Well I fanally went out and picked up a few Full Thrust mini's...and I was
wondering if there were any guidelines for color schemes for each faction? I
saw the stuff on the Kra'vak being green and pink( I think, don't have the
book right here), but I didn't see anything with regard to the other
fleets...If there is an official scheme, or if anyone just has a really cool
one could you let me know?
Thanks,
> Well I fanally went out and picked up a few Full Thrust mini's...and
Well, I don't know of an *official* paint scheme, other than that which has
been shown in the FT books and any catalogs that detail it. I guess whatever
color Jon paints his. ;-)
I've seen a wide variety of paint schemes for various fleets. Myself I kinda
divided my FT ships (and other ships from other lines) up into different
'fleets', based on the primary color scheme used by those ships (the 'grey'
fleet, the 'black' fleet, the 'metallic black' Sa'Vasku, the 'light grey'
fleet, and the 'metallic maroon' fleet; plus a 'metallic jade' I use
exclusively for Kra'Vak minis - they look quite nice when primed with a
grey coat first; too light if primed with a white coating)
Mk
> Well I fanally went out and picked up a few Full Thrust mini's...and
Anything you like really. I personally didn't like all the ships in a
particular range, so I decided to get all the ships I liked from all the
ranges and made a "Mercenary" fleet. I then painted them in a desert camo
scheme to match the Dirtside army I have (which is mostly Israelii
Merkavas). Now I need to paint the Kryomek/SGII minis I have to match
and I'll have an integrated force.
As to the major powers, think of who makes up the main modern equivalent and
then think of their flag. That should give you a good place to start. I have a
friend who painted his ESU ships in a deep red with a yellow star on them.
They look really good.
> Well I fanally went out and picked up a few Full Thrust mini's...and
This is a reposting (slightly updated) of an answer to a similar question some
considerable time ago:
Starship Colour Schemes:
When asked how the "official" FT ships should be painted, my usual response is
"paint 'em any colour you want, they're your ships!!" However this question
has been asked so often now that it seems I am going to have to make some kind
of pronouncement on the matter. Before giving the colour
ideas, though, I must stress that these are ONLY IDEAS - they are
suggestions as to how we see the various fleets, and you are still free to
paint your own ships any colours you like. If we ever get to the G*m*s
W*rksh*p state of saying "you can't play our games unless your figures are the
right colours" then I think it'll be time for us to hang up the ol' laser for
good.....
So, here we go. In some cases these colour schemes are the ones used in our
own demo fleets for show games, in others they are just what we think looks
good.
Overview of ship colour theory in the FT universe:
[WARNING! High level of PSB (pseudo-scientific bullsh*t) follows....]
There is no "ideal" paint scheme for combat ships in the 22nd century, and as
a result all the major powers have adopted different ideas. As optical
detection is still a significant part of most sensor suites it would seem to
be sensible that a ship is painted in dull, dark colours to minimise
visibility against the starfield; this has problems, however, in that as well
as not providing a reflective target for enemy sensors it can also not
reflect solar energy, beam weapon energy or anything else - result: a
hot ship that you are forever having to cool by some means, which of course
gives off a big IR signature anyway. On the other hand, if you make a ship
bright and reflective so that it does not needs such effective cooling
systems, and you have something that stands out like a sore thumb against a
starfield, shining in any little bit of reflected starlight.... So, space
naval colour schemes come down to part compromise, part
aesthetics - a smart looking ship looks good on the holovid newscasts
back
home......
1) the NAC:
New Anglian ships use a predominantly grey/white scheme, though
blue/white
is a good alternative if you prefer it. a good technique is to paint the ship
an overall medium grey (or blue), then either i) pick out all the
raised panelwork in white, or ii) simply dry-brush in white (not quite
as nice, but a lot quicker and easier!). A finishing wash of a dark shade
(blue-black or black) will bring up the surface detail and give a "used"
look - not strictly authentic on a spaceship I know, but all the movie
modellers use weathering so why shouldn't we?
2) the ESU:
Eurasian ships are generally mid-green or yellow-on-white (both look
effective, so its up to you); as with the NAC suggestions it is best to use
a base colour of a darkish shade and then panel-shade or drybrush with
lighter colours. Markings could be traditional red stars, with some IDs in
either cyrillic or Chinese!
3) the NSL:
Neu Swabian ships are usually a functional mid-grey with lighter grey
panelwork, though some squadrons have been seen in "dazzle" patterns of
diagonal dark gray, white and pale blue-grey stripes. NSL command is
often surprisingly lenient about special paint schemes on certain ships,
especially if the commander and/or the ship has suitable aristocratic
connections (for example, there may well be at least one of the new Richtofen
class Battlecruisers painted overall bright red.....). One important note
concerning the NSL: according to our background, they are NOT "Nazis in
Space", so no swastika markings! Think in terms of noble
Austro-Hungarian and Prussian aristocracy - use WW1/modern German
crosses if you wish, though we prefer stylised eagle symbols.
4) the FSE:
Either an overall mid-blue (French blue), or else a blue base with white
or pale blue paneling overlaid.
5) the Kra'Vak:
When we mentiond a "shifting, green-purple" scheme in More Thrust, this
was because a friend of mine had painted up a few KV ships this way using
shades of green, cyan, purple and even pink in places. Believe me, they DO
look good! Since we haven't yet let on just how the KV society works, you
could get away with almost any scheme - probably different
clans/tribes/packs (or whatever groupings they use) have different ideas
anyway.
So, there you go - a few ideas to be going on with. If you have any
further ideas or comments on all the foregoing (or indeed any better schemes)
please let me know.
> On Mon, 28 Jul 1997, Kelvin wrote:
I
> have a friend who painted his ESU ships in a deep red with a yellow
This was what I was thinking of doing too, I guess I didn't phrase the
question exactly like I wanted to...I guess I was looking for the colors of
each faction, not really a set paint scheme...That's a good place to start.
Thanks.
> On Mon, 28 Jul 1997, Ground Zero Games wrote:
<MESSAGE CHOPPED>
> This is a reposting (slightly updated) of an answer to a similar
> > Starship Colour Schemes:
Thanks Jon, that's more of what I was looking for!
> 1) the NAC: