Master replicas AT-AT repaint, a day by day account

[Flyscriber]

Hi Folks.
This last year I have done a few MR replica repaints for clients, this one features a MR AT-AT from start to finish.
If you know the MR AT-AT you will know the castings are gorgeous but the paint job lets it down really badly.
I have done a few of these over the years, and with each one I do I always seem to find or receive new images of the original from clients and browsing the internet. This time I managed to get some really nice images of what I like to think of as the Hero version seen on screen.

Notice the very visual weathering on the surface with many small paint idents which easily reference this image against the closest model seen during the Hoth battle.
This is the version I will try to replicate as best I can on each re-paint I do.
with that said, heres how a MR AT-At looks when you receive it.

You can see that the surface has almost no weathering detail and the ones that are on there are pretty darn awful. So first thing to do is remove it from its base and clean all surfaces with degreasing agent. After many hours cross referencing the images of the real filming miniature I chose a warm white as a base coat.

On this version the model has may snow effect "blobs" which are super difficult to remove, so these were left on as the client is wanting plenty of snow on this one. I will be covering the original MR Blobs on the finished piece, so no worries there. Unfortunately my phone camera has a warm hot spot in centre frame which gives a pinky cast to the centre of the image, so please ignore the slight colour indiscretions of the images.
So this is the end of day 1 painting and mounting to painting base.

 

[Flyscriber]

Day 2 is the most interesting day with light surface sketching done in a light black/brown mix. This is to add some subtle surface textures and to have a sketch to follow on the surface later on in the re-paint.

As this is going to have plenty of snow on the feet, I am going to darken the areas around the snow for more contrast on the finished job. Everything is just applied by eye following the reference for shading and surface squiggles etc.

 

[Flyscriber]

Day three brings another day of surface sketching

Carefully following the reference I add more dark shading to the surfaces and start to mask the smaller areas of weathering where needed to make the panels pop along their edges and add some perceived detail.

still a long way to go to get it looking right.

 

[Flyscriber]

Day four and it starts to become more like an IM paint job.

You can see at this stage there are more colours added and some pin washed added to only a few of the panel lines. I only add this wash to areas where darker weathering is seen, this keeps the "dirt on the surface matched to an area of dark panel lines and adds to its realism and reason to be there.

More soon folks.

 

[Flyscriber]

Day five now.
It starts to come together much more as the layering goes on.

At this stage I am thinking mainly of the snow to model contrast. So al areas where snow is to be applied need to be slightly darker than the main model. As the feet will have the most snow, they are darkened a little in comparison to the rest of the model. Its hard to see but I makes a huge difference when done. You can see my first application of snow on the rear left foot. I tried many types of snow including some resin with talcum powder, (no good, grains are to fine) some citadel snow (no good, too sparkly ) and settled on Tamia snow effect as it sticks well and can be formed into overhangs as well as a thin snow covering.

 

[Flyscriber]

Another day, another snowstorm.

Now things are starting to look better. The contrast with the snow is about right. The warmth of the paint colours is looking perfect to me.

 

[Flyscriber]

starting now on the finer detailing to crisp up the feel of the weathering, as too much airbrush work makes for a "soft" looking model. I didn't want a soft ATAT

Small edge scratching with a knife is now taking place to add another level of detail to the panels. This cuts through the darker portions of the weathering and adds some sharpness to the finish. I only do this in places where I feel it needs some highlighting to bring out the detail.

Now time for the final stretch bringing it all together and mounting it to its new base. The client wanted it to stand on a satin black base instead of the snow scene it comes with from MR. I prefer this actually, because the crashed speeder is grossly out of scale with the ATAT and makes it look way too small.

chin wires added for the unshaven feel.

More snow and other bits.

It gets hard to see the differences in the detail as it becomes more finished, but they are in there.

Now I think it is time to stop with the painting. This is the hardest time for a painter, deciding if it needs more, or to leave it as is. Once this confusing time has arrived, I normally sit with the model and view it for a few days to see what jumps out at me and needs tweaking. I normally do a little more after a few days then that's it.

 

[Flyscriber]

Attached to its new base, the model sharpens up dramatically without all the mess of the painting around its feet.

And just for everyone who thinks this is overdone !!
Here's a comparison with the original reference image and the finished version in black and white. The lighting is a little different, but I think its pretty close.
repaint first.

ILM next.

Massive thanks to the client for this chance to do another awesome miniature.
Thanks to you for reading this far in the story.
Happy modelling and painting folks.

 

[JoeCS]

Great work!

 

[Ollois]

edited

 

[DeLano80]

Great job!

 

[DaddyfromNaboo]

Really great work, and the day-to-day-concept makes it an excellent tutorial on how to go about weathering a model. Did you use brushes or an airbrush for the weathering?

 

[Analyzer]

Perfect!

If you don't mind me asking, what kind of paints/colors did you use?

 

[Flyscriber]

Hi DaddyfromNaboo and Analyzer, and everyone else, I'm Glad you like it. The paint job is 99 percent airbrushed with minimal brush work except for pin washes and the odd cut back with thinners to make blotch areas and grimy puddles, mainly on top. There is a shed load of masking on one of these, which i didn't show on the images. I used two full rolls of 2 inch, and 2 rolls of 1 inch tape on this model alone. The base coat is automotive off white/ creamy, which give a super hard earing finish to work on. I normally use Tamia colour for the weathering and panels, this can be moved about or removed easily from the base coat if needed using Tamia thinners which don't affect the base coat too much. Colours are a personal thing, I mix most of mine as i go, as this gives slight colour differences to each application with each new mix. I think this adds to the complexity of the finish and means the model doesn't look too monotone. But that's just the way I do it, there's plenty of ways to skin a cat (apparently, poor kitty)!!!