TH E A RT O F SH IP BU ILD IN G

TH E A RT O F SH IP BU ILD IN G
o get the m ost out of Battlefleet G othic you will need som e spaceships and a tabletop battlefield to fight over. C ollecting
T your own fleet and m odelling celestial phenom ena, such as planets, m oons and asteroid fields, is a rewarding pursuit in its
own right, and surprisingly easy to achieve once you gain a little experience.This section of the book is dedicated to useful tips
and advice about m odelling and painting, plus som e ideas on what colour schem es and special techniques to use.

COLLECTING & PAINTING A FLEET

One of the joys of collecting model spaceships is
that they are relatively straightforward to assemble
and paint in comparison to most other miniatures.
A starting fleet can comprise as few as four or five
ships, which will give you enough to start fighting
with and provides a ‘core’ force that can be
expanded at your leisure. How big your fleet
ultimately grows is up to you, but it’s usually best
to work gradually and set achievable goals (eg, I’ll
get another battleship when I’ve finished these
cruisers).
The first thing to do is decide which fleet to
collect. Die-hard gamers will want to collect
whatever fleet suits their fighting style and will
make their decision after exhaustive studies of
characteristics, points values and other
technicalities. Other collectors will be persuaded
by the actual ship designs or colour schemes used
by the different races, selecting the one they find
most pleasing to the eye. Others still will be drawn
to the fleet which matches the armies they have
already collected in Warhammer 40,000 or Epic
40,000. However you choose your fleet it’s worth
pointing out that there is no reason not to collect
more than one race, indeed many players prefer to
have two opposed forces so that they can use them “It was this big I tell you!” Nelson declared to the incredulity of his fellow gamers. Left to right: Nelson, Gav Thorpe, Richard Baker, Adrian
to introduce new players to the game. Wood, Guy Carpenter & Andy Chambers.

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PA IN TIN G YO U R M O D ELS
PREPARATION You don’t have to use an undercoat, but we find When spraying, do so in a well ventilated area,
that you’ll get better results if you do. preferably outdoors, as the fumes can be
Before you start painting a model, you need to do dangerous to inhale. Also, don’t hold the can too
a little preparation. First, check the model for Undercoating a model is straightforward, just paint
close to the model, as this will fill in the surface
stray pieces of metal (known as flash) as well as on a layer of black or white paint (depending on
detail. Remember when undercoating
tabs that may have been put on the model as a whether your final ship colour will be dark or
that two light coats of undercoat are
result of the casting process. Then use a modelling light). Spray paints can be used to speed this up
better than one heavy coat because
knife or file to trim off any fine mould lines. Next, and give a more even finish, and the Citadel black
the detail on a model will show up
glue the model to its base. Note that if you want a and white sprays are designed specifically for this.
better if there is less paint on it.
clear base and are using sprays to undercoat your
model, you’ll have to leave the base off while You don’t need much equipment
undercoating. to start painting – a couple of
brushes, glue, a modelling knife
and some paint
UNDERCOATING – available to
Once you’ve assembled and cleaned up your buy either as
individual pots
model, it is ready to be undercoated. An undercoat
or as part of
is usually black or white and seals the metal or Citadel paint
plastic, giving you a better surface to paint onto. sets.

Stage 1 Stage 2 PAINTING IMPERIAL CRUISERS

To paint this Imperial Cruiser, we used several coats
of different spray paints. With short, light bursts, the
sprays were used to paint the upper edges of the
detail, but should not be allowed to settle in the
recesses. Alternatively, you could drybrush these
highlights on.

Stages 1 & 2: The ship was undercoated with black

spray and highlights were added with light coats of
Shadow Grey and then white spray.

Stage 3 Stage 4 Stage 3: Skull White was drybrushed (see next page
for details) onto detail. Any areas that were going to
be painted metal were then painted with Chaos Black.

