I've not done any form of mini painting for at least 20 years, and even then it was shockingly bad. However, the x-wing minis have really presented me with some lovely opportunities.

As prepainted minis (and quality jobs as well), I'm quite happy to play with them right out of the box. But they've also allowed me to practice techniques I've read about here and elsewhere on t'interwebs and learn by doing little touch ups like squad markings before making the leap into a full blown repaint.

With a store tourney coming up and my list featuring Kath Scarlett, I took the plunge yesterday and repainted one of my Firesprays.

I've still got to try my hand at bringing back the white a little and some engine glow... that should be interesting without an airbrush.

Overall, I'm really happy with this as a proper first try, but I'd like to hear your thoughts. (please be gentle)

If that's what happens when you don't paint for 20 years, maybe I should try the same. Getting better without practice sounds awesome and look how much time I'll have to play X-wing instead.

Seriously though, that's certainly not a bad effort considering how long ago it was since you painted anything. The engine glow in particular is actually quite decent, as OSL (Object Source Lightning) is a very advanced technique.

Awesome job! I love the grime coming down from the panels.

One piece of advice on those engines, they look great, but spray some dead white to the center to make them appear extremely bright and luminous.

Awesome job! I love the grime coming down from the panels.

One piece of advice on those engines, they look great, but spray some dead white to the center to make them appear extremely bright and luminous.

Thanks - It's all brushwork at the moment (I don't have an airbrush), I'm trying to find a way to get the white on there without overdoing it or "overwriting" the work I've done. Maybe put a drop in the middle and dry brush it outwards?

What you could do is paint the engines white and then use really, really thin blue paint to glaze blue colour over top the white.