Its tricky - but important - to not feel that way. Sometimes, its just plainly experience... There were times, working at GW Chinook, where I could admit to not only painting for longer than my Coworkers were alive... But occasionally, I had 4 kids in the store playing a game, and I'd been painting for longer than all 4 of them had been alive combined...

And even then, I can't bring a torch to Vykes at the moment... But that's not discouragement...

The single biggest thing to remember with your paint jobs is, 90% of the time, they're viewed at more than an arms length on a tabletop... So do your critical judging BY holdng them at arms length...

Even when you're doing Rules Videos... The Resolution on the camera is generally low enough that a really brilliant paint scheme still won't show through - and honestly, it doesn't have to...

The small size and the distance is why we are seeing a lot of successful Sharpie+Wash paint schemes (although personally, they chill my spine) - the smaller scale is helped by the way our eyes and brain work at picking up colours and shades at a distance...

Aye, Drasnighta is quite right. When I look at some of the Golden Demon winners I just sort of sigh and realize how little I feel like actually picking up a paintbrush. But I do, and I try to do something new, or refine something, every time I sit down to paint. It's just a matter of time and getting experience: your own styles will be different from others, but there's no reason not to try and learn from them. What colours work as the best highlights, how much water to use in a mix, what additives you want to work with in your paints, what brushes are most comfortable, what paint lines, etc etc, a lot of it comes down to comfort and taste.

It is true that paint can hide a thousand flaws, and equally true that a close macro zoom can unmask a thousand and one Table Top standard tends to be high contrast and thus it will look different from other styles. A good artists pen, a quality wash or two, they can provide a tremendous amount of detail and contrast that will make models look exceptional in a short period of time. In fact, it can look better than lower contrast stuff like I tend to do.

For example, the sharpie and wash paint schemes are successful,; when fused with an artists pen it will probably give a better impression an arms length away than mine ever would. It's almost infuriating to people like me because it's the truth There was also a time when 'true painters' railed against a wash, saying it was cheating (Good ol' days of Devlin Mud). Sharpies are vivid colours that adhere to plastic, washes matte it down and provides definition, the result is that it generally works. Add a few black lines, a spot of white on the cockpit, it'll look sensational... and I'll be envious once again Paint, brushes, green stuff, files, superglue, weathering powder, glazes, primer, artist pens, sharpies, washes, all of them are just tools. It just takes a bit of experience to learn what to use and where, to get the effect that you want.

If you keep trying and keep working at it with the aim of learning rather than just 'being awesome', then you get to learn those things very-very quickly So keep at it mate!

I find the key is not to compare my work against people who are way too **** good at it, but instead compare it against the unpainted piece. Man, my stuff looks way better then that unpainted junk! I must be awesome! Hurray me!

Aye Madaghmire, I'm still always just pleased and impressed that people take the time to paint up those fiddly little fighters in the first place. They look terrific (even sharpies, yes, I'm not remotely against them... I'm just jealous about how relatively easy it is and the result it gives ) and when something looks terrific, it just adds to the enjoyment of the tabletop game. So as far as opponents go, it's a great thing too as it lends a more 'complete' air to the game: so it benefits both players.

Alright, condencing things a little bit: Update time!

VSD II- Pegasus

Alternate Angle: Side

Painter's note: I had no idea what I was doing when I went with this. I just wanted something different to test out a potential future colour scheme for 'newer' ships, like my upcoming ISD's. I don't know, it was an interesting learning experience, but I'm still undecided if I'll go with this, or the more familiar 'aged' look. What do you think, hmm? I'd love some feedback on comparison work between the two VSD's. As for other things , I'll probably add a waterslide transfer too the aft-starboard section just below the turbolaser battery.

Codex: Pegasus

By 29:02:10, increasing hostilities and unrelenting pressure of the local mining guilds finally pressured the Imperial navy authority into dispatching more reinforcements to the Ceknell subsector. Yenkurra held more tactical importance as far as the Imperial navy's upper echelons were concerned, but Ceknell still had a number of powerful families. What made sense militarily was politically undesirable. COMPNOR's 29:02:14 broadcast affirmed the importance and continued unity of the region, regardless of the difficulty. To this end, the Victory II- class Star Destroyer Pegasus was the second ship of the squadron dispatched.

