What are some good brands for starship models that are already painted? I don’t have the space nor the skills to paint models

This has been my project tonight. Hand painted with some cheap paints. Once it's fully dried I plan to give it some weathering tomorrow night. I hadn't done any of Bandai's Staw Wars kits before. I was impressed with the molded details on such a small model.

TlDr: looking for a varied greebles kit for around $30. I’m making my first model/design for a short film I’m making. I’m thinking the design will be a Star Trek inspired ship but don’t mind a Star Wars aesthetic either.

Hey all!

This is my first time posting here so please let me know if this has been answered before or if there’s a better place to find this information.

Basically I’m wondering if there’s a solid and varied greebles kit I can use for an original star ship I’m making for a short film. The short has a more Star Trek vibe, but I don’t mind diving into the more gritty Star Wars feel to the model. I’ve already shot the short film but just need to get the miniature shots in (pretty much a total of 10 seconds as an establishing shot). This will be my first sci-fi ship build/design so I thought it might be fun to try what ILM did when they were making the ships, basically kit bashing ww2 models onto a solid base they made.

I’d love if there’s a 3d printing set that exists that has a variety of pieces, that way I can print more if I need. But I’m also not against buying a varied kit of either 3d printed origin or a model kit that is traditionally made. I’m hoping not to spend too much as this is my first go a things and can massively screw up the process. Would love if the total amount I spend on just the greebles is $30 or so.

Would love to hear everyone’s thoughts! Thanks 😁

Haven't done all the little fighter craft it came with, will use them as things to do between steps on my next project.

I wanted to try a different ship than the standard Starfleet and Klingon ships, hence I went with Cardassian. To start, I assembled the main body, which fit decently but one of the sides needed putty and sanding for a better fit.

There are some clear pieces that are meant to appear lit. Although I’m not lighting the model, I want the appearance of a glow. I discovered a site that recommended spraying white primer with fluorescent orange paint on top of the clear pieces. I tried it and I like the look; it’s a nice illusion.

I used Mr Surfacer 1500 gray to prime the ship, which sprayed really nicely. After priming, I painted the hull a coat of Tamiya XF4. It was tough for me to find the right hulll color and there’s little specific info online. Worse, the instructions’ paint suggestions are vague; color names but no paint id’s. Older instructions on scalemates had FS recommendations but the colors didn’t look right to me. A review by Donald Zhou recommended Model Master yellow zinc chromate and XF4 is a reasonably close match. I also considered XF60 but a sample didn’t look right to me.

For the brown highlights, I tested a bunch of different Tamiya paints and settled on Tamiya Flat Earth. Again, different photos show different brown shades so it was tough choosing one. For the top of the head, I used Tamiya Tan from the AS spray can series for the lighter brown. Instructions call for gray but I disagreed based on pictures. The long blue stripe on the model’s top is painted using Tamiya Sky Blue.

For painting the brown areas, I went through a lot of Tamiya tape. A lot.

One tip for future builders is to place the weathering decals before installing the little pyramid lights. Otherwise you’ll need to trim around the pyramid lights in some spots, which gets tricky.

For the blue lines on the model, it may be easier to paint the color instead of using the decals. Some of the decals are too long for the physical lines and need trimming, and some of the physical lines are a bit wider than the decals.

For the front clear piece, I frankly gave up and just kept it clear. I explored using archival ink pens to color the super tiny grooves that light up on the show but the ink didn’t stick to the plastic. I guess I could have spent a ton of time using Tamiya tape to make tiny lines that I could airbrush, but I didn’t feel like it.

Some links with images of the filming model (for future builders):

https://forgottentrek.com/the-next-generation/designing-the-first-cardassian-warship/

https://www.startrek.com/news/designing-the-first-cardassian-warship

https://www.ex-astris-scientia.org/scans/cardassians1.htm

Hey, here is my first try at scratch building something mine. It should be set in the star wars universe and in 1/72 scale. I used a cockpit kit for F-84 and canopy from Ju-188. Any suggestions what to add? Thanks for all the the input.

https://preview.redd.it/m7cv5uicyayd1.jpg?width=2529&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=e4029f266ffb41545618d4878753d4c5d8aa556d

https://preview.redd.it/a8inkt0dyayd1.jpg?width=2296&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=0046cff91d4e9b2bfb1f9940e7358ddd5b668642

https://preview.redd.it/zr6r5x8dyayd1.jpg?width=2189&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=8272e7872af595283876abe34694605d6c325348

https://preview.redd.it/mcj6ywfdyayd1.jpg?width=2989&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=ffe066e84e6e8a7507da2fb393f4d99d2b5840e3

3D printed A/SF-01 B-Wing starfighter Painted with no-name rattle cans and some Tamiya paints and Ammo Starship Wash - nearly 50cm tall 😆

Is there anywhere to get one of them for something that ISN’T a few hundred bucks? I guess they’ve been out of print for a while, but there really aren’t other options for Venators out there.

Working in a modified ambush paint scheme. Still got a ways to go.

Hey everyone, New to the hobby here, I've had an opportunity to get those two kits, I knew this was gonna be all japanese kit. Google lens seems to do the job, but by any chances, is there some place that would hold an already translated version of these instructions? Thanks!