Using an MPC Star Wars AT-ST Model Kit

Transcript*

Intro

Happy new year everyone. It’s 2026 and for the first video ever, we’re going to be rolling back a topic from two months ago. Two months ago, we previewed and reviewed uh Vallejo’s new line, which is the True Metallic Metal. And back then, I said that this is the best water-based metallic line possibly ever. And am I right? Well, today we will test the capabilities of True Metallic Metal to its well limits. Uh we’ll put it through its paces. I will be painting a pretty significant like what is this like 6 and 1/2 in 6 in of uh AT-ST.

We’ll be painting this uh in True Metallic Metal. Um and we will be applying various techniques, maybe even streaking grime just to put it through its paces. And as you know, this is water-based acrylic, right? So, in theory, streaking grime should kind of ruin this because that is enamel. So, we’ll see. We’ll stretch the capabilities of this lineup. Uh, but first, thank you guys so much for uh all your support.

Thanks

In 2025, we hit 10K and not only that, we surpassed it. We are now nearing 12K. I think by the time this video is posted, we will be at 12K subscribers. So, thank you and links down below for all our socials. We are incredibly active on all of them. So, yeah, thank you guys. Thank you for an incredibly successful 2025. Here’s to more in 2026.

MPC AT-ST kit

As previously mentioned, we will be painting the AT-ST, which is 6 in tall. This is the MPC Snap KIt Return of the Jedi AT-ST, which is quite a lot of kit to be honest. Despite its age, I didn’t really have trouble building it.

Primed

And I primed it preemptively with black. And black to this day is still the best primer for metallics just because what it happens is it suppresses the colors of the plastic underneath, allowing the metallic colors themselves to shine. and it is excellent. Uh that’s what you should be doing for all your true metallic metal paints or just metallic paints in general.

Vallejo True Metallic Metal

All of these paints plus the model kit and many more is available on our website right now, sunwardhobbies.ca. That’s our real time inventory and we do ship nationwide. That’s Canada if you’re overseas. So yes, uh thank you and please visit our website. As an aside here, the reason why we’re doing this now, two months later, is because two months ago when we did the preview slash review slash demo, uh, Vallejo only sent us a very small sample size. Now, that’s not to their fault.

The the the product line was quickly releasing, so they don’t want to, you know, spill the beans for all of them, so to speak, but we were only sent the sapphire paint set. So, we only had blues and my opinions were based on that small sample size of me saying that this is the best metallic paint line ever for water-based. We’ll see if that still holds up true. It probably does because I’ve personally used it, [laughter] but also because there’s 80 paints in this paint line. 80 paints, guys. There is now a turquoise metallic paint straight out of the bottle. So, if you’re an Alpha Legion uh fan, you don’t have to rely on painting uh a silver and then a very thin layer of turquoise on top of that silver to get the paint job you need for your turquoise metallic armor. It’s just straight from the pot, baby.

And it’s beautiful. Or dropper, not pot. We’re not We’re civilized here. We don’t use Citadelle. I’m just joking. Citadel, I love you. Anyways, so we will be demoing these paints today. Uh, not all of it, of course, because there are some ridiculous ones that are yellow metallic, for example. That’s crazy. Uh, but a lot more than just blues.

Let’s Start

So, the AT-ST itself, the paint job is very simple. It’s literally just gunmetal and silver. That’s about it. The weathering is what makes it shine. So, you can tell that there’s some greenery there. Uh, lots of gunk, right? So, we will try to emulate something like that. So to start off with, we will be painting it with what is essentially the gunmetal equivalent of this line which is obsidian black. So make sure that you do grab base as these are meant to be the main colors. So they go the furthest, they are the smoothest, etc., etc. And then we will be weathering this with a wash. Now I haven’t decided if this is the part where I use streaking grime or maybe I leave that for later. But regardless of whether I decide, we will be weathering this all over with a particular wash.

Afterwards, we will be using a dry brushing of True Metallic metal obsidian black. But the light version, the light tag again is meant to be you can use it as a main color, but they’re they’re meant to be highlights. So on the edges, right, where the the sun will hit the the surface of uh whatever you’re painting typically, right? And then finally, a very light dusting, just lighter than the previous dry brushing of sterling silver to make it shine even more despite the weathering we’ve done.

And typically, I will end it there, but uh maybe I’ll add a little bit more weathering here and there with washes here and there and spots, but ultimately it is a very simple kit and that’s what we will be doing today. But the reason why it stretches I say the capabilities of this is because there’s a lot of wide flat surfaces with little to no breaks. So especially on the head that’s why so it will stretch the capabilities of smoothness of this particular paint.