The VSD Pegasus was originally sent to be dispatched with the GSD Dauntless , but the Pegasus was already in the middle of its resupply and was dispatched several days later. The ship's h yperdrive was notably slower than the Dauntless's well tuned systems, and coupled with Ion storms and other circumstances, ensured that the ship arrived in the subsector 9 days behind schedule. It took up position with the Dawnguard at Jump Point Prime station before joining the Dauntless at Egression Rift in 29:03:08.

The Pegasus is one of the later ships created in the Victory II's short production life. It maintains a good class 1 hyperdrive like other Victory classes, but under its captain, it was tuned to increase short distance transits rather than achieving long distance peak performance like the GSD Dauntless . Its weapon systems are far more stable than the Dawnguard , and it serves in almost every respect as a model example of its class. The Pegasus has served in a number of bastion and reserve fleets, and has an extensive service history including both planetary assaults and patrol duty in the deep core.

Its current captain, Dachun Arboe, has a short but impressive military record. Under Arboe the Pegasus has performed exemplary as a blockade ship, having single-handedly captured or destroyed sixteen capital-grade vessels. While the Pegasus itself is relatively unremarkable as far as its class is concerned, Arboe insists on a constant regime of war-games, drills, and practice. The Pegasus is a high readiness ship with impeccably trained crews and an ambitious captain.

...

A-wing

Painter's note: frigged if I know what these lot are. Colour scheme is totally derived from CenterPoint's asymetrical stripe design (I had a bit of grey left over from the Pegasus I had to use up ). i may eenaint them, but for right now, I'm just calling them part of the Coyotes, and I might use them for Tycho. Anyhow, new Squadron or Existing? I'll knock some Codex entry up for them either way at the time of the next update (if I get a response, that is).

...

Anyhow, that's all for now, but I've still got some miniatures on my work desk, so there'll be at least one more update this week, assuming I don't go crazy with a lack of inspiration and lop off an ear or something. There's also a little campaign related 'chart' thingie for secondary objectives that I'll put up (since strict painting threads don't exist anymore.)

Friends come to my house and are like "wow dude, I didn't know you could paint" and I'm like "oh, I can't. Here, look" and then I show them this thread.

While I would much rather be an enabler and even help with some inspiration things, I do appreciate it mate

I might be able to paint (of course, I'm sure there's better on this site, after all: DWRR's got better high contrast stuff, Ica's still got the standard to beat, and I don't think anything of mine is particularly artful or inspired pattern-wise like others are doing) but I don't really have a clue of what works when other people look at it. Hence, I'm still mulling over repainting Red to be a little more dynamic, those new A-wings are a bit of a shrug for what I want to do with them, and the new Star Destroyer is radically different from the Dawnguard and Dauntless which I'm used too. I haven't a clue if it looks new, or cartoony, or weird or... well, it's just hard to critique my own stuff on what works, even thematically.

And I'm one of those painters who always likes to work on something, strip it down, make it better and the like, oh, and gets into pensive moods while waiting/eagerly-watching paint dry.

Alright I promised one more update this week but we might get two. I'm still working on one last flight of fighters, so we'll see how that works. Even so...

Update Time!

After Action Report: Battle of Egression Rift

++Begin Transcript: 29:03:08++

“ ...the Dauntless didn't have far to go, four clicks and that was it. We began our attack run and I relayed the course correction immediately. We started to yaw and the whole deck began to shudder as the turbolaser batteries opened up on the enemy's flagship. That frigate was a sitting duck so far away from its support.

Naturally, Captain Marsstak ordered all ahead and we threw the engines into overdrive. I compensated for the Dauntless 's little habit of skewing on a descending pitch and a port roll. She, sorry, Captain Marsstak said 'Helmsmen, bring us around to the side,' so we could level a broadside into them. At about three clicks out we saw a few sparks from some enemy attack craft; but what good are three subfighters versus a star destroyer? We closed in and ignored those fruit flies [Note: Ref #14009 L, common Ceknell parlance for A-wing starfighters, derived from their short operational life expectancy].

