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By Patrick H. Dillman (Patrick) on Monday, July 18, 2016 - 11:48 pm: Edit

Wasn't there an article somewhere that went into paint schemes for each races Battlestations?

By Will McCammon (Djdood) on Tuesday, July 19, 2016 - 11:54 am: Edit

I think there was an article, w-a-y back, in the TFG Nexus magazine. I'll check my shelf and tell you which issue tonight.

By Jack Bohn (Jackbohn) on Tuesday, July 19, 2016 - 02:15 pm: Edit

Was that reprinted as part of the Return of the Minis article in CL#17?

By Tony L. Thomas (Scoutdad) on Tuesday, July 19, 2016 - 04:10 pm: Edit

Nexus #9.
Page 6... Painting you Battlestation
by C. Micheal Thompson

If SVC and ADB has no issues with it... I can scan it and send to them.
Perhaps they'll post a PDF on the website.

By Will McCammon (Djdood) on Tuesday, July 19, 2016 - 04:31 pm: Edit

I'm pretty sure I already have it scanned and pdf'ed (I went through my entire Nexus and early CapLog collection and scanned all minis articles, years-ago).

By Steve Cole (Stevecole) on Tuesday, July 19, 2016 - 08:14 pm: Edit

Send it and we'll post it.

By Patrick H. Dillman (Patrick) on Sunday, March 26, 2017 - 01:13 pm: Edit

So, just because I'm home sick and bored, what ever happened to the paint schemes for each empires battle stations?

Actually, I think that a single PDF of all the "work bench" (basically anything regarding miniatures) articles would be a good thing to have, especially for those of us who do not have any of the old NEXUS magazines.

By Will McCammon (Djdood) on Sunday, March 26, 2017 - 09:55 pm: Edit

I have those scanned and offered them up, but they're in a combined file with the minis articles from early CapLog issues. The file is big and there was no ready way to get it into ADB's hands.

By Patrick H. Dillman (Patrick) on Monday, March 27, 2017 - 12:17 pm: Edit

Just some suggestions, feel free to ignore if you like but could the file be split up into two or three (or how many is needed) files. Or mail it to ADB on a thumb drive.

(Would really like to have this, but don't think I'd want it if it wasn't available to everyone that wants it. Respecting Copyright and all that.)

By Howard Bampton (Bampton) on Monday, March 27, 2017 - 12:24 pm: Edit

Dropbox, Google Drive, any many other ways exist to transfer files quickly and without using email.

By Will McCammon (Djdood) on Monday, March 27, 2017 - 03:35 pm: Edit

Guys... c'mon. You know I'm a geek and know all that. ;)

None of those help, when ADB can't access the cloud tools. (remember Mac OS9, *or* have to have someone else in the office do it, then move the file to OS9, *then* SVC can do his thing, when he had time - too convoluted for a freebie)

What I don't have anymore is a copy of Acrobat that will let me break it up and remove the specific pages. I'm working on that and should have it sorted in a day or two.

(and, no, I won't buy a thumb drive and pay postage, so you can have the file - I'm perfectly willing to help out with assets I have on-hand, but that's not exactly fair to me)

By Steve Cole (Stevecole) on Monday, March 27, 2017 - 05:22 pm: Edit

Will, talk to Jean about getting it to her and once it's in the office we'll figure it out.

By Tony L. Thomas (Scoutdad) on Monday, March 27, 2017 - 05:26 pm: Edit

I think we have a solution.

I have the issues in question...
I have access to a scanner...
I have Adobe Acrobat...

I will just do the pages that are needed and send them to ADB.

By Shawn Hantke (Shantke) on Monday, March 27, 2017 - 08:03 pm: Edit

I emailed the Nexus pdfs to Jean eons ago, I believe they are where she gets the info for the Battlewagon articles.

By Will McCammon (Djdood) on Tuesday, March 28, 2017 - 12:14 pm: Edit

My hi-res scans are with Tony for processing.

By Chris Hagerty (Greengoat) on Tuesday, August 08, 2017 - 04:53 pm: Edit

Hello folks,
I have just finished assembly (Poster-tack is so necessary) and priming of a whole border box of 2400 ships and I am fishing for some advice on getting them looking good.

I have a lot of experience painting figure miniatures, fantasy and otherwise, but I think there is a different approach with model-type miniatures, no?
Is it best to leave the mini with flat colors without shading and highlighting? I don't really see a lot of panel lines on my Fed CA to drop shade into. (Also, does the Fed CC stand in for a better CA with more panel lines?)

I plan on airbrushing color on all the ships with an off-white for the fed base color. Anyone have a favorite Vallejo color for federation light grey or klingon blue grey?

Although the decals would be nice I can't swing it right now for a sheet of them and will leave it for later. Is sharing or trading decals allowed on this board? I mean to just broach the subject, not to instigate a trading room.

Thanks folks. Happy phasering.

By Steve Zamboni (Szamboni) on Tuesday, August 08, 2017 - 05:59 pm: Edit

I've seen Tamiya J.N. Gray 81312 XF-12 mentioned on some of the model kit boxes.

Also:
Benjamin Moore "Heather Gray"
Sherwin Williams "Babbling Brook" (pilot)
Walmart "Concrete"

Can't help with Klingon greys, but I have a pile of info on the original TOS green/purple shades stashed somewhere.

By Will McCammon (Djdood) on Tuesday, August 08, 2017 - 09:36 pm: Edit

You'll get as many answers as you'll find minis painters.

