66th Guard Fighter Wing "Vampire Force"

An alternate take on the iconic TIE Guard

*Thanks for the idea Vykes*

I honestly prefer the dark wings and red hull of those Guard squadrons, and I love the 'Guard' designation. Admittedly, I do want to call them 'Vampires' and I don't know why. Well done mate!

RAF was a clever and interesting pattern to use too.

I was thinking about giving it the typical TIE Guard colour but it didn't feel unique enough. So I thought, why not paint the body red and frames white? But while waiting for it to dry, the red-black grew onto me and it looks menacing.

And Vykes, thanks for calling them Vampires. I was thinking of a nickname for it and couldn't think of it.

Yeah, the Gloss Red really does make them look like they're dripping in fresh blood, so Vamps are very appropriate. The Bat-Esque shape of the Advanced helps as well.

Bombing Group 35 (VT 35)

And another "Air" Group gets painted

On the glad did you air brush the white lines or hand paint with a brush and how did you keep them straight?

I am loving those y-wings!

On the glad did you air brush the white lines or hand paint with a brush and how did you keep them straight?

I spray painted white and than masked that area off using masking tape

518th Fighter Wing "Howl's Hounds"

After receiving the initial grey-white colouration, CO for 518th demanded that they'd be repainted. The grey-white colouration did not synchronise with the ideals of being a TIE pilot.

Colours used -

• Tamiya's German Grey
• Tamiya's Metallic Brown
• Tamiya's NATO Black
• Citadel's Syabarite Green

517th Fighter Wing "Mauling Marauders"

I present to you, the 517th Fighter Wind "Mauling Marauders"

Yes that Flaming TIE belongs to Mithel. Someone on the forums said that he indicated kills by painting flames on his TIE? Why not take a step furhter and paint his whole TIE in flames?

And the rest of his wing. Squadron leaders have a black line from the struts and joins up to the cockpit window

Penal Flight PF 17

PF 17.1

PF 17.2

Penal units were created within the Imperial Navy. While predominantly filled with military criminals, civilian criminals can be sentenced to penal duty or pressed into penal units. Often, civilian criminals volunteer for penal duty as an alternative to being on the death row. Personnel sentenced to penal units have their ranks and titles stripped of them.

Penal units in the Imperial Navy were mostly equipped mostly with TIE Fighters and in some instances TIE Bombers as well. Although these tend to be near or way past their service life.

Operations for these units are mostly dangerous and potentially high casualty missions. They also serve as expandable screens to fleets, starfighter combat groups and convoy escort. Although in the Home World Region, some Naval Districts and some commanders, the distinction between regular and penal units are distinct and sharp, the line between penal and regular units are blurred due to the nature and ferocity of the war. Nonetheless, that practice is very much frowned upon by some circles of the Admiralty. Regardless of the directives with regards to the treatment of penal units that are sent to the front lines, commanders more often than not take mission capability and practically as the higher priority

Group shot of 517 and 518 FIghter Wings together with PF 17 assigned to them.

Yes that Flaming TIE belongs to Mithel. Someone on the forums said that he indicated kills by painting flames on his TIE? Why not take a step furhter and paint his whole TIE in flames?

That would be Me. I read it on Wookieepedia

Its certainly a nice mix of colours all throughout - and the Penals are suitably gritty.

Thanks for the idea Dras

22nd Valkyrian Guard Bomber Wing









To further distinguish the elite guards, a new guard unit was established. Only the finest from the Imperial Guards or officers from rank and file that exhibit exceptional qualities and bravery in battle are hand picked for the Valkyrian Guards. Unlike the Imperial Guards, the Valkyrian Guards are well known for their grey-black uniform studded with Imperial Red and gold and silver trimmings. This has been translated onto their equipment as well. Although, not all of the Valkyrian Guards strictly follow the grey-black base colour. Other variations such as white backing studded with Imperial Red and gold and silver have been reported as well.

