| Battlespace Publishing | 11 Jun 2017 8:24 p.m. PST |
Hey everyone, I just wrote up a tutorial on painting TNG era Starfleet ships. I am by now means an expert, but maybe someone will learn something from my attempt. link |
 Editor in Chief Bill   | 11 Jun 2017 8:44 p.m. PST |
Impressive  |
| MacrossMartin | 11 Jun 2017 9:11 p.m. PST |
That's a very detailed and well-written tutorial, handled with humour and skill. Excellent stuff! I usually rage (silently) at people who drybrush Star Trek ships; the smooth surfaces are unforgiving of heavy-handedness, and it ruins the overall lines and the sense of scale. But I can only applaud your light touch, and precision. By the way, in the 'shopfloor' photos I have of the ILM model of the Ent-E, the escape pod hatches are in fact, a light yellow. I think this subtle colour vanished under the multiple lighting passes for the FX shots, and was thus dropped by the time things went CGI for the last TNG outing. I notice an advantage of 1/7000th scale over the larger scales common to TOS era miniatures – a lack of decals doesn't detract from these little guys! |
| JSchutt | 11 Jun 2017 11:47 p.m. PST |
Very nice indeed. Confirms my theory that every model goes through an "it looks horrible" phase before it finally emerges spectacular after the last few stages of effort. The lesson learned here is to have the confidence and patience to stick it out to the end. Thanks…. |
| Battlespace Publishing | 12 Jun 2017 5:38 a.m. PST |
@Bill – Thanks! @MacrossMartin – I agree that under normal circumstances drybrushing Star Trek ships is not a good idea. However I don't like to throw out any tool from the painting toolbox, they all have their occasional use. @ JSchutt – Yeah, right in the middle of the steps I start to question myself, especially after the wash. Only practice teaches that it will work out in the end. |
| Todd636 | 12 Jun 2017 6:10 a.m. PST |
"I am by no means an expert"??? I think you are selling yourself short. That is amazing! |
| Battlespace Publishing | 12 Jun 2017 9:38 a.m. PST |
@Todd636
I am not a Golden Demon level painter, my skills at 28mm painting are average at best. I developed my painting techniques on 6mm projects over the years. In that scale you learn that impression is grossly more important than detail. The same skills translate to fleetscale painting. I have merely gotten proficient at impressionistic miniature painting and knowing how to cover up my mistakes. |
| TheWhiteDog | 12 Jun 2017 10:06 a.m. PST |
Excellent post overall! A little humor is always enjoyable for tutorials, and the well placed links are a great addition. My 1/7000 collection is mostly TMP-era, but I'll try the techniques on my 1/15000 TNG-era ships. I've been looking for a good method to handle the late-24th Century designs like the Saber, Steamrunner, and Norway-classes. |
| Battlespace Publishing | 12 Jun 2017 3:31 p.m. PST |
@TheWhiteDog I have a saber, steamrunner, and norway and I used these techniques on them. I can attest that they work. 1/15000 sure is small! |
Oberlindes Sol LIC  | 12 Jun 2017 7:08 p.m. PST |
Beautiful. I'll try to remember some of your tutorial the next time I paint starships. |
| Part time gamer | 15 Jun 2017 12:09 a.m. PST |
This looked great.
I agree you under rate your skill, not to mention you Patience. I have ADB ships, (1/3788). Ive considered Shapeways, 1/7000 seems to be the most common ST scale offered w/ quit a selection of ships to choose from both TOS & Next Gen period. Best of all at "half the size" + or – a bit, you could put more 'toys on the table'. *Grin
But I cant picture really gaming w/ 1/15000.. may have to ck Shapeways at what they measure for that scale. |
| Shagnasty | 15 Jun 2017 10:49 a.m. PST |
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| Battlespace Publishing | 15 Jun 2017 2:32 p.m. PST |
@Part time Gamer Check out minis.avidelite.com for a good listing of 1/7000 ships for star trek. |
