Weathering Star Wars Models! Part 4 of Bandai’s AT-ST build

Weathering Star Wars models is one of my favorite modeling activities. For starters, it’s Star Wars. This franchise blew my mind away as a 10-year-old kid, and has continued to do so for the last 40+ years. Even in the “doldrums” between Episode VI and the release of Episode I, I continued to watch those first three movies time and time again. So the Star Wars cool factor is definitely there.

But another aspect I love is how wide open the weathering interpretations can be. It can be clean and shiny for the Coruscant surface, grimy and dirty for the Nar Shaddaa underworld, muddy and wet for Endor, dusty and worn for Tatooine, dry and chipped for space, or anything else in between. In Stars Wars canon, you can find any type of planet and environment to plan your weathering around. (I can’t leave Hoth off that list!)

So there is a great variety of environmental choice.

Weathering Star Wars Models

When it comes to modeling the actual vehicles and people, there’s no end of variety either. It can range from minimal to completely rusted out and blown up. Any weathering technique will work, or even throwing all of them in the pot and giving it a good stir.

It only takes a brief look at a few of the “hero” vehicles to see the range of possibilities. Clean like Darth Vader’s TIE Fighter, a worn veteran like Luke’s X-Wing, or old, stained, and beat up like Han’s Millennium Falcon. And those examples are from the original movie! Add in everything else, and it becomes pretty much a case of “pick your technique”.

This video demonstrates some simple weathering that can be applied to Bandai’s AT-ST. The look is reminiscent of the way the vehicle appeared on Endor in Star Wars Episode VI: The Return of the Jedi.

Whatever you do though, have fun with it!

Be sure and check out this and a previous AT-ST build, and also take a look at my full weathering playlist on YouTube!

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