The Mandalorian sees some custom touches.

When we were at Nationals in Madison, WI, my wife, daughter and I wandered through a local Hobby Lobby. They spotted something and said, “Hey, this one’s on sale; are you going to get it?” “Nah,” I replied. “Are you SURE?” Well, it was marked down about 80%, so I decided, what the heck.

This is the Bandai Mandalorian (Beskar Arbor) (#5061796). The kit is a typical Bandai, easy to build straight from the box, but the figure is a dull brown and the armor a kind of steel grey. I wanted something more distinctive and dramatic. After assembling the body, I painted it with Model Master Gloss Black (#1747). I painted the armor Mission Models Iridescent Tuquoise (MMP-161). I highlighted of places on the right shoulder and right thigh of the armor with a Pilot Gold Marker with an extra fine point. Various shades of brown were used for the leather accessories. Rather than using the supplied stickers, I painted the ammunition with a Molitow Liquid Chrome pen (703.101).

The kit comes with a base in black plastic. Again, looking for something more dramatic, I wanted to have my figure striding across a desert planet. After filling in places on the base, I airbrushed it with Vallejo Model Color Ocher Brown (70.856). Then I gave the base a coat of Krylon spray adhesive and applied JTT gravel. Finally, I sprayed the base with flat clear to secure the gravel in place.