Figured I'd toss all my repaints ive done so far into a single thread. Cuz, you know, im vain like that.

First up, my Rebel ships!

Rebel Alliance

Now for the Imperial ships!

And of course, Scum.

Love that guard TIE fighter!

Nothing like putting all your repaints in one thread to make you go "Hey wait, im missing pictures of some!"

In this case, my X-wings.

Finally got around to completing the "massive battle damage" x-wing that I was going to do since I broke one of the guns off, and used some other things from the scratch/blaster impact tutorial on here to make it even 'better'.

Clearly this X-wing has seen the wrong side of many Imperial ships but keeps on fighting!

That orange M3-A is inspirational!

So guess who accidently bought a dry paint and spent the last hour learning how to properly dry brush? THIS GUY.

...with some help from IG-88, who got some gold bling for his IG-2000 in return.

Also finished my N'Dru Z-95, which seems less "GRRR" and more "OH HEY GUYS!" to me.

That, I realize now, is the worse of the two sides.

Also working on an Imperial Firespray, which I plan on putting a nice Imp cog on.

Finally got around to completing the "massive battle damage" x-wing that I was going to do since I broke one of the guns off, and used some other things from the scratch/blaster impact tutorial on here to make it even 'better'.

Yes my apprentice, use the skills I have taught you, and strike down all that oppose you with paint!

On a more serious note, it seems you have a tendency to not properly thin your paints, which means that sometimes the paint can obscure details and individual brushstrokes can be visible. Remember, always thin your paints.

Hrm. Perhaps. The blue, green, and red I have I got from my buddy and it was only after I bought some more pots that I realized how thick they were, the green and blue especially. Since then I thought Id been pretty good about keeping them thin.

What specifically provoked the tip if I may ask? I have a feeling that the brushes I use for certain applications may play a part.

Hrm. Perhaps. The blue, green, and red I have I got from my buddy and it was only after I bought some more pots that I realized how thick they were, the green and blue especially. Since then I thought Id been pretty good about keeping them thin.

What specifically provoked the tip if I may ask? I have a feeling that the brushes I use for certain applications may play a part.

I suppose if anything 'provoked' me it probably was the cockpit window on your Firespray. It seems to not be as smooth as it could be, possibly due to thick paint. Anyway, 'thin your paints' is one of those things long time painters like me often throw around as free advice to just about everyone, so I mean no harm.

Hrm. Perhaps. The blue, green, and red I have I got from my buddy and it was only after I bought some more pots that I realized how thick they were, the green and blue especially. Since then I thought Id been pretty good about keeping them thin.

What specifically provoked the tip if I may ask? I have a feeling that the brushes I use for certain applications may play a part.

I suppose if anything 'provoked' me it probably was the cockpit window on your Firespray. It seems to not be as smooth as it could be, possibly due to thick paint. Anyway, 'thin your paints' is one of those things long time painters like me often throw around as free advice to just about everyone, so I mean no harm.

Zero harm taken! No worries. I was expecting the Firespray as the source of the provoke, specifically the black portions. I had used a thicker brush for it since there was such a large amount of it and truth be told that brush has seen MANY better days.

Free advice gladly and humbly accepted.

Excellent! I think the NDru Z95 could use a little more "Slanty" eyes...Rest of it is cool man.

Excellent! I think the NDru Z95 could use a little more "Slanty" eyes...Rest of it is cool man.

Yeah, it totally could, I know. Ill get back to it once I finish redoing my YT-2400.

So today I got my first (of many im sure) shipment from Shapeways. Got myself two of Mel's Assault Gunboats and 4 stands (because clearly im going to be ordering more things). I just got them a few hours ago, so so far all ive gotten the chance to do is give them a nice base coat of gray.

But besides that, I finished the repaint of my YT-2400 and am VERY happy with it. Considering it was my first ship I bought (before even the core) it started out as my favorite ship, and now has re-cemented its spot.

IT'S ALL JUNK.

Just kidding buddy.

IT'S ALL JUNK.

Just kidding buddy.

YOU MONSTER! We'll see if I ever let you see them in person. For the rest of you, here's the finished Gunboats.

