Star Wars Scout Trooper [WIP: Upper & Mid-Torso plus Survival Ration Pouches]

One step at a time is a phrase that perfectly encapsulates the progress being made on the Bandai 1/12 scale Scout Trooper aka Biker Scout. I had decided to take what should've been a quick, easy build and turn it into one requires much more input from the scale modeler. This means research on movie accurate details as well as both airbrushing and hand painting the said details. Even then I still inadvertently left out some details on the Scout Trooper's backpack (more on this later in the blog). That said, going slow is allowing me to pay close attention to what I believe is the most defining characteristic of the Scout Trooper i.e. the subtle interplay between the different shades of white.

Scout Trooper work-in-progress: Upper- and Mid-Torso plus Survival Ration Pouches

Top down view of the Upper/Mid-Torso shows the backpack top and the slot for the Neck/Head

Back view of the Upper- (onto which the backpack is attached) and Mid-Torso

When I initially laid eyes on the Scout Trooper's backpack, I did notice how bare the backpack looked but thought nothing of it and moved on. As careful as I was, it turns out I still missed the panel lines that can be seen clearly on the original costume used in Return of the Jedi (see inset photo below). That oversight is one I intend to correct by the next work-in-progress update post.

Inset photos shows how the Scout Trooper backpack looks like in the real life costume

Apart from the Mid-Torso which was put together into a sub-assembly before being painted, the rest of the parts were either left in their original molded color state or painted individually (i.e. without needing to be sub-assembled first). Colors used for the Scout Trooper comprised black, ivory, flat white, and the original unpainted glossy white. Panel lining was carried out using a brown wash on the ivory colored Survival Ration Pouches, while a grey wash was used on the Mid-Torso. Other than these neutral colors, a dash of red and metallic silver was applied on the top of the backpack.

Individual painted pieces and mid-torso sub-assembly prior to the assembly process proper

Inner section of the Upper Torso (almost all the black parts) assembled ...

... followed by the Scout Trooper's Back Armor and 'Backpack' ...

... and then the Front Armor and Survival Ration Pouches go on (note the already assembled Mid-Torso)

If one were to use the Mid-Torso region of the original costume as the baseline reference, then I wouldn't fault you for thinking that I had overdone the panel lining on the Mid-Torso region. Actually I was already very aware of this happening prior to applying the panel lines hence it was the reason I chose to use a grey wash instead of a black one, for a more subtle effect. But even with this precaution the Mid-Torso panel lines turned out a tad too dark for my liking. In the end, it will be one of those things that I will chalk off as a creative license exercise.  

Front isometric view of the Scout Trooper Upper- and Mid-Torso with the Survival Ration Pouches

Back isometric view of the Scout Trooper Upper- and Mid-Torso with the Survival Ration Pouches

For me, the next steps of this project are pretty clear cut in that it will involve assembling and painting the neck, followed by using that simple piece to connect the Head/Helmet onto the Upper/Mid-Torso. Concurrently, I plan to begin work on the lower half of the Scout Trooper i.e. the legs, knees, feet, and lower torso. Meanwhile, the arms, elbows, hands, weapons, and base will be worked on after that. Here's wishing you a good weekend and I'll leave you with a light-hearted quote from the late, great Ruth Bader Ginsburg ... In every good marriage, it helps sometimes to be a little deaf.