Stage 4: The guns and antennas were painted with

Chainmail, while Shining Gold was used on the
banding and other details. The prow and other areas
(as shown) were painted with Dark Angels Green and
given some light Snot Green highlights. Finally the
lights were painted Blood Red.

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PAINTING
Once the undercoat is dry, you can start to paint
the model in the colours you have chosen. Make
sure that the colours you are going to use are
appropriate for the different areas of the vessel.
For example, if you were painting metal, you
would use a metallic colour, such as Mithril Silver
or Chainmail. Paint each area as neatly as you can,
but don’t fret if you make a mistake – you can go
over any stray brush strokes later.
HIGHLIGHTING
A good way to paint spaceships is by highlighting SHIPS’ BASES
their detail with a technique known as There are several different ways you can deal with
drybrushing. To drybrush, put some paint on your ship bases. Firstly you can simply leave them as
brush and then using quick strokes across some clear plastic. Secondly you can paint them black so
cloth or paper, wipe almost all of it off again. they will be less noticeable against a black table (if
Then gently stroke the brush back and forth across you spray your ships black, the bases will already
the model. The paint will adhere to the raised be painted). Thirdly you can jazz up black bases
areas, creating areas of light and shadow. Like by dotting stars on them with Skull White paint.
undercoating, it’s better to use several light layers
of drybrushing rather than one thick one. It may The names of capital ships can be shown by
not look like it is working straight away, but don’t sticking on a name label or painting the ship’s
be tempted to load too much paint on the brush. name straight onto the base.

PAINTING CHAOS SHIPS

This Chaos cruiser uses similar painting methods to the
Imperial ship on the opposite page. Rather than using sprays
to achieve the different levels of highlighting, drybrushing
has been used for each stage to give a variety of different
reds. Like the Imperial cruiser, this Chaos ship has had a
Black spray undercoat.
Stage 1: The whole ship was drybrushed with Red Gore.

Stage 2: Blood Red was then drybrushed over the Red Gore.

Stage 3: Next, Blazing Orange was used to highlight the most

raised areas, using a very light drybrush coat. The guns and
banding were painted Chaos Black, as this gives a better base
colour for metallic paints.

Stage 4: Details on the ship were painted using Boltgun Metal for
its guns, a mix of Tin Bitz and Shining Gold for the banding and
Bad Moon Yellow to represent windows and lights.

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IM PERIA L C O LO U R SC H EM ES
Most ships in a battlefleet will be painted in a
mixture of different colour schemes because they
DAUNTLESS CLASS LIGHT CRUISER
have been collected together from different parts
A blue colour scheme has been used all over this vessel,
including on the armoured banding and engines. You could
of the sector or galaxy. However, this may mean
also pick out details in Mithril Silver, such as the guns, as an your fleet looks a bit cobbled together and eclectic.
alternative. An alternative is to choose only one colour scheme
for your fleet, which will give it a more coherent,
uniform appearance on the tabletop.
When choosing a colour scheme for a fleet it is
important to consider the overall look. For
example, you could choose to paint all your ships
BLUE INK
WASH
CHAOS
BLACK
REGAL
BLUE
MITHRIL
SILVER
just in blue. But if you paint all the ships only in
blue then the fleet may start to get a bit boring, not
For this scheme, you can vary the secondary colours on the only to look at but also for you to paint. A good
banding. Pick a bold colour that contrasts strongly with the way to add some individuality to the fleet is by
white, such as a dark blue, or purple. The bridge and gun emphasising certain parts, such as painting the
decks could be detailed in a different colour as well.
banding on all your battleships in white. This way
you can make each ship look individual, without
the fleet looking cobbled together.

