Pirate Fleet

The last major faction in the Space Dreadnought 3000 Universes. Unlike the other factions, their ships are organic. Additionally, they do not  have the full complement of ship classes like the other factions.

Pirate Baseship

These ships were given a dark purple metallic basecoat followed by light purple highlights. The large orbs of the ships were painted black followed by several layers of gold for a smoooth, even finish. the engines were painted boltgun metal followed by a silver drybrush. White was used for engine glow.

Fighters were painted in the same fashion as the capital ships. I used the SD3000 line to experiment a little with metallic paints. Overall, I am happy with the results. The reflection from the metallic paints does tend to brighten the ships somewhat, however, they still kept very good details. The ships themselves were well cast and I received great service from Kallistra for these ships.

Altaran Fleet

There is not much background information on the Altaran fleet. What is know is they are an aggressive race that reproduces rapidly and are rather militant. Their crew numbers are apparently higher than other races, which are advantageous for boarding actions.

Altaran Baseship

For this fleet, I used a red metallic basecoat, followed by a metallic pink drybrush. Guns were painted with steel followed by a chrome drybrush. The hull was high-lited with steel and bronze. Fighter bays were painted black. I used white to represent engine glow.

Fighters were painted in the same fashion. The red metallic paint gives a nice aggressive feel to the fleet.

Quellaris Federation Fleet

The Quellaris Federation was formed from exiles and political refugees from the Earth Empire (which became a fascist state after the Vargans almost wiped them out) and other races who were trying to flee the chaos of the competition for Guardianship. Their fleets are a hodgepodge of technologies from various races and supposedly have a strong economic base.

Quellaris Baseship

For this fleet, I decided to use a gold basecoat and accent with steel. Again gunports were painted black and drybrushed with chrome. Chrome and steel were used to provide some contrast to the hull. For the larger recessed areas, a black was was applied and then carefully repainted with steel. Engines were painted boltgun metal and white was used for engine glow. This better seen here:

Painting the fighters was relatively straightforward.

Kaylon Fleet

The Kaylons originate from another galaxy and are the Guardians in one of the sectors. The are here in the Milky Way galaxy to compete for another Guardianship here. They are supposedly more advanced than the other factions, however, they are constrained by numbers as reinforcements have to come from the home galaxy and can take a while.

Kaylon Baseship

For this fleet, I decided to use blue metallic paints with gold accents. The ship was painted dark metallic blue and then drybrushed with light metallic blue. Guns and port engines were painted in gold. details on the hull (i.e. the bubbles) were painted light blue to add a little contrast. No engine glow was needed in this ship.

Kaylon Fighters

I like the dark metallic coloration of this fleet. It gives a rather imposing feeling to the fleet.

Vargan Fleet

The Vargans were the race that almost wiped out humanity in the Space Dreadnought 3000 setting. If it weren't for the Talliscan brokering a peace between the two races, humanity would be extinct. Even though they may seem like "bad guys" in their Universe, it is not totally black and white.

Vargan Baseship

Ships are nicely detailed and had little flash. I wanted to experiment with metallic paints with this faction. I started with a dark metallic green basecoat. this was followed with a light metallic green drybrush. Details were painted with steel followed by a chrome drybrush. Gunports and fighter launch tubes were painted black. Engines were painted with boltgun metal and white was used for engine glow. I particularly like the fighters as they are asymmetric:

They were painted in the same manner as the capital ships. Another nice fleet.

Talliscan Fleet

Here are the Talliscan from Kallistra's Space Dreadnought 3000 range. They were the supposed inheritors of Guardianship of Sector 7 until it was decreed that they had to fight for it, like everyone else.

Talliscan Baseship

Aesthetically, they look a little like klingons with the boom and large back. Painting them was relatively straightforward with a bronze basecoat followed by a copper drybrush. Guns were painted with steel, followed by a chrome drybrush. Gun orfices were painted black and the engines were painted with Boltgun Metal and the engine glow was painted white.