Your experience with fantasy figures will serve you well and can be directly applied. Personally, I came from a scale-model kit building background, so my painting is more grounded in that. Both can work, just fine, adjusted to the small scales of these minis.

There's no right answer about shading and highlighting. Many of the best painters do, but I've also seen excellent paint jobs that did not have as many layers and shadow/highlighting passes as others.

My own personal style is just a solid base coat, which I then pick out a bit of shadows and highlights with artists pastels, sometimes a bit of ink wash for deep shadows.

The Starline 2400 Fed CC saucer was created partly to have a more-detailed alternative to the stock CA saucer. It can be swapped-in for any use on any of the minis that had the stock CA saucer and many folks do (myself included) - that's why ADB sells it as a separate part. Folks like me asked that they do.

Regarding colors, I use an "as seen on tv" very slightly green light gray (often referred to as "concrete", as Steve Z notes).
The paint mix I use is based on Paul Newitt's research.

I don't have the formula I developed for Klingon ships written down someplace I can get to it at the moment. Like my Federation paint-mix, it's Testors enamels, a slightly-blue medium gray. That color is traditional to the SFU, but not what was actually on the filming model. The filming model had the two-tone green/purple scheme Steve Z noted, but the way they lit it it just looks blue-gray on screen.

You can try the bull/sell/trade thread for acquiring decal sheets you've bought or others have, but giving away ADB's copyrighted art would be a no-no without permission.

By Chris Hagerty (Greengoat) on Wednesday, August 09, 2017 - 01:55 am: Edit

Thanks Steve and Will,
Just to be clear, I don't want to do anything against policy with decals. It is just that I noticed that the listed Fed decal sheets from jupiter have great reams of CAs on one sheet whereas I only need 2xCAs 2xCLs etc.

Thanks for the info on colors and methods. I think I will keep to acrylic model/mini paint but I am interested on how and where you put the pastel on the ships Will.
Do you rub it on uniformly on the underside of the ships or trace panels? I have seen this in passing for military modelers but I am used to working with flowing washes and hand-brushed highlights. I could probably do some tight airbrushing of darker colors for the underside. I am just afraid of getting overly dramatic contrasts that you typically really want on figure models but might make the ships look a little silly or cartoonish.

By Steve Zamboni (Szamboni) on Wednesday, August 09, 2017 - 01:51 pm: Edit

Another look at federation colors during the shooting model rebuild:

http://www.startrek.com/article/revealing-the-colors-of-the-enterprise

Silly and cartoonish is relative. A one-color mini with no shading often looks like something from a cereal box toy to me - Kzinti fall into this trap a lot - so I'll go looking for something vibrant/garish to add some variety such as WWI dazzle patterns or Russian splinter camo (and then dip it if I need to dial things back a bit). A gaming mini can look completely different when it's four feet away in the middle of a black gaming table.

By Tony L. Thomas (Scoutdad) on Thursday, August 10, 2017 - 01:22 pm: Edit

Chris,

Several people have already given answer... and all are correct.
It will ultimately be up to you to decide what to use.

I current have 70+ fully painted and decaled Starline 2400 series Federation ships. All are base coated with titanium white and shaded / highlighted from there. They look good - but they also look fresh from the shipyard.
[I've also noticed that it is difficult to photograph them as they are so white they wash out...]

I have just under 100 Starline 2500 Fed minis assembled and primed, but not yet base-coated. I've been looking for a suitable replacement - I love to paint - but hate custom mixes, since I tend to paint a dozen now; skip to Klingons, paint a dozen, go to fantasy minis for a dozen or two, then finally back to Feds and i have to mix a new batch of color
[I know, Will. i could mix a huge batch and save it - but why? Then I wouldn't have anything to gripe about, would I?]

I have recently found what I consider the perfect color for me: Reaper Master Series - Misty Grey - part number 09090. It's a pale grey color with a slight blue-green tint to it. I base coated a St2500 Fed frigate with it. When shaded and then highlighted with white - it gives me the effect I'm looking for.
I've ordered three bottles from my not-so FLGE (since the FLGS closed). When it arrives, I'll spend a day thinning and airbrushing base coats on all the Feds.

By Chris Hagerty (Greengoat) on Friday, August 11, 2017 - 02:00 pm: Edit

Thanks for the recommendation Tony. I am planning on going down to the big FLGS and looking for some greys on the vallejo rack. I will see if I can source the Misty Grey reaper paint.

I found this article about the Smithsonian people model paint matching very interesting as it give the LAB color index for the different parts.
Of course this is only marginally related to SFB colors on a mini.I will be aiming for a green tinged very light grey for the feds and a stormy blue/green grey for the klingon's bascoat. I will post results when it happens.

http://www.startrek.com/article/revealing-the-colors-of-the-enterprise

By Tony L. Thomas (Scoutdad) on Friday, August 11, 2017 - 03:42 pm: Edit

Vallejo has a similar color IIRC - concrete grey.
It's a bit darker than the Reaper Misty Grey.

For what it's worth, I typically base coat my Klingons with Tamiya Naval Aggressor Grey.

By Patrick Gilmore (Petrov27) on Friday, August 11, 2017 - 05:45 pm: Edit

I was admiring the Feds done by this gentleman:

http://guntruck.com/USSConstitutionPage1.html

He uses flat gull grey which is a pretty commonly available color in several paint lines as it was used on Navy aircraft from the 50s till around 1990 I believe.

I have an oCL just about ready for paint and a few old smaller fed plastics that I am gonna try the gull grey on this weekend....