The model has arrived, and yes, it's awesome!

I also found these cool reference pics for Gold Leader!!!!

There is green on it!!!

I can't link directly, but if you go to the mentioned gentleman's albums, the Y-Wing is there.

https://www.flickr.com/photos/karltate/albums

So............. As I sat down to paint my gold leader confident in my choice of reference material and ship look, I couldn't resist one last internet search.

Of course I found something that caused me to change my mind and take me in a completely different direction with the Y-Wing!!!

Here is the reference material for "red Jammer" http://www.makmodeler.com/?p=2909 who is apparently the FIRST EVER Y-Wing model built!

That AND the fact that it looked REALLY cool was enough for me to choose this as the direction for my most recent repaint.

For some reason I don't like the look of metallic paints on X-Wing ships, so I tried my hand at NMM brass/copper for the pipes, which seemed to turn out ok IMHO.

I like the asymetrical look of this repaint, and I am happy with my free hand red nose V, and OSL on the engines. I also really enjoyed painting the proton torpedo scorch marks on the bottom of the Y-Wing.

I think that Red Jammer is all weathered up in the style I like to have my rebels, and he is ready to join the others!

Now I have to think about what I will paint next............................

To keep the OT love alive, I have ordered a T-65 X-Wing expansion and should be able to pick it up later today.

This is an exciting purchase for me because it will not only give me the opportunity to paint the legendary Red 2 of Wedge Antilles, but also means that I finally have all of the wave 1 & 2 ships!

I am torn as to how I should paint Wedge.

Luke and Biggs are a lightened bone colour (page 1 of this thread), whereas all of my other rebel ships are a custom stone grey mix...

I will of course want the ships to be uniform, so this means that I will have to either paint Wedge in bone, OR repaint Luke and Biggs!

Any thoughts?

I decided to go with grey, got 7/8ths done the model and decided that I liked the bone instead!

So, I repainted the whole thing

Just need to do the engine glow and finishing touches.

I should have pics up early next week.

Such great detail, and fantastic engine glow!

I'd want my ships in the same base color, too. The YT-2400 seems sightly more white than the YT-1300, and it gets under my skin. If I ever Connie up loads of free time and clear through my gaming to-do list, I'll want to paint the Outrider to blend better with the Falcon. Then, I'd add engine glow to all ~100 of my ships.

It seems like all of my rebels will have the same base colour except for the T-65s.

This is VERY NOT me, but for some reason I am ok with it.

100+ engine glows sounds like one hell of a project!

I guess that is why I pretty much paint each of my ships as soon as I get them

It seems like all of my rebels will have the same base colour except for the T-65s.

This is VERY NOT me, but for some reason I am ok with it.

100+ engine glows sounds like one hell of a project!

I guess that is why I pretty much paint each of my ships as soon as I get them

I wish I had done that, but since I started Imperial Assault at the same time as X-Wing, I prioritized the unpainted miniatures to be painted. And then I got busy with life stuff, and my girlfriend wanted the guestroom, which I had completely taken over with paints and Star Wars stuff, back to a guestroom. Now, I'm sitting at ~70% painted connection of IA, but most of the items are boxed.

Here is the reference material I used for Red II:

http://www.modelermagic.com/?p=68560

And here she is in all of her weathered OT beauty:

Red II has turned out a little lighter than Red III, & IV, but I am ok with that.

I really like the markings on this X-Wing, the yellow and red go well together.

As you can see, I have also decided to black out all of my bases and pegs. I really like how this helps place the focus on the model by contrasting it.

Comments welcome as always

Today I started playing around with my next project... Asteroids!!!

I am using the original asteroid tokens/templates and drawing around them onto plasticard so that they function the same as the standard templates in regards to the ships touching them. I have chosen a medium asteroid base as my first trial run and have it cut out already.

Next up is the fun bit! I am sculpting asteroids out of plasticard and greenstuff (a self curing putty that starts off as blue and yellow).

My vision is to sculpt and place the asteroids on the bases in such a way that they will add some "depth" to the table top while at the same time fulfilling their purpose as functional markers.

Before any one mentions it, I know that they will not be tournament legal

I should have a couple of WIP pics up tomorrow.

I can't bare to look... I have convinced myself that only the Scum Faction needs unique paint jobs! Maybe later this year I can look at some paint commissions... but keep it own the down low, because I don't want to jinx it!

...

And here she is in all of her weathered OT beauty:

Red II has turned out a little lighter than Red III, & IV, but I am ok with that.

I really like the markings on this X-Wing, the yellow and red go well together.

...

Comments welcome as always

Fantastic! - as always.

I can't bare to look... I have convinced myself that only the Scum Faction needs unique paint jobs! Maybe later this year I can look at some paint commissions... but keep it own the down low, because I don't want to jinx it!

My lips are sealed!

