Baby Blue Mando

I got four Mandos some years ago (end 2018) as 1/12 Bandai Boba Fett Kits, and repainted them into custom Mandalorian characters. That was before "The Mandalorian" Series was announced of course. Soon after that I lost interest in them as they looked so similar to each other, compared to all these new cool high budget more functional character designs from the show. There was a 1/12 Bandai "The Mandalorian" kit later but I missed out on that unfortunately, it's now over 60€ while these Bobas here were under 30€ each. Well maybe it did always cost that much, quite the popular character. I somehow never really posted them, finished their stories or made the last paint uptouching.

But after 2 1/2 Mando seasons and some years passed, Hasbro made quite some Mandalorian Black Series Toys for kids aged 4+, which I am. So recently I got some black series Mandalorian side characters which I want to paint to turn them into custom characters, mix them with these four. They might freshen up this old troop a bit with more interesting looks. Maybe I will also add new armor/accesoires to the Bandai ones for more diversity. I have Worbla and a 3d printer now for what it's worth.

First I will show only the Bandais. I weathered them knowingly with room dust over the years, so I could take photos of them now. That's why I waited so long to post them.

Here a nice mash up of different musical Mandalorian and Boba themes for the mood.


They are a band of mercenaries who have known each other since birth. There might be different opinions on different political systems and movements, but when they accept a job, they will go through with it till it's done. They all have names and backstories but nothing refined yet.


To be honest, I like writing stories and character backgrounds, but the Mandalorian storylines from all the TV shows left me a bit confused. My interest and knowledge still stems from old forgotten books and games from BACK IN THE DAY that were retconned, so I still have to sort out what is going on actually. So we will concentrate more on the technical aspects first, haha.


I also still have four little 1/12 headsculpts I have to distribute among them (Chris Evans, Will Smith, Michael B Jordan and some bearded Mohawk dude) Still have some old WIP photos I need to find for the next post.



I think he could be the leader, I haven't decided yet. The fabric cape I added hasn't aged that well either. I like silver scratches on black paint.


Or maybe one of the new Hasbro figures will take his part.


This one is so fancy I made him a little plastic card sword. Maybe I will give him the Michael B Jordan head, as I also have that 1/6 fantasy bronze armor warrior with that actor's head.


This bronze armor is always shiny and never weathered somehow.



I dissasembled them for priming and painting, then reassembled them. I swapped yellow and red for fun and left it that way as I liked it.





These two have a special connection, that's why they share they swapped armor parts. Don't know yet, maybe father and son, brother and brother, husband and husband, uncle and nephew, who knows. But not twins.
Pistols are printed.

Ah, I see how that 4+ years old notion ties in here too. The little band of Mandos is excellent. They may have identical armor, but the different colors, metals, weathering, etc., helps make them look distinct and somewhat makeshift, while also ensuring a certain underlying continuity between the bunch. Beautiful work, and beautifully presented. Looking forward to your new additions among these ranks.

Oh wow! I love your Mandalorians! I love teams with similar outfits. Hence my purchase of four Imperial Guardians.

But I'll never look at Mandalorians the same way again and will always think of these shots from now. I see Mandalorians in my future.

though im not a huge star wars fan per se, your repaints look awesome and very cleanly done. in terms of disassembling, was the kit like lose parts from the getgo or a figure ready to be put apart? i struggle to get some parts off neca figures, so any tips would be appreciated. so far even after boiling water and a hair dryer, certain joints would rather stretch and tear than give way.

Tjolnir, these kits come with all bits and pieces separate: there are several "sheets" of "spruce" and you need to cut out the parts following (or not) the step by step manual.
Review on Fwoosh.

Ovy, what a great looking squad! They do indeed look like each has an individual preferences and personalities and yet working in the same team.

As for more recent Bandai kits, there are two versions of The Mandalorian - the silver-coated version is more expensive, but there is also a grey one for around $37.
And they've recently announced another Boba Fett model kit from the TV series.

GubernatorFan wrote:Ah, I see how that 4+ years old notion ties in here too. The little band of Mandos is excellent. They may have identical armor, but the different colors, metals, weathering, etc., helps make them look distinct and somewhat makeshift, while also ensuring a certain underlying continuity between the bunch.  Beautiful work, and beautifully presented. Looking forward to your new additions among these ranks.

Thanks so much and yes that's what is so beautiful about the original triology, those makeshift, almost post apocalyptic designs. and I think those grandma stockings will come in handy too.

Diana wrote:Oh wow! I love your Mandalorians! I love teams with similar outfits. Hence my purchase of four Imperial Guardians.

But I'll never look at Mandalorians the same way again and will always think of these shots from now. I see Mandalorians in my future.

Thanks a lot! Yes I remember your Guardian army! I think for me it started in kindergarten with those Power Rangers. Interesting to see what kind of Mandalorians might land in your place.

Tjolnir wrote:though im not a huge star wars fan per se, your repaints look awesome and very cleanly done. in terms of disassembling, was the kit like lose parts from the getgo or a figure ready to be put apart? i struggle to get some parts off neca figures, so  any tips would be appreciated. so far even after boiling water and a hair dryer, certain joints would rather stretch and tear than give way.

Thanks a lot. Yeah as Visisonor wrote, the figures were model kits like your regular planes and tanks, but multi colored so you could have a Boba without painting. As a kid I would have loved that convenient design. And I only have one Neca figure, feels like the sturdiest and un-dissassembly figure I own.

Visisonor wrote:Tjolnir, these kits come with all bits and pieces separate: there are several "sheets" of "spruce" and you need to cut out the parts following (or not) the step by step manual.
Review on Fwoosh.

