Tuesday, August 16, 2016

STRAIGHT OUTTA MICRONIA | Zentraedi Regults Part 4

Robotech RPG Tactics

Painting Zentraedi Regults Part 1


Regult Tactical Battlepod

I finished painting  my first batch of  twelve rank and file Zentraedi Regult Battlepods from the Robotech RPG Tactics miniatures game. In this post I'll discuss in detail the painted miniatures, how I painted the miniatures, what I learned, and how I will apply this to painting going forward.



Choosing Paint Option



Among the Zentraedi paint templates, there are four paint options available for Regult Battlepods. As I have discussed before Paint option 1 is very similar to Paint option 2. Both paint options use the same primary colors and secondary colors. Paint option 1 uses a light blue compared to Paint option 2 using a dark blue. Paint option 1 uses black compared to Paint option 2 using grey. I decided to make some changes due to their similarity compared to Paint option 3 and Paint option 4 which use a different upper torso color between them (dark blue vs dark green). Keep in mind I have 48 Regults and currently wish to paint them in four different methods to produce four different easily identifiable squads.

My changes were to use Paint option 1's  black with Paint option 2's blue. This method would satisfy to key elements being most memorable and most bright. Below are the paint options I am referring to for reference.

Paint option 1

Paint option 2


Paint Zentraedi Regults



Paint choice and paint brands remained the same except two notable details. I added a wash to the painting process and changed the way I painted the jumping swoosh. For reference I will go over the painting process as of now.

I start by priming the miniature using  Army Painter Matt White Undercoat. Then Vallejo Model Color White is applied to any portion of the miniature lacking full prime coat. After that Vallejo Model Color White is applied to all portions intended to be white in color and next that I apply Army Painter White on top of the Vallejo Model Color White for a final bright white color.

Once all of the white is complete Vallejo Model Color Deep Sky Blue is applied to the upper torso section of the miniature along with a 1/30 mix  of paint to distilled water wash to the blue area. The wash acts as a final layer of paint to seal in any gaps and pull all of the color together as one solid color. The wash is also extremely thin to not dull or stain in order to not change the color in any way.

As an added detail the inner thrusts area painted with Army Painter Purple along with a GW color as well. The base triangles were painted Army Painter Purple along with a final coat of Tamiya X-16 Purple. The Tamiya had a good color match the purple in the Zentraedi Symbol. The triangles in the base help orient front and rear hit location of the miniature to a player in a game. Since front and rear hit location are very important down to the mere border determining a boost in firepower I refrain from adding any base material keeping the bases plain and flat. Also Army Painter Red is applied to the upper torso lens and lower leg lights.

Last Vallejo Model Color Black is applied to all of the black portions of the miniature along with the leaping swoosh for any leaping posed miniatures as well as the base itself. I originally wanted to paint the leaping swoosh with a variety of purple colors displaying a Regult leaping with a jet boost. However, the leaping swoosh is situated below the lower torso so painting the leaping swoosh in that matter would appear more like a Regult cutting a fart compared to a Regult leaping with a jet boost. In the end painting the leaping swoosh black helps keep the viewing eye on the miniature itself and lets the miniature appear as it is leaping in and through the air.

Finally the miniatures are given a coat of Testors Gloss Spray to seal the miniature and advance it to the nest stage which is adding black lining.

Black Lining Regults - Still To Come


These Regults need to have their black lining added. I have started adding it to the legs of the standing Regults and moving forward with the rest. The standing Regults are a bit of a slow process to add black ling between the legs  because of their close proximity so once they are done the rest should progress faster. I will most likely add black lining to all lower torso portions prior to moving higher to the torso portions.

Once all of the black lining has been added these Regults will receive any black lining mistakes touch ups and missed paint mistake touch ups as well as a final seal coat for protection. I think I will go with a second coat of gloss versus dull for that extra shiny cartoon feeling.


Painted Zentraedi Regults - Show Time



Here is how my first twelve painted Zentraedi Regult Battlepods look like. All of these Regults are fully painted, sealed, and ready for black lining. I ended up mixing in poses so groups of Regults look better. In this batch of twelve Regults. I have three standing, three walking, three running, and three jumping. All of the moving posses have two of the same foot forward and one of the opposite foot forward and this will be mirrored when I paint the next batch of twelve Regults.

Front View

Top View

Plans For Painting Future Regults



The next batch of twelve Regults will use the same method I used for paint option 1 except I will change the blue to a green with the same hue. In a way I want to paint them the same as before. The painting went very well and I bet many more like them on a game table will really give the impression of a Zentraedi armada approaching a UEDF battle line. If I change the color this gives me two easily identifiable different squads. Below is a snippet from Vallejo's Model Color paint chart. As you can seen Intermediate Green would be a great alternate green to Deep Sky Blue.

I never noticed till now that Light Green is a great alternate to Sky Blue as well. However looks can be deceiving a Light Green may not hold up to the naked eye when comparing from the perspective of this paint chart. I know Intermediate Green will work as I have seen the actual color in the dropper bottle. If Light Green does hold up light Intermediate Green I could use it and Sky Blue for the reaming two batches of twelve Regults. This would keep the same color switching idea as before except the black would be switched for a black grey.


I have plans to use a combination of Paint option 3 and Paint 4 for painting the 3th and 4th batch of twelve Regults as well. For a bit of insight, Paint option 3 and Paint option 4 would allow me to switch the white for grey and also make two different squads by using a darker blue and darker green.



Conclusion



I am very pleased how I painted these miniatures. I took more time than I wanted, but I got them to this point and it wasn't all that bad. Painting the black portions and fixing mistakes is the most loathed portion. In the end the final painted miniatures are superb for my use and due to their brightness they should have no trouble showing up in pictures of a game on a table. As an added bonus my success has boosted my will to paint more Robotech RPG Tactics game miniatures. Now only my friend needs to get in gear and at the table so we can get some games in,

Check back again for their final completion and a sneak peak at my move towards painting a squad of UEDF Valkyrie Veritech.


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