AMT Defiant Class - First Build!!

Defiant's pain scheme isn't easy to do, but it looks like you're tackling her just fine here.
Nice work.
 
Glad to hear the endorsments for the Tamiya tape. I really just picked it at random without any idea what I was getting. I'll definately not be switching brand.

Painting is just so difficult. It's by far the most challenging thing to learn, at least for me it is. I'm just taking my time. Testing the colours before spraying. I've tested/wasted quite alot of paint just mixing it up and getting it all wrong.

I think I've figured out a good way of obtaining a good panel colour that doesn't stand out too much from the under colour. I'm mixing the under colour with the blue, flesh or grey paint. This way, those panels don't stand out too much and look too intense.

Next up, I'm repainting the blue panels.
 
I am still learning how to paint! So just keep at it and don't be afraid to experiment! You seem to be doing just fine right now!
 
nice work Igard.

If your upto, you could break up the colours even further by taping off smaller sections and using a very thin gray to mist over top. Gives a faded look to the main colour. A bit like what Aircraft Modellers do when weathering panels.
This is a bit like using black and white under the main colour when pre-shading, except you do it afterwards (post shading if you like)
The thin gray is about 1:5 (1 part paint to 5 thinner) - and no thats not a typo.

Are you going to add a wash to the entire model ? If so, be careful of dark washes, as you colours will become darker.
Since you've done a lot of work on the panel lines, you might like to use dark gray pin washes to accentuate them.

keep it up ... looking good
 
Thanks grendels, I'm trying not to get afraid, this was supposed to be one big experiment, but it's hard not to get a bit wary of making mistakes.

Hey, cobraleader. That sounds easy enough to me. I'm actually finished with the grey panels now, but it might work the same way for the blue panels? I was just going to mix the main hull colour (of which I've got plenty mixed) with different proportions of blue to get the 3 different shades of blue panel.

I am planning on doing a wash. I don't know exactly what I'm doing yet. I'll have to look at some more of those helpful youtube tutorials.

Living in the UK, I'm unable to get Future floor polish, but I have picked up the closest equivalent, Pledge Multi-Surface Floor Wax. I read about it here :- http://www.swannysmodels.com/TheCompleteFuture.html. It's in the 2nd and 3rd paragraphs of this article.

I'll have to do some testing first before I try that. I was thinking that I could apply the decals first, then put the PMSW/Future on after. If it glosses too much, I guess I'll do a dullcoat? I'm not exactly sure how to do that either. I think it's a flat base? I've got some Tamiya x-21 flat base I'm hoping will work.

I'm really thinking out loud here. As you can see, I've got lot's to figure out before I'm ready to finish. Any help is mega-appreciated. Cheers, all.
 
The Tamiya flat base will dull down future just fine. That very same article you posted will tell you how to do this.
 
Me personally wont use the Future to pre-weather because its near impossible to get that amazing flat finish again that the base colors had provided after you FUTURE, then weather, then flat coat. i someimes use a very very light clear gloss coat or none and just pin wash panel lines. then i do a hair only of airbrush weathering. THEN i use pastels, grounded but NOT moistened and applied direct with a QTip. primarily for streaking. i use brown black and grey. i use MIG 502 oils to to break up panels. then when all done i seal it with a acrylic matte varnish lightly from 10 inches. wait to dry then again till surface is flat enough.
everyone has thier method. it all works. Ill post a pic of my current studio scale XWing for reference tnite for you.
 
Grendels, thankyou. I didn't read beyond the part about the UK future. There's alot of long lines of text there.

punkpigpen, Wow! That looks totally amazing! Obviously Starfleet keeps their ships alot cleaner than the Rebel Alliance, so I won't be going this far, but really cool to see a good example of weathering.

So, you don't use Future, just a lightly applied clear gloss, then weathering, then dull coat? I might have to consider doing that, because this polish I've got isn't supposed to be as good as Future. According to the article I posted on the previous page, decals don't agree with this UK version of future.