So given my new Gunboats, I wanted some pilot cards for them. I snagged the ones Mel had made (Tau and Sigma) but wanted at least one Unique pilot. So of course I decided to make my own

I give you Xeal, a 7 PS Gunboat pilot to go with the Sigma (PS 3) and Tau (PS 5) cards.





So lets go through some... explanations of where my brain was at. First off, Xeal is the name of a Cadet that Maarek Steele meets during the events of TIE Fighter, one who practically begs Steele to teach him if for no other reason than to survive. He goes missing, and when Steele sees him next, notices that Xeal now has what Steele calls the "killer's eyes". His friendship/apprenticeship with Steele is why I decided to pull him into the game. And of course since hes Unique, he's gotta have that EPS card slot to go with it.

As for his ability, that comes from information I found about the conversation Steele and Xeal had when they first met; mainly Xeal asking "Why do we hate the Rebellion?" which leads to this part I found on the Wiki page for Xeal:

Stele rapidly hushed his subordinate, then continued to voice accomplishments of the Empire, furthermore the fact of war is the enemy is shooting at you, naturally you'll return fire.

That last part is what got me thinking about a cool ability. I figured I could have given the bonus on the same turn, but that would only really work against ships that had a higher PS, or of Xeal was the target of a Decoy card, and given that he is a 7, it didnt seem to be worth it. I could have also gone the 'double' attack route like Corran has, but I wanted something that was unique and wouldnt break the game; it basically turns Xeal into a jouster ship. But I am quite curious to hear what others think of it.

Picked up another M3, E-wing and Starviper today and decided I wanted a dedicated Virago. So I made it happen.

Not bad, I can definitely see Isard in the windows of that Decimator. I will echo the advice "thin your paints", it makes a huge difference. Your Z-95's are examples of this as most of the detail has been obscured. Just started minis painting about a year ago myself those Z's gave me flashbacks

A good way to go about it when you're starting is to rigidly follow the Base/Wash/Detail method until you understand what those steps do. Many of these just need a simple wash/highlight to make them pop. Drybrushing is a great way to highlight until you feel confident to highlight free, a quick wash and drybrush will make a world of difference on the lambda especially.

Not bad, I can definitely see Isard in the windows of that Decimator. I will echo the advice "thin your paints", it makes a huge difference. Your Z-95's are examples of this as most of the detail has been obscured. Just started minis painting about a year ago myself those Z's gave me flashbacks

A good way to go about it when you're starting is to rigidly follow the Base/Wash/Detail method until you understand what those steps do. Many of these just need a simple wash/highlight to make them pop. Drybrushing is a great way to highlight until you feel confident to highlight free, a quick wash and drybrush will make a world of difference on the lambda especially.

I had a wash on the Lambda and absolutely hated the way it came out, so I ended up starting over on it. When I did the wash, it reacted very oddly with the base coat of Silver and pooled up in terrible places that made it look like a 5 year old attacked it with a Sharpie. I dont know what it is, but recently I havent been happy with any of the washes ive done to the ships, with the exception of the Gunboats perhaps.

After Macross mentioned thinning my paints I did take the advice to heart, hopefully the result can be seen in my Outrider, Gunboats and Starviper.

Next up is me modifying the new E-wing I bought with the Starviper and another M3A. Dont know if im going to touch the M3A or not, and I have to decide on a color scheme for the new E-wing, which is sitting here in front of my keyboard right now.

Well it didnt take me long to decide on a color scheme for my modified E-wing. I decided to go for a bland 'prototype' type look of gray and white, with some touches of blue.

Yeah washes can be tricky at times but trust me, they are a necessary step. I'll give you an example.

I took this just before wash/highlights it doesn't look bad per se, but a few hours later...

Huge difference as you can see. My lines are still a little shaky as I haven't got that superfine control yet but practice makes ever slightly better.

Secret Weapon washes are my favourite, cheap and they don't need much, if at all, thinning. Just let your mini fully dry before washing and remember: oil paints are almost never worth the trouble(and the brain cells you kill huffing thinner and you NEED thinner with oil), always acrylic for the easy thin with water.

See that'd be great if my washes turned out like that. But they dont. I just end up with black pools everywhere I dont want them and they end up looking dirty as hell and making all the colors darker than I want.

Try using lighter colors in your initial coats, then use the wash to darken them down to where you want them.