Talliscan Destroyer

The ships had some nice detail and were fun to paint.

Earth Empire Fleet

I always found the ships from the Space Dreadnought 3000 line rather interesting. I managed to order a fleet of all of the main factions in that range. The setting is the galaxy is divided into 16 sectors, each sector is administered by a Guardian power. Travel is via jump points (called Star Centres). Guardianship for the 7th sector (where Earth is located) is up for grabs.

Earth Empire Fighter Baseship

The background for the Earth Empire is rather interesting. They had just fought a devastating war with the Vargans and if it wasn't for the Guardians of sector 7, Humans would be extinct. Earth became extremely xenophobic as a result. Because of their relatively small population, their ships are highly automated. Above is the Fighter Baseship (carrier) for the Earth Empire. The ships were painted with Steel followed by a black wash. Steel was then reapplied in the overly dark areas. A light drybrush of aluminum and some of the details in the superstructure were emphasized with chrome. the main guns were painted with Boltgun metal with chrome highlights. Fighter bays were  painted black and engine exhaust was painted white.

Earth Empire Superdreadnought

In this game, ships are essentially eggshells with sledgehammers. Cruisers, Battle Cruisers, Dreadnoughts, and Super Dreadnoughts are the main fleet combatants. Patrol ships and Destroyers make the smaller, more expendable components of the fleet.

Earth Empire Patrol Ships

The fighters come 14/pk. They are mounted 6 ships on a ring with a 7th in the center. I took the ships off the ring and mounted them on earring posts.

Earth Empire Fighters

I had fun painting these ships. The have a clear design aesthetic and an interesting background. Additional pictures can be found on the gallery page.

ESU Fleet

Here is the entire ESU fleet in one shot. I believe the red and yellow color scheme is rather striking for this fleet. Definitely more eye catching than the other human factions in the FT universe.

Space: Above and Beyond UNSC Ships

I had previously posted pictures of the UNSC John F. Kennedy class supercarrier from Space: Above and Beyond (S:AAB). I thought it was a great looking, utilitarian ship capturing the no-nonsense approach of the military. Near the end of the series, we got to see clips of the UNSC escort ships. The only models of the UN ships that existed were of the JFK supercarriers. No models existed of the smaller escort ships. This is my attempt to correct that deficiency. In the top right is the JFK class supercarrier. In the bottom are my interpretation of three of the escorts that were seen in the TV show. The other two ships are what I view as second generation "advanced" ships. Basically ships that were developed after the start of the Chig conflict that are based on the lines of the JFK. Here is a top view of the ships:

I thought the show had potential. I wish they had more images of the ships as I had to make some significant guesses as to how they were supposed to look. Overall, I am happy with the results.

FSE Fleet

This is the full FSE Fleet. I will need to get some more old style fighters, however, it is pretty impressive as it stands. Additional photos can be seen in the FSE gallery.

NSL Fleet

Here is the full NSL fleet. A rather impressive collection of ships ready to smash through the line of battle of opposing fleets. The green shade goes well with the blocky design aesthetic of the NSL. This was a fun fleet to paint.

Edit: A link was placed on the Gallery page to additional pictures of the NSL Fleet.

Nemesis Fleet

Zandris IV Miniatures makes some very nice ships in the style of the PC game Homeworld. He also made these ships which have a alien, crystalline look. I have never seen any painted versions of these ships, so I decided to try my hand at painting. This is a small squadron of 7 Yamas and 1 Azrael ships. Painting started with an undercoat of light grey with white highlites. The entire ship then received several layers of pearlescent white and then metallic/pearlescent paint was added to add some color/contrast. A closeup of the Yama is below:

The pearlescent white give a crystalline look to the ships which makes them feel that they were grown rather than welded. Here is the Azrael:

The grey/white undercoating give a nice contrast to the raised areas that is not too drastic. Some very nice ships which, unfortunately, no longer available.

