writes:Last month, I shared pictures of how the scientist from the latest Fallout boxed set painted up. This week, I have pictures showing how the four low-level Synths turned out for me.
These robot figures are cast in a flexible resin, and require assembly. The arms can be tricky to attach to the bodies, due to the small contact area. The feet have pegs that fit into holes in the scenic bases provided.
Although they are multi-part, I found that they were not freely poseable – generally, they looked best assembled in the same pose as in the box art.
The next big decision is what color to prime them with. If you prime with a dark color, the 'robotic' parts are mostly done, but the lighter areas ('flesh' parts, guns) will require paints with good coverage; if you prime with a light color, the light parts will be easier, but you'll end up painting the black parts by hand.
My choice was to prime with black, but if I paint more of these, I'll try white primer next time.
The 'robotic' parts were then drybrushed with gunmetal, with some silver highlights from a marking pen.
Checking the box art, I noticed that some of the Synths had red 'guts', so I painted some random parts red.
Again following what I thought I saw in the box art, I went gunmetal with the faces, and brown with the skullcaps.
I checked with a few friends, and we did not reach a consensus on what the 'flesh' color in the box art should be: some saw it as yellowish, or a yellow-green. I decided to go for a 'mannequin flesh' color, and used a paint named Old Parchment or something like that…
The box art only shows the front of the figures, so you'll have to guess how to paint the back sides. I figured the larger plates were 'flesh' color.
Painting the flesh color over a black base gives an uneven result, even after two coats. I decided to go with it as a 'worn' look.
Again consulting the box art, it was a toss-up to me whether the feet should be metallic or gray. I went with gray.
The bases as you see them here are simply the scenic bases as provided, nothing added. They were a lot of fun to paint.
There are four Gen 1 Synths in this set. Two are armed with some kind of batons, and two have large, boxy guns.
The box art shows the gun as a white box with a red rim and gray/black underside/grips. Painting white over a black primer coat takes a few coats, and I felt the paint looked too thick. The box art shows a firing 'dot' in the gun end, but I don't see it on the sculpt.
So if I had it to do over again, I would try a white primer coat, hoping for a nicer result with the flesh and the gun.
I used LITKO FlexSteel on the base bottoms, so the figures would stick to magnet-lined storage boxes. The problem I ran into is that the bases are not standard 30mm diameter bases – they are actually 29mm! This meant I had to trim the LITKO bases down to size (or order custom 29mm pieces!).
I'm satisfied with the way these turned out (in fact, I think they look better in-person than in my photos). If you paint these up, post on the forum and share, please!