Merchant Ships - Brigade Models

I needed some commercial shipping to run some of my Galactic Knights scenarios at Historicon next month, so I decided to get the "Merchant Convoy" fleet pack  from Brigade Models in the UK.  It includes 12 ships in seven different variations.

Here's the finished "Convoy", on a 2" hex grid.  It consists of...

2 x Medium Container Ship. seen here in the bare metal,

2 x Heavy Freighter, and 1 x Heavy Merchant Cruiser

2 x Light Container Ship

2 x Light Freighter

2 x Modular Container Ship, and 1 x Modular Armed Merchant Cruiser

These could have been assembled with any mix of gun and container modules

Here's top down view of the Convy after priming them white.

Another view of the primed Convoy. 

I then spay painted them a relatively bright Fluorescent orange color.

In part, this color isn't associated with any of the five fleets in Galactic Knights, 

plus it reminds me of the color of industrial steel drums of chemicals, etc. 

I then sprayed them with acrylic matt fixative, and then brushed on Magic Wash.

The Magic Wash has brought out the details in the models, as well as giving the ships a bit of a grimy, "used", look. They then got another coat of acrylic Matt varnish. 

Here's the spray paint I used on the ships. 

Close up of the finished ships.

Once again I have used "facing colors" to differentiate the ships; nothing too fancy for these workhorse craft!

White and light grey for most ships, black for the more heavily armed ones.

Silver for the gun mounts, few as they are. 

"Oily Steel" for the thrusters.

The Magic Wash  has worked especially well on these ships, I think. 

The smaller ships.

Light blue for the engine flares. 

The whole, finished Convoy!

The Convoy comes with six black plastic flight stands. I have mixed feeling about flight stands in general. Certainly, ships are much easier to store and transport without them.  Unlike aircraft, space is largely empty and without perspective, so I'm not sure that flight stands really add much to the look, although in some games they are part of the mechanics. They aren't necessary in Galactic Knights, and I am inclined to skip them for these merchantmen.