Brush and Initial Coat

For the wider head we’ll be using uh number two synthetic flat by AK. Make sure you give it a good shake and then just put on your palette nice and dark. So yes, this is the gunmetal equivalent for sure. Now out the bottle, it’s actually very smooth as previously mentioned, especially two months ago where I was gushing over it. So I’m going to just apply a drop of water and that should be enough.

Maybe two cuz I’m paranoid. But really didn’t really do anything because it’s already that smooth. Just make sure you don’t overload your brush. And we’ll just apply it now. And don’t worry about the seam line. I’ll make use of that when the, you know, weathering comes into effect. And there we go. So, first initial coat applied. I will apply a second thin coat off camera.

My Mistake

And uh yeah, I made a mistake, guys, but not in the paint job. The paint job is fine. I’m just going to slap on a second coat and whatever. Uh my mistake was in the initial claim. My initial claim was that after the second thin coat, I will weather it with either streaking grime or a black wash or a brown wash or something and then dry brush it.

My problem now is that this is too dark to apply weathering on. I should have demoed it previously, but honestly, I should have known. I’ve used gunmetal so many times, and gunmetal on top of black, it’s not a recipe for disaster. It’s just a little dark. Uh, it’s what you should do anyway. Again, black is good. It’s just that it’s too dark to initially apply your weathering on. So, what I’m going to do instead is obviously finish the second thin coat of this. And then afterwards, I will dry brush the light obsidian black. And then I will dry brush st a sterling silver on top of that. Then I’ll weather. And then I’ll bring back dry brushing again. An extra step, but it’s probably the way to go. So yeah, this is the light section. Gave my bottle a good shake.

Please give yours a good shake. And there are two ways to apply this. And all you can see it’s noticeably brighter. But yes, there are two ways to apply this. The first one obviously is to precisely apply it with a pinpoint brush because ultimately this is for head edge highlighting. But the second way is to dry brush because our canvas today, the AT-ST, has a lot of ridges combined with flat surfaces. And the fact that it’s essentially metal and armor, uh, makes it a good candidate for dry brushing. But, you know, you can do both. Nothing says you can do both, but um, you know, I’m just going to do dry brushing. Why not? I love dry brushing.

Dry Brush

So, what we’re going to be doing is just grabbing our handy dandy dry brush, the XL Vallejo dry brush. Just pulling it up. Grabbing tissue or paper towel. Just leaving the vast majority of it, about 95% of it onto tissue while pushing it further inwards into the bristles. And then just dusting it. And we will be very generous with the dry brush, not just the edges. And remember, this is supposed to be a worn out sort of weapon of war. So the dirtier they make it look and the more varied the patterns on the armor, the more quote unquote realistic. So, you can go uniform, but I’m choosing not to. There we go. With a very generous dry brush, it looks incredible.

But we’re not done because this is just the beginning. But honestly, you can already tell it looks weathered and beat down and used, the most important part, because Star Wars is a very used and lived in universe. Remember when I said a couple minutes ago that uh I changed up the order and I made a mistake in saying that I’ll do it one way and now I’ll do it the other. Yeah. Well, I’m doing it again. Um I’m going to be using the True Metallic non- metallic shade washes.

Washes and Dry Brush

Yes, these shades are despite being in the True Metallic Metal line, non- metallic. And what are they used for? Just to reiterate what I said in the previews two months ago, they are blending paints. Uh they do weather. You can use them for weathering because ultimately they are non metallic washes. So they’re just normal washes, but they’re kind of specifically blended to be used for blending. So they This is the specific obsidian black, sorry, obsidian black shade. Uh so that’s what’s going to be used for.

And what I’m going to be doing is after the dry brushing is done, I’m going to do a second thin coat off camera of the dry brushing. Uh, I’m going to be applying this all over the AT-ST and then I’ll dry brush on top of it again after it’s dried. Uh, just to give it some more oomph in the leathering department so it truly looks used and beat up. So, the foot on your right side of the screen here, uh, but the left foot, we’ve applied the process I just mentioned, which is putting the wash and then dry brushing it for a third time. And then this is just two solid dry brushes in a row. And you can tell there’s a depth difference already.

Look at the imperial symbol where the joint is at the top of the foot compared to this one. That one is just all of the same color, no depth. This one does. There’s bit of a highlighting there and there’s shadows underneath there. Um, and it just pops more. So, yeah, it does look like an oil slick obsidian black and it’s very black. So, if you want a really black high pigmentation wash that’s acrylic, I think you found your wash. This is incredible. So, just apply it all over. I’d apply it maybe just on the ridges, but really I should apply it all over. We’ll see how I feel later.

