Now that the B1s are out of the way, its time to move up to their larger brothers the B2 battle droids. With all the B1s I have, this was not a necessary purchase, but how could I pass up on these silver tin cans! The set comes with seven models (five dudes with two heavy weapons). The squads are four, so the numbers did not add up. With that, I bought three boxes and that gives me four full squads with heavy weapons options.
As with the other CIS models, All these sets come in hard grey plastic with multiple spurs per set. The models are very nicely sculpted. Most are single piece torso with legs. Two require you to attach the legs. All arms are separate, with each weapon hand having two options (shooting or in repose). With the choices, you can make many variations on poses, so no two models are exactly the same. They glue together easily with plastic glue, with no gaps to worry about. There is a little bit of flash the has to be removed with an Xacto, but that goes quickly.
Looking at these, I figured these would be the easiest to paint, so are not a bad choice for the painting intimidated gamer! I started by spraying the models with chainmail spray. I then hit the entire model with GW black wash. This was followed up by a light silver dry brush. I also applied GW contrast black to all the weapons, to give a little variation. This was followed by a red dot on the front to show the power indicator.
I decided that I would keep consistent with the basing I used on the B1s. So, first I painted the bases dark brown (I will spray these separately in the future to save time). I then hit the tops with the GW technical earth tone and waited for that to dry to show the crackly effect and was not disappointed. Once I was sure it was dry, I dry brushed everything with some Vallejo Iraqi sand. Next was some tall tufts hear and there. Everything was sealed with some Krylon Flat coat spray.
I now have more core options for my CIS forces! I’m happy with the result and was able to crank these out in record time. Now, what is this box of objectives all about….
- Manteuffel