Ovy, what a great looking squad! They do indeed look like each has an individual preferences and personalities and yet working in the same team.

As for more recent Bandai kits, there are two versions of The Mandalorian - the silver-coated version is more expensive, but there is also a grey one for around $37.
And they've recently announced another Boba Fett model kit from the TV series.

Thanks! Yeah still trying to tweak their designs to give them more personality. And thanks for the info on the Bandai Kits. I have seen the silver coated one for 90+ and the grey one for 60+ yet, only.

I made a stormtrooper squad out of Bandai kits too, if you are interested:
https://onesixthfigures.forumotion.com/t1190-999th-imperial-penal-battalion-1-12-star-wars-update-6-17-kx-droid

Found some 2019 WIPs

Here the first one. The joints are sometimes elastic pvc/gum like parts that don't hold any primer or color for long.








Here the other three, I cut them out all at once an seperated and sorted the parts to give them different coats of primer.


The least fun part was hiding the boba specific damages.


I primed two armors and one suit black, one armor and one suit red, two suits and one armor sand etc and then swapped the parts around.





This was the first uncolored Boba.







Here fresh after assembley with base primer.


Painted but not weathered.


Some early head experiments.


I gave him a beard I want to paint grey, turning him into a mentor figure. No bad words about his family or he will rocketpunch you.


Found this old pic with all heads on display.




Any idea who that guy on the left might be? Ragnar?

Thank you for the additional look at your Mandalorians and Friends. Simply putting these together must have taken so long, then customizing and painting them... wow. Even in the in-progress photos the figures are already fun and seemingly ready to take on the Galaxy. Great choice of heads. Yes, I can see why you would identify that one as Ragnar. Though he could be Bjorn.

Awesomeness!!

What a cool project, and a neat assortment of Mandos. Nicely done. The paint work is exceptional.

Ah ok, thanks for the info. Seems like a pretty solid kit, makes me wonder why some companies struggle with functional joints when even a kit gets articulation right.

GubernatorFan wrote:Thank you for the additional look at your Mandalorians and Friends. Simply putting these together must have taken so long, then customizing and painting them... wow. Even in the in-progress photos the figures are already fun and seemingly ready to take on the Galaxy. Great choice of heads. Yes, I can see why you would identify that one as Ragnar. Though he could be Bjorn.

Thanks sir, and yes I think it took quite some time.
And no I won't name him Ragnar, but he is the only actor I don't recognize, I wonder who it might be.

Diana wrote:Awesomeness!!

Thanks!

Stryker2011 wrote:What a cool project, and a neat assortment of Mandos. Nicely done. The paint work is exceptional.

Thanks a lot, painting parts before assembly definitely helped to reduce accidential overpainting.

Tjolnir wrote:Ah ok, thanks for the info. Seems like a pretty solid kit, makes me wonder why some companies struggle with functional joints when even a kit gets articulation right.

Yeah you don't need glue and there are both stickers and transfer sheets. And I actually used some spare parts of these kits as joints for 1/6 hands.


Got a Black Series Heavy Mando for under 30, here in his regular paint job.






Here with first new paint but not that refined yet

Black Series Mando looks good. I'm loving your repaint, unfinished as it might be.

Those are some darn cool looking Mandos, wicked work!

Ovy wrote:Mando Nr. 5

Oh, did you think of using Black Series Bo Katan or Koska Reeves as bases for custom female Mandalorians for your squad?
A little bit of Koska in the sun...

GubernatorFan wrote:Black Series Mando looks good. I'm loving your repaint, unfinished as it might be.

Thanks a lot, I think he is finished now, atill have to take a photo though.

PickleMunkey wrote:Those are some darn cool looking Mandos, wicked work!

Thanks MrMunkey!

Visisonor wrote:

Ovy wrote:Mando Nr. 5

Oh, did you think of using Black Series Bo Katan or Koska Reeves as bases for custom female Mandalorians for your squad?
A little bit of Koska in the sun...

Ha, yeah I actually got a Koska Reeves and the Armorer. They cost twenty something each, while Bo Katan for some reason was much more expensive so I passed.

I actually re-painted the Reeves Figure already but didn't photograph her yet, here with the original paintjob and the crew.

I'm Blue dabndee.

Oh yes, she sticks out like a sore thumb. I'm sure you'll make her fit in much better. But the team is filling out, which is great.

She makes the team look more varied for sure, and not just because of the blue, which I'm sure you'll fix, but because of the difference in size mainly. VERY nice! Looking forward to the updates!

Oh and I'm loving the song references.

GubernatorFan wrote:Oh yes, she sticks out like a sore thumb. I'm sure you'll make her fit in much better. But the team is filling out, which is great.

Thanks, yeah it's quite the contrast to my more toned down approach.

Diana wrote:She makes the team look more varied for sure, and not just because of the blue, which I'm sure you'll fix, but because of the difference in size mainly. VERY nice! Looking forward to the updates!

Oh and I'm loving the song references.

Thanks a lot!  Yes the size difference makes it much more organic between those Fett Clones.

The good thing with these Mandos, I can paint them in whichever paint scheme I like to.

There's No Limit


I painted some lineart on PC and decided for some blueish gray with either orange or red accents. Orange might have looked nice too but decisions must be made.




That red symbol thing on the helmet is somewhat inconsequential. And I think Mandos paint less and would use more stencils.






Mando is a Dancer. You can blast it everywhere.


Jeez the paint is chipping already. Should consult Mr Superclear

Already much better. Your paint application gives it a certain realistic, worn, grimey consistency that makes it both more believable and more compatible with the others.