We got close in, the captain leaned over my control panel and correcting the course by o'two-one degrees X-yaw, to bring the dorsal turbolasers to bear. She nods and walks back around her seat, clutching its back and watching the viewport.

'Warriors of the New Order,' she said, 'sons and daughters of the Empire, today we overthrow the scourge of fear from these stars. Today we right the wrong suffered at Kyatu, and today we will hold these criminals and murderers to account for their transgressions. Justice dictates it and our honour demands it! Lieutenant, by all the fires of hell, annihilate that vessel!”

We launched a full broadside from about nine-hundred out. The turbolasers went wide. By my oath, the captain was stone faced and smiling; which meant she was furious that they missed when she'd set the course correction. We didn't even notice that the fruit flies were launching concussion missile strikes against our hindquarters; everyone just suspected that the shaking was from the recoil, not missile impacts.

Anyway, our ACM's [Ref #0094, Yenkurra subsector parlance for capital grade assault concussion missile munitions] cracked their shields wide open. That frigate lit up with dozens of explosions that just bubbled across her from stem to stern. When the bloom cleared, it was easy to see we'd got her. It looked like she was starting to buckle amidship and it was spewing emulsion from holes in its engine block. A lot of the port side hull was cratered, blackened, and parts were still glowing. It wasn't dead, but the captain was already hovering over me, plotting a course that would slingshot us past so we could get a shot across their stern and head into the rest of the rebel forces.

That's about when we got the message that we'd just lost our aft deflector shields. Then we saw a few more attack craft launch from the enemy frigate. We figured that it was about time to call in the Knights to swat a few flies. Dawnguard acknowledged and said they were on their way, about nine clicks out. But that red bat, I don't know what kind of ship it was, but it skimmed a few meters over our hull and just leisurely slipped in behind us. Next thing you know, they were firing missiles. The warheads split, we got a few dozen contacts each and from that close range it hit us before the proximity klaxons went off. Normal cluster missiles wouldn't have even scratched us, but I guess they were thermite missiles with a proton torpedo chaser.

The explosion a second later tossed us everywhere, they'd punched through the hull and nailed the engine room. Thruster control went offline and we started to tumble on all three axis. We were venting atmosphere, the hull had been breached in multiple sections all along the rear including the back of the tower.

Everything had changed in a few seconds because of one red coloured fighter. The Dauntless was dead in space, but the frigate wasn't much better. The engines were shot, but the captain quickly cycled our shields and brought up the aft deflectors just as a few laser blasts brought that down as well.

The Knights tried to jump in and get the snubfighter that had just chewed us up, but those fruit flies held them up. Luckily, that red bat just broke off on its own and took up a position near the frigate.

We didn't regain control for nearly five hours, but the Knights shielded us from anything else thrown our way.

I got to see the aft section of the Dauntless as were being herded off. There wasn't any twisted metal or big black scars like you'd expect. The ring of cluster missiles must have weakened the hull and the proton torpedo punched out perfect ten meter holes in the back. I swear, it looked like a planet sized lamprey took a bite out of us.

+++End Transcript: Ref. 2499.67J, Helmsmen GSD Dauntless , Uleskin, Sykr I.+++

Player's note: Intro games can be fun and surprising, too. I sort of forgot how hard Keyan can hit. I'll let it be a lesson, sure a B-wing can be out of Yvaris's reach for the 'double tap' but the usual squadron command still works just fine. A-wing to nail the shields, and B-wing ace to get a double critical hit. Yeah... fuuuun times. No, seriously, that was awesome for a beginner to figure out.

B-wing Ace: Thorn

Alternate Angle: Reverse Side

Painter's note: if you think I did those freehand, think again No way. My terrible secret is not only do I have incredibly messy writing when I'm even remotely rushed, I have a terrible time painting freehand. I can at times, but I'm more of a 'paint by numbers' sort of painter. Give me lines!