BOLTGUN CHAOS BLOOD BURNISHED

METAL BLACK RED GOLD

To add individuality to the ships in a fleet painted this colour, you

could always swap the colouring of the banding and weapons,
so that the banding is silver and the weapons batteries and
Above: Prow lance variant.
ram are painted a gold colour.
Below: Torpedo tubes

DARK SNOT BURNISHED BOLTGUN

ANGELS GREEN GOLD METAL
GREEN

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C H AO S C O LO U R SC H EM ES
The more menacing and brooding a Chaos fleet is,
the better it looks on the tabletop. Intense, bloody
reds such as Blood Red, as well as black, are great
for this – try not to use too much black or you
might not be able to see your ships on the table!
Gold, bronze and brass contrast well with red and
black, and can be used on engines, ribbing, probes
and the weapons instead of silver.
Other ideas include painting totally metallic ships
BLOOD BAD MOON
using colours such as Brazen Brass and Beaten RED YELLOW
Copper. The trick here is not to make them look
too shiny.
Above: Bad Moon Yellow has been used on this heavy cruiser to give the impression of lights,
Top Tip: Chaos ships are generally even older or massive windows.
than their Imperial adversaries, and poorly kept.
You can reflect this with areas where paint has
been stripped away by centuries of battle damage
to show the metal underneath.

BOLTGUN MITHRIL
METAL SILVER

Above: Silver has been used to pick out this battleship’s sensor arrays and weapons.

Above & Below: Close up shots of the bridge and gun

batteries.

SCAB LICHE
RED PURPLE

Right: These escorts

show that a bold contrast
colour can be used to
enhance the look of a
ship.

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PA IN TIN G SQ UA D RO N S
In Battlefleet Gothic most ships are often used in squadrons. By adding squadron markings to your ships, you can vary the colour scheme of
your fleet, giving each squadron a character and identity of its own, just like with the larger ships. Painting your ships in squadrons also helps
to speed up your painting, so it doesn’t take as much time to ready your fleet for battle. On this page you’ll find some ideas for different squadron
markings you can use.

In this case the whole prow on the two capital ships has been painted white to
The best way to deal with squadrons is to paint signify them being part of the same squadron. The two escorting Sword class
them all together. This will ensure that the Frigates also have white prows to show they are from the same battlegroup, but
squadron’s colours come out pretty much the with green stripes to show they are from another squadron.
same on all the ships and give them a unified feel.
As well as getting the colours the same, it is
usually a good idea to use some sort of special
markings to show that the ships belong to a
particular squadron.
There are various different squadron markings
you can use, some of which are shown above and
to the right. You can vary the number of stripes on
a ship’s prow to show its squadron, or use
different colours to distinguish between your
various squadrons.
You can also use other markings such as coloured
Using different coloured
spots, crosses, diamonds, etc, depending on how
prows or fins is a good
steady your hand is. Different areas of the ship way of adding extra
could be painted in a squadron colour, such as on colours to your fleet
the frigates shown to the far right. colour scheme.

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C A RD IN A L BO RA S
4TH SC O U T M IN O TA U R IM PERIO U S RETRIBU TIO N
C RU ISER SQ D N ; LU N A R C LA SS M A RS C LA SS C LA SS BATTLEG RO U P SA RTU S
H A V O K , A LA RM C RU ISER BATTLEC RU ISER BATTLESH IP
G O TH IC SEC TO R

ZEA LO U S
TYRA N T
C LA SS 1ST SC O U T
C RU ISER C RU ISER SQ D N ;
LO RD H O LLIS,
PH A N TO M ,
22nd ESC O RT M EN A C E
SQ UA D RO N
FIRESTO RM S

A N V IL SU PPO RT
401st ESC O RT AU X ILIA
SQ UA D RO N (TRA N SPO RTS)
H EA D -
H U N TERS
(SW O RD S)
233rd ESCO RT SQ DN
SCAPEG O ATS
(SW O RDS)
13th TO RPED O
SQ UA D RO N
U N LU C K Y
FO R SO M E
(C O BRA S)

327th
TO RPED O
SQ UA D RO N
(C O BRA S)

STA RH AW K SQ D N S FU RY SQ D N S 23rd & 27th O M EG A SQ D N PATRO L G RO U P

(IM PERIO U S) (IM PERIO U S) TO RPED O SQ D N S JO N N O S ERIN YES
(C O BRA S) (SW O RD S) (FIRESTO RM S)

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O RK SH IPS A N D C O LO U R SC H EM ES
There are two main approaches to painting an Ork
fleet. The first is to paint them in corroded metal
colours, with only the odd band of patterning or
detail of bright colour. The type of patterning that
Orks use includes dags, checks and other similar
markings, some of which are shown on this page.
The alternative is to paint your Ork ships in the
brash, defiant colours that Orks love so much –
greens, reds and yellows. Again, you can use
contrasting patterns and splashes of colour to add
variety to your fleet and your painting routine.

