, so I just had to go back and paint the eyes and chest lights with red.
I based these like my other troops (Agrarian Earth/Iraqi Sand/Gamers Grass Spikey Tufts). With that, I have painted all my CIS troops! I have a couple of characters to do, but this wraps up the main army. At least until a new release comes out….
- Mantueffel