Oh, and I toyed with the VSD Pegasus just a teeeeeny-tiiiiny little bit.

I'm.... not unsatisfied. It's different, I feel almost bad mucking up the sides on principle but the image is subtle enough and it's fun that I finally get to use a waterslide transfer or two.

Next up, in a few seconds, just a concept I was toying with. I figured it might be a good idea to break up concepts.

This isn't meant to be some big, deep sort of thing, merely an extra layer during a few 'set piece' battles in the Ceknell Conflict Campaign. I've only base-tested some of it, and a lot of this goes straight back to BFG which had the idea long before I did. Even so, I adapted it and worked it out a little bit. These are in addition to the standard game objectives, and randomized for both players (each rolls one) rather than first player second player

The (+/-) aspect determines the Margin of Victory additions if you complete/fail your secondary objective. So if you win 7-3 but fail on 'All Ahead Full', statistically the most common, then it'll turn into 6-4. If your opponent completes their secondary objective, say 'Comrades' then it goes to a 5-5.

Campaign Battle Secondary Objectives:

Campaign note: Victory Points are calculated as usual with the following exception: ships that end their turn off the table count as Disengaged rather than destroyed. A ship that has lost more than half their hull points counts as Crippled. Crippled and Disengaged ships are worth a number of Victory Points equal to 25% of their fleet points, rounded up, unless otherwise noted.

Secondary Objective:

Roll a blue die. Hit: see Times of War table. Accuracy: see Ploys table. Critical: see Chance table.

Times of War:

War reaches us, surrounds us, and touches us all. While it may seem like lightyears away on the holonets, and take place in a few exciting minutes to the tune of a glorious soundtrack, the truth of the matter is often far more mundane. ~Captain Talim Saheres, RAS New Dawn.

Roll a blue die

(Hit): All Ahead Full

As the Galactic Civil War drags on, fleets are often dispatched with a single instruction: 'Destroy all opposition.'

Objective: Cripple and/or destroy at least half the points value of the enemy fleet (+1/-1)

(Accuracy): Comrades

Ships are frequently dispatched as close knit squadrons. It's common for these crews to develop a sense of camaraderie and loyalty to one another. Therefore, they would often push themselves to greater efforts to avenge their fallen comrades. But when a fleet losses too many friends and new vessels and crews are needed to replace familiar faces, moral suffers.

Effect: If one of your ships is destroyed, add 1 Concentrate Fire token to each ship within distance 5 of the destroyed ship.

Objective: Finish the battle with less than half your ships crippled or destroyed (+1/-1)

(Critical): Extended Tour

Not every bit of damage can be so easily repaired after a pitched battle or dangerous voyage, yet every ship is needed for the war effort. It's common to see the occasional warship still sporting damage sustained from its previous encounter; others look intact, but are desperately short of munitions and manpower.

Effect: Your opponent choose up to half the number of ships in your fleet rounding up, and roll 1 blue dice per ship. Apply this result to the hull.

Objective: Destroy and/or cripple more points than your opponent (+1/0)

Ploys:

We get sent out on the routine patrol and told that it's for the good of the Empire, but lately it seems these COMPNOR fellows are around even more than our officers. Something's afoot here Lieutenant. I don't much like it, nor do I trust it. I feel like I'm being toyed with. ~Captain Aurius Stylls, HIMS Iron Sovereign

Roll a blue die:

(Hit): Swift Victory

The war takes place on constantly shifting battlefields; therefore, speed is vital. Every resource needs to count, and just as often, it has to be in the right place at the right time in order for the big picture to hold together. One might win a battle but lose a chance to win the war.

Objective: you must win the game in 5 turns. (+1/-1)

(Accuracy): A Face on the News

Factions need propaganda to survive; and to get just the angle it needs, they need heroes. Such heroes are followed, being closely primped and primed into the spotlight to portray the message their handlers want. With the right conditions and the right successes, they become household legends and rallying points for the cause. Likewise, their defeat or loss can be disastrous to their supporters.

Effect: Select one ship in your fleet as an objective ship and mark it with an Objective token.

