As above - would like to do some scenarios involving freighter convoys, and while we've got Gozantis and Rebel transports and smaller YT-type freighters in the game...I'd be curious if anyone is putting out prepainted minis in this size (-ish) that look Star Wars-y enough to pass for the setting that could stand in for larger freighters.
Brief Googling doesn't seem to be turning anything up, though.
Thoughts?
Certainly not Prepainted.
Prepainted, on a business level, signifies a level of commitment and money to a particular system - certainly there's not that many generics, and the concept of "generic space ship" doesn't really go well with Model collectors / micromachines, etc - they're only ever going to be replicating popular franchises.
And without Prepainted, you might as well be looking at 3D Printing options for actual star-wars and star-wars-like vessels and designs through Shapeways, Mels and such.
And while you're looking at unpainted, then you're even then picking up other games, like Firestorm Armada or Dropfleet Commander... I know @FoaS has some Firestorm stuff that he uses as Corporate Sector Authority...
FFG (and Wizards) are unique in the Prepainted section, effectively.
Edited by Drasnighta
Hrm. Well, okay, how about unpainted, then?
Not a fan of 3d printed, as much - at least, at this scale. The model texture is just...meh, to me. And unpainted in a popular-ish other line might turn up some things on eBay. Firestorm Armada, you say?
Just now, xanderf said:Hrm. Well, okay, how about unpainted, then?
Not a fan of 3d printed, as much - at least, at this scale. The model texture is just...meh, to me. And unpainted in a popular-ish other line might turn up some things on eBay. Firestorm Armada, you say?
Model Texture's only a problem with certain printers - there's no problem with the Texture that Shapeways will give you in, for example, Frosted Ultra Detail... Whereas the layered plastics (Your White Strong and Flexible), I'd totally agree... The laser-sintered stuff is very good.
But yes, Firestorm Armada might work for some Generic-ish things... But as always, you're paying a Model Premium.
On the road this weekend, but when I get back I will post some resources if my own. Dras is right, prepainted is likely not going to be an easy thing to come by. 3d printed, particularly in FUD is good quality, but can be expensive because of production and service surcharge. I'll dig up some links I found for "generic" civvie ships.
Over the years there have been collections of Star Wars Vehicle & magazine collections by DeAgostini and others. These all tend to be the same size of 10-20cm no matter the scale so the X-wings are a similar size to the ISD etc. They are available on Ebay for reasonable amounts.
I have some GR75s from this range at 11cm long and I use these as larger versions of the GR75 say something called the GR95 with a larger hull and rather a flotilla it could be a slow plodding cargo freighter.
Micro machines make one too.
Firestorm Armada is definitely a good option. I did luck out at Origins game fair, with a dozen small base sized plastic ships from a board game. They were selling them for a buck a piece. Unfortunately, I have no idea what manufacturer was making them. I will dig through my bags, and see if I grabbed a business car.
Look around at options from WotC's discontinued Starship Battles game. You can pick up the models for cheap and they're prepainted.
These aren't pre-painted, but you should be able to find just about anything you can think of. If you want something that's not there, Mel takes requests.
https://boardgamegeek.com/thread/1346338/mel-miniatures-custom-3d-printed-ships-and-squadro
I've lurked here a while, first post and I'll propose something possibly radical and possibly as conservative as you can get:
Use X-Wing models.
Of course, this depends if you play X-wing enough to think of those models as 'small' ships and so forth - I was never taken with X-Wing, and was drawn in by the apparent grand scope of Armada, so that wasn't a barrier for me. But for instance, the Quadjumper is, obviously, a Star Wars design, and very much looks like a freighter (arguably, the design looks better thought of as a 'big' freighter than a 'small' freighter). Of course, it's not going to come with an Armada type base & dials, but neither will 3rd party products - you're going to have to rig something up either way. You at least have a minimal consistency of components here.
For my own personal enjoyment of narrative campaigns, I've ended up buying a bunch of X-Wing ships, along with quite a number of Mel's. X-Wing minis can't be too iconic (or you think 'that's totally the wrong scale') and there are some where it depends if the (comparatively) large 'cockpit' looks out of place/can't be explained as anything else. But ones I've had success with -
Quadjumper, as mentioned, is a great general freighter. The Hound's Tooth is a good mega-freighter, the Mist Hunter can possibly serve here, the new Scurrg looks clunky enough it might serve. Having never watched Rebels, Ghost and Shadow Caster I got one of and have found OK - I go back and forth on if their resemblance to much smaller freighters is fine as consistency in design across scales, or breaks the illusion of being properly scaled. A *humongous* super-galleon could be the Assault Carrier or C-ROC, or perhaps the X-Wing Rebel Transport.
For pseudo-3rd faction additional craft, in addition to some 3rd party models and things from other series, I've used some of the scum or obscure ships - Protectorate Starfighter, Kihraxz, M3-A, Starviper, IG-2000, even Punishing One. These can be small mercenary corvette-sized craft, basically (well, Punishing One is more like a large pirate battlecruiser). Also planning to pick up quite a few of the Auzitucks for this purpose next time I get a chance to shop at the gaming store. HWK-290 might work too, but as a counterpoint to not having watched much Rebels, I played so much Jedi Knight as a kid I always think of that as the Moldy Crow. 
I use the VT-49 and the X-Wing Scale Imperial Raider as *larger* Imperial battlecruisers - something between an Imperial and the much-debated SSD. The U-Wing becomes a new non-Mon Cal New Republic battleship, something like the Starhawks in Aftermath.
Anyways, just throwing out some ideas that worked for me - but then I play in a very unconventional way.
Some very generic starship models from various sources. I don't know how viable they are for armada scales, but I imagine there there is something good amongst the slew of links: