Way to go with that experimentation, mate! Interesting, very interesting. Vallejo Sky blue, tis a wonder for this stuff. Hmm, personally I'm really feeling both engine 2 and 3. What's the finish like on them? Often it's really hard to tell with a camera of any type. Oh, and nicely done on the photography front

Way to go with that experimentation, mate! Interesting, very interesting. Vallejo Sky blue, tis a wonder for this stuff. Hmm, personally I'm really feeling both engine 2 and 3. What's the finish like on them? Often it's really hard to tell with a camera of any type. Oh, and nicely done on the photography front

Thanks for the feedback Vykes.

I'd call it a satin for both of those. However, 2 has a metallic sheen with no additional color while 3 is nothing but color glaze with no metallics. I think 2 is better because all it does is add a metal glaze to the already painted engine. 1 is too much metallic (I might have used too much of it as well), and 3 and 4 add more sky blue which it didn't need. I think I'll do the mains with the metallic glaze and I'll try to take a pic from "gaming angles" or at least an angle that better catches the light reflection. Also thinking about putting a gloss lacquer over the finished product; thoughts?

I like number 2 as well.

Thanks for the side by side by side by side comparison

I like number 2 as well.

Thanks for the side by side by side by side comparison

Well, I was hoping to do the main engines but work got in the way and now I'm in Taipei. I'll get back to it after next week. I don't suppose anyone plays in Taiwan do they?

I'm baaaack! After a two week trip to Taiwan and another week of jet lag and general catching up, I've got some time to burn again. After a bout of "painter's block", I've been inspired to do a GSD in an old battleship camo scheme. So, in the interest of helping those new to painting, I thought I'd detail it here step by step. I'll keep adding to this post as I go so be patient please.

1. Wash model with Super Clean degreaser (caution, wear gloves) and an old toothbrush, then rinse with water and let dry overnight.

2. While waiting for the model to completely dry, do some sketching / planning.

3. Prep to prime. Mask anything you don't want painted. Here I used poster stick-em stuff to cover the peg an inside of the main engines.

4. While waiting for coats to dry, play with your colors to tweak your pallet.

5. Prime. I used a Testors grey for this. However, you can skip the priming with the painted FFG models if you've washed it well enough as their paint makes a good underlayment. Depending on what you want to achieve with color, you can pick white, black or another color as long as it holds your paint well.

6. Starting the color. This scheme is various shades of grey and is intended to be a disruptive type camo. So starting with the lightest color, a light sky grey, I'm filling in all the "shaded" areas to make them lighter. This is the first coat. There will be at least one more and I might switch to white to make it even lighter. Never try to do it all in one coat, be sure to spread your paint thin. Doing too much at once puddles the paint and you loose details.

7. Light grey complete for now. This is after 2 coats of it.

8. Tape areas for medium grey. This is very close to the primer so only one coat was necessary. I'll go back later and touch up any flaws but not until the 3 shades of grey are down.

9. The Dark grey is added after taping off. Now the pattern is "roughed-in" the top of the model. The next step will be cleaning up the lines with a detail brush.

Great work! Could you tell me what are you using to hold the models with? Is it a straw, or something else?

Thanks

Great work! Could you tell me what are you using to hold the models with? Is it a straw, or something else?

Thanks

For the squadrons, I use the stick from a plastic q-tip. It must be plastic, not carboard. You take the cotton tips off, cut it in half, then make a 1/4" cut along the length of the tube on one end. Insert the squadron model into the cut end. As for the ships, I am working with the poster hanging putty for this GSD but in the past, I've used the ship stand and masked it off with tape. The putty seems to be working ok so far. I'll see if I can post some pics of the q-tip material. I've also heard of folks using the thin coffee stirring straws but I haven't tried those yet.

The Archer's Paradox.

Is it illegal to have a WIP out on the table? Does that make me a bad person? Am I a reprobate?

No, you can still claim "more awesome than my opponent", if you have WIPs and they have Out-of-the-Box's...

10. Finished applying the scheme to the bottom. After removing the tape, I grabbed a detail brush and straightened the lines where there was bleed over/under or that I missed. Started detailing with the black-grey, then did the neutral grey and finally the sky grey. Spent very little time with the dark grey and a lot of time with the sky grey.

11. Wash a dub dub. I mixed flat black with water, 1:8 ratio by drops. It's very thin and requires a constant stir with the brush to keep the pigment evenly distributed. I pin washed most of the outer hull using a detail brush loaded with wash to touch a panel line or crevice and let it do its thing. The engine area and the "inner hull" between the outer plates received a normal washing. I decided to do that so the colors (especially the light grey) didn't get darkened too much. Why not ink? I'm too cheap haha.

12. Highlighted the panels and some other features tonight. I'm trying to figure out a repeatable method so I start working on the bottom because you don't see it often. Basically, I used the sky grey and put a very thin layer around the edges of every panel and corner. The next time I do this, I will use a glaze.

13. Took out the silver and dry brushed it over the entire model. I especially went heavy on the 3 "landing feet". I noticed the silver didn't highlight the white middle/interior hull so I used ledbelcher on those parts. Next, start working on all the details.

Looks straight oughta the battle of guadalcanal.... IN SPACE!!!!

Are you going to do any edge highlighting, panel lining, or lighting effects?

Looks straight oughta the battle of guadalcanal.... IN SPACE!!!!

Are you going to do any edge highlighting, panel lining, or lighting effects?

WIPs. Of course, the YV will get a sharks mouth

I love the YV-666 "Goblin Shark" Motif, and I am happy that someone else is going for it, too

I love the YV-666 "Goblin Shark" Motif, and I am happy that someone else is going for it, too

Edit: I see why I haven't seen it, it appears the links to those pics on your paint thread are broke. I'd love to see them.

Fixed it.

Had no idea.

And that was the only link to break randomly...

I think I do remember seeing that now. I've seen an XW YV painted as a blue whale . I am still trying to figure out the mouth but I think I'll do a red interior more like the classic nose art style. I hadn't thought of putting the eye so high up. Guess I need to look at some pics of goblin sharks. Thanks Dras!

Fixed it.

Had no idea.

And that was the only link to break randomly...

So goblin sharks actually have a pinkish skin … don't think I'll do that haha.

Did these awhile back, thought I'd share.

TIE Fighter hull upgrade

Vader!

For Halloween, I present the Ghost of Jango and everyone's ocean terror, Jaws

The little yellow highlights are absolutely perfect- they really make the firespray look more detailed than it could possibly be at this scale! Wonderful!