One of the appeals of X-Wing is that the ships are pre-painted. When it comes to 40K I'm a hobbyist first and foremost, but it takes me so long to paint a squad that one or two editions might pass before I finally get that new unit finished (Centurions were introduced in 6th Edition; 8th Edition will have been released before I have a squad of them painted). X-Wing ships, on the other hand, can be played straight out of the box. Now I can play X-Wing when I don't have any new Ultramarines painted up and don't feel like playing yet another variation of the same Space Marine list. Recently, though, I had the irresistible urge to paint one of my pre-painted ships.
(From here on I'll be referring freely to aspects of X-Wing with little background information. Newcomers to the game can find any information they need from the excellent X-Wing Wiki.)
A YV-666 (the kind of ship the bounty hunter Bossk used) can take the Hound's Tooth Title for just six points. With the Title, the Hound's Tooth can deploy a Z-95 Headhunter, the Nashtah Pup, upon destruction of the parent ship. Unfortunately, Fantasy Flight doesn't make a miniature of the Nashtah Pup, requiring players to buy a Z-95 separately. For most people that isn't a problem; you can simply buy a Rebel Z-95 or you can get two Scum & Villainy Z-95s with Black Sun syndicate markings in the Most Wanted pack. However, the Nashtah Pup's pilot card clearly shows that Bossk's Z-95 is painted brown and maroon and has teeth-like markings similar to those on the Hound's Tooth itself. Since buying the YV-666, I haven't been able to bring myself to field a Rebellion or Black Sun Z-95 as the Nashtah Pup. |
| Pictured: not the Nashtah Pup |
On Friday, I bought another Rebel Z-95 with the express purpose of painting it as Bossk's escape vessel. I painted the bulk of the model with GW's Steel Legion Drab, Mephiston Red, Agrax Earthshade, and Leadbelcher. I used a tiny bit of Nuln Oil and White Scar for details. The miniature took the paint pretty well without needing to be primed.
I'm reasonably happy with the final result given that it only took me an afternoon and I was able to use paints that I already have. Although I wish that Steel Legion Drab better matched the YV-666's reddish-brown color, the Nashtah Pup is only deployed when the Hound's Tooth is destroyed; it's harder to notice their differences when they don't spend too much time side-by-side.
