Birds of Prey

I made a little progress this weekend with the miniatures in Star Trek: Fleet Captains. Much like my last batch of models, I painted these guys using a fast technique with a limited palette. The only notable difference was a black ink wash just before drybrushing. I'm not sure that was the best choice since it left the Birds of Prey a bit darker than my D7s. Fortunately, when placed side-by-side all of the ships still appear to be a cohesive force.

That's 7 down and only 17 more models to go. Ugh... this hobby is suppose to be fun, right? :)

Painted 4 minis in 1 day - That's a new record!

Here is my first set of painted models from the board game Star Trek: Fleet Captains. Apologies for the pictures: the white balance is off (the background should be a pale blue).

Since I have a total of 24 miniatures to paint, I decided to try a fast method of washes, drybrushing, and minimal highlighting. Aside from the red/orange engines, my palette was limited to just four colors: Templar Blue, Ashen Blue, Black Green, and Ghost White. After priming, I finished all four models in about 3 hours. For me, that's lightning fast!

I'm pretty happy with the painting results, but I do have mixed feelings about the models themselves. All of the models included with the game arrived assembled and attached to their bases. I was disappointed to see that each has a defect where the plastic was broken/cut/torn from the casting sprue. Also, most parts were misaligned and attached with large gaps. I've tried disassembling a few models, but it's a real chore and can require cutting away plastic (and then rebuilding) simply to make a repair.

So here's my warning to others: fixing the minis in this game will require a lot of effort. While it's not an impossible task, it really is time consuming. But if you're a nerd like me, you'll just persevere ... and probably enjoy it!