Shadoq Shipyards and Modifications

[Shadoq 140]

Hello all,
Finally got up the courage to paint some squadrons and may do ships eventually.

Constructive criticism and advice is always welcome.

[*Flare_22 41]

Nice work!

 

The X-Wings for me were a huge pain. I felt that the detail I put into them didn't show as well from farther away. The engines, however, were fun. I like to paint them with a couple coats of red then add in a very light pink dot to give them that "on" look. I have tried a couple styles and I prefer the pink dot to the white dot, but ymmv.

[gounour 428]

good work, you might want to do a smaller cockpit, unless you want those to look like 2-men training versions.

Xwings are very defective per se, and very hard to have look anything but bad; other rebs fighter are easier to paint

Edited April 17, 2017 by gounour

[cruiser2710 284]

I actually like the 2 man cockpit, You have the pilot and WSO in it.

Tip:

• Invest in a thinner brush 
• Apply wash on it. It'll make it look even better.

[Darthain 1,747]

2 hours ago, cruiser2710 said:

I actually like the 2 man cockpit, You have the pilot and WSO in it.

Tip:

• Invest in a thinner brush 
• Apply wash on it. It'll make it look even better.

For point regarding washes, be very careful there, applying a wash doesn't make painting look even, just dirty.  Your lines and painting will clean up with time.  Personally I don't recommend washes for much beyond dark lining, the throw a wash over it look shows a pretty distinct lack of effort.

 

Keep it up and you'll improve over time.  X wings mould is garbage, slightly offset and annoying.  Very difficult to get them looking good.  The B wings were the best mould of fighter pack 1 by a long shot.  My best criticism is just keep practicing.

[Shadoq 140]

Thanks for the replies everybody!

It actually does have a wash.
It is a very very watered down Seraphim Sepia. I'm tempted to try another one with a very very watered down black.
However, I agree with comments above that it makes them very dirty. I should post pics of my first squadron set.

They look like they went through a Tatooine sand storm and then crashed in mud!

The brushes I used were a 00 and 000. Not sure I can go smaller/thinner than that but would appreciate recommendations if so.

I want to try thinning my paints next. I feel the paint appears way too thick on the model straight from the jar(GW/Citadel paints).
Perhaps with it watered down, it'll "flow" with the model more than "sitting on top" of the model as it does now.

[*Flare_22 41]

33 minutes ago, Shadoq said:

Thanks for the replies everybody!

It actually does have a wash.
It is a very very watered down Seraphim Sepia. I'm tempted to try another one with a very very watered down black.
However, I agree with comments above that it makes them very dirty. I should post pics of my first squadron set.

They look like they went through a Tatooine sand storm and then crashed in mud!

The brushes I used were a 00 and 000. Not sure I can go smaller/thinner than that but would appreciate recommendations if so.

I want to try thinning my paints next. I feel the paint appears way too thick on the model straight from the jar(GW/Citadel paints).
Perhaps with it watered down, it'll "flow" with the model more than "sitting on top" of the model as it does now.

Yeah, definitely thin the paints. There are some good guides out there for how to thin (youtube searches and stuff) that will help your painting considerably.  As for painting very small lines, its crazy tough even with the smallest brushes. To be honest, if I'm doing very detailed work, I'll pour myself a drink to help calm my hands.  After having attempted detailed painting after coffee...yeah...that was awful.

[Shadoq 140]

Did some more work tonight while my hands were steady.
The center base was displayed in my first post.
The ones on the left and right were previously done and I "fixed" them tonight.
Tried some improvised paint thinning.
I need to read more and watch more how to guides on thinning because right now I'm not seeing the trade off between paint expended through thinning versus a wet paintbrush and a paint pot.

[Darthain 1,747]

Definitely need to thin GW paints (and most paint in general, coverage is nice but a few thin coats as necessary almost always looks better.  Also for what it is worth, I don't 'wash' on my squad paints, except the odd 'pin wash' (very select areas), same with ships.  I also use washes as glazes for counter shade or wear effects, whether home made with inks of GW (gw are very nice).  Not that I am by any chance as skilled as many here, I just hate the results of 'mop' washing.

 

Brush size , 00/000 are fine, I started with some army painter set that was something like a 6/0, a 2 and something else (garbage brushes at that), switched to a 2/0 Raphael 8404 for a bit, but prefer the 0 or the 1 (hold better points), so I use what I feel I want the reservoir for.  Larger brushes (within reason) seem to have better points and more control in my experience.  I plan to get a 2next time I place an order, a backup 1 and maybe a second 0, as some tight spaces prefer the 0.