You must be excited with the new scum ships coming out!

I love the look of the quad jumper and Shadow caster.

Here is the trial run of my first asteroid.

First pic shows the comparison with the original token, and the second pic shows how the new piece will add depth to the table.

I painted the asteroid using the original art for reference.

I base coated in black, started with dark brown as the initial layer, and added bone white to the brown base until it was brought up to pure bone white for the brightest highlights.

I finished the piece off with some Sepia and black washes.

As I make more asteroids I will be having multiple asteroids on each base and connect them in such a way as to represent them floating.

I will probably be adding to this one too. I just wanted to keep it simple to see if my idea would work, and if I liked it.

Just finished cutting out all of the bases in preperation for the more fun sculpting stage of the project.

I just picked up some more Greenstuff and superglue!

Next week we will be well underway with the asteroid field!

I will continue to post WIP pics as I go, so that anyone who would like to make their own can do so.

So here is the next step in making an asteroid Red 7 style!

It may not be the prettiest, but it gets the job done, and saves a bundle on modeling putty.

Basically, I cut out the general shape that I am looking for from the asteroid in plasticard and then fill/bulk it up with whatever plastic sprues and bits and pieces that I have lying around.
I also use this step to start adding more dimensions to the asteroid. This is a large asteroid template, and the asteroid itself is pretty much the same size as the template! This one is going to take some time to do properly.

Next I mix up my green stuff (GS) and press it out into thin sheets which I lay over the armature, and attach using light pressure.

I add some initial texturing to the GS and then wait for it to dry/harden before moving on.

The idea is that I get the asteroid covered and then go back and tidy things up such as join lines, fingerprints, and angles that I don't like, etc...

I have also modeled a smaller asteroid (not shown) that will be attached to add further movement and depth to the game piece.

Stay tuned for more at a later date.

I'm on a roll!!!

I have now added GS to the other asteroid.

A couple more points to keep in mind when making asteroids this way are:

- Plan ahead. I have added a sprue piece that will be used to attach the asteroids together and have also left an opening on the other piece to accomodate it. A little planning ahead can save a lot of headache and fiddling later in the build.

- Another GS tip is to try and complete half of the asteroid at a time. This is because if you try to do more you will start sticking your fingers into the work that you have already done and are happy with.

Patience is not easy, but I can not stress enough how important it is when working with GS.

My experience has shown me that you will be almost garunteed to squish the part of your sculpt that you are the most happy with if you don't sculpt in sections.

Well, that's it for a while. I have to let this stuff harden up

My asteroid family is growing!

Here is a T-70 doing a fly by to provide a reference point for the scale of the new asteroid.

The next asteroid that I am building is over a quarter of the size of the millennium Falcon! and quite a bit taller

The latest asteroid (s) has been a beast to build, so much so, that I am doubtful that I will make any more asteroids of this size.

But all that aside, I have finally progressed into the painting stage!

The base coat and first wash have been applied!

I will post pics when it is finished, which will more than likely be early next week.

That looks quite amazing to be honest. I myself have done the "glue lava rocks to a dowel and glue all of that on a cork cutout the same shape as the asteroid piece"-conversion for my game. Looks good as well, and the Asteroids "hover" at the same height the fighters do hover above my also self made space mat. I only did that for the first 6 tokens though, have not made it yet to make the other newer 6 asteroids as well, also no debris fields yet.

Good work, love it, looks awesome! Are you going to do debris fields as well?

That looks quite amazing to be honest. I myself have done the "glue lava rocks to a dowel and glue all of that on a cork cutout the same shape as the asteroid piece"-conversion for my game. Looks good as well, and the Asteroids "hover" at the same height the fighters do hover above my also self made space mat. I only did that for the first 6 tokens though, have not made it yet to make the other newer 6 asteroids as well, also no debris fields yet.

Good work, love it, looks awesome! Are you going to do debris fields as well?

Thanks!

I am going to TRY and do all of the asteroids. I do not have any debris markers yet, but I am sure I will give them a go if/when I do.

I apologize in advance for the poor quality photos, but I think they are good enough to see what I have been up to.

Here is my mega asteroid!

Here is a T-70 for scale

Here is the falcon. Never tell me the odds!!!

And the whole family so far

So I have been able to complete another asteroid, AND I am 3/4 of the way finished another which is a halloween themed asteroid

I should be able to finish the halloween asteroid this week, and then I will post pics of the new pieces.

Any guesses as to what the holiday themed asteroid looks like?

I will say that it is a subtle look so that it can be used all year round, not a big orange pumpkin or anything like that

So here is the haloween themed asteroid.

As I mentioned, it is subtle enough that it does not look cheesy (IMHO )

And is not really visable from all angles, but is still something a little different

Paint is next

Here is the whole family with the two newest members front and center

And one more to show that the skull asteroid is actually quite ordinary from a different angle