+ inload: Starfire Skybears +

+ Bolt from the blue +

+ I fancied painting something a little different last night, so dug out the Starfire Skybears, my wing of Imperial aircraft for Aeronautica Imperialis.

+ Led by the heroic Sky-Captain Tuomas Oro, the wing hasn't seen a huge amount of action, but we have occasionally played this entertaining little game.

+ An object lesson in not using dried-up paint, this 'plane hasn't proven a great success! My palette is usually very muted, but I wanted to get the idea of a bright, racing-style heraldry across. Unfortunately, the only really bright colours I had were blue and red, both of which I use elsewhere. I ended up trying to revive an old pot of Snot Green that had taken on the consistency of its namesake...

+ Sprayed black, I added the metallics then painted the cockpit with a simple sky-earth effect using orange. The top of the 'plane was painted with Snot Green and highlighted with the addition of Yriel Yellow. 

+ In order to suggest speed and movement, I applied the paint with the flat of a 3mm flat brush, drawing the colour from front to back. This minimised the brushstrokes of the rather gloopy paint, and as I tinted the colour towards yellow, the highlights built up more towards the front, drawing the eye here.

+ You can just see a hint of the underside colour here – I used Fenris Grey to create nice light blue-grey, suitable for camouflage against certain alien skies.

+ To add a bit of detail and interest, I added some white stripes and red chequer details. I see the Skybears as pretty cocky, so some boy racer-style heraldry would probably go down a treat! +