Wizkids Star Trek Deep Cuts Klingon Bird of Prey

Thanksgiving is around the corner here in the United States, so I wanted to do a bird themed project. A green bird wasn't the first thing to come to mind, but it would be handy for our Star Trek Adventures game. The hardest part of painting this Klingon battle turkey was dialing in a satisfactory green for the hull.

A Klingon Bird of Prey flying over the black felt of space.

The Klingon Bird of Prey first showed up in Star Trek III: The Search for Spock. The model was built by Industrial Light and Magic, who did the effects for the film. The Star Wars influence appears in the exposed guns (most weapons on Star Trek are understated and recessed into the hull), lack of prominent warp nacelles (just where the warp drive on this thing isn't obvious), and greeblies protruding from it (Star Trek ships outside of TOS aren't completely smooth, but lack the chunky details seen in close ups). The outline of the ship - a command pod connected by a long boom to a broader main body - evokes prior Klingon ships. The feather details on the wings and cloaking device imply a Romulan connection.


Overall Appearance

This model is close enough in terms of detail. The overall shape is right, but it is not screen accurate. That would be overkill at this scale. Many of the details of the studio models (physical or CGI) wouldn't be visible on a model this size. On the other hand, some of the shapes just don't match any of the reference materials I was using. I feel that one more detail pass on the sculpt would have pushed this from "good enough for tabletop" to a display piece.

Side by side comparison with Eaglemoss USS Phoenix.

Scale

Wizkids made no effort to scale its Star Trek miniatures with each other. This model is enormous compared to the Cardassian Galor I painted awhile back. (See that post for a comparison of the two still in their boxes.) However, it looks pretty good alongside my Eaglemoss USS Phoenix. It's still too large for something commonly depicted as a scout, raider, or small cruiser. However, Star Trek scaling isn't consistent. This is especially true of the Klingon Bird of Prey.


Preparation

Deep Cuts miniatures come pre-primed, so I was able to skip that step. I had to remove some flash with a hobby knife. There's also some mold lines on the edges of the wings that I wish I spotted before painting. This was a disappointment since the Cardassian Galor I painted last year was ready to go straight out of the box. It might be the more complicated shape of the Bird of Prey or just that I got one from a bad batch.


Paint Scheme

The colors of the studio models seemed to be different on almost every image I saw during my research for this project. The best single source I could find was a page on Ex Astris Scientia. On screen, the Klingon Bird of Prey ranges from green to yellow-green. I decided that an olive color could be close enough and convey a military feel.

Side view.

Hull

This took some experimentation.

My first attempt - a mix of Reaper 09011 Leaf Green and Reaper 09009 Lemon Yellow - produced a bright green. The color seemed too cheery for a Klingon warship. However, I will keep it in mind for any forest, elvish, or Christmas themed projects in my future.

Further trial and error produced the following mix:
Reaper 09177 Camouflage Green (2 parts)
Reaper 09074 Palomino Gold (1 part)
Reaper 09291 IMEF Olive (1 part)

The Camouflage Green and Palomino Gold produced a bright yellow-green. The IMEF Olive darkened it down, but the yellow hue was still strong. More green or less Palomino Gold would've produced a color closer to what's on screen. However, I was planning on hitting the model with a coat of wash later. That's when the decision to stick with the brighter, more yellow mix paid off - a more screen accurate color would have ended up too dark with a wash over it.

Three quarters view.

Underside Feather Pattern

Reaper 09070 Mahogany Brown (first coat)
Reaper 09072 Rust Brown (second coat)

Used for the feather pattern on the bottom of the wings and the circular band around the command pod. The Mahogany Brown provides a good base coat for the following layer of Rust Brown.


Technical Details

Reaper 09088 Stormy Grey

I picked out the hinge-like cowling at the top of the model and a few other details in Stormy Grey. Some renditions of the Bird of Prey use gray to break up the feather pattern on top of the wings. I might have put in that effort if this was intended to be the main ship of our Star Trek Adventures game. A "hero" version of this miniature might be an interesting project for another time.


