French Drydock

I finally got my first test model of my new French out of drydock.

Because of the fiasco that I had trying to base my new French I'd been quite delayed in getting my fleet up and running. The good thing though is that often times disasters turn into really good learning opportunities and though the experience was a total pain in the ass I did learn some good things about ultrasonic cleaners, airbrushes and a few additional painting techniques in the process, so really that's a good thing.

However, lessons learned and finally having the models completely stripped, I did manage to test out a new scheme on one Lyon Class Frigate. One. Singular.

I think that's another good lesson to learn. When testing out new paint schemes test it out on one model and adjust accordingly. I had kind of flew ahead and started in on the whole starter box and that's what landed me in the situation that I was in.

Anyhow, so here is that Lyon. I didn't want to do anything too far from the studio version that Spartan has

showcased on their website. I love the gradient shading that the painter achieved, especially with the blues and I have seen many different attempts and variations of this by other painters. Sad to say it is the white (or often grey) area that provides trouble for painters. A light colour (white, I guess being the lightest) paired with a dark shade can often produce dramatic and unwanted results. Often times less is more.

Sad to say I think I fell into that category with this test model. I think I went too strong on the black wash over the white. In other models I think I'll consider a Future Floor Polish coat first before applying washes in order to force the washes away from the raised areas and then use a technique where you brush away most of the wash partway through the drying process. Also, I think spot washing might be a useful technique to highlight certain crevasses, especially around the turret cupolas and other area of interest.

Anyhow, so I think this is overall an ok model. It's definitely table worthy and I think with a couple of modifications to the process the fleet will definitely look exactly how I want.