Hey guys,

I'm thinking of attempting my very first repaint soon. My plan is to repaint a Z-95 for Airen Cracken since he was so useful in getting me my first Store Championship title!

From his pilot card, his Z-95 seems to have red markings similar to those on the X-Wings.

I found a repaint by buckaroo13 who did pretty much exactly what I'm going for (image below).

My main question is if I should I repaint the whole thing with a primer and go from there, or can I get away with simply painting over the existing blue markings with red paint?

Unless someone advises otherwise, my plan is the following:

1. Use masking tape to mark off all the blue markings I want to cover and any additional markings I want to add
2. Paint over the existing markings with multiple thin coats of diluted red paint
3. Paint any additional markings in red or yellow with multiple thin coats of diluted paint
4. Add a very faint wash over the newly-painted areas so they look like the rest of the ship
5. Spray on a coat or two of Testor's Dull Cote (is this necessary?)

I've been painting miniatures for some years but so far I haven't been brave enough to re-paint my ships, so this is just my two cents

- masking tape on this scale is tricky, make sure the edges are well applied so you don't get paint underneath it

- red over blue might get you to a dark tone, I might do a light gray color first to create a base tone so you can get the red color on the card

- yellow over the original paint should be fine, but yellow is one of the colors that take the more coats, be patient and resist the temptation of apply heavy coats, it will pay off

- depending of what wash (brand/type) you're using, it can be also diluted (usually acrylics) and that will give you more control over the shade you want to reach by applying coats

- Go easy on the dull cote spray, I would only apply one thin coat just to protect the paint job from gaming wear; if you use acrylic paints they will give you the dull finish once they’re dry

Have fun painting and keep in mind that painting minis is also a hobby, not a chore. Good luck and I'll be looking forward to see your work

- masking tape on this scale is tricky, make sure the edges are well applied so you don't get paint underneath it

- red over blue might get you to a dark tone, I might do a light gray color first to create a base tone so you can get the red color on the card

I'll make sure and try to push the masking tape into all the details so the paint stay where I want it to be.

Thanks for the tip about putting a light grey coat on first, I'll make sure to do that!

I would actually advice against using masking tape or at the very least not thin the paint. Yes, that seems strange but in my experience, thinned acrylic paint has a tendency to creep under the masking tape. Surface tension can be a downright dog of a female persuasion in this case.

I'd start by drybrushing the crap out of it with white paint; that's what I did with my Leeachos figure and it really helped cover up that blue stripe (as well as getting the rest of it a decent color). With the right size brush it should be pretty easy to hand paint it over what remains of the blue with a few coats.

Just putting in my two cents from what I've done and heard. Masking tape is tricky on these because of the details. I ended up buying some frog tape because the edges are protected in a plastic case. This helps keep the sides from loosing their stickiness. Tamiya tape is another popular one.

What I've ended up doing on my z is using thin coats with the tape on and then painting over the small leaks with my main layer color. Obviously this is easier if you are repainting the whole thing because you will have a base coat to fall back on for touch ups. I've used both base and layer citadel paints and they've done a decent job at covering the model so far(I can't find Vallejo paint at my location though I've heard they are really good.) My z just has layer paints; no base.

For the most part the frog tape has worked really well for creating decent borders and lines on flat to semi detailed surfaces. As the others have said, be patient and watch your paint thickness. Sometimes a test model or surface is good to have.

Lots of good suggestions above.

hey guys, rudimentary question but, what paints do you use?

Craft paint (Apple Barrel, Craft Essentials, Folk Art, Pantone) and GW/P3 metallics. Washes are mostly Devlan Mud, Brown Ink, Flesh Wash, and India Ink + Future Magic Wash. I advise investing in a good white paint like the P3 Menoth White.

hey guys, rudimentary question but, what paints do you use?

like I said, I've been doing this for a while, so I have a good paint collection, maybe excessive, but who's counting... I own some old Testors (enamels), lots of Citadel and recently start trying Battlefront paints too. by far Citadel paints are my favorites, especially the washes, although battlefront paints are growing on me too

Thanks for all your tips guys, I went and painted Cracken's Z-95 today!!!

I could not have hoped for better results!!!

Full write-up / mini-tutorial here.