So there's the "Big" Commission Done.

So many TIE Internal Panels...

And apparently, there's a toddler smudge on my Camera Lens... But there's A Royal Guard Red Advanced and TIE Fighter Squadron, and a Bloodstriped Interceptor and TIE Fighter Squadron...

Gamma Squadron Vets for Rhymer.

And then Rebels in "Many Colours" as requested... Luke and Wedge in Canon Red Squadron Markings.

And a Red Aggressor, as the Blue Swipes were unwanted by the commissioner

(Further Pictures on my Service's Facebook Page, Link in Signature, Album Commission 004 for these pictures!)

So many TIE Internal Panels...

Holy hell! I feel your pain on that one!

Some amazing work here, this game got me pack into painting after about a 15 year hiatus (typical I choose to start again with the smallest **** miniatures known to man!).

Hope to get some decent pics done soon and will post up asap. (My lovely fleet deserves better than the iphone pics I have currently).

Why do I keep coming to this thread. . . I feel so insignificant every time I do. . .

NO No no you need to feel inspired to paint your ships and keep trying to get better.

NO No no you need to feel inspired to paint your ships and keep trying to get better.

[Hey Lyraeus -- each one gets a little better. I started painting sub-mediocrely last summer and worked my way up to painting around halfway decent now]

Here are some of my more recent ships. Any suggestions for improvement?

Here's my attempt at making a Nebulon-B that looks more inline with Imperial Gray:

Here's an MC30 to match my assault frigate paint scheme:

Here's my latest set of squadrons:

And here's what my tournament fleet looks like now (usually looks better than it ranks haha):

Great work CyborgNinja. I like the grey Nebulon B's and the shield on the MC30 and AFM2 look great!

I have still yet to finish the hanger on Avenger but I really like the way the engines turned out on her...at least I think.

Here are some battle shots of my for fun 3 ISD1 Vader fleet going against my version of DeMSU I've been running for several months....Let's just say Vader's ISD (Black) didn't do so well.

Man, I'm incredibly impressed at all these squadrons' paint jobs. I'm about 65% through painting my Imperial Assault figures, and squadrons are next. They're so **** small, though...

Do you use stencils or some kind of tool to get such thin straight lines?

I do everything by hand with a brush.

I use tape to mask straight lines on ships, but on Squadrons, its all just by hand and eyeball...

Man, I'm incredibly impressed at all these squadrons' paint jobs. I'm about 65% through painting my Imperial Assault figures, and squadrons are next. They're so **** small, though...

Do you use stencils or some kind of tool to get such thin straight lines?

Have you considered decals? Like everything else I do, this is a perpetual WIP

I haven't been brave enough to print them out on decal paper- I've just been doing size tests with regular paper. I'll get it to it some day...

I saw decals for armada on sale, are those yours? I thought about using decals to save myself the effort on those tiny plastic things, but then I remembered my old days of WWII modelling and remembered I am absolutely rubbish with decals. I don't have a single one put on straight. It's easier to just paint the things.

I saw decals for armada on sale, are those yours? I thought about using decals to save myself the effort on those tiny plastic things, but then I remembered my old days of WWII modelling and remembered I am absolutely rubbish with decals. I don't have a single one put on straight. It's easier to just paint the things.

No, I'm not trying to sell mine: I'm just trying to get the stupid things done. These here are individual x-wings (red 1 through red 12) rather than "genero red markings".

Here in the states, if you can get access to micro sol/set, and use a good gloss coat before attempting to put the decals on, its TONS easier as you can reposition the decal to your heart's content. I highly commend giving it another shot after watching a youtube tutorial or something like it.

Thank you for the tip! I actually had thought of giving it a second go, and have decals which I ordered last week arriving by post tomorrow. I have my squads all painted and was gonna use them for some small detail heraldic stuff potentially. If I gloss my models for the decals then go back over with matte will I cut down the glare enough?

Yep, its actually a was to Super-Seal and Protect Models... Hit them with a layer of two of Gloss to build up the protection, then the all-Magic "Testors Dullcoat" to matte them right back down...

Outside of Testors, I've had success with Purity Seal as well as the Matte finisher, and I am sure others will give experience in it as well...

I typically use it to smack down a massive coat on things that are going ot be handled or rubbed a lot.... And when I'm Decal applying, I usually only Gloss Coat the Area I'm decaling with a paint on...

But I'm weird, odd, and offball.

I use Testors Dullcote, but don't have any gloss at the moment. At least not one miniature grade. I think I have some Krylon crystal gloss varnish sitting on a shelf, but that might be more of a bludgeon than the scalpel you seem to be talking about as the best application for the job. I guess I have till tomorrow when I'm off work to get it as the decals won't arrive till then. And even after that, I am still only 50% convinced I will actually use them (up from 10% before this conversation though, so that is still something).