I'll have to test it out to find out for myself before I go putting it anywhere near my baby. I'll let you know how I get on with it.
 
you wont need a butt load of weathering on it anyways because of the scaale. mine is huge at 23" at 1/24 scale but your doing a battleship. I'll tell you though it is easier the future way. you can try a gloss acrylic coat rattle can and weather it the slop it on the whole model way and then wait till dry and wipe it all up. that totally works and leave little room to fail. i just do it my way because i am a painter for a living and love doing it all by hand individually panel by panel. im just anal like that. IN FACT watch this playlist. it may be what you need to get the job done without gloss. Its a 4 part video. do ALL the steps. looks real and nayurally weathered which i like. http://www.youtube.com/user/FichtenFoo#p/search/0/wreblsPaUhU
 
Those vides are awesome, ppigp! I think they're a bit more than what I'm looking for with this build, but I picked up a Revell Maquis Fighter last week that's just asking to get the weathered look.

Today, I've been testing on a scrap plastic box, applying decals and applying my UK Future.

The Future here in the UK is called Pledge Multi Surface Floor Wax and it's very milky. I only used 1 part to 5 parts water.

I primed my box and sprayed it with the base colour I'm using for this Defiant ship. I then decided to try applying a decal to see what would happen.

I've printed my own set of decals on some white decal paper I bought by accident (I wanted the clear stuff).

I then coated one of the decals with Microscale Decal Film. I applied it too thinly which resulted in the decal getting destroyed when I put it in water. Basically the ink just ran straight off it. I put the destroyed decal on anyway just to see how the paint reacted and, as I expected, it disturbed the paint underneath and it looked a bit messy. I softened it with Revell Decal Soft (I didn't pick up the Microscale Soft).

So, I then went on to mix some UK Future with Tamiya Flat Base. I used about 1 part base to 5 parts Future. It looks very milky as both are of a milky colour. I put it on very thin as that seemed like the sensible thing to do when testing. I wouldn't say it's a complete disaster, but I don't want to put this stuff on my model. It doesn't look even a little bit glossy (which is good), but it has a kind of powdered look and feel. It feels sort of smooth, but almost like there's a very thin layer of dust over it and in places, there are some white cloudy areas, though I think this was just my amateur airbrushing causing areas of excess.

I proceeded to apply another decal, this time applying the Microscale Film a bit more liberally. This time, the ink stayed in place! It looks like the decal has gone on fine, but where the softener ran has created a very slight film across the surface. I don't know if this will vanish after another coat of Future. Next time, I'll mix the Future with a bit less flat base and see what happens.

I may also change my UK Future to water ratios of 1:5, to 1:4.

I don't know if this makes sense to anyone, but I thought I'd document it for my own sake and to let you all know in case there's something important I'm missing.
 
When I first bought the Tamiya flat base, I didn't know what it was and sprayed it straight out of the air brush. What a mess. But the results you described are pretty similar to what I found when I sprayed the straight flat base. I would reduce the flat base in your mixture.
 
The Testors Laquer Dullcote rattle can is excellent but its pricey. Its not enamel so theres so acrylic VS enamel issue. I Like it above all flats but ifim building studio scale resin kits one of those shorty cans can do one. i need 2.
 
Thanks again Grendels, you're a life saver (Well a paint saver. A savior of paint).

PpigP (I'm calling you this now, easier to type), that stuff looks quite good. It seems it was made illegal here in the EU a couple of years back, but it's back on the market after they revised the formula. £3.50 per can (they look quite small though), isn't too steep.

Cheers all. I might have a photo to upload tonight, if I get a chance.
 
he he no prob! Yeh out of all the mattes i've tried in the past it gives the dullest coat. each coat you apply after it dieds makes it more and more matte looking.
 
Sorry, no photos as yet.

I'm struggling to get the blue panels right. I tried using the extremely thin blue method, but found it hard to spray. I think I need to hold the airbrush further away because the paint was pretty runny as it hit the surface. Also, I got some bad bleed through my masking tape. The more viscous, the easier it's going to be to get under the tape.

I got a very light little bit of bleed on one of the flesh coloured panels. Since it would require alot of work getting the mix right again for these, I just gave it a little sanding to take the blue off. It worked OK, but it's left a slightly light patch. I can live with it though, it's no worse than some of my other mistakes.

Now, the UK Future experiment continues. I tried putting less flat base in the mix and still I got some white build up in certain places, especially around the edge. I'm thinking now that this is because I didn't use the correct future to water ratio. I used 1:5, when it's recommende as 1:4.

I'm just about to try this out again. I'll come back with the results later.
 

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