Rugged Rebel Husky Bin Mod

[coryphefish (Corellon J)]

I'm currently working on an RFT and Star Forge Revan at the same time while juggling 4 Jyn variants at various stages of completion and wondering how hard it could be to make a life-size K-2SO.

So what do I do? "Hmmm...my husky bin would be so much cooler if it was a glossy plasteel gray."
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- An individual who did not so much rebel as saunter vaguely hopewards.

2018/19: Commanding Officer, Docking Bay 94 Detachment
2017/18: DXO DB94, BMO Freedom Base

[coryphefish (Corellon J)]

Step 1: Research
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If the idea is to make my husky bin look like something you could loot in a Star Wars RPG, then what do all the various crates and boxes and footlockers actually look like?

I spent an hour or so on Google Images last week, and came up with the following gallery of reference pics....

https://imgur.com/a/W6tXp

Common themes:

1. Regular glossy gray. Space metal / plasteel isn't all that METALLIC SHINY. That's what makes it so spacey.

2. Space Stripes. Especially if the paint is distressed and rugged. Especially if there's random diagonal breaks in the space stripes.

3. Dirt weathering.
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- An individual who did not so much rebel as saunter vaguely hopewards.

2018/19: Commanding Officer, Docking Bay 94 Detachment
2017/18: DXO DB94, BMO Freedom Base

[coryphefish (Corellon J)]

Step 2. Base coat
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I knew I wanted a kind of glossy gray, but not metallic. I bought the can on the left first, but then second guessed myself because maybe gloss is too shiny, so I bought the can on the right too. (Satin is between matte and gloss)



I figured I could get away with spraying both onto different areas on the top of the bin to test...and then spray over the "wrong" color.

Gloss was moderately shiny and cool gray. Satin was not shiny at all and warm gray. So the cool gloss won out! (Cool is way more sci-fi than warm, I don't make the rules)

Lesson learned. Painting a large item takes up more time and more paint than painting a tiny 3D printed thing. Who knew??



After that first coat, I tried to cover the drips with subsequent coats, but then THOSE started dripping. But whatever. At least it's mostly even now. New plan is to call it good, let it dry, sand off the drips, and then prioritize those areas for the dirt drybrushing once I put the stripes on.

(Edit: Pulled it back into the garage because it was dark, and I'm loving the subtle not-quite-metallic shine it has in close-up, artificial light!)
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- An individual who did not so much rebel as saunter vaguely hopewards.

2018/19: Commanding Officer, Docking Bay 94 Detachment
2017/18: DXO DB94, BMO Freedom Base

[Leia (Vera Campbell)]

Nice! Can't wait to see what you come up with!
I had thought of doing something similar myself, though I can't narrow down the exact design I want. I was planning on buying clearance model kits for glueing down texture/greeblies.
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Costumer of the Year - 2010
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Ceremonial Leia: http://www.forum.rebellegion.com/forum/viewtopic.php?p=986837#986837

[kman ()]

Very cool! I've wanted to make a collection of stuff like this at various points, too. I still might. It's been a while since this was posted... how did yours turn out, in the end? Did you add more decorations?

And yes, those Husky job boxes need a TON of paint to cover them. I painted mine partially for my Stormtrooper armor, and definitely found myself back at Home Depot the next day, picking up more cans of paint!



I've seen some amazing jobs with Shore Trooper variations of this theme, too.

A number of the movies used Hardigg military gear transport cases as the various boxes piled around the bases. I think you have some in the photos you've collected. You can actually buy them as surplus cases, ready to go (and ready to haul some gear!), but they're annoyingly expensive. Our base has a few that we use a set decoration at Cons and such, especially when we bring our Endor bunker to a location. Sportsman's Guide usually has a number of them available, and eBay is always an option, too. Check their Military Surplus Storage Cases section regularly for new stock! This style in particular is used in a number of scenes in TLJ; shame they're sold out: https://www.sportsmansguide.com/product/index/us-military-surplus-hardigg-case-od-green-used?a=2151580



As a bonus they're usually pretty beat up so you don't need to weather them at all, LOL, and come in green and tan colors that work well with most Rebel/Resistance bases. (other than capital ships, perhaps)

For a budget setup that can look really good, any sort of storage bin with strong lines can look great, piled up in stacks. Costco has these black plastic storage tubs with bright yellow lids that can look really good scattered around a "base". Remove the lids, but leave them stock (if weathered?) for Imperial bases, and paint them with earth tones for a rebel base. Cheap way to build up props! The set guys used them to good effect in a SW fan film I was a part of, along with a number of our Husky bins (including mine, partially covered to hide the non-aurebesh writing!)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bYhrzL9tsUY
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