Completed » Millennium Falcon [1/72 Fine Molds Kit]

[FichtenFoo]

Another kit to be thrown into the future Death Star 2 attack diorama. I'm doing a step-by-step for painting this so check it out.

http://fichtenfoo.net/blog/tag/millenium-falcon/

[FichtenFoo]

Part 1 of the modulation tutorial. Enjoy the video and try not to laugh.

http://fichtenfoo.net/blog/tag/millenium-falcon/
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wreblsPaUhU

[DaKra]

Good vid, moves right along, thanks.  What's your experience with the Mig oil paints, as opposed to similarly priced artist oils?   

Dave

[FichtenFoo]

Thanks. I like the fineness of the pigment in the Mig 502s. I used to use (and do occasionally still) Winton oils which are carried by Michaels. They're not bad, but say I do a wash of black using both types... you will see less speckling if any with a finer pigment oil and less... not sure what to call it, but when thinner pools and leaves a ring... that's more due to the larger chunks of pigment holding more thinner and leaving it as it dries.

Now that's with washes and filters. With regards to just using them to paint normally (figs, paintings) there's not a whole lot of difference other than the color choices and price.

I actually planned to address this a bit in the next installment. Now I can do it without stuttering and "ummm"ing through it. LOL!

[FichtenFoo]

Part two is up! Tomorrow I should be able to do Part 3. Enjoy!

http://fichtenfoo.net/blog/tag/millenium-falcon/
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KtOENlm0Xpo

[FichtenFoo]

And here is part three which covers hand-painting the gray panels using oils. Enjoy!

http://fichtenfoo.net/blog/tag/millenium-falcon/
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jY6XvmA3kUo

[marc_reusser]

Great stuff, thanks for posting and sharing!

Marc

[FichtenFoo]

Part 4 and now it's starting to come together.

http://fichtenfoo.net/blog/tag/millenium-falcon/
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9CCShewJdl0

[eTraxx]

Great .. just great. Makes me wanna grab some oils and paint (wash) ... something ...

[Bexley]

Regarding the use of the term wash: the same issues have been encountered in (fantasy/sci-fi/gaming) figure painting, where any thinned paint is a "wash" and by definition, gets slopped all over the place. Over time, a vocabulary has developed to differentiate between thinned paint and its uses, to make it easier to describe what you're doing.

Wash: the traditional meaning. Thinned paint (or ink) which is liberally applied and allowed to settle in crevices to act as a quick version of shading. It is also often used specifically  to identify the line of washes made by Games Workshop, which are a PVA based liquid, which settles much more smoothly than acrylic washes.

Glaze: Thinned paint applied uniformly to an area. (Think filter in AFV modeling.) Often this is very very thin, and usually described as "slightly tinted water." To apply, you pick up the mix on your brush, then wick off most of it with a paper towel, so that you can carefully and uniformly apply it to a surface, in order to alter its color. Usually, it's applied multiple times, to build up to the color you want, as that's a bit easier than hitting the exact shade you wwant all in one go.

Juice: French figure painters introduced this term, to refer to a method of shading and highlighting using incredibly thin layers of paint, applied over and over and over. The main difference between a juice and a glaze is that a juice would be applied as a highlight or shadow, and not to an entire surface. By thinning the paint enough that individual layers aren't noticeable, smooth transitions can be obtained by slowly building up the color change, applying the juice to smaller and smaller areas as you go.

Liner: Usually not quite as thin as a wash. Liners are applied in a thin line between two areas, like a hand and a cuff, to differentiate between different areas of a figure that need a bit more contrast. The technique is usually considered kind of dated, but it still comes in handy from time to time. AFV pin/panel washes are a similar concept.

[FichtenFoo]

Ahh oil paint... so beautiful to work with, so long to dry. Here's the next video/tutorial installment and the next to the last. This one deals with streaks and rusty areas. The next/final will be pigments.

http://fichtenfoo.net/blog/tag/millenium-falcon/
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hikjX1ekgFc

[finescalerr]

That helped.

One question about the weathering concept -- and please don't clobber me because I do realize the model is in fantasy territory: If the orange streaks represent rust ... how would they get there? Things in space don't rust. (Yes, the movie studios came up with the idea. But why?)

Russ

[Bexley]

Docking bay 94 wasn't in space. Neither was the rebel base on Yavin 4, Echo Base, or Bespin. The Falcon spends a fair amount of time on planets with atmospheres. (Now, if this was a Star Destroyer, you'd likely have a point. However, my recollection of Star Destroyer and other non-landing ship paint jobs doesn't include rust stains.)

[FichtenFoo]

Exactly what Bexley said. For being the "Fastest Hunk of Junk in the Galaxy", the Falcon spends a lot of time not in space. I imagine being a freighter doesn't help either dirt-wise.

In the prequels (yeah... I know...) you see the earlier Clone Star Destroyers on the surface, but they're not stationed there for long I imagine since according to the guides they have to keep the engines running so-to-speak as to not crush the landing gears.

[finescalerr]

You guys know movie scripts better than most know actual history! Thanks. -- Russ