Magenta 5, Standing By - Skipray Blastboat Design Part 3

Great day, pilots! Welcome to part 3 of the Skipray Blastboat design. Click here for Part 1 and Part 2. Today, we are covering everything that deals with the actual Skipray miniature on the tabletop. We'll analyze the size of the ship, finalize its ship base size, and go over the painting process.

When we looked at the Skipray in Timothy Zahn's Heir to the Empire, we got the following parameters for the size of the ship:

1. The Skipray is lean.
2. The Skipray is long, twice as long as an X-wing.
3. The Skipray's cockpit isn't very roomy, like an X-wing.
4. Luke classifies the Skipray as a fighter.

Based solely on this info, my mind's eye pictured a ship that about the same size as the U-wing. So, I was genuinely surprised when I saw the "official size" of the Skipray miniature I bought in the 1/270 ratio. The Skipray miniature is actually closer to the size of the Firespray. 

This surprise led me to research the ship's size. According to Wookieepeida, the ship is a lot bigger than it is initially described in Heir to the Empire. The tail fins and engines may be lean, but the chunky body and sensor pylons are far from that. The large cockpit is much roomier than the cramped seat in an X-wing. Finally, the ship's official size is classified as gunship, rather than a fighter. (In fact, the Wookieepedia article even goes so far as to call the Skipray a miniaturized capital ship).

After scrutiny, the only part of Zahn's first description of the Skipray that is still correct is that it is twice as long (if not a bit longer) than an X-wing. I understand that the Skipray probably evolved in size and shape since its debut in Heir to the Empire. I personally feel that the 1/270 Skipray looks oversized, just like the Firespray model. However, despite that, I still really like the look of the Skipray on the tabletop. It is beautiful to see it fly in games!

Since the miniature is so big, it does make sense that its standard base size is large, rather than small. However, I made home rules for medium ships in 1st edition. With my Skipray design in mind, I included the ship as one that can take a medium base. This better fits the Skipray's design and allows the ship fulfil its role as an attack gunship. Here's the link to my rules on Medium Bases.

Ok, with the business out of the way, let's finally get on to miniature itself. I bought my Skipray miniature in the 1/270 ratio from Mel Miniatures on Shapeways. I got the White Natural Versatile Plastic, which looks great and has lots of details. It even had a large base peg built into the bottom of the ship for use with X-wing Miniatures! My only complaint was that the miniature was covered in white powder, which was probably knocked loose from the model during shipping. 

After washing and drying the model, I tried to prime it. However, I used grey enamel paint, which was a mistake. The enamel paint did not dry on the plastic model and was hard to clean off. After learning that lesson, I started over on the painting process.

This time, I primed with a plastic-friendly grey primer. As for color scheme, I decided to follow the painting of other ships in the Scum faction: black cockpit, dark grey panels, maroon ship striping, and a black wash to fill in all the cracks. To finish off the model, I used a clear matte finish. Now, I'll admit that my paint job isn't good enough to sell the model right out of the box, but I am super happy with it. The magenta striping was a perfect fit, and the ship fits at home with other Scum on the tabletop.

There you have it! We finally have a physical ship and it is looking great. Enjoy the shots I got of the miniature on the tabletop! All that is left is to get pilots and upgrades for this expansion. See you in the next design post!

PGP out.