Objective: You must prevent your objective ship from being destroyed. (+1/-2)

(Critical): Strategic Decapitation

Warriors need others to lead them, and without this leadership everything falls to chaos. Both sides know this, both sides plan for it. Through their machinations, the enemy has lured your admiral to battle and are throwing everything they have at them

Objective: You must prevent your flagship from being destroyed. (+1/-2)

Chance :

Listen kid, saying 'That's impossible' is a jinx. Eh? You don't believe in jinxes? Tough luck. Look, I've seen a lot of things in this galaxy that are supposed to be impossible, they aren't. Likewise, there's a lot of stuff that seems coincidental, improbable, or just plain weird, but that's how it is. Stick with me and it'll be alright... probably. ~”Cap'n” Bellosh Striknan, the Dancing Rogue

Roll a blue die

(Hit): Astrographics

Battles are shaped by a commander's ability to use every resource at their disposal. This includes space itself.

Effect: After obstacles have been set up, you may move 2 obstacles up to distance 1.

Objective: use the normal Primary objective with this additional margin of victory modifier (0/-1)

(Accuracy): Attention on Deck

Ships captains who prove themselves in battle are often reassigned to larger vessels. Unfortunately, this means that the crew is going to have to get used to their new commander.

Effect: Your opponent may select one of your ships, mark it with an Objective token. This vessel counts its command value as 1 lower than stated for the purposes of accumulating command tokens.

Objective: The chosen ship must cripple or destroy an enemy ship (+1/0)

(Critical): Command, We Have a Problem.

Whether from damaged parts, common wear and tear, or nefarious sabotage, systems don't always behave as expected and are prone to some degree of failure. A skillful crew can counteract this, but it will take some time for the issue to be identified and remedied.

Effect: During the first turn of the game, your opponent may select one of your ship. Mark it with an Objective token . This ship may not spend a command dial to accumulate command tokens. .

Objective: use the normal Primary objective with this additional margin of victory modifier (+1/-1)

Renown table:

For campaign/story mode only.

When completing a mission, track your admiral's Margin of Victory in accordance with FFG's tournament guidelines. After a battle, establish the winner's Margin of Victory. If you win a match, for every point your margin of victory exceeds your opponent, add it to your Admiral's running tally of points. This tally represents your Renown pool. Compare it to the chart below.

0-25, Flag Captain: No bonus

26-50, Commodore: Assign one additional command token to your flagship during the turn 1 Ship phase.

51+, Fleet Admiral: Assign one additional command token to your flagship during the turn 1 Ship phase, and once per game you may discard the top order dial and exchange it for any order you wish.

Author's.... note, thing: It turns out I can't think of an antonym for the word 'exceeds'. Maintains is the closest because it's not above, but in this context, it's inadequate. And for an English minor 'person' this is somewhere between upsetting and bewildering

Its awesome, with only one real drawback I see right away... And that's poor ol' Garm doesn't get Squat until its 51+, and even then, he only gets half as much as everyone else.

Inspirational painting!!

Its awesome, with only one real drawback I see right away... And that's poor ol' Garm doesn't get Squat until its 51+, and even then, he only gets half as much as everyone else.

Could just allow him to be over the command token limit in this instance. Or allow him to have multiples of a token.

Another idea, I've had good results from modifications to each sides points totals, the trick is to not get to unbalanced. This simulates the natural unbalance that generally occurs in combat but not make it insurmountable. Choose 1 player roll a red die:

Blank (25%) - No modifications

Double hit (12.5%) - Gain 15% extra points round up

Hit (25%) - Gain 10% extra points

Crit (25%) - Lose 10% points

Accuracy (12.5%) - Lose 15% points

Also, fantastic work both on your painting and your story/background.

Its awesome, with only one real drawback I see right away... And that's poor ol' Garm doesn't get Squat until its 51+, and even then, he only gets half as much as everyone else.

