Imperial Bosun’s Bargeworks: Pimp my Squad - Armada

Armada

Dec 7

Written By Will Ross

Ship’s husbandry on a Galactic Scale

7th December 2024

Rosco

3 mins

G’day shipmates,

Another Imperial Bosun’s Bargeworks post here - this time a quicky to just show off some squadrons and maybe provide some inspiration to paint Armada squadrons - for anyone who needs it, that is!

Star Wars Armada Squadron Painting Inspiration

There’s actually a shed-ton of places on the internet to get some great ideas for how to paint you squads (check links). When I started out, I asked a bloke (Rik) I knew in Perth, Western Australia, to get me started with some good paint jobs for my Armada and Imperial Assault core set minis. This was about 10 years ago, when I had neither the skill or the equipment to do it myself, but I did have disposable income, so that fixed that. He did an epic job - a few of those are in the ‘family photo’ below.

Since then, I’ve built up my own skills, painting gear and confidence to slap paint on my own minis - while also somehow managing to do a decent job of it. Social media sites, especially Pinterest, gave me some great inspiration to try new techniques on my Armada (and other) minis. Angry Space Triangles had a great painting guide section for ships and squads with some simple to follow instructions. YouTube is of course a goldmine of self-education on these kinds of things and Sorastro quickly became one of my go-to channels for painting just about any kind of mini using a range of techniques. Even if Star Wars movie-accurate paintwork isn’t your jam, there’s so much other stuff out there that people have done that you can try replicate, like X-Wing mini custom paint jobs, military aircraft markings from around the world, sporting teams or even pop culture (Scooby Doo Mystery Machine VCX-100?). Anything goes, really. No one is going to stop you - Actually, if anything, the Armada community is more likely to encourage you!

How To Paint Armada Squadrons

Next up on the Armada painting table… Lando’s Falcon, Z-95s and a CIS C-9979 Transport flotilla

Really, the best way to go about it, is to base coat them all in light grey (Empire/CIS) or an off-white (Rebel/GAR), then apply a light wash or ink to bring out he details. Once that’s dry, then you can start applying your colours, however you like. Want to stick to the canon livery? Sure thing - there’s millions of pics online for you to reference. Want to make up a whole bunch of rainbow Care Bear squadrons? Awesome - get all your paints out and go for it! I’m probably too late to the party to provide you complete guides, but I can definitely show you that almost anyone can do it. If you want painted squads: Get after it!