3 - Painting Details on the S-Types

• The upper fins, the larger upper turrets, the command bridge, and the aft "guardrails" all call for "medium green." I use artistic license, and paint them with Polly S 500814 Dark Green. I also paint the lower fins the same color.
• The energy cannons are marked "red" in the instructions. I use Ceramcoat Bright Red, figuring that the green beneath will turn it into a "brick red" - I'm only partially right.
• There are what look to be "openings" in the hull - at the bow, and before two "scoops" at the top and bottom aft. I'm concerned straight black will look too stark, so I paint Americana Charcoal Grey (my favorite dark grey) here.
• Rings at bow and stern are indicated to be "light grey." I don't have any grey which I think is light enough, so I mix my own using Ceramcoat white and medium grey. For some reason the paint turns grainy on me, so I dilute with water to make it easier to use.

What I'd decided to do with the aft engine exhausts was to paint them with a black ink wash, to give a nice graduated effect, getting darker deeper in the hole. Then I would go back with black paint and touch up the protruding seams, so they would be invisible in the hole. While this was a good concept, it failed in practice - the amount of touch-up black paint needed covered most of the ink shading...

Next, I go back and fix anything that bothers me enough that I don't want to see it on the tabletop. It takes me another pass to get the border between hull and the grey rings satisfactory. I find to my surprise that using full-strength Olive Drab along the demarcations between upper hull and lower hull, and upper hull and the grey rings, pretty much works - it seems the eye tolerates a darker shade along the edges. I even accentuate the effect at the bow, where it makes a nice transition between grey and drybrushed light olive drab.