Wash Coat

Army Painter Warpaints Quickshade Dark Tone

No subtlety here - I slapped a coat of slightly diluted Dark Tone over the whole model. It darkened down the bright yellow-green hull color into an olive. It also brought out details like the feather patterns on the wings.

Aft view.

Impulse Engine

Reaper 09070 Mahogany Brown (first coat)
Reaper 09279 Fresh Blood (second coat)
Reaper 09009 Lemon Yellow (final coat)

Used for the impulse drive. These were layered on top of each other, leaving some of the previous coat showing towards the "cooler" areas. A better job blending the colors together or a coat of red wash might have helped with the gradations, but what is on the miniature is good enough for tabletop.


Conclusion

This was an inexpensive option for getting a Klingon Bird of Prey on the tabletop, but seems to be harder to find these days. I'm not sure if Wizkids has discontinued the line or if stocks are just low. I like how mine turned out and will likely pick up another if I can source one.

Sometimes the interests of allies don't align.

This particular one will represent a sometimes helpful, sometimes not complicating factor in our Star Trek Adventures campaign in the starting campaign year. Things will get a little more confrontational after 2372 rolls in.

Wizkids Star Trek Deep Cuts Unpainted Miniatures Cardassian Galor Class

Once of the challenges of running Star Trek Adventures is how to represent the ships. My initial solution involved counters, hand-waving, and imagination. Not being content with that, I decided to use die cast models from Eaglemoss for the "hero" ships - the player character crewed ship and any vessels occupied by major non-player characters. That still left me with the issue of how to represent the other ship that tend to show up in a Star Trek roleplaying campaign - the one-offs, the bit players, and tin cans that show up to provide dramatic tension and the odd space battle.

Front three-quarters view of a ship design that takes more than its fair share of weapons fire in Star Trek.

I quickly ruled out more Eaglemoss models since I didn't want to throw that much money at the problem. Even the ones I own now were purchased on sale. Counters and imagination would be the most practical fix, but I wanted something with more aesthetic appeal.

The prepainted models from Star Trek Attack Wing by Wizkids look good, but the price is still a little too high for my needs. Then I found out about their Star Trek Deep Cuts Unpainted Ships. These are much lower in price, detailed, and even come pre-primed. I ordered a small selection and tucked them away as a rainy day project.

That day came in the form of a literal rainy day. It was too humid to spray prime or paint any new or ongoing projects. And I couldn't decide on a Reaper Bones miniature to paint – my usual go-to for a rainy day project. So I broke open the packaging on a Cardassian Galor Class and picked out some paints.

Rear three-quarters view. In setting, the ship design is modelled after the Cardassian Union's national emblem.

The Process:

I choose the Cardassian Galor Class over the other Deep Cuts models because it appeared to be a relatively quick and easy paint job. The Cardassians seem fond of browns, tans, and grays for their ships.

Primer
Deep Cuts miniatures come primed out of the package, so I could skip that step. The primer works well, holding on to the paint without beading.

Base Layer
I brushed on a couple of coats of Formula P3 Menoth White Base. The color is a little too light to match the reference images I found online. I was planning on using a wash, which would darken the base color.

Details
Certain areas on the Cardassian Galor Class glow red in the reference images I was using. These areas got picked out with Reaper 09279 Fresh Blood.

Wash Layers
A layer of Army Painter Warpaint Dark Tone Quickshade worked well to bring out the recessed details. I used a sponge to wipe off the excess since I didn't want to darken the whole figure. Next I brushed on a layer of Army Painter Warpaint Strong Tone Quickshade to add a little more brown to the base color.

Product packaging and size comparison between the Cardassian Galor Class and Klingon Bird-of-Prey.

Pros:

• Good level of detail for a miniature this size (~2 inches or ~5 centimeters long).
• The titular "Deep Cuts" takes washes well, making those details stand out.
• Inexpensive.