BLOOD DARK
Whichever look you prefer, remember that Orks
BUBONIC SNOT
RED ANGELS BROWN GREEN are brutal, no-nonsense warriors, and a subtle mix
GREEN
of blended colours just wouldn’t fit. Your
spaceships should be like the Orks themselves –
loud and proud!

Above: Close-up of checked markings.

BLOOD BOLTGUN Above: The fearsome profile of a Savage Gunship.

Below: It’s worth paying a bit of extra time and attention to RED METAL
the vicious, face-like prow of the Ork Kill Kroozer.
Below: You can use checks and triangles (often called
‘dags’) or single colour stripes to brighten up your Ork
ships. Although the patterns shown here are black & white,
you can use other colours, such as green & yellow, red &
yellow, or red & white instead.

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ELDA R SH IPS A N D C O LO U R SC H EM ES
Eldar ships are almost the total opposite of Orks
and are exactly the things to use a mixture of These Eldar ships show a
wide range of colour schemes
subtly blended colours on. As you can see from
for an Eldar fleet – everything
the different schemes here, they don’t need rigid from Midnight Blue to
‘uniform’ colours like other races as the Eldar Bleached Bone. The organic
fleet is a collection of adventurers, pirates and design of the ships is shown
to best effect with some
corsairs from across the galaxy. This doesn’t mean drybrushing with paint mixed
that you can’t paint squadrons of ships using the from the original base colour
same colour or even use a single colour to unify and some Skull White.
the whole fleet though. However, even with
several ships of the same colour you can introduce
subtle variations of tone or detail that set them
apart from each other.
Using Inks
Using inks over a white undercoat is a quick way
of attaining an effective, subtle paint scheme
which suits Eldar ships well.
An ink wash is easy to apply – simply paint the
ink over the ship, allowing it to run off the raised
areas and settle in the detail, creating instant
shading. You can use paint thinned down with a
little water instead of inks if you wish. The most
important thing to remember with inks is to give
them plenty of time to dry, longer than paint,
otherwise your next colour will mix with the ink
and create a mess. This is probably all you need in
the way of shading, or you might like to create Top Tip: It’s best to avoid using too much metallic paint on Eldar ships.
Guns, probes etc, look better painted a contrasting colour, or painted white
more contrasting highlights using drybrushing.
and then painted with inks to give them an opalescent finish like the sails
shown below. LICHE SCORPION BUBONIC SCALY
PURPLE GREEN BROWN GREEN

