How to quickly paint a 1/48 scale Chewbacca

If you’ve built Bandai’s 1/48 scale Star Wars AT-ST (All Terrain Scout Transport), you know the included Chewbacca figure is molded in brown plastic, but you can make it look more realistic by painting its fur shades of brown and touching the bandolier with metallics. I used Vallejo paints unless stated otherwise.

First, prime Chewbacca black, then airbrush a light coat of Tamiya red brown (No. XF-64), allowing some of the black to show through. 

Brush-paint the dark fur with chocolate brown (No. 70.872) mixed with a touch of black gray (No. 70.862). Lightly dry-brushed brighter areas with brown (No. 70.984) mixed with a drop of Model Air dark yellow (No. 71.025).

For facial highlights, mix together brown and plenty of dark yellow. Paint the nose flat black (No. 70.950). The lips are equal parts salmon rose (No. 70.835) and vermilion (No. 70.947).

Paint the bandolier and bag leather brown (No. 70.871). Pick out the metal pieces with natural steel (No. 70.864). Apply a coat of Pledge Floor Gloss followed by a wash of brown and black artist oils. Once that is dry, seal the Wookie with a coat of satin varnish. Done!

For more tips on building the AT-ST walker, pick up a copy of the May 2017 Star Wars issue where Sean Lynch shows you how to paint and weather the Imperial chicken walker.