Admittance into the Valkyrian Guards is highly stringent and tightly controlled. Even the sons and daughters of the nobility do not have a guaranteed entry into the Valkyrian Guards. Officers and men from both rank and file as well as the Imperial Guards relish the invitation into the Vlakyrian Guards. Despite being a step higher and more prestigious than the Imperial Guards, the size of the Valkyrian Guards is substantially larger than the Imperial Guards since they take in both humans and non humans alike to bolster their strength and fighting prowess.

So fluff aside... It took me a while to actually decide on the final colour for the TIE Bombers but alas! Howl's fighter gave the opportunity to explore including some metallic colours to the bombers. As luck would have it, I remembered one of the games that I played before on my PC so I decided to check it out. In a moment of epiphany, it dawned on to me that I could use Selvaria's uniform as a stepping stone. From there, the rest is history. To those curious to how she looks like, here she is. Basically all of the colours were taken off her. From her grey-black uniform to red and gold trimmings to her silver hair

Colours used -

• German Grey
• Flat Red
• NATO Black
• Gold leaf (Wing leader)
• Titanium gold (Squadron leader)
• Chrome silver (Wingmen)

All colours are from Tamiya.

*bump*

I'm always a fan of beige and earth tones like that for 'marauders'. I think there's just something in the name that implies it to me. But congrats and well done for choosing a completely altered colour scheme for TIES, I happen to really love it, and the 'flames' thing is neat but still makes me smirk a bit:

“My car has flames on it.... my car has FLAMES on it!” Said it with Dras, I'll say it again

I like the 22 ^nd , I've been meaning to write that for a while but my net keeps crashing -sighs a bit- Anyway, it's an interesting mixed balance between the standard Imperial grey and some more telling colours. I never once saw the potential for the patterning that you did on the crimson. That, combined with the brighter flashing is pretty great and very striking. I'd bet on it being a fang-grey body colour, but it almost looks slightly tinted purple, it's neat and far from garish. Hmm, did you use a black wash on the wing paneling? How many coats on those metallics (I'm impressed by the coverage).

Gah, hmmm... I'll have to wait till I get my new paints in, but I'm tempted to work something in like that for my Rhymer. It's a far more effective colour pattern than I'd have thought possible. Well done

I like the background information, the alterations to the Imperial uniform actually feel pretty good (considering the whole 'stud badge' and alternate coloured uniforms thing that we've seen done. Interesting recruiting practice letting non-humans in as well as humans, it expands their talent pool and given the non standard uniform policy, alternative equipment seems like less of a faux pas. Who deals with their admittance? A localized wing commander, or Sector authority?

It's a neat look, well done and my compliments to how it's written too. Valkyrie Chronicles, I'm faaaairly sure on it though I havven't played it myself. I just remember that uniform. Anyhow, can't wait to see more, mate

22nd Valkyrian Guard Bomber Wing

To further distinguish the elite guards, a new guard unit was established. Only the finest from the Imperial Guards or officers from rank and file that exhibit exceptional qualities and bravery in battle are hand picked for the Valkyrian Guards. Unlike the Imperial Guards, the Valkyrian Guards are well known for their grey-black uniform studded with Imperial Red and gold and silver trimmings. This has been translated onto their equipment as well. Although, not all of the Valkyrian Guards strictly follow the grey-black base colour. Other variations such as white backing studded with Imperial Red and gold and silver have been reported as well.

Admittance into the Valkyrian Guards is highly stringent and tightly controlled. Even the sons and daughters of the nobility do not have a guaranteed entry into the Valkyrian Guards. Officers and men from both rank and file as well as the Imperial Guards relish the invitation into the Vlakyrian Guards. Despite being a step higher and more prestigious than the Imperial Guards, the size of the Valkyrian Guards is substantially larger than the Imperial Guards since they take in both humans and non humans alike to bolster their strength and fighting prowess.

So fluff aside... It took me a while to actually decide on the final colour for the TIE Bombers but alas! Howl's fighter gave the opportunity to explore including some metallic colours to the bombers. As luck would have it, I remembered one of the games that I played before on my PC so I decided to check it out. In a moment of epiphany, it dawned on to me that I could use Selvaria's uniform as a stepping stone. From there, the rest is history. To those curious to how she looks like, here she is. Basically all of the colours were taken off her. From her grey-black uniform to red and gold trimmings to her silver hair

Colours used -

• German Grey
• Flat Red
• NATO Black
• Gold leaf (Wing leader)
• Titanium gold (Squadron leader)
• Chrome silver (Wingmen)

All colours are from Tamiya.

