Wednesday, April 7, 2021

Miniatures for Star Wars: Lando



The comic Star Wars: Lando is the greatest Star Wars movie that's never been made. It's a perfect script for a tight, 90-minute adventure film: To clear an old debt, Lando assembles a crew for one last heist. It all goes according to plan until they realize they've accidentally stolen the luxury yacht of the Emperor himself.

I've always been a little cagey about the comics, cartoons and novels set in the Star Wars universe. All this peripheral literature has a way of providing too many answers.

When I was a child, the magic of Star Wars was that every re-watching left me asking new questions. My friends and I ruminated endlessly on matters great and small, from how Palpatine became Emperor to what lay under Boba Fett's mask. (Among the other sins of the prequel trilogy was that it systematically went about answering all these questions.) I think one of the reasons I love Lando so much is that it throws new light on a much-loved character, but it never stoops to be an origin story.

The small but vivid cast of characters in Lando is another reason I love the comic. And so I set out to find appropriate miniatures for each of them. The seed of the collection comes from Imperial Assault. However, Imperial Assault's coverage is patchy so I had to fill the gaps with repaints and homebrews made from the old WOTC Star Wars miniatures. 

Without futher ado, I give you...

Lando Calrissian (miniature from FFG's Imperial Assault range):

Lando Calrissian painted miniature FFG


Lobot (miniature from WOTC's Star Wars Imperial Entanglements range):

Lobot painted 28mm miniature - Star Wars


Chanath Cha, bounty hunter and erstwhile lover of Lobot. (Let that one sink in.)

(Her miniature started life as some generic WOTC miniature that I butchered with greenstuff. Fortunately, a fresh paint job hides many sins):

Chanath Cha painted 28mm miniature - Star Wars


Sava Korin Pers, the unscrupulous ugnaught scholar (another WOTC miniature modified with a dollop of greenstuff):

Sava Korin Pers painted 28mm miniature - Star Wars


And last but not least, we have the genetically identical alien clone warriors Pavol and Aleksin. As far as I can tell, they are the first openly queer characters in Star Wars. They are also fantastic creations: deadly brothers/lovers who look like panthers and only speak to each other. I had to homebrew their miniatures from WOTC Sith Warriors who died horrible deaths under my X-Acto Knife.


Pavol painted 28mm miniature - Star Wars


Aleksin painted 28mm miniature - Star Wars



Thanks for stopping by!
I hope you are all doing okay... or at least better than Pavol and Aleksin.



12 comments:

  1. Excellent painting throughout, with some great conversions as well to get the desired models. I find the old WOTC models can be a great resource but the sculpt height and detail can vary greatly, not that FFG sculpt height doesn't vary as well

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I totally agree. At first, I hated the soft plastic that the WOTC miniatures were made from. And then I realized how easy it was to cut and mod... and I fell in love.

      Delete
  2. Really like what you've created here Matt. Not read the Lando comics, but I've enjoyed the Vader and Doctor Aphra stories in the more recent-ish releases.

    ReplyDelete
  3. Wooooa! Great to see new stuff from You. EYESCANDIES!

    ReplyDelete
  4. Great bunch! I'm glad to see Lobot here... An under appreciated SW character for sure. And excellently painted by you, certainly. Though of course Lando with his stunning cape is the jewel of this batch.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. That cape was my best attempt at paisley.
      I hope you're doing well, Allison. I just saw your second comment on my post about the Zen koan videos. Thanks for asking after me! I'm pretty good (in the grand scale of 2020-2021). I hope things are okay for you in Guelph.

      Delete
  5. Ohhh, I missed your Star Wars stuff so much! Your personal painting style looks fantastic on these minis, you make them look coherent (as they should) even given their different sources. I still have a lot of Imperial Assault minis to paint, I'm glad (and inspired!) to see your job!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thanks Suber! It's great to hear from you too. I'm looking forward to seeing your IA miniatures.
      I have a ton of pics to post, so more Star Wars is on the way.

      Delete
  6. I'm painting Star Wars miniatures too (West End Games) and then I'm liking to see other SW painted miniatures, especially these nicely and colorful painted ones with an intriguing background. :D

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. The WEG Star Wars stuff is so good, it's too bad that it's small by modern standards... Not to mention rather rare and costly now!

      Delete