Revell USS Voyager paint question

[Major Eazy]

I need an option on the paint job for a model kit I am about to start working on as soon as my children starts the Summer holidays. (I’m a single parent and need to do a model kit during night time to unwind.)

The model kit is Revell, USS Voyager (2009) and I prefer to use Humbrol paints (acrylic if possible but would still use enamel if there are none in acrylic). I’ve used charts and guidelines to help match Humbrol paints for the Revell paints listed and if anyone thinks of a better Humbrol paint than the ones I’ve listed, please feel free to suggest. Also if anyone thinks I got it all right, please say so. Many thanks.

One important information I can’t find is what is the Humbrol paint number to use in place of Revell’s number 312 (Luminous yellow, silky matt)?

Also need to know if there is a better single Humbrol paint number for Revell’s 70% 371 + 30% 374, as being a single parent, I don’t have the time or resource to mix paints but if there aren’t anything better, then I would still have to mix it anyway.

Below is a list of Humbrol paints to be used as replacement for Revell paints:

196 + 128 for 70% 371 + 30% 374

130 for 301

60 for 330

72 for 89

62 for 85

94 for 314

1320 for 752

1321 for 731

196 + 128 for 50% 371 and 50% 374

47 for 50

56 for 99

16 for 94

78 for 978

93 for 54

196 for 371

128 for 374

61 for 35

34 and 92 for 50% 5 and 50% 79

49 for 2

Anyone agree my option is good enough or anyone got better suggestion of some of it?

Once again, many thanks.

[Devilfish]

I have one of these in my stash to replace the one I lost in a fire in '04.

I have no idea about the colours you mention as the no's mean nothing to me, sorry.

All I know is that for some reason, maybe the lighting used, Voyager always seemed to be a darker grey than other Federation ships. I used, if memory serves me, Humbrol 147 as a base colour for all my other 24th century ships, but Voyager was a darker tone, but I can't remember which.

I do still have most of my old paints at home marked up, so I'll have a look if you want.

I must admit, I'm tempted this time to ignore the way it looks on TV and just go with the "standard" colours I used on the others.....

Sorry I've not been of much help

[Major Eazy]

I have one of these in my stash to replace the one I lost in a fire in '04.

I have no idea about the colours you mention as the no's mean nothing to me, sorry.

All I know is that for some reason, maybe the lighting used, Voyager always seemed to be a darker grey than other Federation ships. I used, if memory serves me, Humbrol 147 as a base colour for all my other 24th century ships, but Voyager was a darker tone, but I can't remember which.

I do still have most of my old paints at home marked up, so I'll have a look if you want.

I must admit, I'm tempted this time to ignore the way it looks on TV and just go with the "standard" colours I used on the others.....

Sorry I've not been of much help

Wrong!! You HAVE been of some help and you've given me some useful ideas and suggestions.

I had a look at a colour chart of the Humbrol range and allowing for the fact that I am bit of colour tone blind, I don't mean I am colour blind, just tone blind, in other words as an example dark red would look like brown to me. So when I look at the starships on screen, i can't tell how grey they are so can't do much to match up the colours and just go for paint numbers on the sheets. But looking at the colour chart, I would say Humbrol code 147, that being light grey, looks good enough to me.

Don't worry about the fact that you think USS Voyager is darker, maybe it is not darker but your television settings are not set correctly. I don't believe everyone can ever get the best dream setting for their televisions, it's set too light, set too dark, too much colours, not enough colours, so one person watching may find Voyager look different from what another person see on his/her own television. And as a sci-fi show, you can always go for cannon. Let's just say that if all of the Starfleet ships always have very same colours, you could say that Voyager's darker tones are mostly due to the battles and all that the Voyager faced on her journey home.

I think I'll take up your suggestion of going for 147 becuase my kit is mostly for myself to relax after hard work as a single parent, beside, my friends are not experts on Star Trek or model kits, so when they look at my kits, they won't point out anything amiss such as colour tone being little wrong. They'll only just say "Wow!" and I'm not putting up my kits in model shows or competions so I don't have to get it totally right.

