How to Paint Everything: All the Way Squad Pack for Star Wars Shatterpoint

Cassian Andor’s story ended in tragedy, but he’s had all the luck in Star Wars: Shatterpoint. Not only is he a fan-favorite character and a top-tier primary, but his squad pack promises to be fairly easy to get painted and to the table. Andor and his support unit of Rebel Pathfinders all wear variations on the same uniform, and K-2SO is...dark grey, with only a few details to pick out in silver.

Bases

Most of the time I do the bases first, and this squad pack was no exception. After priming all the models in Vallejo black brush-on primer and giving each of them a quick drybrush in their predominant color (brown for Andor and the Pathfinders, dark grey for K-2SO), I painted the bases, starting with Army Painter Deep Grey for the metal floor areas. I followed this with a drybrushed layer of Uniform Grey, then a lighter drybrush in Reaper Misty Grey.

Since the finale of Rogue One takes place on a beach planet, I wanted the sandy areas of the bases to be a different shade than the usual Tatooine tan. I started with a base layer of Reaper Shield Brown, then a heavy drybrush in Reaper Amber Gold, which gave me a nice pale yellow color, made a little paler by a final drybrush layer in Reaper Ancient Stone. These characters all have black boots (or dark grey feet in K-2SO’s case) so I didn’t worry too much about the drybrushing splashing onto their feet – I would correct that later with Army Painter Grim Black Speedpaint.

Rebel Pathfinders

Rebel Pathfinder for Star Wars Shatterpoint

Rebel Pathfinders painted for Star Wars: Shatterpoint by Jefferson Powers.

After priming, I gave these two models a heavy drybrush layer in Army Painter Bootstrap Brown, followed by a lighter layer in Leather Brown. This gave me a base color that would take care of their paints and the male trooper’s face and hands. For the female trooper, I did her face and hands in a base coat of Army Painter Topaz Skin, and then painted highlights on the forehead, cheekbones, chin, backs of the hands, and fingers in Tourmaline Skin. I used Reaper Pure White for the eyes on both models, followed by a dot of Reaper Pure Black, touching up where needed with either Topaz Skin or Bootstrap Brown.

I painted the female trooper’s hair with a base of Reaper Burning Orange, followed by some brushed-on highlights in Highlight Orange (it’s all right there in the name), and then an Army Painter Strong Tone Wash to bring out the texture.

For the sleeves of their uniform jackets I used Army Painter Paratrooper Tan, slightly thinned to retain some of the shading from the drybrushed brown undercoat. Then I painted in some highlights using Army Painter Urban Buff. I did the stripes on the sleeves in Reaper Lemon Yellow (but any bright, pale yellow will do).

I started the vests with a coat of Reaper Nightsky Blue. Reaper paints tend to go on a little thin so a bit of the brown undercoat shading showed through – if you’re using a different brand you may want to thin it a bit as with the sleeves. I then brushed in the highlights in Reaper Ashen Blue, and painted the yellow patch on the front of the right shoulders in Reaper Lemon Yellow. I painted the male trooper’s helmet with the same two colors, drybrushing the Ashen Blue over the Nightsky Blue to take advantage of the helmet’s texture. For the medal band around the middle of the helmet I used Army Painter Gun Metal.

Rebel Pathfinders color guide

Photo & color guide by Jefferson Powers.

There are a few straps along the sides of the vests which, in at least some of the images I looked at, appear to be orange in color, so I painted these in Reaper Burning Orange.

For the last few details I turned to Army Painter Speedpaints, using Satchel brown for their belts and belt pouches, and Grim Black for their boots and weapons. Finally, I did a light drybrush in Army Painter Ancient Stone, going very lightly in order to pick out some of the raised details.

Cassian Andor

Cassian Andor painted for Star Wars: Shatterpoint by Jefferson Powers.

Andor’s outfit is pretty much the same as the Pathfinders, just with the pants and jacket colors reversed. Starting with the same undercoat of Bootstrap Brown and Leather Brown drybrushed over Vallejo black primer, I did the pants in Paratrooper Tan with Urban Buff for the highlights. For the vest I used the same two blue shades, but on this model the straps on front of the vest are more visible – I painted those in Reaper Wolf Grey, which stands out nicely against the darker blue shades.

For Andor’s face and hands I started with Reaper Tanned Shadow, then painted in highlights in Reaper Tanned Skin. The eyes were done in Reaper Pure White and Pure black, and the beard in Brigandine Brown. For the hair I used Army Painter Satchel Brown Speedpaint, to darken it down a bit from the brown undercoat.

Cassian Andor color guide

Photo and color guide by Jefferson Powers.

I did the stripes on the sleeves and the yellow patch on the right shoulder in Reaper Lemon Yellow. The other details were done the same way as with the Pathfinders: Grim Black Speedpaint for the boots, and Satchel Brown for the belt and pouches. Andor’s weapon is a mix of silver and black, so I painted the whole thing in Army Painter Gun Metal followed by a Dark Tone wash, then went over the black parts in Grim Black Speedpaint.

As with the other models, I finished this one off with a light drybrush in Ancient Stone to pick out a few highlights.

K-2SO

K-2SO painted for Star Wars: Shatterpoint by Jefferson Powers.

The most fearsomely sarcastic droid in the galaxy is also one of the least colorful. K-2SO started with a base coat of Army Painter Deep Grey drybrushed over Vallejo black primer, followed by a very light drybrush of Ash Grey to get a few highlights here and there. I went over the joints at his elbows, wrists, hips, knees, and ankles in Army Painter Gun Metal, followed by a Dark Tone Wash to bring back the little textural details.

The rims around K-2SO’s shoulder sockets are gold, so I very carefully went over those in Army Painter Bright Gold, touching up where needed in a mix of black and Deep Grey. The Imperial insignia on his shoulders is raised, making it easier to paint in – a very light drybrush of Reaper Misty Grey got most of it done, followed by a bit of touch up with Misty Grey and Pure Black.

I did a small dot of Army Painter Shining Silver for each eye, but honestly the eye sockets on the model are so deep that you can't really see them unless you're holding the model right in front of your face. So you can probably skip this step unless you're going for a show piece.

K-2-SO color guide

Photo and color guide by Jefferson Powers.

Finishing Touches

After giving everything a day or so to fully dry, I varnished all four models with Army Painter Matt Varnish. This gives them a bit of a semi-gloss finish, so I went over them again the next day in a 2:1 mix of AK Interactive Ultra Matte varnish and Army Painter Speedpaint Medium, my current go-to final varnish.

The All the Way Squad Pack was definitely one of the easier ones I’ve painted, but I still had fun with the models – it’s always satisfying to get another squad ready for the table.

Shatterpoint Rebel Pathfinders in game

Andor's Rebel Pathfinders will hold this gantry at all costs. Photo by Jefferson Powers.

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Tags: star wars | rogue one