"On the second day of Paint Queuemas..."

Today are 2 74z Speeder Bikes. These weren't terribly great models - the riders don't sit well without some cutting and I had to add a small piece of plasticard to the front of the bike where the steering vane poles connect to give it the proper gap. I also drilled out the air intake.

The scout troopers were a real b***** to paint, as I started from grey and paint up to white, while I came to the horrible conclusion that my Vallejo Cold White was chalky. To alleviate this, I heavily thinned it out with glaze medium, which helped, then threw the bottle in the trash. To get the armor finish correct, I applied Tamiya Clear to it.

I wanted to give the bikes themselves some visual punch, and decided on a dazzle camo scheme of Tamiya German Blue and 50/50 mix of German and Field Blue. I then painted the exposed machine parts in dark grey with Gunmetal accents and gave them an overall black wash. I added wear and damage by hand chipping with Vallejo Air Aluminum. The seats and handles are Vallejo Camo Beige (to mirror the trooper's boot soles), washed with GW Earthshade. I then used oils to give it a pin wash and light weathering. When finished, I added the laser burn effect to the blaster cannon using AK metallics and TurboDork Laserburn.

Overall I'm happy with this. If I do Scout Troopers again, I'd really like to do them in the olive green scheme I've seen floating around in fan art circles, as I think it's more in keeping with their