Long-time followers of this blog might remember that I bought some Val’Neveg missile cruisers from Ravenstar Studios back in October of 2013. Here’s the picture I took for that post:
Vel’Naveg missile cruiser, from Ravenstar Studios.
Well, I finally got around to painting them. If that seems like a long time to wait, consider that they displaced some Orc ships from Battlefleet Gothic. I was going to paint them, but changed my mind when I decided that I needed to write an Ascension battle report instead. I was missing three matched missile cruisers, and these were sitting in my “unpainted” box.
As usual, you can click on the smaller pictures to see bigger ones.
Back in 2013, I cleaned up the models, drilled a hole for a Games Workshop flight base, primed them, and mounted them on the base. I bought the flight bases back when GW sold them in bulk (and they were a great deal). Now they’re $5 each, and I’ll be using Litko‘s when I finally run out.
Here’s what the cruisers looked like when I broke them out of storage:
Val’Naveg primed, with a Ven’Tara.
The primer was the Army Painter Army Green. Their colored primers are my go-to for spaceships, as they produce a good base in one coat, and maintain the finest detail. (See my Earendel Workbench for a real stress test.)
The next step was a wash that’s one part Nuln Oil and one part Lahmian Medium (both Citadel). That’s what those drug store eyedroppers in the first pic are for. This pic shows before and after the wash, with the ship in front having just received the wash:
The Val’Naveg in front after the wash.
After the wash dried, I picked out some details with Reaper‘s Amber Gold. I’ve already established a very particular pattern with my Mauridians, and this is the result:
The front Val’Naveg after application of Amber Gold.
The next piece of the pattern is Lava Orange (Reaper’s again), which goes on in two stages. In the first, I painted the weapons bright orange:
See the Val’Navegs’ missile launchers in orange.
There are also some small turrets underneath the cruisers, but you can’t see them in that picture. In fact, you probably won’t ever see that detail on a gaming table. (The Mauridians aren’t anywhere near the worst for hiding detail on the bottom of the model. Of the ones I’ve seen, it’s probably the Directorate, which still manage to be pretty models. Just not that threatening.)
At this point, I finally got around to cleaning up the wash. I didn’t bother earlier, because I painted over a bunch of the slop with the other two coats, and I’m trying to keep the number of coats to a minimum. Here’s another place where the Army Painter shines — they make matched paint and primer.
The cruiser in the back has been cleaned up, while the extra wash on the one in front is still visible:
The Val’Naveg in back has its wash cleaned.
At this point, I applied the second batch of Lava Orange. Pinstripes!
Val’Navegs after pinstriping.
I have mentioned that all spaceships should be “swoosh-able”, right? The pinstripes accentuate the Mauridian’s. Here’s a hastily-assembled comparison shot of the completed Val’Navegs and representatives of the existing MEF fleet:
The new Mauridians with the old.
(If you like this blog, check out my starship rules. They’re available as a PDF from the Wargame Vault.)
Leanne
Mark