147 is good enough for me, and beside, I see it as somehow being bringing luck, after all, the number "47" is always turning up in Star Trek. :-)

Many thanks for the best help so far.

[Devilfish]

Glad to have been of help.

I see what you mean about the TV colours, but on the same TV the Enterprise D and all other ships of that era seem 147, but Voyager always appeared darker, except for in one scene, strangely enough. I just put it down to the light in the Delta Quadrant being different, lol

I will try and did out the other shades I used for you...

[David J Ross]

I don't know if you have seen this page, over at the Starship Modeler site, but it gives some FS (Federal Standard) numbers for the paint colours to use on specific areas.

http://www.starshipmodeler.com/trek/voycolor.htm

You could then use the Federal Standard 595 Color Server to get an idea of a suitable shade to use or cross-reference them in a Humbrol/FS Colours chart..

http://www.colorserver.net/

[Devilfish]

That's stating that the overall colour of the hull is blue!

While that may well be technically accurate for the model built for the show, I tend to find that if you were to actually paint it that colour, most people would look at it and think it was wrong, as under the studio lighting, the colour changes. I certainly wouldn't do it that colour....

"It is well known that the video image on one's home television screen is absolutely no gauge for recreating the look of the 5 foot shooting miniature or CGI model. The actual colors of the model are sometimes "tweaked" in the transfer from film to tape, so the "real" colors of the ship are an approximation at best."

It's a case of, do you want an accurate copy of the model used for filming, or do you want an accurate copy of the way it looks in space on the screen?

Edited July 22, 2010 by Devilfish

[Basosz]

I have to go with devilfish on this one. Voyager does seem darker. I've just watched parts of a few episodes of both TNG and VOY and Voyager looks darker. But that has always been a problem with studio stuff like that. If you paint DS9 according to what the paint guide says, it's sand coloured ! Which is actually correct because all the other Cardassian stuff is pretty much the same, but on-screen there is a big difference. The Cardie ships look yellowy while DS9 looks very dark grey-ish.

You can always paint it the way you like and since it's Science Fiction, you'd be always correct. That's how I did my Klingon Bird of Prey, Federation Runabout, USS Reliant, USS Excelsior etc. They all look great to me and that's what's important.

[Devilfish]

You can always paint it the way you like and since it's Science Fiction, you'd be always correct. That's how I did my Klingon Bird of Prey, Federation Runabout, USS Reliant, USS Excelsior etc. They all look great to me and that's what's important.

Exactly. This debate has been going on since Kirk's day and the argument over what colour the his Enterprise was....

If it looks to you the way it does on the screen, then it's right!

[Major Eazy]

Glad to have been of help.

I see what you mean about the TV colours, but on the same TV the Enterprise D and all other ships of that era seem 147, but Voyager always appeared darker, except for in one scene, strangely enough. I just put it down to the light in the Delta Quadrant being different, lol

I will try and did out the other shades I used for you...

Ah, Devilfish, ah...

I would have to guess that maybe up until ST:Voyager, all other ships seen in ST:TNG and ST:DS9 were model kits against blue background. But by the time of ST:VOY, they switched to GGI. So it could be that they can't get the GGI colours to match the old fashion model kits in earlier series. So you can aways use what is called "suspension of disbelief" (Look it up on Wikipedia) to accept that Voyager's colours should look the same as Enterpreise D than the fact Voyager seems darker.

You are right about the Delta Quadrant part. Who's to say that the stars in Delta is the same type as those in Alpha, you can always say that the number of stars or their level of light don't give enough light to show Voyager's 147 colour. Don't forget The Void, an area of space that have no stars yet we see Voyager. Again, suspension of disbelief applies here.

