A Sandtrooper was an Imperial Stormtrooper equipped with a modified armor and equipment to withstand the harsh climates of desert planets like Tatooine.
They were nearly identical to standard stormtroopers except they had additional training in specialized areas and advanced cooling systems in both their helmets and suits that offered them protection from the relentless heat. Visual differences in armor included a distinctive diamond-shaped left knee plate, non-ribbed chest and back plate connectors as well as reinforced abdominal plating. It was typical for non-commissioned officers (white and orange pauldrons) and above to remove the “drop boxes” on the waist; a redundant and unnecessary accessory given the upgraded load-bearing kit requirements for sustained operations with minimal resupply. Additionally, the usual thermal detonator worn by normal Stormtroopers on the lower back was not present, as its wear and access would be impeded by the typical SD-48 survival pack.
Their armor consisted of an 18 piece anti-blaster cocoon shell like that of a stormtrooper, but also had a heat-reflective coating worn over a temperature-control body glove. The sandtrooper helmet featured automatic polarized lenses, a built-in comlink, and breathing filters.
All desert sandtroopers carried E-11 blaster rifles, DLT-19 heavy blaster rifles, T-21 light repeating blasters, or RT-97C heavy blaster rifles, long-range comlinks, food, and water packs. Sandtroopers wore colored pauldrons as a designation of rank. A sandtrooper sergeant's pauldron was white, while an enlisted trooper's pauldron was all black. Squad leaders, who led units of seven troopers, wore orange shoulder pauldrons.
The myth of a further grey pauldron ranking was not mentioned in the text. After some research, it actually was a Hasbro mistake. Hasbro was referring this picture and mistook the color for grey. Therefore a grey pauldron Sandtrooper exclusive serve to protect Hasbro factories :)
The Sandtrooper came packed with 3 weapons and I've made him carry each for a shot. I would've traded a weapon with a pair of Binoculars. One of the famous pose when the trooper is looking through it with Dewbacks on the background.
I've written quite enough of the good points of this series from my blog post on Luke X-Wing Pilot. Not gonna go into that kind of general details here. Instead I'm gonna point out some of the less desirable areas.
2nd - I felt that the helmet weathering was overly done. Comparing the helmet to the rest of the body armor weathering, it is quite glaring. Tried using some mild acetone to try to rub some of the weathering away but the paint work is quite adamant. Finally resorted to sandpaper again. Some of the raised area has the weathering "rubbed" away. Good enough. Not it looks much even.
3rd - This is not so crucial but is an eyesore. The whole Sandtrooper was molded in white plastic / vinyl material. The joints were painted black. But because it is factory mass produced painting, some of the portion, at the joints, were somehow missed. I just touch it up with black acrylic paint.
4th - The head ball joint should extend longer. If you had the helmet fully mounted onto the ball socket, the Sandtrooper looks like a tortoise... at least to me. In these picts, I merely place the helmet on top of the ball socket and did not push it all in. At least now, the soldier has some "neck".
5th - The backpack and black "ammo" pouches weren't weathered. So strange that the rest of the body are blasted in sand dirt while the backpack and the pouches are squeaky clean. Well, it is a mass produced toy meant for children to play, guess I shouldn't be expecting too much. I'll do my own weathering when I can.
When I got it in hand, I was excited and really love how I can grab the 6" toy in my palm and felt a handful. The size is perfect.
Have purchased 2 more since and one of them will be "demoted" to a Black pauldron trooper and the other will remain original Orange. But personally, I like the White pauldron best.
2 comments:
Nice blog and reviews. Like what you did with with them. Been toying with the idea of painting the pauldrons on the Sandtroopers for some time but have no experience in toy painting... Any tips and guide on doing it properly?
Thanks Jerald and glad you like this Blog.
First, use a sandpaper to try rough up the orange area. This act to let the paint "sit" better than on a smooth surface. Next, apply multiple layer of paint - especially for white paint - to cover every little trace of orange left. Finally seal it with matte / semi-gloss / gloss lacquer. Done! Try it :)
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