Federation Commander

I'm going to start with just one HDD.

Step one: wash with soap and water

Step two: super glue warp engines in place (is that right?)

Step three: wait for warmer weather to prime

Step four: paint base hull color of ________ (probably some kind of grey?)

Step five: paint weapon ports, etc.

Jeffr0 wrote:I'm going to start with just one HDD.

Its a matter of personal preference, but I'd add in step 0.5

Step 0.5: Using a craft knife, file, sandpaper, or combination of any two or all three - remove flash and mold separation lines.

Step one: wash with soap and water

Definitely. An easy, inexpensive step that many feel is unnecessary - and possibly so, but why chance it? I wash all of my minis before priming. Starships, fantasy figs, military forces. It removes any mold release agent, it removed any body oils / gunk from your fingers, and it gives a nice, clean, dust-free surface on which to apply primer.

Step two: super glue warp engines in place (is that right?)

Again, personal preference, but later this week when I begin assembly of my Gorn fleet box - I will use the "two-glue" method. Mix a bit of two-part epoxy and have it ready to go. Apply a bit to the center of the joint between nacelles adn hull, then apply a small drop of cyno-acrylate adhesive to the ends of the joint and assemble.
The CA sets up quickly, allowing you to move on to other things while the epoxy cures slowly, but provides a much stronger bond that is less likely to snap during handling / playing.

Step three: wait for warmer weather to prime

This part must suck. I have a home-made spray booth in the workroom. Its a copy paper box with a circular hole cut in the back. A $5 dollar fan from Walmart blows into the hole and a $2 piece of flexible dryer vent hose runs from the box to the window. A piece of the box top cut to fit the window withthe hose attached and voila!
I open the window, insert the cardboard, shut the window against the cardboard.
Turn on the fan.
Prime / airbrush minis.
Wait 5 minutes or so for the fan to do its thing.
Open the window, remove the cardboard, shut the window.
Go about my way for 3 or 4 hours to allow the primer to dry.
Then return and begin to paint.

Step four: paint base hull color of ________ (probably some kind of grey?)

The ADB painting guide liststhe base hull color as "GRAY"
I'll paint mine a darker grey than my Klingons, but not as dark as a Panzer Gray.

Step five: paint weapon ports, etc.

Yep.

I'll pile on.

As Tony noted, a very thorough removal of flash, mold-lines, and any pits/bubbles/orangepeel surface texture is a great thing. I'm always saddened to see a beautiful paint job marred by flash that wasn't removed beforehand.

Jeffr0 wrote:Step one: wash with soap and water

Yup. Always a good idea, as there can always be lingering traces of mold-release agents or skin oils from handling.

One point I would add is to use grease-cutting (dishwashing type) soap. Do not use typical hand soap, as they usually contain moisturizers and lotions, which will just add more oils back onto your mini.

Jeffr0 wrote:Step two: super glue warp engines in place (is that right?)

As Tony said. Superglue works fantastic on resin, but is only marginally effective on metal joints that undergo sideways (shear) loads. Epoxy works better for all types of loads on metal, but is a PITA to work with due to the cure-time. Using fast-set CA superglue to hold the part while long-set epoxy does its magic is a great pairing.

Jeffr0 wrote:Step three: wait for warmer weather to prime

Be aware that while Tony's makeshift spraybooth is certainly effective, there is a small danger inherent in it. Purpose-built spray booths use either brushless fan motors (explosion proof) or put the motor outside the exhaust air stream. The risk comes from the solvent vapors in the paint fumes being exhausted. A spark from the motor can cause a flash fire.

It's a tiny risk, but one I am unwilling to take. I use a small hobby spraybooth that was fairly inexpensive. I'll be upgrading to a larger booth, this spring.

Jeffr0 wrote:Step four: paint base hull color of ________ (probably some kind of grey?)

Some folks have explored using metallic colors for Gorns. I'm thinking of using a slightly metallic dark gray for mine, sort of a "gunmetal" look.

Jeffr0 wrote:Step five: paint weapon ports, etc.

Lots more of those on the SL2500 minis, so more choice and option to choose.

One thing that I have done with the priming/basecoating situation is to use my attached garage. It's not heated, though it is somewhat insulated. It's running 49 degrees there right now.

What I do is break out an electric heater, turn it on early in the AM, leave the door open so the heated air from the house can come in. When the temp gets close to 60 degrees, it's about all I can do, and I get to priming.

Naturally, take the car out of the garage to avoid any paint droplets landing on it (ugh). This late in the season, I may have to break out the propane heater I use for emergency use and add it's heat to the electric heater's.

I'm leaning towards the dark grey/gun metal look as well, but I've not yet found a color I want to try yet.

I can almost never find pre-made bottle colors that suit me. So I end up custom-mixing.

To keep the look consistent across my whole collection, I mix fairly large batches (baby food jar sized is a "large batch" for minis work) and keep careful notes on the quantities I used (so I can duplicate it).

I have an entire notebook dedicated to starship paint colors.
Every color used for every empire is documented, including the composition of the custom mixes.

That way, I can go back later and re-mix a matching color - or paint more ships from the same empire that match the rest of the fleet.

I did the same with the Klingons, since it was a custom color.

As of late, though, I am documenting all fleets, and exact colors, locations, etc so I can replicate them later on.

Most folks have already seen this, but this is my own personal Federation painting/decaling guide:
http://s143.beta.photobucket.com/user/d ... sort=6&o=2

I made this after I goofed on the orientation of one of my under-saucer NCC numbers. I realized I would like to have a nice color rendering, with all my personal colors called-out. I have a laminated copy of this that is my constant companion when I am doing Feds. It's helpful to keep me from forgetting something.

Its counterpart is this image that documents my paint-mix for the Fed base hull color (based on Paul Newitt's research):
http://i143.photobucket.com/albums/r128 ... -24-09.jpg

[NOTE TO JEAN: Neither of these would be usable for Facebook. Do not snag.]

I'll probably do something similar for Klingons, etc., someday, but for now I just have my text notes for paint-mix, etc.

A while since your initial inquiry, but as it's still too cold for many of us to freely prime/finish coat, I thought I'd mention my suggestion.

In cold weather, I do my priming and finish coating outside as usual (usually in the garage with the door open), but just create a warm zone with a small electric heater. I have a box that is my spray booth and I will set the heater in front of this with the air blowing in. I also set the paint can in the box. Leave that for a few minutes to warm up the paint and create a box of warm air. When you get ready to prime, pull the heater out, turn it off, and set it a few feet away. This keeps it away from the fumes. Then put you minis in the box and prime. The warm can and warm air in the box create a little bubble of summer. Then allow the paint fumes to clear out for a couple of minutes before returning the fan so that the primer dries nicely. For the drying step, don't directly point the heater fan into the box, but have the air blow across the front and but another piece of cardboard at the end as a diverter to bring hot air into the box without blowing directly onto the minis and potentially decorating them with dust and such (keep them at the opposite end near the fan while drying).

This works like a charm, is easy to set up, and only costs a little. I find myself using the heat well into spring in order to get matte finish coats to dry matte and not shiny.

I've done Gorn ships in:
Light Gray
Gunmetal Gray
Dark Blue
Dark Green

It depends on your personal preference whether you want to paint them "to spec" or how you feel like painting them. Some of mine have leftover Warhammer 40k decals on them since I didn't have any Gorn ones to use.