On other hand, being too far away from the nearest Starbase, maybe the crew of Voyager can manage to find something to use to repair the ship (It begs the question why do Voyager still look brand new after all those battles against the Kazon, Vidiian, Malon, and so on, and not counting THE BORG!!! The episode 'Year of Hell' is a good example of what Voyager should look like after 7 seasons.) Where was I? Oh yes, let's say that the crew manage to find parts to repair the ship, but maybe they don't have the time or resources to give Voyager a fresh lick of paint, so you could say Voyager got bit dirty and therefore look darker.

As a matter of a fact, as the school holidays is about to start, I want to unwind each week when the kids are fast asleep in bed or spending the weekend at their mom's, by doing a model kit, and I'm thinking of doing Voyager. I don't have much time left to be fussy about the correct colour of paint, specially wasting time mixing two Revell colours to get the colour needed, so I'm going for your option of Humbrol 147.

[Devilfish]

The very bottom image on this site is of the studio model. It certainly isn't blue or even as dark grey as it looks on TV.....

http://www.google.co.uk/imgres?imgurl=http...%26tbs%3Disch:1

[Major Eazy]

The very bottom image on this site is of the studio model. It certainly isn't blue or even as dark grey as it looks on TV.....

http://www.google.co.uk/imgres?imgurl=http...%26tbs%3Disch:1

They did use studio model very early on in the series, maybe for first two seasons or something like that, then afterwards switched to GGI. That would explain you saying the studio model don't look as dark grey as it looked on TV, maybe the GGI Voyager can't get to match up the colours with earlier studio models during TNG, DS9, and very early in VOY.

Voyager don't look too dark to me in The Star Trek Encyclopedia (1997)

[Major Eazy]

Kim: "Captain. We are running low on anti-matter. We don't ever have enough power for the replicators, let alone the warp engines."

Chakotay: "Tom. Let's pilot a course to go around the nebula."

Janeway: "No. We go in. There's paint in the nebula."

Tuvok: "Captain?"

Janeway: "There's got to be enough anti-matter in there to resupply our tanks, enough to order up thousands cans of Humbrol paint number 147 from the replicators."

Hope it is not a rubbish joke, well I'm not much good at jokes like that.

[BWP]

That's stating that the overall colour of the hull is blue!

While that may well be technically accurate for the model built for the show, I tend to find that if you were to actually paint it that colour, most people would look at it and think it was wrong, as under the studio lighting, the colour changes. I certainly wouldn't do it that colour....

There are blues and there are blues. Just because a colour is called "blue" does not necessarily mean that it's, well, blue. In the case of the Voyager I would suspect that it's actually a bluish grey.

Certainly the picture of the actual model seems blue-greyish to me. However, photographs are very dangerous things to try and work from: what's the colour accuracy of the original photograph, what sort of lighting was used when the photograph was taken, was the image modified in any way before being posted on the internet, and what's the colour accuracy of the particular monitor that you're looking at it on? To find "true" colour accuracy, you need objective meter readings taken from the actual object; the absolute best a web image can give you is an approximation.

The people at Starshipmodeller tend to be a bit obsessive about things like "accurate" colours and I think that whatever they have declared to be the "true" colours are probably pretty accurate for the colours of the studio model as built. As has already been noted though that may not match with the colours as filmed, and those filming colours could potentially vary from episode to episode (and will definitely vary from one TV set to another).

So IMO there are basically two choices: try and be accurate to the studio model (in which case I would follow the Starship modeller suggestions) or try and make it "look right" according to whatever your personal perception of what "look right" might be.

In any case light greys and blue-greys will serve pretty well I should think.

[Devilfish]

There are blues and there are blues. Just because a colour is called "blue" does not necessarily mean that it's, well, blue. In the case of the Voyager I would suspect that it's actually a bluish grey.

