CT42 / 66-9123 (Combat Engineer)

CT 42 / 66-9123 is a combat engineer assigned to Sarlaac Battalion A of the 41st Elite Legion, under Commander Gree.

Parts: Head (Cast from the Battlefront II Engineer), Body (Kneeling Clone Trooper from the RotS Army Builder 3-pack).

Supplies: Paintbrushes, Polly Scale paints and Testors Dull-Cote.

Reference: Star Wars Episode III: Revenge of the Sith and Star Wars Battlefront II.

Step One: The basic figure, one of the troop-builders from the Revenge of the Sith Clone Trooper 3-pack, was not changed much at all. I just popped off the head and replaced it with a cast of the Battlefront II Clone Engineer (special thanks to PBarny at FFURG for the head cast). I wanted to make one of the clone Engineers from the Battlefront II video game. In keeping with my previous trend, I decided to change the Trooper's unit. In the game, all of the characters are from the 501st Legion, whereas all of mine are members of the 41st Elite Legion.

Step Two: The new paint scheme is a variation on that of the 41st Elite Legion's regular Phase II armor. Once the 41st paint scheme was finished, I modified it a bit to be similar to the 501st Legion Engineer released by Hasbro (tan colored circle markings on the helmet and at the left underarm area). After painting the armor, I also applied battle scarring using several different techniques, including drybrushing and scraping off small areas of the original armor markings. To accomplish the scuffing and scratching that is common to all military equipment, I used the edge of my X-acto knife to carefully scrape all of the armor's prominent edges. These are the areas that are most likely to brush against things and become worn or scratched.

Step Three: A light coat of Testors Gloss-Cote was applied to protect the paint and enhance the shiny appearance of the armor.

CC-7567 Captain Rex (Commanding Officer of Torrent Company - 501st Legion)

During the Clone Wars, Captain Rex was in command of Torrent Company of the famed 501st Legion. Rex and his men were assigned to patrol the sectors of the galaxy within the Outer Rim. Anakin Skywalker's second in command during the Clone Wars, Captain Rex was a freethinking, tough, and aggressive clone trooper. Rex voiced his professional opinions to even the highest-ranking Jedi.

Parts: Head (Order 66 ARC Trooper), Torso (Order 66 ARC Trooper), Arms (Order 66 ARC Trooper), Legs (Order 66 ARC Trooper), Helmet (Order 66 ARC Trooper), Shoulder Pauldron (Commander Appo), Equipment Belt & Kama (Clone Commander), Blaster Pistols (Clone Commander), Blaster Rifle (Evolutions Clone Commander).

Supplies: X-acto knife, sandpaper, file, super glue, brushes, Polly Scale paints and Testors Dull-Cote.

Reference: I actually used my son's Captain Rex figure as the reference for this (thank you, Adam). I wanted to do a realistically styled version of this character, but I felt the need to keep the detailing as close as possible to the original.

Step One: First, I used the X-acto knife and the sandpaper to remove all of the figure's hair.

Step Two: Next, I carefully sanded off all of the yellow armor markings. Once this was done, I re-painted the armor with the dark blue markings. The kama was painted black. The straps for the holsters were painted white. The jaig eyes on the helmet were done by hand with a very fine paintbrush (yes, I had to do them more than once before they were satisfactory). I may eventually decide to go back and give him some battle-scarring, but for the time being I like the clean look of the paint job.

Step Three: Finally, a coat of Testors Dull-Cote was applied to seal the paint and reduce the shine.

The Muunilinst 10 (ARC Trooper Squad)

The ARC Trooper Squad led by A-77 Captain Fordo, was instrumental in the attack on Muunilinst, infiltrating the city and disabling a massive artillery cannon. Known as the "Muunilinst 10", they also aided Jedi General Obi-Wan Kenobi in a surgical strike on the enemy headquarters, leading to the capture and surrender of key members of the InterGalactic Banking Clan leadership. Shortly thereafter, they helped defeat the formidable bounty hunter Durge. After the end of the Battle of Muunilinst, Kenobi reinforced the surviving members of the Muunilinst 10 with heavy gunners and deployed them to Hypori to rescue a doomed Jedi task force on the planet from the clutches of the dreaded Supreme Commander of the Droid Armies, General Grievous. Despite taking casualties, they held their ground and succeeded in driving the fearsome droid commander away with a hail of heavy weapon fire. Their efforts undoubtedly saved the lives of the surviving Jedi.

Parts: Most of the figures and parts came directly from The Hunt for Grievous Battle Pack. Additional parts were taken from a RotS AT-TE Gunner.

Supplies: X-acto knife, Dremel, sandpaper, file, super glue, brushes, Testors paints, Polly Scale paints and Testors Dull-Cote.

Reference: The Clone Wars animated series. Basically, these figures are all "improved" versions of what Hasbro released.

Step One (A-77 Captain Fordo): I was pretty happy with the Captain Fordo figure. He got a new paint job using a brighter red, and some of the details that were missed at the factory got painted (such as the webbing for his holsters, buckles on the kama straps, etc). He also got a new pair of pistols. Although the original ones were probably more accurate for the realistic sculpt, I really liked the longer barreled pistols he was seen twirling (something he seems to have inherited from Jango) in the Clone Wars micro-series. The new pistols were made by cutting the stock and part of the receiver group from a standard DC-17 rifle. The barrel and pistol grip assembly were super glued together and the barrels were hollowed out with the Dremel.

Step Two (Z-6 Rotary Gunner): I wanted this Lieutenant's legs to be more articulated, so I used the Dremel with a cutting disc to cut the pelvis and legs off the figure. I then used super glue to attach the pelvis and legs from an RotS AT-TE Gunner. Once the kama was added at the end of the process, the seam where these two major parts were joined cannot be seen at all. Next, I repositioned the right arm by a cutting wedge-shaped pieces from the inside of the elbow. I applied a small dab of super glue inside the cut and then held the arm in the desired position until the glue dried. The left arm was already positioned correctly for my purposes.

Step Three (Reciprocating Quad Gunner): This Lieutenant was already accurate except that the blue marking on his armor were a much different shade than that of the other ARC lieutenants. He was simply given a new paint job to match the color used on the others.

Step Four: The remaining figures are all ARC Lieutenants that came from The Hunt for Grievous Battle Pack. They were all given new markings with the same blue paint used on the Rotary Gunner and the Cip-Quad Gunner.

Step Five: All of the ARC Troopers received a bit of battle-damage to their armor. Finally, a light coat of Testors Dull-Cote was applied to each figure to seal the paint and reduce the shine.