My Ton-Falk Escort Carrier, Really had fun with this one and may order one more.

I saw decals for armada on sale, are those yours? I thought about using decals to save myself the effort on those tiny plastic things, but then I remembered my old days of WWII modelling and remembered I am absolutely rubbish with decals. I don't have a single one put on straight. It's easier to just paint the things.

No, I'm not trying to sell mine: I'm just trying to get the stupid things done. These here are individual x-wings (red 1 through red 12) rather than "genero red markings".

Here in the states, if you can get access to micro sol/set, and use a good gloss coat before attempting to put the decals on, its TONS easier as you can reposition the decal to your heart's content. I highly commend giving it another shot after watching a youtube tutorial or something like it.

For anyone printing their own decals, I highly recommend getting laserjet (i think that's what it's called) compatible decal paper and using a laser printer. I made my own decals for SFB stuff and used decal paper for inkjet printers. Even with sufficient gloss coats, if I mucked up something and had to re-position the decal, or if I took too long using my brush to get any bubbles out from under the decal, the ink would come off. I've still got a couple of ships with semi-mucked up decals.

Ugh I know its out there, but can someone just make like the most tech-internet-do-things-yourself-illiterate simple, step-bystep, tried and true way of doing decals?

I'm so lost. And confused which ones I should get, and what stuff and how to use it.

[Hey Lyraeus -- each one gets a little better. I started painting sub-mediocrely last summer and worked my way up to painting around halfway decent now]

Here are some of my more recent ships. Any suggestions for improvement?

Here's my attempt at making a Nebulon-B that looks more inline with Imperial Gray:

Here's an MC30 to match my assault frigate paint scheme:

Here's my latest set of squadrons:

And here's what my tournament fleet looks like now (usually looks better than it ranks haha):

really like the color of the MC30 and AF, very well done!

Ugh I know its out there, but can someone just make like the most tech-internet-do-things-yourself-illiterate simple, step-bystep, tried and true way of doing decals?

I'm so lost. And confused which ones I should get, and what stuff and how to use it.

1) Have Inkjet Printer.

2) Buy Inkjet Decal paper:

http://www.decalpaper.com/category-s/2.htm

3) Print Your Decals.

4) You will need to Trim the decal as close as possible to the colour. MOST of the time, they'll be sorta-see-through, so be wary on putting them on Dark Surfaces.

5) Make sure your surface is slightly Glossy. Its not NECCESSARY, but it makes it EASIER. (If you have to, get Games Workshop 'Ardcoat and paint it on gently to the area).

6) Apply Decal. This involves soaking trimmed decal in warm water for 30 odd seconds, and then sliding it off the paper onto the model. If your surface is glossy, you should be able to reposition it gently without tearing it.

7) Wait to Dry.

8) Apply a Spray on Matte Acrylic Sealer... This can be Krylon, or Games Workshop "Purity Seal"... Or Testors "Dullcote"... Or any manner of other brands.

9) lavish in your Applied Decals.

With this Method, you will get OKAY Decals, with OKAY detail, in OKAY positions.........

There are NUMEROUS tricks to get them to go to the NEXT LEVEL, Which unfortunately, are not suitable to a "Basics" explanation, which you ahve above nowl.

Should we use inkjet? I figured that a color laser would be better for this because it holds up better.

Should we use inkjet? I figured that a color laser would be better for this because it holds up better.

Starting out, Inkjet is simple easier, cheaper and faster...

IF you have access to Colour Laser, Colour Laser is better, yes... But it is also more Expensive, and can occasionally require additional sealing (in my experience).

Colour Inkjet is cool enough to start out with, and try...

But its certainly not the best...

That's the Disclaimer of the whole thing, and why I suggested what I suggested as the "basics"

Yes yes, you're right - just figured that inkjet wouldn't really work because, well, wet.

This awesome game reignited my love for miniature painting (some decent pics of which I hope to take and post soon).

But after all my squadrons (and a Corvette and Neb) were painted, my idle hands decided to create some 3D obstacle tokens, so I thought I'd share my scratchbuilt station.

First time I had ever scratchbuilt anything, so started off with a basic idea designed in SketchUp, something original that I could easily create with layered pieces of spare balsa wood I had lying about from my asteroid and debris token construction (again, I'll try and get some pics up soon - you can see a couple on these pics, but these are only cleaned up iphone photos for the moment). It evolved as I built, but yeah, here it is...

(Please ignore the makeshift stand, I ran out of balsa sheet! Planning on a square base with equal arcs / dice / hull etc on it, for use in multiplayer games and a narrative campaign I'm slowly putting together with my gaming group).