Thanks Drasnighta; they're untested so always great to hear the issues and see if they can be corrected too. Garm, hmm, Indomitable might have a good solution in that it ups their command token limit, and if I reword it to say 'an additional command token, up to 4' then it will work that way too. It could potentially solve it. I was actually tempted to make the whole command thing more like Leia but I couldn't think of a reasonable upgrade that sounded not painfully good

Inspirational painting!!

Thanks mate, 'tis high praise and just glad to at least have a few things that can help others.

Its awesome, with only one real drawback I see right away... And that's poor ol' Garm doesn't get Squat until its 51+, and even then, he only gets half as much as everyone else.

Could just allow him to be over the command token limit in this instance. Or allow him to have multiples of a token.

Another idea, I've had good results from modifications to each sides points totals, the trick is to not get to unbalanced. This simulates the natural unbalance that generally occurs in combat but not make it insurmountable. Choose 1 player roll a red die:

Blank (25%) - No modifications

Double hit (12.5%) - Gain 15% extra points round up

Hit (25%) - Gain 10% extra points

Crit (25%) - Lose 10% points

Accuracy (12.5%) - Lose 15% points

Also, fantastic work both on your painting and your story/background.

I wonder if the multiple token thing would work, the additional one certainly would (thus going one above limit). I like it, I like it a lot. Oooo, 'Insurmountable' as its own thing sounds like a lot of fun too. I saw something like it in the BFG book but I had no idea how to balance it out aside from large scale set piece 'scenario' battles. I might have to do that... like, switching to another dice with more facings

And many-many thanks. You know, I think you might be the second person to mention the background in all this time. I was fairly sure it was just being ignored, so I do honestly appreciate the mention, mate.

And I'm still conflicted on colours for the ISD's, Dawnguard vs. Pegasus 'style'. If anyone has any thoughts, that would help save me a ton of almost certainly pointless deliberation.

On the pointless deliberation front, then

Honestly - my choice for a 3rd VSD (or ISD, for that matter) is going to be somewhere in the middle...

Overall, the Pegasus has an exceptional Blue tone...

The Dawnguard is more Grey, but its mottled with Blue, and with, for lack of a better term, rusting fragments...

What you need is a middle ground to tie those two together... Or, contrast them apart...

Concentrate on the Dawnguard's paint scheme... But go less with the Brown and Blue... Get something thats grey-ish in tone without having those darker, rusted overtures... Its not going to be easy, doing something a little 'crisper' in that regard, but the wash may just need to be a dark-grey-black, without the Warmer Brown tones... Keep it more in the start netural or even cold...

I feel that all of these should be frightfully iconic ships... And if that's the case, I would hate to have two of them look too similar to each other...

-laughs- Yeah, the Dawnguard has both blue spotty plates and 'questionable material' plates that might be iron oxide through and through. Or worse, they couldn't get genuine rust, so they had to do with a second rate, import immitation rust. I do love how unclean that thing is.

I've got 2 ISD's coming up, It'll be hard to differentiate with the pure grey as they always look like they're missing a hue. But, I think I might be able to manage it with a mix of a near-umber wash (I used a chestnut surface tone on the Dawnguard , umber I've used on both ships and they give a pretty flat soft black tone) with an overcoat of lighter blue-tinted grey on top of neutral grey. It might be right in between. Maybe a hint of purple or something in the crevices to give it some tone.

Could work. I've been spoiling to get and use some dull purples and greys on a ship... maybe a Raider, call it the Morrowind . It's always tough trying to figure out Iconic vs. Individual, hence why I still have a Red squadron of X-wings.

Thanks a ton, trust me, I reaaaally do appreciate it.

Unsure where my next movement will go, but I am certainly considering naming and marking my Star Destroyers as I repaint them... Touching up the Rebel Ships, too... Giving them Background... I'd love to commit to the ISD, but I'll just have to wait until it gets Local... And hopefully, the CAD will have improved vs the USD by then... Urgh. This depression is killing my wallet.

Can't get much painting time at the moment, but that's something hobby related that I can do while still keeping an eye on the kiddo.

