BattleTech: Smoke Jaguar Command Star Progress

 

Hi folks,

With the BattleTech Clan Invasion Kickstarter starting to deliver on pledges, it has been a busy time around the paint table. I was able to knock together my Star of Ghost Bears pretty quickly, but I still have a few mercenary lances and a ComStar Level II to paint for my own collection. Wade and I have also been working on 'Mechs for some of our mates. Last week we met up for an epic painting session, which saw us setting up three airbrushes in my garden and weathering the elements to knock over a Command Star of Smoke Jaguars.

Australia is currently under the La Nina weather pattern, which means a colder than usual summer with frequent storms in the afternoon; a big change from the hellish armageddon we experienced year. Soon after we started painting the rain was coming in sideways and we were throwing on jackets!

We started with Vallejo grey primer, then added some darker ocean grey shading to the lower half. I also mixed an even darker grey in for the lower extremities. The top was highlighted with a 3:1 grey primer/white to provide the contrast needed for some jaguar spots.

Wade used the dark grey to add irregular jaguar spots to the top half of each model. I filled them in with some lighter grey shades to finish the shape, which took some practise before I was happy with them. A round of highlights in the centre of the spots helped, I think.

As I was finishing off the spots Wade worked on the laser lenses, painting the large lasers blue and the medium lasers green (MechWarrior colours). He passed me the first one and the medium lasers made my eyes pop out; Ha!! Wicked.

After finishing the spots I started building up a NMM style gold colour for the cockpit jeweling. The idea was to make it look a little like jaguar eyes, and provide a bit of contrast by using some warmer colours. I added the final white dots of the jeweling 4 hours after we started, which is pretty good for what we achieved, I think. Wade took them home to add some more panel lining and mud basing, in preparation for a jungle-theme.

To finish them off I managed to find some nice broad-leafed plants at Hobbyco to add some foliage, along with some stringy, dark, roots. I have also ordered some Smoke Jaguar decals from Fighting Piranha Graphics, which will take a while to come in; FPG is swamped at the moment!

All together, a pretty good effort for the amount of hours we put it in. More than anything, seeing these 'Mechs that we have all loved for 25 years coming to life has been an absolute joy.

See you across the table,

Marc