Federation Commander

When painting minitures, do it straight from the tub or use a pallet?

In the dim and distant (i was painting Hero Quest minis when that came out new) i did it straight from the pot.

However ive noticed the Valejo ones seem to have a nossel on the end.

Thanks again
Zero.

I always use a pallet.

1) Leaving the paint jar open while you use it causes it to dry.
2) Most every paint you use is too thick and needs to be thinned...
3) ever knocked over a full bottle of paint?
4) A pallet makes mixing, blending, high-lighting, shading even easier. Just add a little white... then a little more... then a little more...

thanks for the swift reply.

currently putting an order together on that site i posted you.

im looking at getting one of these http://www.expotools.co.uk/447_1_10889.html to asist me.

Im like a kid at christmas.

You'll love that "helping hands" fixture. I have two of those and use them constantly.

I never had any luck using those... personal preference again, I guess.

I can't make anything come out right if I have mechanical holders and a stationary magnifier. I'd much rather hold it in my own fingers... that way just feels more natural to me... although it does sometimes make it difficult to paint some of the smaller items on the funny shapes...

If I tried to hold the mini in one hand and paintbrush in the other, it would look like I painted them in an earthquake.

djdood wrote:If I tried to hold the mini in one hand and paintbrush in the other, it would look like I painted them in an earthquake.

That would be alright... as long as you're trying to paint realistic looking, random tiger stripes on a Lyran ship , or a Lyran ship, or on a fleet of Lyran Ships...

ok im having dificulty finding a pallet, dont know why id have thought it would be a simple enough thing to find.

What do people use?

I thought about a tile or glass plate, but how thin does it get would it spill off?

Ah well just some random thoughts, ive odered squadren box 1 now, should be in the store on weds .

Ta ta for now
Zero.

I've seen several people use a ceramic tile for a pallet...

That and an old saucer, a styrofoam plate, even an old piece of a formica countertop.

I got my pallet for a dollar in the craft section of my local full-service store. It's just a cheap thin little plastic thing and that's all that is needed.

Sounds like the same one I got... about $1 and came from the local Walmart.

It's round, plastic, and has 12 depressions or "wells" around the perimeter for paints.

That's the one. Probably the most cost-effective $1 I've ever spent on hobbies.

count_zero99uk wrote:ok im having dificulty finding a pallet, dont know why id have thought it would be a simple enough thing to find.

What do people use?

I have a "paper pallette" which is basically like a sketchbook but instead of regular paper it has one side good for putting paint on it and mixing it (ie it's waterproof). Then once your paper gets too dirty you can just rip out the sheet and toss it (and then use the clean sheet underneath), rather than having to clean a pallette every time. Though usually I just mix overtop of old paint as it doesn't really do much anyway.

You can find them in any sort of art supply store I would think. Pad of it probably costs around 7-10 dollars.

Hey all, got my Squadron Box 1 today. All the minis look fine appart from the deflector disk on the federation frigate appears to have some heavy flashing on it.



There are images from other angles in this folder http://s94.photobucket.com/albums/l116/ ... commander/

Could anyone advise the best way to fix it.

All my tools arived as well today. So just the paint to order.

Im going to do all the federation ships with a white coat rather than the light gray ive seen on some models. Im still waiting for a firm to send me the Valejo colour charts but things are moving.

oh and i got a nice pallet for £0.99 so im happy.

Should be a fun christmas for me.

Thanks all
Zero.

Zero,

I would use a hobby knife to remove most of the excess flash and then sand down the center of the dish with a Dremel all purpose tool. I would use one of the cone tips. You will probably loose some of the detail in the process. You can then use some green stuff to reform the dish if it is lopsided. If the antenna is completely removed during the process make a new one out of plastic and glue it to the dish. After you prime the mini you probably won't be able to even tell that you reworked the dish. Good luck and have fun over the holiday .