Federation Commander

I started playing Star Fleet Battles in 1984 and now play Federation Commander on occasion. From very early on I collected a miniature here and there but rarely built or painted them. About two years ago I returned to model building. Late last fall I rediscovered my SFB miniature stash and began plugging away, approaching each ship as a little model for display.

I belong to an IPMS (International Plastic Modeler's Society) club and occasionally write articles for the club website. This morning I published an article on my Star Fleet Battles miniatures, including some very old attempts at scratch building. I thought this article might interest some of the readers here.

Starships Present and Past

At this point my starship building efforts often diverge from the Star Fleet Battles / Federation Commander universe but I still feel a strong sense of nostalgia for the game. If acceptable, I will continue to share the more appropriate starships here.

Thanks for looking.

-Doug

I don't post here much, Doug, but those are just BEAUTIFUL! I'm really stunned by the amount of detail you managed to get into these.

That's it, I'm off the fence, I'm buying me some minis. They'll never look as good as yours, but they're a great reference as to what can be done. Thanks for putting up that page. I'm going to have to do a blog entry pointing to it.

Amazing work Doug!

You just ruined my life Doug.

Here I am , trying to finish my first batch of SFU minis and thinking that they are coming about pretty good. Then I saw your pictures... Mine will never look as good.

Seriously though, they are an inspiration to improve my skills and make better minis.

Congratulations.

Those look great! Unfortunately, my universe is not even close to being that perfect.

Gorgeous work on those Feds Doug. I also enjoyed seeing your scratch builds. Thanks for sharing them with us.

Wow. Thanks to all of you for the very nice comments. I tend to second guess my work so all the positive feedback came as a pleasant surprise. I've seen some very, very good starships in this forum and aspire to reach those levels.

Three years ago I was not very good. To get where I am took a lot of practice, reading, willingness to try new things, and some humility. Good teachers help, and I've been fortunate to meet some amazing model builders and figure painters. I truly believe anyone willing to try can reach the same skill level and far, far beyond.

I will post some of my underway projects when I get time. I'm curious what people who know the game will think of my little abominations.

-Doug

Doug, did you sand down all the raised panel lines on your Federation ships?

I'm another guy coming at this hobby from more of a scale-model background, but I've found those skills have served me well. I spend as much time on the starshipmodeler.com boards as here, mostly to pick up new tricks for painting and sculpting.

Rick Smith wrote:Doug, did you sand down all the raised panel lines on your Federation ships?

Hi Rick,

I did not sand off the panel lines. Photography tends to tone down small details and converting to a medium grade .jpg file evens things out. This also makes the finish look better than it actually is. In some places the oil paints I used were very grainy. Next time I am going to try mixing washes using enamels in mineral spirits. Good enamels tend to have finer pigments than medium grade oil paints.

-Doug

Ah, sounds good. I couldn't quite tell from the shots.

I really like your work - grainy pigments or not!

djdood wrote:I'm another guy coming at this hobby from more of a scale-model background, but I've found those skills have served me well. I spend as much time on the starshipmodeler.com boards as here, mostly to pick up new tricks for painting and sculpting.

Hi djdood,

The skills definitely translate. I mostly build armor models but almost any technique for making a better model will also help make a better miniature starship. The only real differences are scale and complexity.

-Doug

That's some mighty fine work there man. I too come from an AFV modelling background, and it has never occured to me to use etched brass parts on my Fed Com models, so thanks for the tip!

I hate you , I hate you Now I have to Pine sol my figs again and start over!

incredible work!!

Doug, I got here late (been moving). The link doesn't appear to be working anymore. Is there a way to still see your work? Based on all the high praise, I feel like I've really missed out.