Monday, July 13, 2026

Star Blazers: Photo-etch parts, painting

Among the most realistic of all sci fi spaceship designs...

  


....ha ha ha ha HA!  Well, maybe some of the coolest!

Was a bit intimidated by the small etched parts, and the fairly complicated painting scheme for the EDF missile destroyer:
But eventually realized "those etched parts aren't going to attach themselves" and went at it.  New skill, new aspect of the hobby - positive attitude, positive attitude...

It was clear to me immediately that these etchings [?] were going to be bits of sharp metal. I gingerly cut them off the sprues, only having one piece fly off somewhere...

Using a modest-paced superglue, I found the parts fairly easy to attach, so my shock, surprise and pleasure.  Probly their light weight helps, and it was the right type of glue - not too thin, not too thick.
View from back above, side view below:

After the initial glueing, I used the super thin insta-cure as a second level of hardened protection.

Only problem is that the insta-cure also instantly wrecks the clear bases, and it does NOT come off with acetone [nail polish remover].

Amazing!  The parts went on fairly quickly, and they held well!

To put the base coat on the Gamilon destroyers, I used a medium green Vallejo - as is too often the case, the cap was again a problem...

As the EDSF ships are supposed to have some "light grey", and I figured it'd be a better base coat than pure white, I painted them with a new Warpaints grey primer.
Above, the EDSF primed up quickly.  The Gamilons needed a couple of coats to get the green as a consistent color.

The base coating "as good as it gets", I had to try out some paint schemes to get the right effect.  The forward "eyes" are [in my mind] torpedo tubes, and the yellow blogs on the sides are supposed to be the barrels of two turrets [they face fore and aft].  Overall, I don't think they look like barrels, but the yellow looks good.

The EDSF base coats were a bit fiddly, and trying to hand paint neat stripes, etc, is a pain.  But eventually I got them "good enough" and called it "done".

After getting the center stripes adequate, I used a micron 1.0 black pen to put on some little details, including the bridge windows, laser turret holes, forward torpedo tubes, and some lines on the front [whatever they are...].

I dislike the cruisers / battleships, as they just aren't sculpted properly.  But I have'em so they're getting painted.  Overall, they look OK.

The Gamilons came out pretty well, I think. Not as cool looking as the EDSF missile destroyers, but good enough.

And here they are at a distance, about a foot - they look better than close up!

And here's what they look like on the star mat.
The lighting makes the bases more shiny than they appear in real life.  I don't know why... but they look better with the eye than with the camera.

Overall, pleased with how they came out. Still have to give them a sealer coat, and then perhaps a shading of some kind.

Would like to do another batch of 12 little ships, then some of the large ships... or vice versa?

Stay tuned!

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