Following the most recent Step-by-Step on the Sultanate from Fortune and Glory, Daz is back once again to tackle the other half of the latest Two Player Starter Set, the Union.

For those of you looking to command The Union half of Fortune and Glory, follow along as Daz shows you have he paints an Excelsior Aircruiser for his Force.

The great thing about the new airships is that they can be assembled to fight for either the Union or the privateers of the Honorable Eclipse Company (HEC). Daz is mainly going to use this Excelsior for his HEC Battlefleet, so he’ll be using rich blues and elegant golds to give these mercenaries the paint job they deserve!

The kit comes with parts to make a wide variety of airships and aircruisers and includes a bridge piece for both the Union and the HEC which you’ll see more on at the end of the Step-by-Step guide. As the Excelsior-class can be used by both the Union and the HEC, Daz will be painting up both so that he can swap them around when his miniatures are called to fight for the Union or for lucrative mercenary contracts elsewhere.

In case you missed it, you can find the Sultanate part of this two-part series on Fortune and Glory here.

All paints are P3 unless stated otherwise.

Basing

Step 1 - To start with this Excelsior, I airbrushed three layers of Exile Blue over a black undercoat over the entire hull. Any of your favourite matte black paints will work as an undercoat for this step.

Step 2 - The next step was applying two layers of Cygnar Base blue starting from the top central line, blending out around halfway down the hull. If you don't have an airbrush you can easily achieve this effect by painting on a solid layer of Cygnar Base Blue and then stippling the join between the two layers.

Step 3 - Starting from the top-central line and blending out to around a third of the way down the hull, I applied two layers of Cygnar Blue Highlight.

Step 4 - From here, I made a 50/50 mix of Cygnar Blue Highlight/Menoth White Highlight for the final highlight and applied this in three fine layers starting at the top-central line again, blending out around a quarter of the way down the hull. Once dry, I applied a coat of Vallejo Gloss Acrylic Varnish 26.517.

Step 5 - I applied a wash of 50/50 Blue Ink/Vallejo Black Ink (watered down to equal parts Ink mix and water) to the entire model, being careful not to let it pool too much. Then, I used a damp brush to remove any excess wash from the underside of the model.

Step 6 - In order to add some visual interest, and to begin some basic weatheringm I applied a 75/25 wash of Bloodstone/Inferno Orange (watered down 50/50) to the entire model. Once dry, I applied this wash again but only to the undersides.

Superstructure

Step 7 - To begin basing the superstructure, I used a 50/50 mix of Bloodstone/Molten Bronze. I applied this in one pass, leaving it a little patchy in some areas, especially the larger flatter panels. This will add a little variety and pre weathering to the metallics as we work through.

Step 8 - I applied a wash of 50/50 Blazing Ink/Brown Ink, watered down by 50%, across the bronze areas and then blended the edges out with a damp clean brush.

Step 9 - To add a little more depth and separation I applied a wash of 50/50 Brown Ink/Blue Ink (watered down 3 parts water/ 7 parts Ink mix) to the recesses of the bronze superstructure. This was once again blended out using a damp brush.

Step 10 - Next up, I removed the Union bridge and base-coated the silver areas of the model with an equal mix of Cold Steel/Ironhull Grey/Armour Wash. I tend to add non-metallics to my metallics just to cut down on the sparkle, which can look a little false at this scale

Step 11 - Three very thin washes of equal parts Brown and Blue Ink were applied next. This gives a nice steel look, that has some chromatic interest to contrast the brown and blue.

Step 12 - Using a 50/50 mix of Rhulic Gold/Meaty Ochre, I basecoated the golden areas. I applied this in three thin layers. If you take your time with this stage you can get some nice, basic transitions from the lower areas in shadow to the lighter parts towards the top side of the hull.

Step 13 - After, I shaded the gold using a 75/25 mix of Caspian flesh Wash/Brown Ink, applying this to the lower areas first and then blending the wash upwards using a damp clean brush.

Step 14 - Finally, I applied three thin washes of Muddy Wash to the gold. The first wash was placed from the middle down and left to dry. Then, the second wash was applied from around halfway down the middle, and the final layer over the bottom quarter. This method will give you some nice deep shading and some solid transitions.

Final Highlights

Step 15 - To begin with highlighting, I applied pure Cold Steel on the silver sections, paying particular attention to the edges and where parts intercept.

Step 16 - The bronze highlights were applied with a mix of 50/50 Molten Bronze/Cold Steel, once again paying particular attention to the edges.

Step 17 - The gold highlights were a 50/50 mix of Rhulic Gold/Radiant Platinum, picking out details that would shine.

Step 18 - Next, I began highlighting the blue areas with a 50/50 mix of Cygnar Blue Highlight/Menoth White Highlight, paying particualar attention to edges and separation points.

Step 19 - Then, I added 50% more Menoth White Highlight to the previous mix for the next highlight, applying this to the upwards facing lines of the blue panels.

Step 20 - To tie all of the highlights together I used a glaze of Exile Blue on the blue armour. I also used this on the bronze parts to add a little more depth.

Step 21 - Don’t forget to pick out the weapon deatails with a bit of Skorne Red… pop the finished Union bridge on and we’re done!

Here’s how it will usually be fielded as part of my Honourable Eclipse Company Battlefleet. The Union bridge was removed and I replaced it with a swanky looking HEC one. I love picking out the little details, like the mercenary company logo on the tail fin.

Following these steps, you too can have a great-looking Union fleet, ready to take on the Sultanate on the tabletop. You can pick up your own Sultanate and Union mercenary fleets as part of the new Dystopian Wars Two Player Starter Set, Fortune and Glory.

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