Moved to this section.

I finally got around to ordering a few more of my ships and now im stuck for paint ideas.

The Sentinel class corvette in my mind is an older ship that is farmed out to local systems to take care of issues that do not require a star destroyer. As such it is sometimes claimed as 'lost' by corrupt system governors and sold to pirates. The Imperials know this happens and are ok with it to a certain point as they know the more people complain about piracy the more they will welcome the Empire with open arms once they get around to the issue of annexation. Avoiding the business and expens eof conquest at the cost of one small outdated ship (which can sometimes be recaptured )

My question is should i do it in Imperial plain or go for it and do something 'piratey'?
And if so, then what? So far it is just plain out of the box

Next the TIE Spectre. An experiment that was just too expensive to mass produce designed to make the Phantom even more effective.
So plain Empire or something different since it is rare. And if used it is probably by a hotshot ace of some kind. I've primed it but nothing else.

Lastly my version of the XG1 Starwing. Ive seen quite a few variant colour schemes and just cannot make up my mind. So far it has been primed but awaits some ideas. Im pleased with the way the variable wings work, So i want to make it look good

Maybe follow Booster Terrik's example and paint the corvette crimson?

As for the gunboat, maybe the "original" color scheme?

Here's my thoughts on the three.

Sentinel - I would follow the background story of it; maybe base of Imperial gray, make it a little rough around the edges (off color replaced panels, some combat damage) then throw some space pirate icons on it, maybe do a 'poor' job of repainting it like a pirate outfit would do, as if they used cheap paint.

Spectre - Since it was/is an experiment, what if this particular one was a prototype that simply got stolen, or better yet, gifted to a skilled pilot for some shady reasons? Give it some prototype markings (EXS-1 or something) and a very basic color since the Imperial Navy wouldnt put much time into painting it since it was only a prototype. Im thinking like, white. But of course since its a hot shot pilot, he'd want to make it unique, make it look badass, so he would definitely customize it slightly.

Assault Gunboat - I say you cant go wrong with the classic original paint scheme from TIE Fighter. Thats what im going to do when I get mine delivered.

I want at least 2 of your Star wings whens the multi pack commin?

I want at least 2 of your Star wings whens the multi pack commin?

While id hate to step on Gosric in his own thread, I know Mel has a 4 pack of them in his shop.

I got a pair of mel

I want at least 2 of your Star wings whens the multi pack commin?

While id hate to step on Gosric in his own thread, I know Mel has a 4 pack of them in his shop.

I have a pair of mels, I wanted the ones with folding wings! beyond that I actually built a mission for our group and was looking in my storage going Okay ... maybe 2x of each ain't enough as is... Wife's gonna love me for that bit of news...

I'd be tempted to paint the 'experimental' ship either in bare metals and ceramics as if its not been given any fleet markings

*or*

some sort of 'crash test dummy' type hi-vis/hazard scheme so it could be easily seen in space when being assessed and put through trials

Right now im leaning to doing the Corvette in a mish mash of greys and tans etc as suggested but with black and red trimming in suitable areas. I was also looking around my junk boxes and came actoss transfers that were for the shields on a viking ship i built a while ago but hand painted. So i have a pretty wide selection of roundels in interesting patterns that would be good pirate logos .
The Starwing in standard eggshell but with trim in red.

As for the Spectre. I was painting some of my Trek designs and tried the pale blue/grey federation colour to see how it would look and decided it had the right kind of experimental colour feel. but im going to addd some bare metal on sections to indicate where parts have been fitted but not painted.

Cev - I can do a two or three pack of the Starwing easily enough. Im in the process of doing so with most of my smaller ships. I just havent gotten to it yet because it is a multipart model. But give me a couple of days and i will have it done

Red oxide 'rust proof primer' always looks good on 'new fit' panels. Granted in space it wouldnt rust but culturally we're used to seeing it on replacement and new parts that have yet to be painted properly

It can always be justified with the assumption that the pirates base is on a world that has a high oxygen/moisture content

Cev - I can do a two or three pack of the Starwing easily enough. Im in the process of doing so with most of my smaller ships. I just havent gotten to it yet because it is a multipart model. But give me a couple of days and i will have it done

All right I budget!