Painting questions

[Gwen01123]

Ahem.

Hi all,

Browsing the forum at random, I stumbled on some images of naval minis in the VaS forum, and sort of, well, fell in love.
Those ships are just so cute !
But I resolved manly to be a reasonnable, responsible adult and not embark in a collection of minis I would never use anyway since I don't know anybody in the area playing naval wargame.
My resolve lasted nearly a week.

So :
I just got a batch of ships from Navwar (excellent service, by the way, a pity about the ... What did they call it again ? Ha, yes, fax),
and was wondering if I could get some advice for the painting, since I have no experience in painting 1/3000 naval models.

Specifically :
Do you prime the mini, and if yes, in what color ? I was thinking white or light grey to have a clear mini, but am not sure ...
In what order do you paint ? I was thinking hull and superstructures, then deck, then drybrush the superstructure, then details (lifeboats, ...),
but the things are so tiny, I'm not really sure how to proceed.

Thanks for any input in the matter,

Gwen

ps : Seeing the subs, I first thought they had forgotten to put the minis and there was only some flash ... How am I going to paint that ??

 

[DM]

I generally prime in light grey, then overcoat in the hull / superstructure colour first, then the decks. I then often have to touch up the deck / superstructure, then dot in the details such as funnel caps, breakwaters, bridge windows, bollards etc. On completion and after a suitable time for the paint to harden I give the model a light wash using watered down Tamiya "Smoke" and then give the model a coat of matt varnish.

 

[Ben2]

First of all I'd base it. GW regiment bases or cavalry bases are a good thing, as is fairly thin mdf or thick plasticard.

Water effects go well on the base (try vallejo or woodland scenic, not GW). Then base coat the ship grey and the base dark blue, then move onto the details and highlifghting. The interweb is a good place to find colour schemes.

And don't worry the game is so easy to learn if you have regular gaming buddies then you can playh them over a beer or two.

 

[Ostmann]

Hi

My Italian fleet in the gallery (Navwar ships) I first undercoated black, gives deeper shadow and when you high light, it makes the detail stand out more.

I used a mixture of Vallejo and GW paints, the grey is GW Codex grey, for the hull and superstructure, this was then given a black wash (black paint with water added, this darkened the grey and added to the shadows, i then highloghted codex then fortress grey, you can drybrush this is you wanted, then i painted the deck, using vallejo paint, I added white for high light. the camo scheme was then painted on (depends on what ships you bought) I then did a pin wash (a wash but being specific where it goes

I always mount the ship before painitng, once the model is painted, I paint the base a dark blue colour and paste on vallejo water effect, making waves with it, you can either leave this clear and add white for wave tops etc or drybush blue (which I prefer - again personal preference)

I always recomend black undercoate, as gives better definition from dark to light and makes them stand out more, but again its all personal taste.

I hope this helps

Thanks
Al

 

[Gwen01123]

Hi,

Being French, I bought a French Fleet pack plus a few additions.
As far as I know, the only camo pattern was applied to some light cruisers, and it was called 'train wreck'. I am so NOT going to try that on that wee little piece of metal.
I think I'll try both the black and light grey undercoat on a couple of destroyers, and see how it comes out.

For the bases, I grabed every tidbit I could find on this forum, I think I'll go for GW bases with some sea effect. Unfortunately, those you suggest are not common around here, to say the least.
I'm experimenting some stuff, if it doesn't work I'll found something on the net.

Thanks for the answers !

As for VaS players, my friends and I are more hooked on ACTA, and they're not interested in naval wargames. We're basically a role playing group with wargames on the side.
But one can always hope ...

Regards,

Gwen

 

[Ostmann]

Gwenn

I based mine on plasticard, I used the counters from the game as a template and made larger/smaller where needed and mounted the ships that way, a sheet of plasticard is a lot cheaper than GW bases, will go a long way and is easier to get hold off

I am not sure which part of France you are in, but I know there is a massive wargames show in Antwerp/Belgium in November called Crisis. I highly recomend it, run by the tin soldiers of Antwerp http://users.skynet.be/tinsoldiers/index.html

Tell your friends if they like ACTA they will like VAS, very similar, and nothing like bringing out the battleships, and shoulting you sank my battleship!!!.

Have Fun

Al

 

[Gwen01123]

Ostman,

The less common thing was Vallejo stuff and such, not the bases. Actually, GW stuff is more or less the only miniatures one can find around here.
What is plasticard ? It doesn't translate well in french, no idea what it is or where it could be found ...

Is the site you linked to updated ? I didn't find anything about Crisis 2007, the most recent I find is 2005.
Maybe I missed it, I only skimmed through, I'm supposed to work at this time ...

About my friends, I doubt it, but I'll set up a demo anyway once I have a few ships ready, we'll see. I bought them mainly for collection : those things are just too cute.

Thanks,

Gwen

 

[juggler69uk]

Gwen

"Plasticard" is just sheets of plastic (usually white) in varying thicknesses and sizes.

Just dont go too thin

Should be available in any good model or craft store

Terry

 

[Ben2]

Woodland scenics water effects is available from model railway shops. There should be one of those locally. Vallejo and woodlands scenics water effects are basically the same (and worth getting). GW water effects is not actually water effects, just a clear runny resin in a bottle.

GW regiment bases are an item currently not being restocked in GW stores. They are redoing their bases (ie putting them in different bags and selling less for more money). When I heard this I immediately bought 5 bags of bases, much to the puzzlement of the redshirt.

 

[juggler69uk]

............. much to the puzzlement of the redshirt.

For some of them, it doesnt take much to do that.

Especially if you mutter something like " no i mean in games other than GW"

 

[Ostmann]

I just went on the GW website, and they are not selling the bags of bases anymore, only sprues.

The bags of bases were the only item of any value on there site, will have to find another source for my bases now, used there bases for other manufactures stuff.

Does anyone have a source for bases, looking for GW type cavalry, 20mm square and round ones (I will open a new thread in general discussions thinking about it)

 

[Gwen01123]

Found Scenic Water Effect, and plasticard.

I'll try those this WE, and if I'm not too ashamed of the result, I may even post a pic of my first ship one day ...