That is some bloody incredible work there Wes, don't be afraid to 'keep on' that model. -keeps looking at my account to see if I can possibly justify a Liberty- You are an evil evil person

The concept is one I've seen partially used elsewhere, with crushed stained glass used to simulate coals and elemental fire, but the application on those engines really works well. I may have to meander down to Michaels and see if they have something like that. Seriously very very cool, and great work on the engine tone too, naturally. That is one incredible looking ship.

Semi-back to the question I asked... well, Dras, Cruiser, I guess I'd agree now, but once it was not always so. Thematically, I always assumed rebels were grey and red, and Empire was grey and... well, grey. Banding and markings were minimal, starfighters had set patterns, etc. I mean, honestly it's not until Rebels came out that the notion of blue ID markings on a CR90 was something I was willing to consider (and this is even after the CR92 from TIE Fighter).

I usually get hooked and thus stuck on 'canonical' pattern schemes, get bored with it, and meander off. I can't tell you how many times I've wanted to repaint my 'Red Group' X-wings, but something in me keeps wanting to cling on saying 'But that's what X-wings are! Heeeeathen!' And as for patterns, well, f'get about it!

I do like those darker colours FoaS, CR90's turn out to be surprisingly fun to paint. The H6 has a nice neutral colour scheme but the banding makes it feel 'finished', which is good in my book.

Aye D503, I was thinking of something like that too. The bow of the Mc30 does look uncomfortably like a fingernail at some angles.

That is a pretty neat 400 points Centerpoint.

Thanks Daft Blazer, the MC30 is okay, I like the Mc80 more buuuut I don't dislike its smaller cousin in the least. It was pretty fun to paint, but the next Mc30, well, I'm thinking of some conversions. Maybe some significant ones. But keep us appraised of what you paint up, eh mate?

Oh, and because I feel weird responding without a picture, here. Old but fun.

Which poses the question: does anyone have a notion of what is a 'safe' colour palette for rebels or Imperials? What can we get away with?

It wasn't until I saw these that I even considered anything but BLACK on TIE panels. (Red trim on aces being an exception.) Even the episode 7 TIEs won't happen until I get a FOSD to launch them.

Well Vyles, I was likethat once. Wanting to stick to canon and movies but the ORIGINAL repaint section proved otherwise.

A modeller friend once said,"You're the one that builds the model. Not the other way round"

In this case here... "Painter of the model you are... Dictate you the models do not"

And Vykes, your white-gold TIEs have made me want to produce another Guard unit that's a sub unit of the Valkyrian Guards...

Fingers crossed for inclusion of TIE Defenders and TIE Phantoms to Armada. Those will make that Guard sub unit

Just glad to be able to present something new, Cynan. I can't remember where I saw the white and gold pattern on a ship but after dealing with a burn out on grey TIEs, I went with those. I don't regret it one bit. I'll admit, I am getting eager to do a group of FO TIEs. I like seeing painted fighters in particular, there's something about them that feels like a sincere form of artistic expression.

That is a very very good philosophy, Cruiser. No doubt about it. I guess I struggle with the 'what should it be, and why is it like that?' questions a lot. Are the TIE panels black because they are made of X material and should be black, or is it paint, etc. Rebels changed a lot for me and almost universally in a good way. However, I still feel like there is a Star Wars aesthetic in colour and the like, so I'm trying to find where the boundary is.

Couldn't agree more on the TIE D either. -sighs, sorta dreaming on that one-

Proud to present the Diamondback:

Im really liking the organic pattern on an organic ship. i think ill paint the other one like an octopus.

My Latest Commission...

I don't have an exact timing on this one, but it was just over 3 Man hours of paint time...

I apologise for the Blurry pictures... But it was mostly canon paint schemes, with a bit of Crazy where there either a boring or non-existant scheme...

Difficult to see at this angle, but "Wedge" is actually Red Squadrons 1, 2 and 3 (2 being Wedge), and "Luke" is 4, 5 and 6, with the proper Red 5 as the middle craft. Also included is Red Tycho, and Classic Gold Dutch, with Blue Ion Engines at request. The Keyan is a nice RoTJ Dagger Squadron.

Mauler Mithel is sporting flames on the Top of his Cockpit, with Major Rhymer having an Explosion Motif on his Side panels... Howlrunner sports a very stylish Red Imperial Symbol on her Side Panels, while Vader has the Blue-Grey Tint over the Grey Tints... Soontir, as always, shows that Bloodstripes are very slimming.

Canon Falcon, Outrider, Havoc and Mouldy Crow... Engine glows are the best part of these, so its a terrible picture.

And Rounding them out... Boba in Slave One, Dengar in Punishing One, IG-88 in the IG-2000 and Bossk in the Hound's Tooth.

So yes, about 3, maybe 3 and a half hours of work in here... Were an absolute pleasure to paint.