Expanded Jem'Hadar Fleet

I have been busy clearing my workbench for the past 2 months, hence the lack of posts. One of my active projects was to flesh out and complete the Jem'Hadar fleet. I can now say that the fleet is almost complete. I need just a few more Attack ships, however, the capital ships are done and here is the results. The fleet consists of 1 Battleship, 2 U-type battlecruisers, 2 V-type battlecruisers, 6 Cruisers, 8 destroyers and 14 attack ships.

Here is a close up of some of the cruisers. It follows the lines of the battleship and functions primary as an fleet escort. A closeup of the destroyer is here.

It is based on a preliminary design from John Eaves for the JH Battlecruiser. I decided to turn it into a destroyer. Its is designed for independent patrol and support for the Attack ships (in case more firepower than a squadron of attack ships are required). In a fleet action, it functions in a similar role as the attack ships to kill off damaged ships and protect against small attackers. It took a long time to make and paint these ships, however, I think the effort was worth it. Definitely an imposing fleet with a consistent design aesthetic. Probably my favorite fleet.

NAC Fleet

Here is a photo of the NAC fleet. Not as impressive as the Sa'Vasku fleet posted earlier, however. I'll need to obtain some additional Firestorm II fighters to flesh out the fighter complement as well as some additional light ships for escorts. Still a nice fleet with a distinctive design aesthetic.

The Breen Fleet

The Breen are an interesting race in the ST universe. Their ships are partially organic and they are apparently a very Machiavellian race. Class for class, their ships are smaller than the corresponding ships from the other factions in the Alpha quadrant, however, because of their energy disruption weapon, they can be particularly deadly. Here is a size comparison of all the Breen ships (the Tha Taan, the "official" Breen ship, is the second on the right). I tried to capture the design aesthetic of the Breen with a large boom on the right, sweeping curves and the asymmetric design. I think the unofficial ships capture the aesthetic well and the ships look like they were created by the same race. It does make a impressive fleet.

Additional pictures can be seen in the galleries.

Sa'Vasku Fleet

Here is a beauty shot of my entire Sa'Vasku fleet. It took a while to collect all the ships and get them painted, but the end result is impressive.

Definitely not a fleet you want to be staring down in a remote region of the galaxy.

Federation Fleet (SST)

 A small federation fleet from Starship Troopers. Ships consists of an Athena, 3 Rodger Youngs (1 carrier variant and 1 transport variant), 2 Minervas and 3 squadron of TAC fighters. The Rodger Youngs and the Athena are from Minimodelmadness and the Minervas and TAC fighters are from Studio Bergstrom. Even though the ships are from different lines, they go together well.

Jovian Confederation Fleet

The currently produced Jovian Confederation ships from DP9. I wish DP9 would continue to expand this range as they have some very nice designs in their ship technical manuals. One day, I'll probably scratchbuild the missing ships in the fleet, unless DP9 decides to produce the missing ships.

The Kharandorn Royal Navy

A change of pace from the Star Trek universe. Xtreme Hobby made a line of miniatures called Cold Navy which had a well developed background and some very interesting miniatures. One of the factions is called the Kharandorn and from the box art, have ships that are characterized by tiger striping. I though  it would be neat to have an entire fleet painted in this fashion. I managed to get a fleet box before Xtreme Hobby folded. Fortunately, Ravenstar Studios picked up the line and not only are the ships available again, the line is actively being developed. I will be posting pictures of the individual ships over the next few days.

Dominion Fleet

When I saw the Dominion fleet orbiting Cardassia, I wanted to try to build one. The primary reason I got started in making my own miniatures was to create this. The current fleet numbers 1 Battleship, 4 Battlecruisers (2 U-Type, 2 V-Type), 3 Kheldons, 6 Galors, 6 Breen cruisers, 12 Hideki, and 21 Attack ships. The fleet is not complete as I still have several Attack ships and JH Battlecruisers left to be painted. Additionally, reinforcements are coming from the Gamma Quadrant and the Breen Confederacy. The Alpha Quadrant is going to have a bad day.