Star Wars Legion: Rebel Force

It seems like it’s taken forever, but I finally finished* painting my wife’s rebel troops. We started playing Legion just after Valentine’s Day; all in all it has taken roughly four months – mostly due to the fact that I am a slow painter and there are other projects that have required some attention. Of course, it didn’t help that there were three additional releases by FFG in that time: Jyn, the Pathfinders, and the Landspeeder.

Finding an appropriate color scheme also delayed the painting a bit. I started out painting the Star Wars Legion Rebel Troopers in distinct color schemes (green camo and khaki/orange) and the fleet troopers. They looked great, but then the rebel commandos also wore a similar uniform. As I mentioned, the rebels are for my wife, and she is very happy with a colorful and “wear what you can find” look. I am the opposite – they are an army and should look cohesive on the tabletop. Where possible, I tried to make us both happy; below are the end results.

Commanders

Following the two trooper unites, I started with Han, Leia and Luke. I feel I am hard to please when it comes to sculpts. If they aren’t great, I struggle to put the time in to give them a decent paint job. Conversely, if the model is great, I am far more likely to put some effort in. In my opinion, Luke was the “bad” one here, and I am sad to say it shows on the finished model, as it looks like he is wearing a one-piece jumpsuit. Han, Leia, and Jyn, on the other hand, I am very pleased with (even with Leia’s very round face). Unfortunately, there was a little wash pooling (and mold lines!) on Han’s coat – but, no miniature is perfect!

Chewbacca & the Wookies

These took longer than expected to paint (we can blame the wife). She wanted all of them to have different colored fur. I painted them with different basecoats and washes, then blended them with layers of dry brushing. To me, they look natural and each has a distinctive look; the wife would have liked them to be even more diverse. I had originally painted the scant armor they are wearing a metal grey, similar to the AT-RT, but had to (marital pressure) change that to an oxidized bronze/copper look to add color. Looking back, the armor could have been a little bluer.

Rebel Specialists

I am not usually a fan of high contrast painting but decided to give it a go with the officer and the comm specialist. I must admit the clothes look really good this way. It will not be the last time that I use this technique.

Pahfinders & Jyn

Before tackling these, we had to watch Rogue One again (which the wife purchased immediately upon mentioning, as Netflix was only hosting Solo this spring). When it comes to Star Wars, I’m an original trilogy kind of guy; I watched Rogue One and Solo in theaters, but did not have any memory of these characters. I used colors that are true to the film and am particularly happy with their faces (all except for Bistan, that is, whom I ‘forgot’ to clean up)!

Vehicles

For the larger miniatures, I primarily used the airbrush. The AT-RT and the airspeeder were painted a light, metallic grey. The idea being that the rebel vehicles would be lighter in color than those of the Empire. The landspeeder did not seem like a military vehicle so it got a more colorful treatment, with which the wife was abundantly pleased. The speeders were also the test ground for enamel weathering effects, which turned out ok in the end.

What’s Next?

As I mentioned at the start, all of the rebels are painted with the exception of the Laser Cannon. I am waiting for the Veterans to be released, as they will be wearing the same Hoth uniform. My wife is eagerly awaiting the Tauntaun Riders (and has jokingly said she will be buying 3-4 boxes….I hope she is joking). Heaven forbid I let her pick the colors, she may have a rainbow-colored army of llama-like creatures storming my black and white imperial troops.

That is it for now. Until next time, adventure on!