Sunday Starships: The Phantom Fleet

After deeming my new method of painting a success, I went on to complete the rest of my Garrison Miniatures starships in the same scheme.

The paint method consisted of pouring some white, blue, and yellow paints (the latter two lightened by mixing with the white), dipping an old toothbrush in the paint, and running my thumb along the bristles so it flicked paint onto the minis.

In light of the resulting markings, which mimic a starfield and could depict stealth technology or a cloaking device, I have dubbed this set of ships the Phantom Fleet.

In addition to a starscape, this nice, random assortment of white points could instead be Kirby Dots that represent a reflex field or other shielding.

I might go back and drybrush these models a little to bring out some of the detail.  I should also probably paint some sort of engine glow on the aft thrusters.

There are eight destroyers, a cruiser, and a battlecruiser in this new force.  These are all from the Star Raiders faction from Garrison.

(Not pictured with the Phantom Fleet are the two remaining destroyers from this set of minis, which I painted in different schemes.)

I think these ships will play the role of privateers in my games, operating with a Letter of Marque issued by the Garrison system.  Now, if I can just schedule a game ...

Star Raider destroyers

Here are two more Garrison Miniatures ships (Star Raider destroyers) I've run through the painting queue.  While the manufacturer sells them as 1/2400-scale models, they'll fit right in with my existing starfleets.

Unlike the first couple I painted in a sort of space camouflage, these craft received more traditional paint schemes.  I enjoyed the change of pace. 

I decided to add these vessels to two of my freelance fleets: the Capellan Raiders and the Vogon Construction Fleet (your guess as to which ship goes with which force).

I primed these ships white before painting them.  This really brought out the yellow on the left-hand ship, and I'm really pleased with how they both came out.

After painting, I washed with an ink-water mix and then did a little drybrushing.  Now they're ready to join their respective flotillas.  One day soon, I need to take pictures of the assembled Capellan and Vogon fleets.  Then I actually need to use these in a game!

Painting experiment

Since I haven't painted a miniature starship in quite some time, I thought I'd experiment with a paint scheme idea on some ships I've had primed for awhile. I took some models that were flat black and added random flecks of bright.

The concept was to dip an old toothbrush in some white and yellow paint, then run my finger along the bristles to flick the paint onto the mini in random speckles to simulate a starry sky.

I wanted to give these minis the look of a cloaked (or at least deep-space camouflaged) ship.  At first I couldn't make up my mind if I was happy with how this looks or not.  But after looking at them on the tabletop instead of a closeup photo, I think they'll work for wargaming. 

I may go back and add some drybrushing, but other than that, these ships are done!  Now, to decide what faction they will be.  I'm thinking space pirates ...

Because I have no self-control, that's why!



Why, oh why, did I buy more spaceship minis?

I picked up another metric crapload of minis on ebay, including the 14 packages of Stardate: 3000 ships pictured above.  In addition to various Earth ships, including some I didn't have before, the lot includes some of the alien ships as well.  Still deciding on a paint scheme. 

Any idea of which line of miniatures these ships are from?

Not only that, but I also won an auction of a dozen ships from another fleet--which fleet, I have no idea.  (EDIT: RavenFeast has identified these as Star Raiders from Garrison Miniatures.  Thanks, RF!)  I like the design of these guys, but I hate the bright red paint job, so this batch is headed for a Pine-Sol bath sometime soon.  Not sure how I'll end up painting them, either.  Any color scheme suggestions, for either the Stardate 3000 ships or the red guys?