Federation Commander

marcus_aurelius · Posted: Sun Oct 07, 2012 4:04 am Post subject: Klingons with "weathering"

These are some of my very first attempts at "weathering" Klingons to give them the old and beat up look.
The base hull color is Testors Gloss Gull Grey and the details were loosely inspired by Scoutdad's war cruiser painting scheme (except I only used 3 colors of green on the paneling, not 4 like Scoutdad)
To get rid of the showroom look I glosscoated the ships, used "The Detailer" brown and rust watercolor washes and then dullcoated the ships.

The stands are from CorSec Engineering, which I am very happy with. The pictures show 1" stands, but for actual play I have 2" stands for greater stability.
I used a special epoxy for metals to attach them to the hulls.

C8 Dreadnought

C7 Heavy Battlecruiser

D7 Battlecruiser

D6 Battlecruiser

TheRowan · Posted: Sun Oct 07, 2012 1:28 pm Post subject:

They look very nice, although I'm not such a fan of the very light grey for Klingons I'm afraid...
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Dura Lex, Sed Lex

Darkwing · Posted: Sun Oct 07, 2012 3:03 pm Post subject:

I like it. Those are certainly looking well-used. Great work!
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marcus_aurelius · Posted: Sun Oct 07, 2012 11:53 pm Post subject:

Thanks! Here are some more ships.

D5W New Heavy Cruiser

D5 War Cruiser

F5 Frigate

E4 Light Frigate

Mike · Posted: Mon Oct 08, 2012 1:27 am Post subject:

I think they look very nice. One thing I'd like to see are some minor scorching marks from phaser shots that grazed the hulls. I would think Klingons would be proud to show their battle scars.
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Mike

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Sandpaper gets the job done, but makes for a lot of friction.

marcus_aurelius · Posted: Mon Dec 17, 2012 11:13 pm Post subject:

Some fleet pictures on my new hex grid star map. These pictures were done by my wife; she took an artistic spin with the depth of focus on a few of them.

OGOPTIMUS · Captain Joined: 10 Nov 2006 Posts: 980

Very nice! A different look in many respects. Makes me incredibly jealous that it's raining here and I can't paint easily.
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marcus_aurelius · Posted: Wed Dec 19, 2012 12:15 am Post subject:

Thanks! My inspiration came from the painting directions that came with an old Etrl/amt ST:TMP Klingon cruiser model and Scoutdad's war cruisers. My painting is also on hold until next spring (waiting for that first 70 degree day).

Jiraiya1969 · Lieutenant JG Joined: 17 May 2007 Posts: 90

I see that you have used CorSec bases.

With the 'Goose decision to discontinue their poseable bases in favor of more traditional (and breakable) plastic stands, I have been thinking of making this conversion myself.

My biggest worry is that my ships will be tilted at odd angles after gluing the base component to the bottom of the mini, a problem that you seem to have avoided Smile

Do you have some advice on how to properly mount the 2500s on the CorSec bases, and the amount of components I would need to outfit a Fed, Klingon and Romulan Fleet box 36 minis total).

Thanks,

J69

marcus_aurelius · Posted: Thu Dec 20, 2012 4:07 am Post subject:

I attached my mounts after I was completely done with the ships.

For the C8 I drilled a larger hole and inserted the "peg mount" 1/2 way into the ship using a general two-part epoxy to hold it in place.

The rest of the Klingons are too thin for that; for them I drilled / sanded a shallow indent in the bottom, put a specialized metal-to-metal two-part epoxy (from the hardware store) around the edges of the indent, presanded the side of the "small mount" that attaches to the ship and attached the "small mount." The bottom of the Klingons was generally flat enough to avoid wierd angles; I don't know about other ships yet.

I just got some Kzinti and I am thinking of using the "peg mounts" on most of them; but I am not 100% sure yet.

With the screw attachment the rods easily come on / off the mounts and the bases easily come on / off the rods. So I bought just enough rods and bases to have very large Fed Commander battles with some spares.
I certainly did NOT buy one stand (rod + base) for every ship.

For 36 ships I would have:
- 36 mounts (plus some spares in case I guess wrong on what type of mount is best for each ship); 1 for each ship; either small or peg mount depending on the ship
- perhaps a dozen 1" rods
- perhaps a dozen 2" rods
- perhaps a dozen or two 2" hex bases (much better stability than the 1" bases)

Those dozen stands/bases can be reused over and over again for every fleet in every battle.

The 1" and 2" rods are good when ships are in adjacent hexes to they do not touch each other.

I don't have any Fed or Romulan so I do not know which mounts are best there.

Steve Cole · Site Admin Joined: 11 Oct 2006 Posts: 3821

This is a good spot to mention this.

New changes in Communique mean it will start including photos of the best of painted miniatures sent in by fans. (These would qualify.) So by all means, all of you, send Jean your photos and she'll pick the best of them to go into Communique.
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The Guy Who Designed Fed Commander

Jean · Site Admin Joined: 18 Sep 2008 Posts: 1732

Don't forget to mark them as for Communique! Message me and I'll give you my email address if you need it.
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Business Manager/RPG Line Editor
Amarillo Design Bureau, Inc.

Jiraiya1969 · Lieutenant JG Joined: 17 May 2007 Posts: 90

@marcus_aurelius Thank you four the tips!

The only other question I have is this: how did you mount the connecting base on thelm mini whilst keeping it level.

My big fear is is that I wil mount one of these things, and then it will be cockeyed when attached to the rest of the base.

Thanks,

J69

marcus_aurelius · Posted: Sat Jan 12, 2013 4:24 am Post subject:

I did not do anything special when connecting the mount to the bottom of the ship to ensure it was level. I just laid the miniature upside down and placed the mount on the ship with epoxy as described above. The bottom of the Klingon ships are relatively flat for the most part. The ships might tilt a few degrees up (front to back) but that is about it. Any tilt side to side would only be if the miniature itself was bent. No special measuring, no tricks, etc.

marcus_aurelius · Posted: Mon Jul 29, 2013 2:01 am Post subject:

Storage of my Klingons