Thursday 17 May 2012

Project Pandora Part 2: Painting the Corporation!


 The hardest part of painting a new miniature often begins before you've even picked up a brush...



A good colour scheme can make or break the look of a model. Get it right and it's easy to overlook a shoddy paint job. Get it wrong and it'll nag away at you every time you see it.

This is why picking a scheme that you're going to be happy with is so important.  In my case I knew exactly what scheme I would be using.

Space, Above & Beyond was a 90's Sci-Fi TV series set in the year 2063. It followed the exploits of a U.S Marine Corp squadron known as the 'Wildcards' as they were sent on deadly missions to fight the alien menace, the 'Chigs'.

For me the 'Wildcards' have always epitomised the look of the futuristic marine and as soon I saw Mantic's Corporation models I knew how I wanted to paint them.

So with a few reference pictures in mind I got to work.

Normally I would work with 5 or 10 miniatures at a time, but with Project Pandora being an individual rather than a squad/unit based game, I wanted to spend that little bit extra time on each model.


After undercoating the model with Halfords White Primer spray I began by painting the basic scheme I wanted. I tried to stay neat and keep the paint thin as possible  to avoid losing detail.


For this scheme I used a variety of different paint brands:

Citadel Black - for the body armour, boots and gloves.
Citadel Skull White - to dry brush the armour and visors.
Citadel Elf Flesh - for the exposed skin.
Citadel Bolt Gun Metal - for the gun barrels and bases.
Revell Matt Olive Grey - for the jumpsuits
Revell Matt Blue - mixed 50/50 with white for the visors.
Humbrol Acrylic Army Green - for the rifles and grenades.
Humbrol Acrylic Natural Wood - for the pouches and straps.


I then liberally coated the models with Citadel Badab Black wash. For those who don't already know the Citadel washes are a wonderfully easy way to shade miniatures in very little time. For those like me, who don't have much painting skill it's a great way to get really quite impressive results. (From what I understand Army Painter quickshades do the same thing as well.)

Lastly all that was left was to pick out some finer details such as the teeth on one trooper, and quick bit of hi-lighting on the visors.

And now the finished product:






Stay tuned to see three subjected to a baptism of fire as they find themselves in first mission of the game!

1 comment: