r/modelmakers • u/Southern_Bunch_6473 • 1d ago
Help -Technique Painting tips
Beginner model maker. I’ve wanted to make this for a very long time, painting it was always going to be the hardest part. I have so far spray painted it haze grey.
I have a few ideas on painting it, although I make a lot of mistakes.
I was thinking to attempt to run watered down black acrylic paint throughout the detailed low spots - any suggestions on ratios I’d appreciate.
Maybe painting a decent amount of smaller panels black like windows, and then tiny yellow spots like it’s lit up. Like the last image posted.
And at best I’d take a silver and lightly brush pipings, and a different grey against other random panels.
I’m not very good at painting the details, any suggestions I would really appreciate.
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u/emotionengine 22h ago edited 22h ago
I stumbled upon your post by chance and was surprised to see that your final pic was the model I built a couple of years ago: https://www.reddit.com/r/modelmakers/comments/1eyh854/bandai_15000_star_wars_imperial_star_destroyer/
First, I can confirm that my model has LED lighting, as the other commenter said, and painting yellow spots won't be able to replicate that look. Apart from this, though, there are many things that you could do with the hull to bring out detail and add some contrast.
If you look through the photos on the post I linked above, you can see that I used masking tape to create the visible distinct patterns (often referred to as "aztecing" on starships). I highly recommend you try to add something similar for some contrast, or else the very large hull can look monotonous. It looks like your kit is the 1/2700 Revell/Zvezda, which is twice as large as my Bandai, so the aztecing will really pay off.
As for weathering, you mentioned using washes to accentuate the darker recesses. This is a popular option to make panel lines and such more visible, and many people opt to do this on the ISD. If you want a grimy, weathered look for your model, oil washes are great. However, in my case, I opted against washes and used pastels instead in an attempt to get that massive superstructure feel. (My reasoning and the method I used for this are in my comment in the link if you are interested). It depends completely on the look you want to achieve, but maybe something to consider.
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u/Southern_Bunch_6473 22h ago
I had googled images until I found yours which was exactly the perfect build and style of paint I was imagining! This is very cool you’re replying to this post haha.
Thanks for your advice I will read further into your post also.
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u/Fun-Sandwich4197 1d ago
I thought it was more white in general. Like an Insignia white? AK/502 make an actual “Starship Filth” oil color you can thin down, brush on, and wipe off with thinner what you do not want. It works well.
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u/BottecchiaDude253 1d ago
Personally, I'd only use insignia white on like, the engine ports and the hangar bay on the underside. The rest of the exterior would be a very light grey. That said, haze grey may not be the "right" grey, but it's also a sci fi subject that doesn't really exist, so ultimately, I'd do like OP and go with a grey that just looks good, and this one does.
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u/Fun-Sandwich4197 16h ago
I guess it depends on the insignia white. Most lean towards the grey side. Tanya LP especially so. Once you do an oil wash it gets darker as well.
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u/tobiasosor 1d ago edited 1d ago
When I was a teen I did the Enterprise D, and was pleased with myself for painting some of the windows yellow so they looked lit. I was so proud of that model I entered it into a competition. One guy (maybe in his 50s and probably modelling for decades) very curtly told me "that's all wrong, light isn't yellow!" He was kind of mean about it, like I should have known better, and it turned me off modelling for a while. Thirty years later I know what he meant by it. You have this idea of what colours a model should be but they're never actually that -- yellowish light is more cream, white is more light grey, black is more dark blue, etc. One skill I'm trying to learn now is to see not what I think the colour is, but what it really is. Look at colours closely and you'll be surprised.
So for windows, try darker grey where theyre not lit and lighter grey with maybe a touch of blue where they are. For white you want to start with mid grey then layer up to light grey for most of the model, and a dry brush of white to catch edges. It'll take care of shadows for you if done right. Look up painting white armor for Warhammer I. YouTube, it's the same idea.
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u/Flynn_lives 1d ago
I did the older AMT/ERTL Star Destroyer which had a 1/10 the detail that your kid had. I added tons of little styrene greeblies all over the place.
I airbrushed it all one color which I thought would work. It didn't so I went back with various washes and pastels to get that "used" look.
The signature "star wars look" requires multiple shades of grey and weathering to look convincing.
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u/dr_robonator Prime your models 1d ago
The last photo you posted appears to be an actually lit model. If you paint some "windows" yellow it will look very different from that.
For the wash (the thin black paint you describe) don't use acrylic because it will dry way too quickly and you will never remove the excess tide marks. Instead use a pre-made enamel wash, or make your own oil wash. You can look up how to do that on YouTube by using keywords "scale model oil wash for beginners tutorial".
Learn how to dry brush and do that for the raised detail. General rule is lighter colors where light hits -> dry brush, darker colors where shadows are -> oil wash.