Question on Tamiya paints:

For subjects as small as Armada stuff, I find I want to use smaller brushes that have correspondingly small reservoirs. Coupled with this is the fact that Tamiya is solvent based and I can't maintain that "skim milk" consistency I prefer for smooth paneled vehicle stuff. Do you thin them, and if so, with what? Any retarder?

I've got several bottles of Tamiya acrylics that I would love to use, but they just don't come out the brush right (kolinsky sable for me or airbrush)

Thanks Vykes for the kind words. I'm still looking around to as how to finish up the Xs.

Yes I did use Nulin oil was on them and for the metalic colours, it was just 2 layers. Metalic colour from Tamiya generally tend to have a good opaque coverage AFTER you thoroughly mix the pigments well and just add the right amount of thinner to the right consistency that's of a milk's.

Anyway, the write up about the Valkyrian Guards not truly adhering to the grey-black base colour of their vehicles is to also justify "future Valkyrian Guard squadrons". One or few of it would be similar to the Spire Guards as posted by you. I'm looking at a TIE Def x TIE Phan x TIE Punisher combo?.

22nd Valkyrian Guard Bomber Wing

Question on Tamiya paints:

For subjects as small as Armada stuff, I find I want to use smaller brushes that have correspondingly small reservoirs. Coupled with this is the fact that Tamiya is solvent based and I can't maintain that "skim milk" consistency I prefer for smooth paneled vehicle stuff. Do you thin them, and if so, with what? Any retarder?

I've got several bottles of Tamiya acrylics that I would love to use, but they just don't come out the brush right (kolinsky sable for me or airbrush)

Well DUR, I'll introduce you to my detail painting kit. It's exactly the same one that I use for detail painting my models

• Aluminium foil covered pallet (all you need to do is just to throw the foil away after using. Minimal to no cleaning)
• Skewer stick (for mixing and paint transfer from bottle to pallet)
• 0 - 000 brushes of choice
• Drip bottle with Tamiya's X20A Thinner (This is ONLY FOR TAMIYA's ACRYLICS)
• Not shown in the picture - Small wash basin and a brush cleaning towel

How to use the kit -

1. After selecting the paint of your choice, stir it with the blunt end of the skewer stick or stirrer to mix the paint
2. To transfer the paint, dip the blunt end or flat end of the skewer stick into the bottle. Let the excess flow back to the bottle. After that, bring the stick over to the pallet.
3. Gently tap the paint end of it onto the pallet. You may have to repeat steps 2 - 3 a few times till you have the amount that you want to use
4. Using the drip bottle with X20A, start of with 1 - 2 drops of thinner. Stir and add more X20A to desired consistency.
5. Paint away =)

As for paint retarders, I don't use them but I do run the risk of the paint drying up on the pallet. If that happens, I'll add 1 - 2 drops of X20A on it and stir again.

VF 103 Fighter Wing "Jolly Roger"

I present to you, VF 103 "Jolly Roger" commanded by Wedge Antilles

After a long period of thinking about it, I settled for this paint scheme for the X-Wing. I must say, it turned out better.

Anyway, Tamiya colours used -

• Royal Light Grey
• NATO Black
• Flat Yellow

For Luke's X-Wing, which would be the community's pick?

I think a blue and white x-wing would be pretty cool!

Aaah, you did do the Jolly Rogers for the X wings. Good show, jolly good show.

Lets see, I like the second squadron from the left. I'm a big fan of the yellow stripes, yellow nose cone, and grey fuselage siding. It narrowly edges out Wedge's flight. As for the community pick... Gaaaaah. Well, for high impact visibility I'd default to the F-16's, but my personal vote is the Su-34. I'm just concerned about how its patterning will show up on an X-wing. The Su-27 looks even more subtle, so I'd go with the 34's scheme.

so with all this talk of war birds, are you excited about ace combat 7?

Ran out of ideas... More like short on ideas.....