Babylon 5 Returns

so basecoat of magenta ink and then a purple oil wash done, just need to wait for them to cure then onto grey and gold… In the meantime back to the Narn

have some repair work to do as the Primus Battlecruiser had bad moulding on the front guns

Time to get stuck into the fleet, so I have assembled a selection of photos for inspiration.

This is especially important as the Narn Dazzle camo is what drew me to their fleet back in the day.

first step with all the stripped bases was to punch out 3mm holes in the centre of 71 squares of plasticard so I could mask the joins…was this the best way of doing it, probably not but it’s done now so shut up.

bases covered, my fighter stands have arrived but they use a “standard” hex base that is much higher, so I’m currently contemplating ordering some acrylic rod to make my own like the one on the right at the same level as the rest of the fleet

So now I have to decide am I going to hand paint on the dazzle pattern or try something clever with stencils and masking or maybe even decals…

We should know by next week!

I’ve decided to stick with the big base for its display goodness so I want something that won’t stand out too much on the tabletop but also keeps it’s intrinsic Babylonian-ness.

So I picked this.

Sub assemblies are finished and primed so it’s time to get painting. The painting guide on the build uses a paint line that doesn’t exist anymore, so it’s time to go for look and feel rather than a strick paint receipe

I’m thinking of a simple airbrush mottling and then oil washes. I need to mask off some panels and break out a darker neutral grey for the heat fins and central spine.

Looking around on the internet to find inspiration I found something better.. more decals!

these came from Starship Modeler if any of you guys have a 20+ year old B5 kit you’re thinking about starting to paint. They are supplemental to the original set below to help add detail to the station

@templar007 asked about building a fleet for A Billion Suns, so I thought I would have a short break from cleaning and prepping to talk about what is required to play the game.

So if you look at the table above the first thing to note is the cost. When playing A Billion Suns (ABS) you don’t build a fleet, in fact even when the game begins neither player will have any ships on the table or even a list.

Instead you decide on a Scale of game to play, from 1 – 10 and then generate contracts for the game. Every player in ABS is a CEO and you requisition ships in battlegroups as you need them, so if I wanted to requisition a battleship it would cost me 4o or a battlegroup of five Frigates it would cost 35 points.

Battlegroups are capped at five ships and all the ships within a group are the same type.

Throughout the game you can requisition more forces if you need them, but you start with no credits so you immediately go into deficit, the contracts on the tables are what you are after and if you want to keep your job as a CEO you need to weigh up the cost and how it will affect your bottom line.

You can potentially keep pulling more and more ships in if you want but you are unlikely to win in that case.

So for my Fleets I have only one large model for a Battleship, two for each of the Silhouette 6-8 ships, three or four for the Silhouette 5s, then six for the Silhouette 4 ships. I have six bases incoming to use as fighter, bomber and recon wings.

sub-assemblies mostly finished but now I have two decisions to make, the first is the central section of B5 rotates as it is supposed to, so do I build it like that which may make painting and varnishing an issue to prevent sticking?

In the original build plans they suggest using the grey plastic as the base colour, hence no need to worry about paint gumming up the works. I don’t know if I will do that but I shall definitely consider attempting to leave it free standing.

Second and bigger decision is regarding the base below, I had never planned to use it, being a heckin’ chonker as I believe the kids say. I thought about ordering clear perspex bases and slotting the stands into them instead, but the more I look at it the more I think.. sod it and keep the stand. What do the three of you guys reading this think?

Well I toyed with going to find it, and then I heard the news about Delenn and I figured that it’s been 23 years, so maybe it is time to open the box.

hours after we filmed the Weekender Mira Furlan passed away, it’s been over 20 years since B5 left the airwaves but Michael wrote such compelling characters that even to this day I can remember whole scenes and the words of the various characters can draw a wry smile, or cause a tear despite countless viewings.

I have lived their tale countless times and will countless more.

So before Delenn passes beyond the rim for a final time I thought I would leave her words here to remember the countless players who have travelled before her from that Home away from Home to whatever lies beyond this life.

“I am a Ranger.”
“We walk in the dark places no others will enter.”
“We stand on the bridge, and no one may pass.”
“We live for the One, we die for the One“

I probably have more ships than I require to play with but it gives me options, there are 11 ship types but ABS contains 13, 3 of which are fighter squadrons which I have on order.

So as I work out who is going to be what and re-invigorate the fleet I’ll be posting the ships along with what their new class will be