This clears off the commission plate until the next one arrives, so now I need to hunt down some Emery boards so I can smooth out this Liquid Green stuff on my MC80 to get rid of that join line down its flanks...

how much is yur commission?

Nice MC80s

I painted my first one the other day.

I must say the stock paint job on them is pretty crap. the "confetti cruiser" almost anything is better than the stock but you guys sure outdo yourselves

I think half the reason I do not like the MC80 model is because of the heavy panel lines. It just doesn't suit the ship. That said, a good paint job can help it along.

I usually get hooked and thus stuck on 'canonical' pattern schemes, get bored with it, and meander off. I can't tell you how many times I've wanted to repaint my 'Red Group' X-wings, but something in me keeps wanting to cling on saying 'But that's what X-wings are! Heeeeathen!' And as for patterns, well, f'get about it!

My first pack of Rogues and Villains went into "Canon" paint schemes... I honestly don't want Canon ones myself, but I needed to know I could do it, because I knew people would ask for it...

Beyond that, my second pack went into schemes I wanted - some Canon, Some not... So my Second Firespray is my (somewhat) famous Kath, which has already been improved upon for a 2.0 that someone has ordered...

Now I'm going into the other designs and painting bandings and markings on the other designs, so that they appear at least somewhat of a homage to the original but being my own flair...

My half-done HWK still has the Brown Base Colour of the Mouldy Crow, but I put some nice White and Purple flashings to tie it into the fleet... The YT-2400 shares a paint scheme more in common with my CR90s than anything else...

The Universe has to be more than what we've been shown in the Movies. In fact, that's something I loved about the First Order when it was revealed - even if it was future, it showed two polar opposites in the Empire immediately... White TIE fighters, and Black Shuttles, rather than the traditional we were with - and you know, I figure they work...

I'm limiting my pallete myself just to get some familiarity and to tie things together - and my chosen colour is almost unheard of in official paint schemes - being Purple... So I personally feel free tobreak away from them where I want to.

I do only have White SDs and Black TIEs though - because I want the military-uniform esque to be a dedicated counterpoint to the Rebels. The rebels have markings and names and unique identifiers, the Empire has Numbers. Nothing but Numbers. And if they have more than a number, they're good.

I suppose there is always what a person expects to see vs wants to see. Because we do not paint just for ourselves but for the spectacle of show, it is hard to make the choice to deviate from what we know. What if people don't like what I chose to do? As a painter and model builder I find it hard sometimes to make the choice. Doing something different or out of the box usually ends up being more rewarding in the end.

I am about half way finished but I couldn't wait anymore to share my MC80 Liberty custom. Hope to finish it by the weekend so it can see some action.

What colors did you use? Was it airbrush? Also, what material did Shapeways use for this model? Thanks! It looks fantastic.

I am about half way finished but I couldn't wait anymore to share my MC80 Liberty custom. Hope to finish it by the weekend so it can see some action.

What colors did you use? Was it airbrush? Also, what material did Shapeways use for this model? Thanks! It looks fantastic.

Shapeways uses 3d printing and the material depends on the choice but they are various plastics of various strengths.

Yes, but I think he was asking specifically if it was "White Strong Flexible", "Frosted Ultra Detail" or "Frosted Extreme Detail", for example...

EDIT: Turns out, "Frosted Ultra Detail" is the answer given Below

No airbrush. I just base coated the FUD model with bone spray. Stippled on the stripes with on old brush using yellowish rust. I then used buff and the same yellow rust colour post wash to highlight. The picture above had not had the highlight stage done yet. The extra panels were just done by masking off the original colour before the wash.

Vykes that's one pretty Shrimp Frigate

Wes Janson such a shame FFG did not give us an MC80 Liberty instead of the MC-TooSmallToBeHomeOne-80 Frigate. The engines especially kick a** on yours.

FoaS that green/grey color scheme make the Scurrg look like a flying tank, love it!

A new contribution from my side - an ISD (still work in progress).

Hey gys what colour are y'all using for the Moldy Crow? I'm gonna base coat my generic HWK-290s in an off-white or Silver-Grey but the I cant quite nail down the Crow. Some pics look more yellowish brown while others seem to have some green in them.

Thanks for the help

BigBear - Mournfang Brown with Khorne Red stripes worked for me.

Aaaanyway... finished the ISD:

The windows are fantastic!

Finally finished painting my rebel craft that came in yesterday. I present the Silverfish:

LZ-1, LZ-2, and the MC80 is the Akron.

The windows are fantastic!

I added them to the ol' VSD and GSDs as well. Once my camera's charged I'll post some more details.

A lot can be attributed to just how bright Vallejo Deep Sky Blue is.

Man, these pics are awesome. I just started painting, and wow. Several hours into this and the best I can do is something that looks okay at arm's length. You guys are my heroes.

Practice you must NerfYoda. In time, all your skill you will find.

Welcome to the club. As a begineer, if you find that it looks great at arm lenght, you're halfway there

If you're just starting, google "wet palette" and make one. They're great.