Snowspeeder part 1: pre shading

After a bit of a dry spell, I'm happy to report that I made it back to my painting bench!

A vigilant Facebook SW Legion community shared an amazing sale on the T47 Airspeeder, and the deal was too good to pass up. The model takes very little assembly which lets you focus on the painting portion. For this model I am trying my hand at the pre-shading technique

After a grey primer coat, I airbrushed along panel lines using VMC German Grey. I was not concerned with being perfectly precise, and in fact wanted a little variation. 

Next I filled in my panels bit by bit using Tamiya XF20 Medium Gray. Have I mentioned before how much I like Tamiya for airbrush work? I went with several passes on each panel, and made sure the center of the panels received more paint than the edges. (That's right, I'm doing the opposite of the miniature painter's edge highlighting!)

On the topside of the model, I added a second layer to the panel centers. For this I used VMC Green Grey. It works nicely with the warm gray of the XF20. After this I gave the whole model a few light overall passes of a mix of VMC Green Grey and Sky Grey


Sorry for the blurry photo at the end there; it was shot in a garage with a handheld model and a cell phone. Given those variables, I'd say it turned out rather well. It does show the results of my pre shading and center highlights. It is a technique ILM used on the orginials, so I may be able to squeeze some screen-accuracy from this kit (which to be honest is beautifully detailed.)

Next time, I will be adding unit markings. In Empire Strikes Back, the speeders are seen in either red or grey markings. Currently I'm leaning toward the grey, as I think the contrast between my earthy warm grey hull and some cool grey markings would make for an interesting model. Until next time! (Hopefully soon)