From this to THIS! A step-by-step Guide to Painting Lyrans · Step #5 — Base-coating the top of the miniature: After the underside, the top will seem easy. The first step is to

Copyright © 2009 Amarillo Design Bureau, Inc. — Article, painting, and photos by Tony L Thomas

From this to THIS!A step-by-step Guide to Painting LyransBy: Tony L. Thomas, Battlegroup Murfreesboro

You’ve seen the photos of the miniatures by Mike Raper, John Schneder, Will McCammon, and others. You’veseen the artwork by Ted Geibel and Adam Turner that graces the products. Everywhere you look, you see Lyranstarships with those wonderfully intricate “Cat-like” patterns.

“How do they do that?” You've asked yourself. Well today, I let the cat out of the bag and walk you through theprocess step-by-step. Together, as you read this article — we’ll go From this to THIS! In 7 simple steps.


Step #1 — The preparation:

In the photo at the end of this step, you will see all of the items necessary to paint “tiger-stripes” on your Lyranheavy cruiser (or other ship). Among these items are:

A Lyran ship to paint. (A heavy cruiser in this instance)Blending Gel (I use Folk Art brand, but any type is suitable). This material is not a thinner but a thick gel that

when blended with the paint, slows the drying time of your paint and allows you to slowly blend twoadjacent colors together to achieve the smooth transitions from one shade to the next that occurs innature. I get mine in the craft section at Wal-Mart, but this item should be available at any big box storeor hobby shop.

An adhesive of your choice (Superglue is show below).A primer of your choice. (I prefer a white primer as it seems (in my humble opinion) to “lighten” the colors and

make them more vibrant.)A clear coat sealant. (I use Armory Matte Sealant. Several others I know use Gloss coat, some use dull coat, and

many use both. The choice is up to you and your preferences.)An Exacto knife.A series of sanding sticks (of various grades / sizes) or sand paper.Paint brushes (I use a #4 flat brush for the actual blending and both a #1 and a #10 for everything else.)And lastly, paints. (The paints are not listed since brands and colors vary widely and each person should use

what he is comfortable with.)Also not shown is a palette for blending and mixing of the various colors needed.


Step #2 — Cleaning and prepping the miniature:

As with any miniature, the first thing to do isto clean and prepare the miniature forpainting. Remove any flash from the minia-ture, file away molding lines, and straightenany parts out. The miniature used in thisexample required little in the way of flashremoval, but did need a few mold lines filedaway. Once all the flash is removed, thor-oughly wash the miniature in warm, soapywater (regular dish detergent works fine forthis) to remove any mold release agents oroils from your fingers that may have adheredto the miniature. Allow to air dry and handleas little as possible from this point on (toavoid contaminating the surface with addi-tional body oils). Alternately, some peopleprefer to use rubber gloves when handlingthe miniature.

Step #3 — Priming:

In this step, the miniature should be primed.Primer is usually an oil-based product in anaerosol can (I get mine from Wal-Mart), butthere are water-based acrylic primers, andsolvent-based lacquer primers available.Whichever type you use, please be sure tofollow the manufacturer’s safety recommen-dations. And above all remember this, twothin coats of primer will work better than onethick coat that obscures vital details of yourminiature! Once primed, allow the miniatureto dry thoroughly before handling (usuallytwo hours or so).


Step #4 - And away we go, base-coating the underside:

My experiences with several variations of the “cat-camou-flage” patterns have taught me that it’s best to start on theunderside of the miniature, so that’s where this example willbegin. Actually, you should begin with a bit of research. I’vefound the internet to be a valuable reference for paintingguides. Simply type “tiger” in the search box and you’ll finda plethora of patterns and colors to use as a guideline. Onceyou’ve settled on a pattern, you’re ready to begin. Nearly allof the tiger photos I’ve seen show the tigers with a patch ofwhite fur running the length of their bellies. This then blendsinto the primary orange that makes up most of their coloring,although some appear to fade from white to yellow and thenorange. I’ve painted ships both ways and prefer the inclusionof the yellow.

The first step is to paint a white stripe down the ventralcenterline of the ship. Mix a bit of the blending gel with thewhite paint (unfortunately, I can’t tell you how much to mix— it’s rather a trial and error process with each brand ofpaint — but it doesn’t take a lot) and paint the white area.Begin at the center and paint outwards in both directions.The blending gel will thin down the paint so you do not get asharp edge where the white ends and the primer begins.Next, mix a bit of the yellow paint with the blending gel andstarting at the outer edge of the ship, paint in towards thecenter. By varying the amount of paint on your brush and thepressure used on each stroke, you can change the point atwhich the yellow merges with the white. Note that you mayhave to touch up an area or two by taking additional whitepaint and paint from the center outwards. This “touching-up”should be performed while the paint/blending gel in stillsomewhat wet and easy to mix.

The next step is to take a tiny bit of the orange (mixed withblending gel) and beginning at the extreme edge of the ship,blend inwards until you have a smooth bleed from white toyellow to orange.

At this point, you are temporarily finished with the under-side of the ship and can attach the base to the mini (if youprefer to paint them on the stand). Just a small drop of super-glue will attach the stand, but also enable you to remove thestand when ready to detail the underside.