I’m just semi-precisely, not really precisely, but just tracing where the panel lines are where gunk would build up naturally. So, yeah, I traced all that right there. I should follow it more right here and then the edges of that. These right? So, you know those infomercials on TV where they try to get your sympathy by showing, you know, a video of a bird or a chicken or whatever covered in an oil slick because of a natural, not a natural disaster, but an oil spill by like BP or something.

Yeah, this is what the AT-ST looks like. Looks like it just got fished out of an oil spill. Probably by BP as well. Also, they’re called chicken walkers, so it’s appropriate. Anyway, [laughter] so yeah, I went a little overboard on the black wash, but not to worry as I will be applying a very heavy-handed and final layer of obsidian black dry brushing on it and then following that up with two thin coats of sterling silver dry brush.

Final Dry Brush

Uh because I really wanted that grimy sort of beat up look that Star Wars is known for. Obsidian black. To be honest. I can probably just leave it here. It looks incredible on that already blended and fully fully weathered to be honest. But we’re going to go a little further than that. And here is the sterling silver dry brush. And this one incredibly light.

Just literally on the edges. Just give it that oomph and pop.Another fun way to do weathering is to just lightly take your dry brush and just smack it a little in some spots like that to give the impression that your armor got hit by shrapnel fragments. Just little dots there and there. Yeah. Now, truth be told, I can stop right here.

Looks Good

I just finished applying the sterling silver and I may have gone overboard on some spots. Duh brighter than what I initially wanted it to be, but at the same time it looks incredible. Incredible. Incredible. Um looks properly used and beat up. Looks gross. Very oily. Wow. So, we’re not done, of course, because we’re not. Um, I’m going to be applying some sort of weathering where the seam line is just to give myself an alibi as to why I didn’t get rid of the seam line.

Uh, maybe a little bit more where the ports is, cuz that’s where the pilot see through and that they typically open in the movie. Um, maybe where the fan is and definitely where the feet and legs are, the lower half of it. That’s where most of the gunk will deposit as it’s trudging through dirt. So yeah, follow along.

Clear Coat

Remember this bad boy, TS80 flat clear. Now, it’s still banned in Canada from being imported. So that’s this is from a previous stock back when we had stock. But remember when I said that I’m going to put these paints through its paces. I’m going to test its limits. Well, to further shield this from the elements, i.e. the enamel wash, I went above and beyond. I went and applied a lacquer uh clear coat. This is the matte to matt it down, but it doesn’t have to be Tamiya.

It could be any lacquer. And the reason why I did that is again to test its durability. So, I did a thin misting thin coat of the lacquer. And honestly, it should have melted uh if it was weak, but it didn’t. So, here we are. It looks incredible and perfectly matted down. And the fact that it can withstand lacquer means that it can basically withstand quite a few paints out there. So, not to worry. Uh, this is actually more durable than the previous generation of Vallejo acrylic metallics.

Dirty Down Rust

Long story short, to put along the seam line that I didn’t get rid of, I’m going to be using Dirty Down Rust. Remember, if you do not have a machine to shake it automatically for you, then shake it for two plus minutes. Give it a really good shake like this for two minutes straight. Two minutes later. So, but if you do have the machine, 30 seconds, and that’s not coming from me. That’s coming from the company itself. Or else you’re doing this paint a real disservice genuinely.

It kind of just doesn’t work if you don’t shake it properly. We are using The Army Painter character brush right here and just tracing a line right here. And then I’m going to kind of just let it pull a little bit and just stippling. It recommends stippling as well.And do keep in mind Dirty Down despite being labeled as acrylic is probably definitely a lot stronger just because I demoed it just on my own personal time with True Metallics by itself, but no curing time whatsoever on behalf of the True Metallic. About 10 minutes after it dried, I applied rust, the dirty down dust, and it kind of just ate through it.

So, keep that in mind, and Dirty Down recommends you kind of just layer it on top of each other because the gunk that’s included in the bottle will build up and stippling action because this is not an exact science. It’s weathering.There we go. Beautiful. And again, give it an aggressive shake. 2 minutes or 30 seconds depending on which method you’re using. And I’m going to be applying it to the other one so that the seam lines are fully incorporated. To be honest, I should have just gotten rid of it, but hey, it is what it is.

Too Much?

Okay. Did I go a little overboard with my rusting? A little bit. Maybe perhaps. I’m still undecided about the eyes, though. I do like the idea of it dripping onto the face there at the bottom. But I don’t know. But it looks good. in camera. Maybe a little overwhelming in person. I put a little bit on the rings there as well. Anyway, I’ll decide once I finished weathering the bottom, the legs.

