Aeronautica Imperialis Skies of Fire Planes WIP - part 3

 

Greetings!  This week I've made more progress on the Imperial planes from the Aeronautica Imperialis Skies of Fire boxed set. I started with cleaning up the cockpits from the glass painting last week.  Then I got to work on the metals.

I have a bit more metal detail on the Vendettas, primarily on the noses. Then I'll add some highlights and  other colors like brass and bronze to a few bits to break things up and add some interest. I took a break from painting to apply decals to so that any final shading or weathering will include those surfaces.  I chose one of the planes to be the squadron leader (or ace?) and added black wings and teeth (see below). The wings total disrupt the camo, but it's rule of cool all the way in my shop. 😎

Each plane got a unit number as well, just behind the side doors. I kept with the GW artwork and added white stripes to the tails for squadron identification. Some GW Agrax Earthshade was applied over the stripes to dull them down a bit to match the rest of the paintwork. I;ll do the same with the lighter decals once I get a coat of matte varnish over them.

The Navy planes got the same cleanup and metallic paintwork.  GW Nuln Oil was used to shade all the metals.  For the navy squadron, I went with some red squadron markings with a red strip on the nose of the squadron leader. Additional Navis Imperialis transfers were added to the wings along with unit numbers in the tails (see below).

I very happy with how the Lightning fighters are coming out.  I might like them better than the Thunderbolts now, my prior favorites. As with the Vendettas, the metals here require highlights and some additional details here and there.

I decided on a laurel encircling an eagle's head for the underside of the wings.  I have no idea what this indicates, and someday I'll likely regret the choice.  But it looks cool.  Not much source material for the icons available on the transfer sheets. The underside details are painted and shaded like the rest of the metals. Highlights and details needed here as well.

And that's where this group of planes sits at the moment.  I hope to be able to update Friday with more progress - maybe even completion for these planes?  I'd like to get back to the T'au planes soon so I can wrap up before the XMas holidays.  

Best of luck with your projects.

Cheers and Happy Gaming!