Paint Preparation :: ROTJ Armor
In preparation for my hard pieces, I have been researching and asking for help from some of our best painters for a list of colours that they rely on for the ROTJ Armor.
Initially, I had thought that there was a difference in the ROTJ Hero vs. SE armors (Colour-wise). I know the damage is different, but even so, I may sway to more of the MOM and AOSW versions just for the relief of having decent reference pictures.
I want to go airbrush as this really works with the colour palette that I like. While I had lots of fun weathering the soft parts and ripping things up, I'm quite nervous about the hard pieces. ....primarily the helmet and jetpack. SO, I will start with my armor, then the gauntlets, jetpack and finally the helmet.
It was quite difficult for me to really decide on colours. Enamel vs Acrylic? Humbrol vs. everything else? The humbrol line seemed easy enough, but we didn't have a real set of numbers WITH colours. I would have to go and research what the colour looked like, see if I liked it, then go back and compare it to others - there was a lot of back and forth tabbing I tell ya.
So I devised my list, photographed the tins, and laid them out in photoshop to show exactly what the colours look like and what they are for.
More detail from where I got these colours can be found on these threads:
Ponte's ROTJ Armor Paintup
Terminal Fettler's AOSW Humbrol Colour List
The green I had the hardest time deciding on - primarily because I think the green is what makes/breaks the armor. There is a lot of buzz about US Medium Green, but I really couldn't find it anywhere, and I didn't like the replacements for it. t talked to Dom (Fett4Real) and he gave me the inside scoop on Tamiya XF-65 (Flat Field Grey). I saw some samples and it looks pretty bang on.
The funny thing about researching all these paints is that different brands carry the same paint under a different name (at least to my eye). I think there was a paint close to the XF-65 in Humbrol....US Light Green? I can't remember.
There are other weathering materials that will be used, including but not limited to: earth toned pastels, compass scratching, etc.