Starship Modeler Discussion Forums

Flat black will block light from passing through the plastic and provide a base for silver metallic paint, but if any diffused light is meant to be seen from inside the model, flat white is better than a metallic, though silver will make a better base coat for white than the flat black.

Never mix unknown paints with different primer or familiar detailing colors. Always test new paints on scrap plastic. Never spraybomb in humid air. Don't scrub recently shot wet paint off with a chemically hot solvent- let it dry a day, then remove it completely with oven cleaner or like chemical. P...

DeltaVee wrote:I sprayed an AMT 18" Enterprise Pactra aero blue at least 4 decades ago, and, while it was better than bare plastic and better than white, it was very much blue.

Which, for an out-of-box AMT vintage look, sounds just about right. Thx!

So RLM 65 is probably close enough- thanks!

Anyone remember if Pactra Aero Blue was just a flat Sky/Lt. Blue, or more of an RLM hue (65, 76, 78)?

The problem with going tiny on the needle for your paint line thickness isn't the needle size, but the paint viscosity. A 1.5 mm needle is designed for nail polishes or water dyes. The Grex will do a nice fine line at a larger needle size with enamel and acrylic flats.

Don't use straight Windex to clean, especially left sitting. Ammonia will etch the chrome plating off the parts and ruin the gun.

Yup. Well researched, but a replica.

I'm a little late to the party, but here's a pic of a studio replica showing the subtle blue-gray panel pattern the filming model had:

http://squaremodels.com/basestar/images/043.jpg

Edit: Found the whole gallery:

http://www.byyourcommand.net/cylongalle ... ?album=191

A shading wash on the details (over glossy plastic) looks good on this kit as I've seen it done, and perhaps a clear Satin or Dull coat rubbed down and a filter (2-5% grime colors mixed into thinner) wash laid on and sealed with more matte clearcoat would, IMHO, give a weathered appearance while pre...

A gloss coat can take up to a week to cure. I'd wait that long if it's from a rattlecan, just to be sure with that thickness.

Grex videos on airbrushing for models:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4ZrSdf7 ... 3Q&index=6

Curing time is probably another few of days past the "dry-to-touch/handle" point. Krylon's likely "hot" enough that a new coat might soften the previous coat underneath if it isn't cured hard.

Andy Probert designed the D in a mix of duck egg blue and sky blue panels, FS-24516 and FS-15526: http://www.starshipdatalink.net/art/images/ded-7.jpg close Testors out-of-the-bottle matches are: RLM76 for the blue RLM 84 or British Sky Type S for the green RLM 02 greengray for the phaser collimator...

The thing about the 1701 dishes is, that on the Pilot model and early 33 inch study model, there was uneven weathering that gave it an "impacted" look, while on the later Production cut-down dishes the grime seemed to be more evenly distributed, with the rings inside the dish very shaded. ...

Lighten your mil. flat colors for scale distance. Use camo grey for white, and gray down black w/ lt. brown. Drop the intensity of hues for other colors with a drop or two of their color wheel opposite- haze down the palette as if viewing the scene from a distance. There is an IPMS scale for adding ...

Thanks, TER-OR, great pics! That shows exactly the idea I was trying to describe!

Base coat with Flat White, mist on an overspray of dayglow yellow, then succeeding layers of dayglow orange to red airbrushed as you work towards the corners of the object, keeping the parts closest to the "core" of the material the lightest color, and the edges the darkest. Or just put a ...

I would go a bit further - Wash the gunmetal basecoat in a diluted flat black first to fill all the depressions and engraved lines, and dry brush a steel color (LIGHTLY) with a wide brush, sponge or paper towel over the base gunmetal coat on the worn areas before painting the bluing layer, just to g...

Me either, but I could see how the warm tone of the red pigment and the graying from the white might have the desired effect.

I have heard of adding a couple drops of blue to the white to make it whiter. Not that I understand how this works but it does. As mentioned above, it only seems whiter in contrast, as it makes the white a "cooler" shade, and prevents yellowing from age/oxidation. CORRECTION!!: (And I'll ...

Hmmm, mixing white with silver makes a livelier gray, not a brighter, more reflective white. Remember scale theory- A Saturn V rocket at 1/96 isn't going to look stark white just like the real thing will look less intense from 64 yards away compared to a white card in front of your face. 25-30% gray...

Oops, let me try that again:

I used plain old #2 pencil to weather an old Monogram BSG many years ago. Looked pretty good too.

Interesting method from Lumpy, but it makes the vehicles look less realistic to me and more like anime mecha in 3-D.

davidlgreen wrote:i usually use tamiya's or gunze clear smoke.

Over what kind of base? Silver? Dark primer? Soviet Air Force Turqoise?

I used to use hairspray to seal artwork done in pencil, and it was smooth enough. Spraying an absorbant media like artboard or sketchpad paper would give a different result than on the surface of a model, IMHO. Hairspray just doesn't come out of an aerosol can as fine as model paints. It gets plent...

Airbrushing it, or aerosol spray can? I can't imagine an even application out of a can. Pump bottle will definitely give you a splotchy uneven coat.

Wouldn't the prototype's operating environment be a factor? Aircraft models with opaque canopies are often painted from metallic sky blue to dark gloss grey to metallic navy blue, depending on scale and windscreen contour. If your subject operates in an earth type atmosphere, consider the color of s...