 

If coffee screws up your detailed painting, you probably need more coffee.

Edited April 18, 2017 by Darthain

[Megatronrex 2,867]

12 hours ago, *Flare_22 said:

To be honest, if I'm doing very detailed work, I'll pour myself a drink to help calm my hands.  After having attempted detailed painting after coffee...yeah...that was awful.

Hmm, maybe this is what I've been doing wrong. I drink coffee all day at work then go home and try to paint. I'll have to try having a few drinks first next time to see if that steadies my hands some. I do get better at shooting pool the more I drink so maybe the same principal can be applied here too.

[Shadoq 140]

I finally got my hands on some Vallejo Thinner Medium and cleaned up some X Wings and A Wings.
I'm personally much happier with them now.

I'll throw this one out there too.
If anyone sees some some of my work they like I would be happy to reproduce it on your squadrons as I've found I enjoy painting Armada models.
In accordance with the rules, I'm not asking for money, I'd just ask for the shipping to be covered.

 

The A Wings

 

 

Family photo of X Wings and A Wings

[gounour 428]

your Awings are just cool, may I suggest just a touch of yellow or gold on the bulbs on the front and a smear of light blue wash on the base of the cockpit? it's a bit dark altogether.

Edited April 26, 2017 by gounour

[Shadoq 140]

Did some more work tonight.
In response to gounour's comments, I tried the below. I added a little bit of metallic silver to the cockpit and the 2 bumps in front of the cockpit to see how it would change things.
I am very satisfied with how they turned out. I'll be shooting to do some more A-Wings this week. Likely a blue squadron and a yellow squadron along with some Y-Wings.

I also experimented with some TIE Fighters in a reverse scheme of sorts.
I like how different they are. Might do up some bombers and defenders and see what they look like in this scheme.

[Shadoq 140]

Some touched up Royal Interceptors engage Red A-Wing  and Blue Y-Wing squadron.

[GhostofNobodyInParticular 2,517]

5 hours ago, Shadoq said:

Some touched up Royal Interceptors engage Red A-Wing  and Blue Y-Wing squadron.

I'm out of likes, so here you go: 'like'

[Shadoq 140]

-How many guns do ya think Gold 5?
-HOW MANY F****** GUNS DOES IT LOOK LIKE GOLD LEADER?!

[Shadoq 140]

-Asked by another gentleman I play with to do his rebel fighters(not pictured here) and a CR90 paint modification. Asked me to do a Hammerhead paint scheme on a CR90. Think of it as a Hammerhead squadron leader.
-Concept was to over paint the CR90's red sections and add a little more orange to key places to make it stand out from other CR90s. Washed a little very watered down GW black wash to help the orange blend better and appear less flat.
-What do you think?

Edited July 17, 2017 by Shadoq

[Drasnighta 26,924]

Solid, Solid work.  That's what I think.

[melminiatures 2,664]

That is one beautiful Corvette.

[Shadoq 140]

Finally finished a project last night.
The CR90 has been shown here before but the fighters haven't.
Group shot of a project I did for a local guy.
Since I paint for fun I don't charge anything when I paint for other people.

[Shadoq 140]

Since finishing my last squadron and ship project I've taken a bit of a break from painting ships and squadrons.
Want to add a bit to the overall game experience so working on asteroids, debris field, and space station now.
Hopefully FFG will release an official "3d"version of the terrain pieces eventually.
 

I finished up a prototype asteroid tonight.
Naturally Rebel and Imperial fleet headquarters dispatched elements for inspection duties.

[SFC Snuffy 810]

What are you using for your station(s)?

[Shadoq 140]

3 hours ago, SFC Snuffy said:

What are you using for your station(s)?

The concept for the station is a bit different than normal. Im going to try going with an asteroid that has been mined out and has an area leveled out for starfighter operations. If I can do it right without compromising the concept or structure I also want to add some docking links for smaller starships  such as Gozs or CR90s and some tugs for larger ships such as MC80 or ISD that wouldn't be able to dock directly. 

 

If that  fails I'm looking at kit bashing stuff from Firestorm Armada, Battlefleet Gothic and maybe some pieces from a U.K. Based terrain maker

 

Ive looked at @melminiatures platforms and I'm impressed but I'd like to try something of my own design before using canon stuff.

[SFC Snuffy 810]

Dropfleet Commander has a fantastic modular station boxed set; comes with a variety of sprues that can be assembled any number of ways to give you four really different-looking stations. It may not be your thing, but I think it's worth a look.

[Shadoq 140]

Yep I looked at that one too.
I liked what I saw but for approx $50 I want to try mine first.
It is a very nice station set though...