paints and individually bases some 6mm sci-fi infantry.
People have been asking me for a while now if I would be willing to put together a tutorial to explain and show how I paint my spaceships (and the bases that they sit on). This tutorial is my answer to that request. I hope that you find some of my ideas helpful, and that this tutorial will spur you on to get some of your languishing spaceships painted up and ready to play!!
First, a couple of words about why I paint ships in the way this tutorial describes. I put all the little panel lines on, and paint panels in a variety of shades, because I think it helps to build an illusion of the massive size that gaming spaceships typically represent. The little windows or running lights are there for the same reason.
I start by bending a paperclip into a little stand. I then drill out the hole in the bottom of the ship for the flight stand and attach the paperclip there. Later on, I'll clip the paperclip off (leaving a few millimeters behind) and use it to pin the ship to the flight stand.
I pick a base color that will be used in the finished paint scheme. In this case, I've used a medium gray that is the primary color of the underside of the ship. I used Partha Paints and IWM paints (both from Iron Wind Metals).
The ship is a Sovietskii Soyuz (#20-172) from Iron Wind's Aerotech line of spaceships.
My basecoat is also my primer.
I never bother with actual "primers," because they seem to have all the same problems as regular paint - if I handle the mini, I end up wearing off primer or paint equally well at the edges. To combat this, I try to handle the figure by the paper-clip base as much as possible.
Next, I paint on the base color of the upper hull. I do this in two layers to make sure I get nice, even coverage.
Remember to always be sure that you allow enough drying time between coats of paint, or you'll end up with a mess!!