My own personal recommendation: give 2 names to each ship, the A and B variants unless you've absolutely settled on one. And that way if one gets blown to pieces by some ultra-powered attack where a salvage team couldn't raise it again, you have a back up and a bit of a touch up modeling project at worst. They always feel more personal and enjoyable, like they have their own story and history. It just helps make the ship feel alive, authentic.

Tell me about it, I have a US source that, even with the murderous conversion rate, is 2/3rds what local 'pay to play' clubs have. But the ISD's are priiiiicy and that was before this drop.

Hope you get a chance to paint up some more, too. I've been looking forward to seeing those X-wings, as those A-wings are terrific. Me, I don't have any of those problems right now: Dagger Squadron is my SO's, so I get plenty of support for this stuff.

For the record: my little list of names is:

Victory I-class: Dawnguard, Black Swan

Victory II-class: Pegasus, Gemini

Gladiator I-class: Prowler

Gladiator II-class: Dauntless

Nebulon B Escort: Pel Mondarr, Fendrin Tor

Nebulon B Refit: Sparrowhawk/Mockingbird, Lance of the Old Gods

CR90A: Shadowbolt

CR90B: Dagobah Tramp

And yep, got some names for everything from ISD's and MC80's, to the hypothetical SSD (which I said once before I think ). It's fun for character.

Today I had 5 minutes, so I threw a dusty coat of White over the three SDs... Part of me looks at them and goes... "Y'know. That works for Star Destroyer White... You'd only need to detail them now..."

...

Must not take Shortcuts.

Must not take Shortcuts.

Must not take Shortcuts.

-eye twitch- Please say it wasn't something impossible to coat or strip. I mean... it's okay, white is okay.... 's okay. A bit of a wash a bit of detailing, it'll be fine.

And that's the story of how the Pegasus turned from white to blue. I kid you not, I did the exact same thing and almost had a panic attack.

I'll grab the heavy brush and give them a bit of a dust and polish tonight after the little man goes to bed... The colour is okay, the colour really isn't too bad... But I'll have to basically polish the texture off it... If I tried to add a wash right now, I'd just get *so much surface staining*...

I wanted to be a bit more subtle with the colour, but things might have been turned on their head now...

... At least I did all 3 at once... So they'll be consistent however they turn out...

One X-Wing squad has been done, but when I look at '10 minutes of work', I havn't been able to justify setting the paint table up.

Still looking forward to what you come up with, mate Yep,surface staining -can- be good but it's... yeah, it can be equally painful. I picked up a valljeo glaze medium that I swear is a life saver for large scale washes. But I tried to do what DWRR did... I can't make it work. You can always hue the colour and then go back up to it I suppose, but you're looking t white or near white I thinks. And yeah... I know what you mean, need to have that full line up to make it worth it.

Breathtaking paints! i've never seen something like this in 'mini-miniatures", i'm in mind to paint my figures too but always i see them i believe it's hard to make many details. Awesome job.

Aye Madaghmire, I'm still always just pleased and impressed that people take the time to paint up those fiddly little fighters in the first place. They look terrific (even sharpies, yes, I'm not remotely against them... I'm just jealous about how relatively easy it is and the result it gives ) and when something looks terrific, it just adds to the enjoyment of the tabletop game. So as far as opponents go, it's a great thing too as it lends a more 'complete' air to the game: so it benefits both players.

Alright, condencing things a little bit: Update time!

VSD II- Pegasus

Alternate Angle: Side

Painter's note: I had no idea what I was doing when I went with this. I just wanted something different to test out a potential future colour scheme for 'newer' ships, like my upcoming ISD's. I don't know, it was an interesting learning experience, but I'm still undecided if I'll go with this, or the more familiar 'aged' look. What do you think, hmm? I'd love some feedback on comparison work between the two VSD's. As for other things , I'll probably add a waterslide transfer too the aft-starboard section just below the turbolaser battery.

Codex: Pegasus

By 29:02:10, increasing hostilities and unrelenting pressure of the local mining guilds finally pressured the Imperial navy authority into dispatching more reinforcements to the Ceknell subsector. Yenkurra held more tactical importance as far as the Imperial navy's upper echelons were concerned, but Ceknell still had a number of powerful families. What made sense militarily was politically undesirable. COMPNOR's 29:02:14 broadcast affirmed the importance and continued unity of the region, regardless of the difficulty. To this end, the Victory II- class Star Destroyer Pegasus was the second ship of the squadron dispatched.

