Firestorm Armada Test

So, funny story. Over half term we were clearing out a lot of the wargames stuff we never use with a view to putting much of it on ebay. We dug out the wifes Firestorm Armada. At which point she made the saddest face known to humankind, and said "I really liked these space ships, but you would not play with mee". So, my efforts to tidy up my excess games ended up with me...buying a Dindrenzi fleet.

Secutor class cruiser

As you can see, I have made an attempt to edge highlight all the panels in Dark Reaper, and then edge highlight the hard angles of the ship in thunderhawk blue. I'm really not sure about this paint scheme. I think it probably looks better then a drybrush. However it takes a very long time. It does not help that the spray varnish has caught a little bit at the back. However these ships really, really need varnishing. They are not fixed to their flight stands so they are going to get handled quite a lot.

A different angle

 Painting them was a pain in this regard. I kept rubbing off paint with my fingers while holding them, and while I do have some metal rod I can use to hold the model for much of the time, it kept ending up at an awkward angle.

The rest of the fleet

As you can see, I have a lot of ships still to do. (although I now have one more painted then my wife!). I would appreciate some feedback (though given the number of comments I tend to get i'm not optimistic) Should I persevere with edge highlighting? Or try and find some quicker (but less clean way) to approximate the same effect, probably involving dry brushing and washing.