Streaking Grime

And for that, we’re going to [snorts] be using streaking grime, the true test of true metallic metals durability. And I know what you’re thinking. I’ve already used lacquer on top of this, the Tamiya, but that was only like one thin coat of like a misting of it. So, this is going to be concentrated and I’m going to be using it on to the lower half of the miniature mo mostly the legs like right here and the feet as well. So, that’s what’s going to be used for and I’m just going to be lathering it on. So, again, that’s why it’s a true test. It’s going to be concentrated.

And then I will be using Tamiya 87083, the weathering sponge brush to remove the excess. I’ll just be dabbing it off. Just dabbing it off lightly like that while it’s dipped in odorless thinner by AK. So yeah, that’s the plan. Hopefully it works out. Give it a good shake, a good whirl, and then off to the races. Don’t rush though. I just I don’t know why I said off to the races. Here we go. And just apply. Just apply it all over.

Final Reveal

And enamel out of the three major, which is lacquer, enamel, and acrylic, dries the slowest. So, you’re not in any sort of real rush to remove the excess here. Obviously, you you want to remove it within the next 30 minutes, preferably 15. But if you’re eating or something, then go for it, I guess. But I wouldn’t risk it using the oderless thinner dipped sponge. I will be just removing the excess. Just dab. Just dab like that. All you got to do just dab. And what you’re left with is an airbrushed looking finish.

No joke. It looks like someone airbrushed it. That’s why a lot of Warhammer folks, including myself, have been slowly but surely switching over because it just looks so good. Quite a few Warhammer fans don’t airbrush like me. So, the fact that we can kind of sort of emulate the finish with enamel washes is ridiculous. Just dab, dab, dab. With the cleanup sponge, you can even use it to propagate the weathering. You’re spreading or removing. Well, I guess it’s both. You’re removing it, but then also propagating it by doing it like this. So, there we go. Gross. Looks gross, which is good. There we go. A properly gross AT-ST leg. Wow.

So, I applied that the rust there preemptively on the rings prior to this. Same with the insides over there. I just kind of spread it around right there. You can see the orange there. But the rest of it, just streaking grime. And you can see why streaking grime is so highly coveted. It’s just incredible. Boom, baby. It looks so good. And it’s dried.

Summary

Look at it. It’s beautiful. Wow. Wow. Wow. Wow. Wow. Wow. And you know what? despite all the weathering, uh you might think it’s stealing the show, but for me personally, true metallic metal has stolen the show because in any sort of lesser paint combinations or just paint quality in general, this excessive weathering would look extremely tacky. But the fact that it looks so seamless and I only really used what four kinds of paint.

Yeah, I only used three kinds of obsidian black and one sterling silver and it still looks this good, this vibrant. And I matted it down and I put lacquer on top and I put rusting paint that has gunk on it that’s very strong and enamel wash and it still would stood it. Beautiful. Thank you, Vallejo. You have yourself a special special paint. Also, I’m really good. I’m I’m really good. I’m Damn, I’m good. [laughter] Who knew that the secret to lifting up your spirits in the beginning of the year is pulling off the perfect paint job? [laughter] I didn’t. I just found out and uh I am thoroughly lifted. [laughter] Is it really perfect if I improvised a couple steps?

Probably not, but who cares? Uh I pulled it off. Do I need to humble myself? Yes, I do. Anyway, uh that’s it for me today. And yes, long story short, yeah, Vallejo, uh, this is probably and still is the best water-based metallic paint in the market. Like, it’s not even close, actually. So, to Vallejo and Angel Giraldez, well done.

Thank you. Big fan. Uh, yeah, that’s it for me today. And remember, guys, every single product we’ve used today can be found down below on our website. Links down below, sunwardhobbies.ca. That’s our real time inventory.

Also, down below is our social media pages. We’re active on all of them. Uh so, please follow us there and don’t forget to subscribe. We might hit 20K this year in the summer, maybe. Who knows?

So, yeah. Until next time, guys. Until my next perfect paint job. Uh Paul out. [laughter] Bye-bye.

About the Author:

Paul Catindig As someone who’s been building model kits since he was 8 years old, Paul is very knowledgeable and adept at model kit building! When he’s not building or painting kits, he spends his free time cooking, playing video games with friends, or at a restaurant patio somewhere. Hopes to make his very own movie one day.

*Video by Paul Catindig
Video Edited by Daniela Castellano
Transcript generated by youtube
Edited by Angelo Castellano