Bothan Report:TX 225 Occupier Tank Fast Build
Vehicles have always been the bane of my model building hobby. This dates as far back as Warhammer 40k in the early 90's. Faced with the prospect of painting a small finely detailed foot solider or a mammoth vehicle made of plate steel and treads and I will always take the natural textures of cloth and armor. I don't know why but the ability to create a smooth clean metal finish that is typical of vehicles of war has alluded me. In recent years I have gotten clever. Spray Paint!
Ditching my brush in favor of a nice even coat of spray in whatever color Im going for has really renewed my confidence in tackling these big vehicle projects.
It was inevitable that I would face my long standing fear in my new hobby as well and sure enough the Imperial TX-225 Occupier Tank came along. Curse you Rogue One!
Here is how I tackled this hunk of plastic in record time in some easy steps.
Step 1
The first thing I did after assembling the tank was set about deciding how to base it. A common theme for my Star Wars Legion hobby is to try and create dynamic bases that aren't just sand and forest by default. In this case I took some inspiration from the scene in Rogue One that this tank was featured. It was a dirty street covered in sand and mud.
I used some air dry clay and laid out some strips. II then imprinted the tank treads on to the clay using the assembled tank itself. I then finished it off with some sand flock and some " muddy brown" spray
I even gave the under body of the tank a similar treatment with the sand but it isn't like anyone will ever see it when it gets glued to the base.
Step 2
While the paint job looks rather simplistic, it is actually a blending of two different colors of spray. I used a somewhat dark grey and covered the whole model with it. I then used the " Muddy Brown" from the previous step and faded in from the front and bottom. By using these two sprays back and fourth I was able to blend the two tones into a seamless coat that has the muddy hue while still clearly being a metal surface. When I was happy with the overall effect I hit it up with a generous coat of NULN OIL.
The crates are also treated with a spray and this time I used a " Poppy Red" spray to give them a even finish. I ran some NULN OIL in the side vents to break up the single tone color scheme.
Step 3
To finish the model off I primed the troopers with a WHITE spray but not before I pre-assembled them. All the remaining guns on the tank were fitted at the end . The Stormtroopers get the NULN OIL treatment while the guns can be dry brushed with any metallic color of your choice. In this case I used " TIN BITZ" to give it a rusted look.
FINISHED PRODUCT
While this tutorial doesn't cover every aspect of the modeling process I feel it captures the overall theme of what I did for mine. The goal was to do a quick but nice looking table ready tank without succumbing to my fear of painting vehicles. Using Spray instead of brush may seem like a cheat but in my case it was a life saver. Feel free to leave comments and let me know how you tackled yours.
Thanks for tuning in to another episode of The Bothan Report!