The VSD Pegasus was originally sent to be dispatched with the GSD Dauntless , but the Pegasus was already in the middle of its resupply and was dispatched several days later. The ship's hyperdrive was notably slower than the Dauntless's well tuned systems, and coupled with Ion storms and other circumstances, ensured that the ship arrived in the subsector 9 days behind schedule. It took up position with the Dawnguard at Jump Point Prime station before joining the Dauntless at Egression Rift in 29:03:08.

The Pegasus is one of the later ships created in the Victory II's short production life. It maintains a good class 1 hyperdrive like other Victory classes, but under its captain, it was tuned to increase short distance transits rather than achieving long distance peak performance like the GSD Dauntless . Its weapon systems are far more stable than the Dawnguard , and it serves in almost every respect as a model example of its class. The Pegasus has served in a number of bastion and reserve fleets, and has an extensive service history including both planetary assaults and patrol duty in the deep core.

Its current captain, Dachun Arboe, has a short but impressive military record. Under Arboe the Pegasus has performed exemplary as a blockade ship, having single-handedly captured or destroyed sixteen capital-grade vessels. While the Pegasus itself is relatively unremarkable as far as its class is concerned, Arboe insists on a constant regime of war-games, drills, and practice. The Pegasus is a high readiness ship with impeccably trained crews and an ambitious captain.

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A-wing

Painter's note: frigged if I know what these lot are. Colour scheme is totally derived from CenterPoint's asymetrical stripe design (I had a bit of grey left over from the Pegasus I had to use up ). i may eenaint them, but for right now, I'm just calling them part of the Coyotes, and I might use them for Tycho. Anyhow, new Squadron or Existing? I'll knock some Codex entry up for them either way at the time of the next update (if I get a response, that is).

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Anyhow, that's all for now, but I've still got some miniatures on my work desk, so there'll be at least one more update this week, assuming I don't go crazy with a lack of inspiration and lop off an ear or something. There's also a little campaign related 'chart' thingie for secondary objectives that I'll put up (since strict painting threads don't exist anymore.)

the a wings look good!

i just got a pair of micron markers today, so i think im gonna outline my red lines too - the end effect looks sharp!

cant wait to see what else you come up with

Thanks a ton Deviluxo, it does mean a lot. I haven't painted too much at this scale since Battlefleet Gothic a couple years ago, and it's been ages since anything else. The models are weirdly detiled by having a (relatively) open amount of open room to paint but some really good definition. So in a weird way, they have more detail by having a little less I'd still say painting is worth it, even the sharpie jobs look tremendous with a bit of a wash; and it's your own which I think is important.

Well Centerpoint, they are inspired by the ones you did Thanks though, they were pretty fun to paint and I honestly couldn't think of much else. It's true, the black outline really makes those things look very sharp. I hope you like those Microns. As a weird little note, check the side to see if they have a storage instruction. Some of these artist pens (like my now dead Faber) recommend horizontal storage only (for ink flow I'd guess as it's not pressurized). I can't wait to see what I come up with either, because I've got no bloody idea what it'll be! But there's a flight of B-wings left in any case.

Vykes, loving your work here! I especially dig the backround info, dossier style, etc. Keep 'em coming, please!

Thanks a ton Jme, it does mean a lot to me. The background info might not appeal to everyone... and I'd be willing to guess a lot of people haven't clicked on any of them, but it's certainly what I've been enjoying Glad that you like it too, mate.

No worries, I absolutely intend too. I've got a few things planned up for the not-so-distant future, and maybe even by monday if I really work at it (Codex stuff and more painting). Now, I think I'm going to go back to crying about how many individual panels I'm going to have to paint for the 2 ISD's I bought, not to mention the MC80 and the fact that I was set to pick up another of those as well. ... the horror... the horror.... my poor brushes never hurt anyone.