Cons:

• Scale. Wizkids' decision not to scale their Star Trek Attack Wing ships with each other was made long ago - that ship has sailed, but that won't stop me from complaining about it as it disappears over the horizon. The Cardassian Galor Class looks like a single-seat fighter compared with the other Deep Cuts ships I own - the Klingon Bird-of-Prey and Jem'Hadar Attack Ship. It is also too small to be in scale with Eaglemoss models. That's not a deal breaker for me, but does make me wish for an alternative at a similar price.

Overall, this was a quick and fun painting project. My only reservation about this product is the scale. Otherwise, it promises to do the job I bought it to do.

Black Friday / Cyber Monday Haul, Part One

The short sales season immediately before and following the Day of the Turkey here in the United States has come and gone. The idea behind Black Friday and Cyber Monday is for stores to take advantage of the time off and need to do Christmas shopping that many folks have after Thanksgiving. Then there are people like me who like to take advantage of the deals to do a little shopping for themselves at the same time.

The better looking X-1 Viper Droid miniature of the two I bought. I can't decide if it reminds me more of a beetle or armadillo.

From Modiphius Entertainment

Star Trek Adventures: Voyager Player Characters - PDF

This Star Trek Adventures product was introduced at a discount on Black Friday. It's a PDF with the official stats for USS Voyager and key crew members. The release version had some issues - the math for the character stats was off and the graphics looked pixelated. Modiphius put out an updated version a few days later.

I'm not sure if I would have picked this up if it wasn't available at a reduced cost. The stats are handy for comparison when making characters, but I already own The Next Generation and Deep Space Nine character PDFs for that purpose. And Star Trek Voyager is honestly not my favorite series from the franchise.

That said, the game rules for holographic and liberated Borg player characters may come in handy. Besides, I was curious about how they would stat out certain characters. Neelix has enough useful quirks to explain why Janeway would keep him around. And, as I've long suspected, Seven of Nine could arguably do Harry Kim's job as well as he could.


From Miniature Market

X-1 Viper Droids

From the Star Wars Miniatures game published by Wizards of the Coast from 2004 to 2010. I've been considering this purchase for awhile. These are inexpensive war machine models that fit a variety of scales from their intended 34mm to 28mm to 15mm. Even though they are from the Legends continuity (Dark Empire II), they are fairly obscure and shouldn't break immersion when put on the table for a non-Star Wars game. This versatility promises to be useful in the coming year, since I'm planning on dipping my toe back into sci-fi miniatures gaming.

One is in excellent condition. The other is scuffed and was stored in a way that pushed the left arm in. This isn't a huge issue, as I was planning on touching up the paint and weathering them anyway. Or I could just repaint them - a new color scheme would help conceal their Star Wars origins.

Close up of the scuff marks on the worse off of the X-1 Viper Droid miniatures. It looks to me like it was dropped at some point. A little paint should fix it up.

Star Trek Deep Cuts Unpainted Ships: Jem'Hadar Attack Ship

From Star Trek Attack Wing by Wizkids. I got these for menacing player characters and their Eaglemoss starship in Star Trek Adventures. These scarab-shaped ships made a strong first impression by blowing up the Galaxy-class USS Odyssey in the last episode of Star Trek Deep Space Nine's second season ("The Jem'Hadar" DS9 episode 2x26) and continued to threaten the Federation and its allies throughout the rest of the show. The "Deep Cuts" in the name refer to the more pronounced detailing. It looks like these models will take a wash and highlighting well. The fact that these figures come pre-primed saves a step. I just need to do a little more research for a screen-accurate paint scheme.

Star Trek Deep Cuts Unpainted Ships: Cardassian Galor Class

Also from Star Trek Attack Wing by Wizkids. The Galor-class is the mainstay of the Cardassian fleet. Vaguely resembling an ankh from the top, these ships first appeared in Star Trek The Next Generation ("The Wounded" TNG episode 4x12) and even showed up on Star Trek Voyager, but most of their screen time was on Star Trek Deep Space Nine. These models are smaller than I expected, being way out of scale with the Jem'Hadar Attack Ship.


This is post one of two. I'm waiting for my last shipment to arrive. Then we'll see how many words I can type about paint.