Star Wars Republic Commando – Vode An, Brothers All

“Some time after the crucial mission on Geonosis during which Delta Squad member Sev went MIA word came that an undetermined number of clones were held in concealed research facilities somewhere on the planet. Inexplicably these reports were quickly dismissed as unsubstantiated, supposedly created to cause divisions and divert crucial forces to what was referred to as “a hunt for phantoms”. However, several clones, mostly republic commandos, were determined to investigate such rumors hoping to find their long lost pod brothers. One such clone was Delta Squad’s Scorch who quickly took matters in his own hands. Planning to intentionally separate from his squad during their next mission to be declared MIA he confided in his squad’s leader, Boss, who agreed to provide support for his mission, knowing that Scorch could not be convinced otherwise.

Upon being left on his own Scorch began modifying his armor to specifications he had worked out over the past few months. As a demolitions expert his main concern was protection from heavy blasts, not only saving himself but also those in close vicinity in case of misfires or accidents. He reinforced crucial areas, rebalanced the weight and also added a layer of ablative alloy he developed. Initial tests suggested such modified armor could withstand a direct hit from a heavy projectile cannon, though these tests had been rather conceptual in nature. The new armor, while retaining its original cast, was sleeker and sported a blue metallic finish with a slight iridescent reflection inherent to the applied alloy.

After receiving an encrypted message from Boss that he had been reported MIA Scorch joined forces with a special ops squad. This particular squad played a vital role in unearthing initial evidence concerning the secret research facilities. After learning that their findings were widely dismissed they agreed to operate under his command. While shadow troopers generally worked alone or in pairs this specific squad was created for large scale infiltration, consisting of three shadow troopers and one covert ops clone. Similar to commandos these clones were highly individual due to the nature of their tasks but were capable of working in perfect unity to achieve their goals. In addition this particular squad used different armament geared towards rapid suppression, incapacitation and sabotage. Scorch also traded his trusty DC-17m for a WESTAR-M5 and a still unidentified sidearm.”

© Thorsten Becker

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Some of my creative spare time projects involve customizing action figures and putting them on display in a story like context. This particular scene is the result of playing the Star Wars video game “Republic Commando” which centers around a special forces squad (during the clone wars era) in the popular science fiction universe. At the conclusion of the game one of the squad’s members, Sev, is left behind and declared MIA. Currently no follow-up title has been announced therefore Sev’s fate is unknown.

I decided to take another character of the game, Scorch, and continue the story from his perspective given that he was close friends with Sev. I first created a new paint scheme that would convey a prototype armor design. The figure was then cleaned and prepped and two thin layers of black paint applied. Afterwards the metallic blue paint was added and silver and black detailing done. Finally a dull acrylic sealer was sprayed on to give it the right sheen.

For those interested I use Testors and Elmers acrylic paint markers as well as the occasional enamel fine tip markers by Nissen (though I find that acrylic works best on this type of plastic as enamel paint does not adhere well and stays taffy afterwards). Once done customizing I selected a new squad to assist Scorch in his mission.

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