Certainly the picture of the actual model seems blue-greyish to me. However, photographs are very dangerous things to try and work from: what's the colour accuracy of the original photograph, what sort of lighting was used when the photograph was taken, was the image modified in any way before being posted on the internet, and what's the colour accuracy of the particular monitor that you're looking at it on? To find "true" colour accuracy, you need objective meter readings taken from the actual object; the absolute best a web image can give you is an approximation.

The people at Starshipmodeller tend to be a bit obsessive about things like "accurate" colours and I think that whatever they have declared to be the "true" colours are probably pretty accurate for the colours of the studio model as built. As has already been noted though that may not match with the colours as filmed, and those filming colours could potentially vary from episode to episode (and will definitely vary from one TV set to another).

So IMO there are basically two choices: try and be accurate to the studio model (in which case I would follow the Starship modeller suggestions) or try and make it "look right" according to whatever your personal perception of what "look right" might be.

In any case light greys and blue-greys will serve pretty well I should think.

The "blue" that Starship Modeller suggest is correct is FS35526 which according to the link way up there ^^^^, is a more blue grey than grey blue...and nothing like anything seen in photographs or video imo.

However, I agree, you have 2 choices. Make it 100% "studio" accurate and follow SM, which as you say is a little "obsessive", or do it how you think it should be. Me, I do a little of both.

[Major Eazy]

I shown my best friend a Humbrol paint colour chart and a still photograph of the USS Voyager, she agrees that Humbrol number 147 could be the colour, but she suggest that Humbrol 140 Gull Grey, in her option, got more depth to it. Beside, after having a look at more pictures of Voyager and also watching it on TV, I tend to agree that sometimes it looked light grey like 147 yet sometimes it looked gull grey like 140.

Trouble is that:

Supposing the colour is more like Humbrol 140 or similar, and that very strong light like strong sunlight from a nearby star shires on the hull, washing out the colour, making it look too light.

OR

Maybe the whole ship is in light grey like 147, and in most cases, Voyager tend to be too far away from any stars and most of her hull is in shadow, hence she looks darker.

I figure if I go for Humbrol 147, it would be too light, but I could always try dry painting with 140? Paint very lightly with 140 or if needed, paint 140 as base then very lightly paint 147 on top?

How's that? What do any of you guys think?

[Devilfish]

In all honesty, as you've probably realised, this is a can of worms and I think it all comes down to personal preference.

As I said, last time I built all the ships, all except Voyager and TOS Enterprise (which was sprayed Ford Dove grey), were 147. Altho it looked like the picture on TV, I was never happy with it....

[thx6667]

Dunno if this one has been posted but there are some links to over 50 shots of the original motion control miniature.

It might sound a bit obvious, but bear in mind that in later seasons the Voyager miniature was supplemented and later replaced with a CGI model by Foundation Imaging.

http://www.star-trek-voyager.net/btshtm/bt...fx_voymodel.htm

Edited July 27, 2010 by Jonathan Mock

[Major Eazy]

I am running out of time and I plan to start working on my USS Voyager kit on Friday evening when my kids have their regular Friday night sleepover at their mom's. (I'm a single parent and doing model kits helps me to unwind from the week long stress of looking after the kids due to school holidays.) Anyway, based on this topic, I have decided to opt for Humbrol number 140 Gull Grey with the option of very lightly by dry brushing, adding Humbrol 147 Light Grey on top if needed. After all, if the colour is wrong, it won't matter as I'm not doing it to enter any competitions, it is just for myself to unwind, and then it is just on display for myself and my friends can look, but they're not really modellers or Star Trek experts so they won't notice if the colours don't look right.

Many thanks to everyone who helped out with suggestions, specially to Devilfish.

[Devilfish]

I'm a single parent and doing model kits helps me to unwind

Me too mate!

Many thanks to everyone who helped out with suggestions, specially to Devilfish.

My pleasure. In fact you got me fired up to dig out my Voyager and start work on it before the What If GB starts. Going possibly a slightly different route in that I have started drilling out the windows so I can light it up. What have I let myself in for???