Star Wars First Order Stormtrooper [WIP - Appendages & Waist Equipment]

Feeling pleased with myself, I had no idea this seemingly stroll-in-the-park-project was about to become an excruciatingly frustrating one. But more on that later. First I'll take the easy wins which up until now include the assembly/painting of the First Order Stormtrooper's appendages and waist equipment. So far, putting things together have been a pleasure (i.e. easy and non- problematic) while painting has been a breeze (i.e. just sprayed on a flat black coat). It's a testament to Bandai's design and engineering team that the kit is coming together so effortlessly, for the large part anyway.  

First Order Stormtrooper work-in-progress: Assembly and painting of the appendages/waist equipment

Bandai's model kits tend to be modular in nature (see next six photos below). For someone with borderline OCD behavior, this is a welcome design choice because it makes assembly an extremely structured, orderly and fast process. From a scientific perspective, this design choice makes sense. Our mind is being conditioned to feel a sense of achievement, and quickly too with every completed part. Dopamine is likely being produced in our brains to reward our 'accomplishments' thus feeding our addiction to Bandai model kits and to the hobby in general. Well, that's my theory anyway.    

Bandai's modular concept meant the appendages could be individually assembled piecemeal

Keeping it simple: any parts that had to be painted black received a spray of Citadel Chaos Black

First Order Stormtrooper arms/hand options assembled with a partially complete paint job

As it was with the arms/hands (see above), putting together the legs/feet was easy, almost to the point of being effortless. To avoid a plasticky toy-like look on the appendages, I carried out a series of steps of my own. Firstly, I sprayed the black parts with a matte black acrylic paint. Secondly, I used an extra thin liquid plastic glue to join the white armor parts together to reduce any visibility of line gaps. And thirdly, I was extra careful when removing the white armor parts from the sprue. If damage couldn't be avoided, I mitigated the resulting imperfections with a semi-gloss clear coat.      

Pieces of the left and right leg were assembled, painted and bagged up while awaiting the next step

Similar to the arm/hands, any leg parts that had to be painted black received a spray of Citadel Chaos Black

First Order Stormtrooper legs/feet assembled and paint job completed

Only after the legs had been attached could the waist equipment be fixed onto the belt (see next five photos below). Results are nothing to shout about but they do fill up the waist area and make it look less sparse. It makes sense anyway for the stormtrooper to have equipment attached to the waist. 

Waist equipment is simplistic in nature with the blacks kept to a simple flat matte black

First Order Stormtrooper head, body and waist with the waist equipment laid out in a semi-circle

So before the waist equipment could be fixed to the belt, the legs had to be attached first

First Order Stromtrooper with his/her legs and waist equipment (left side) sans arms

First Order Stromtrooper with his/her legs and waist equipment (right side) sans arms

If you are a Star Wars fan then you would have noticed a major discrepancy between the 1/12 scale figurine so far and the real thing. In fact I didn't notice it at first as I'm more a Star Trek fan myself. Hint: look at the stormtrooper's hands. See it yet? A significant portion of both hands should actually be white in color, especially palm-side. While it has been ages since I painted white by hand, I haven't forgotten how much I detest doing so. I mean really hate, hate. Throw the hand brush to the wall kind of loathing. Turn hulk-green and run amok kind of disgust. Well, you get the idea.

A much belated lunar new year greeting; an example of the figurine's joint articulation

Close up of the First Order Stromtrooper's legs/feet

I shall removeth these restraints and leaveth this cell with the doth'r ope.

And i'll dropeth mine own weapon.

So from here on out things are going to get a bit dicey. Okay maybe I'm exaggerating a bit but it's still not going to be a fun process for me. Contemplating what I have to do in the coming weeks namely paint white by hand sends a chill down my spine. To make things worse, it's not just his/her hands. In fact painting white on the hands is the easy part. Painting white on the weapons is a whole other level of arghhhhh. Why didn't I notice the need for painting white in the first place I'll never know. I was probably caught up in the fantasy of a quick and easy build. Hah! So much for that dream. Pfft!