Step #5 — Base-coating the top of the miniature:

After the underside, the top will seem easy. The first step is to paint theentire miniature with your selected shade of orange. This can be doneeither with or without the addition of the blending gel. The blending gelhelps prevent brush marks and allows for a thinner coat of paint, but asbefore, it’s a matter of personal preference. (Try it both ways, if youhaven’t already.) If you base-coat with straight orange paint, you willstill need to mix a bit of orange with the blending gel to facilitate thefinal shading. Referring back to your reference photos, you’ll see thatsome tigers have a darker patch of fur along their spinal areas. In somethis is merely a darker orange, in some it’s a light tan, and in some itappears to be almost dark brown. By varying the shade of brown usedand by varying the extent this darker patch covers, you can have analmost endless variety among your Lyran fleet and still maintain anoverall continuity. Start by mixing some brown paint with the blendinggel. This is then painted onto the miniature, starting at the center andworking outwards until you’re happy with the result. Note that a bit ofthe previously mixed orange paint and blending gel may be required totouch up any areas where the brown extends too far into the orange.Once you are satisfied with the base coat, set the miniature aside andallow it to dry thoroughly (at least two hours). Once dry, apply a lightcoat of a clear matte or gloss sealant to protect the blended paint job asthe details are added.

Step #6 — Details, details, details:

Once the sealant is dry, it’s time to paint the details. I’ve discussed thiswith several painters and there are two schools of thought:

1) paint the details first and the stripes second and,2) paint the stripes first and the details second.

I prefer to detail the mini first, so that’s the order we’ll discuss.The fine details get painted at this point, such as ESG generators,warp radiators, phaser mounts, disruptor ports, shuttle hatches,etc. The specific colors and locations of these items vary fromship class to ship class and from Lyran county to Lyran county.Many of these variations are detailed in the appropriate paintingguides (located athttp://www.starfleetgames.com/miniatures.shtml#guide)so I will not reiterate them here. Suffice it to say, take your timeon the details. While single-color base coats can be touched up ifa bit of smudging occurs during the detail stage, it’s very difficultto “repair” a blended paint scheme in the case of an overrun. Thetypical detail techniques of washing and dry-brushing are difficultto use with a blended paint scheme also, although some areas (thewarp radiators and the ESG generators) are large enough and flatenough that they can be washed and/or dry-brushed. Once youhave completed the details, the miniature starship should looksimilar to the images at right and on the next page.



Step #7 — Stripes!

Now it’s time for the moment we’ve all been looking forward to. It’s time to paint the stripes. Beforeyou pick up your brush, take a moment to look at your reference photos again and pay close attention to thestripes. Several people paint simple stripes that are basically wedges of black that begin at the edge of the hulland taper to a point towards the center of the ship, ala‚ Tony the Tiger from the Frosted Flakes box. That’s not tosay that there is anything wrong with this technique — I have painted several of them this way myself. It’squick, it’s easy, and you don’t feel distraught if the guy across the table from you drops your miniature on thefloor (and yes, that does happen). For a more realistic pattern though, you have to be more free flowing andorganic. The tigers in your reference photos probably have stripes of varying widths that start at different partsof their pelts. Some of the stripes will branch, some are short, some are long, some are relatively straight, andsome seem to meander back and forth. The most noticeable thing about their pattern is — there is no pattern!They aren’t even necessarily the same color. Some tigers will have black stripes, some will have brown, andsome will even have grey or white stripes — but those are a special case we’ll discuss later.

Start on the underside of the miniature. Thin your black paint until it’s the consistency of milk and thengrab a fine brush. Lightly dip the brush in the paint and paint a wavy stripe that starts near the edge of the hulland extends to the center of the yellow patch. Very few tigers have stripes in the middle of their belly. (If you’renervous or unsure at this point, practice painting a few stripes on a piece of paper until you like the way theylook.) The underside of the mini is rarely seen, so if you make a couple of mistakes, it’s not the end of theworld.

After you are comfortable with your striping abilities and feel that there are enough stripes on the under-side, flip the starship over and start on the top. Use the same technique on the top as you did on the underside,vary the width, the length, and the shape of the stripes. The stripes should be denser near the edge of the hulland thin out as you approach the center of the starship. Once you are happy with the number of stripes, applyany decals desired, seal the miniature and go blow up the bad guys!


Lions and Tigers and Bears, Oh My! — Advanced techniques:

The method of painting I have explained can be used for more than just tiger stripes. By utilizing thereference capabilities of the internet and slightly modifying these techniques, the possibilities for detailingstarships are endless.

A white base-coat blended into a light-gray and then a slightly darker-grey combined with grey or off-white strips gives you an albino “white” tiger.

Use grey rosettes instead of stripes and you have a snow leopard.A series of blended browns combined with brown rosettes yields a leopard.Blend the oranges into brown and apply small black spots. Presto, you have a cheetah.And so on, ad infinitum as shown below.

Documents

From this to THIS! A step-by-step Guide to Painting Lyrans · Step #5 — Base-coating the top of the miniature: After the underside, the top will seem easy. The first step is to