Federation Commander

Predator06 wrote:I am pretty sure it was white in the original series. at times it also appeared to be a sort of US interior greenish color, and a gray ish as well. I think the reason for that had more to do with the various ways they were lighting the model for the TV show, (special effects?) than the actual color of the ship. I do specifically remember putting together a Model of the original enterprise, and directions for assembly were white.

Odd, my AMT model was molded in a kind of beige, and the painting suggestions mentioned a trying a blueish wash. Now the small AMT models (where you get something like three different ships) were molded in white.

Predator06 wrote:However, in TNG the enterprise D appeared to be different shades of tarnished white, or even a metallic battleship gray, depending on when the episode was filmed.

I had a magazine that showed the big filming model under construction. the phaser rings weren't put on yet, and the under material was clearly white. By contrast, the hull (which was already being detailed) was a medium cool gray. (Battleship gray would be about right.)

According to Mr. Scott's Guide, during the original series the Enterprise was covered with "thermocoat" which gave it the uniform color. During the first movie the Enterprise was rushed out before this was applied, and the 'bare metal' look was so popular that Starfeet stopped using thermocoat (in the beauty shots in the movies you can clearly see the separate plates that make up the hull).

As an explanation of the visual difference, it lacks something since the thermocoat is apparently opaque and therefore you'd paint the name, pennants, number, etc., after applying the thermocoat....

For those looking for inspiration to spruce up your Feds a bit, note some of the markings that were on the 11-foot filming model that weren't visible on air:
http://members.aol.com/WMccullars/84Enterprise.html

My self i have used the micro machines models of the klingon d7 and the enterprize and the romulan has guides to start my painting of but i still think the colour of the constution class is misleading in the clips of the series ship it comes over white. its a shame that the above do not fit into scale has the klingon d7 is the correct colour.

I saw some of the original models at an exhibitition about 10 years ago and the Feds were titanium white. I was told that when they appeared on the the screen they could have between 7 and 14 layers of optical effects overlayered on the image and this could retint the final picure. On my tv it has a pale bluish cast.

Starfury wrote:I have bought Fed and Gorn decals from Mark and they sheets for the Fed have TONS of decals for just bout every detail on the ship. The Gorn decals have the standard ship markings in the Gorn script.

Maybe one of my problem with the Fed ships is they're white. Plain, boring, bland white. Maybe thats why the 1 I finished and the one I'm working on are both non-white (one is ivory, other blue)

I paint my Feds with a base coat of white mixed with a hint of sky blue, shaded with a pale grey then drybrushed and highlighted with white.

Mine are base-coated with titanium white, but then I shade them with a pale grey. After shading, all he "fiddley-bitz" are painted. That's where they take shape. If all the tiny, little trim pieces are painted - then the overall effect is quite striking... without the whole ship being a boring, flat white.

Scoutdad wrote:Mine are base-coated with titanium white, but then I shade them with a pale grey. After shading, all he "fiddley-bitz" are painted. That's where they take shape. If all the tiny, little trim pieces are painted - then the overall effect is quite striking... without the whole ship being a boring, flat white.

I paint the detail as well, I just meant that I didn't start with titanium white. {Another way of shading is with light washes, and that's wash not bath. don't allow paint to pool.(top tip for beginners)}