Traditionally Cap Trooper armour is green and black, however, never being one to follow the norm I decided to paint mine in a more suitable arid wastes scheme for the terrain I would likely be gaming over.

 "What a bunch of apes, this had to happen to me!"

 Before you start clipping out and sticking together your troopers, I highly recommend giving the plastic frames a thorough wash in warm soapy water to remove any residue of the plastic release agent that does tend to remain of the harder plastics.  Let the frames then dry completely overnight. This will avoid any aggravation later when your trying to stick parts together and find the residue is highly effective at occasionally repelling plastic glue and/or primer!

I am not going to go into a lengthy diatribe on how to assemble your troopers as there is already a very good one written by Bob Naismith here, however I will take a few moments to talk about positioning and conversions.

Many gamers are deterred by the term ‘conversion’, thinking it is either some kind of black art, or involves extensive rework and sculpting. Sure, it can be any and all of those things, but it can also be just subtle simple changes made to ‘enhance’ a models dynamics. The MI Cap troopers are a good example. Straight out of the box they can be assembled in a variety of ways, many of which can be quite neutral or static if not careful. That’s fine for many of the models, but if you want them to stand out on the tabletop, a few very subtle changes can really boost their overall appearance.

 Number 1: Head

The angle of the head is very important as it defines the kind of action the model is executing. For example, a head tilted to one side looking along a weapon can exaggerate the look of aiming and readiness. A head looking in the opposite direction to the weapon can show ‘safe’ or at ease.

 Number 2: Weapon

It may seem obvious, but if you want a trooper to show action or readiness, raise the weapon to a high or upright position. If you want them to look at ease, lower the muzzle of the weapon downwards. Keeping the weapon horizontal is a neutral position and emphasises neither. This is the general default position most models end up in when assembled.

 Number 3: Keep it natural

I have lost count the number of models over the years I have seen posed in, if not anatomically impossible positions, sure as heck uncomfortable ones! Before final assembly, look at the positioning of all the parts to ensure it looks natural. If in doubt, try it yourself. If it hurts you can bet it’s not the pose you were looking for.

 Filling the gaps.

It is highly likely that once you have got your trooper assembled into the position you want, there will be a few gaps here and there that may need filling. These can be easily filled with green-stuff or whatever your preferred modelling putty is and resculpted to blend back into the undersuit as shown in the pictures above.

 Painting the MI

The aforementioned article from Mongoose also covers in detail how to paint a Cap Trooper, however the scheme I used is a little different so I’ll just run through it here quickly.  After undercoating the models with a black spray primer I began with the undersuit and picked out any highlights with a 50/50 mix of black and bleached bone. A final highlight of pure bleached bone was then applied for any fine highlights on well defined seams or creases in the leggings. For the armour I began with a base of graveyard earth which I then lightened by adding the same amount again of desert yellow for the first highlight. Over this I then applied a wash of watered down brown ink with a small spot of graveyard earth to reduce the glaze effect of the ink. This helps blend the highlight transitions together and also emphasises the depth of the models natural shadows. Once the ink wash had dried I mixed 50/50 desert yellow and bleached bone to pick out the final highlights and edges to the armour plating such as over the shoulders and around the helmet.

For the Morita and other metal detailing I started with watered down gunmetal over which I picked out the highlights in chainmail silver. The metal areas were then given a thin wash of watered down black ink before being re-highlighted along the barrel. For the Morita’s casing I used a base coat of olive green which I then mixed in camo green for the highlights. This was also used for the pouches on the thigh armour. The face was given a basecoat of dwarf flesh to which I added pale flesh for the highlights and a wash of watered down chestnut ink. A final fine pale flesh highlight was then applied once the eyes had been painted to define the lids and give the cheekbones and nose definition.

For the base I simply stuck down my texture of choice, in this instance a mix of sand and fine gravel, which once set fully I gave a wash with watered down black paint. Once dry I applied three increasingly lighter dry brushes of dark earth, desert yellow and beige before sticking down a few clumps of mixed light brown and golden brown static grass.

Once I was satisfied with the tester model, I simply repeated the whole process over the course of a week to roll out the first few squads including female troopers, snipers and a SICOM advisor. Job done.

Next up: Marauders. Want to know more?