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TH E TA BLETO P
TYPES OF STELLAR ENGINEERING
BLACK CLOTH WITH PAINTED STARS
Once you have a black playing surface
GAMING SURFACE the next step you can take is to liven it Practical, portable and
cheap. Black cloth is a
You can play Battlefleet Gothic on any up with a few stars (space isn’t good starting point,
flat, horizontal surface – a table, the completely empty, after all). This is especially since it turns
floor, etc. But to get the best out of easy to achieve with an old toothbrush almost any table into an
your battles you can create your own and some Skull White paint. Dip the instant battlefield. On the
down side it gets creases
gaming surface in a number of toothbrush in the paint and drag a which can be a bit
different ways. thumb, pencil or paint brush handle annoying during play –
across the bristles so that they spatter and can lead to the surreal
First, and most definitely the simplest sight of you ironing your
paint onto your black surface (note: be
method of all, is to get hold of a black battlefield before a game!
very careful not to get paint on
cloth or several sheets of art paper (ie,
yourself, the carpet, household pets etc
cheap, coloured paper) to cover your
– I’m not being held responsible for BLACK BOARD (PLAIN)
playing surface.
your clumsy mess!). Next step up is to procure
If you’ve already got a gaming board some chipboard
If any big blobs of paint drop onto the
for Warhammer 40,000 or another approximately the right
surface don’t panic – just use a paint size and then paint it with
game another quick way of creating a
brush or cocktail stick to drag the blob either spray cans or
playing surface for Battlefleet Gothic emulsion paint. Painting a
out into a cross shape. This gives you
is to paint the reverse side of the board large piece of wood a
some especially bright looking stars
black so that you can flip it over different colour is pretty
which can be further enhanced by unrewarding in itself, but
whenever you need it!
dragging some more of the blob into a necessary. Wood simply
For consummate professionals, the thin halo around the centre. If you’re isn’t the same colour as
outer space.
ideal playing surface is a fully painted feeling particularly arty, you can add in
black board including airbrush painted reds and pale blues to give your
nebulas and stars! starfield a little more depth and variety.
FULLY PAINTED BOARD, WITH STARS,
NEBULAS… and other things!
This is a solution available
only to people with
airbrushes and the ability
to use them, or the
denizens of a design
studio who can badger
other people to do the
hard work for them. To be
honest, most of the effects
can be done with light
Above: Flicking paint from a toothbrush to
applications from spray
Above: Painting a gaming board black (less produce a spattering of white dots to cans.
boring if you use a big brush). represent a starfield.

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Q U IC K ’N EA SY C ELESTIA L PH EN O M EN A
Celestial phenomena play an important part in
Battlefleet Gothic. First of all, they help to make
the tabletop look more interesting (a flat, black
expanse looks incredibly dull). Secondly, they
make for a more tactical game, affecting the
movement and shooting of each fleet. Making
celestial phenomena for your games can be as
straightforward or complex as you want it to be.
On this page are a number of ways to represent
phenomena and other tabletop features with the
minimum of money and effort.

TYPES OF CELESTIAL PHENOMENA

You can find the rules for different types of
celestial phenomena on pages 41-48. The most
common phenomena are asteroid fields and gas &
dust clouds. Below are a number of easy ways to
represent these types of celestial phenomena.

SIMPLE MATERIALS
Great looking celestial phenomena can be made from
the simplest of resources, for example, a handful of
gravel can be turned into an asteroid belt that you or
your opponent can hide your ships in. Everything on Above – Left: Dust clouds can be represented using a sprinkling of sand or flock. Middle: Cotton wool spray painted makes very authentic (and
this page is easily available from either a supermarket cheap!) gas clouds. Right: Asteroid fields can easily be created with a handful of gravel and small stones.
or a hobby shop (in fact, Games Workshop stores and
Mail Order can provide you with modelling flock for gas Left: Easy asteroids: One way that you
and dust clouds). can create larger asteroids is to stick a
You may also find that there are other useful bits and lump of polystyrene onto a base, carve it
pieces lying around the house which can be turned to up a bit (asteroids are not normally a
good use as asteroids, moons and so on, so keep your completely round shape) and then paint
eyes open! it using either Bestial or Bubonic Brown
and drybrush with Bleached Bone to
bring out the surface detail.

Right: Moons can be made by attaching

Above: Asteroid fields are easy to make with a handful of a ping pong ball to a Citadel flying base
pebbles, gravel, or even cat litter. Simply scatter some and painting it with Fortress Grey.
wherever you need it.

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CELESTIAL PH EN O M EN A W ITH A BIT O F TIM E & PATIEN CE

If you’re going to spend some time painting up mixing some fine grade sand with ordinary paint). coloured spray paints or an old brush you don’t
your fleet, it’s also worth making that little bit of The asteroids were undercoated with Bestial need any more will do the job just as well.
extra effort when making the celestial phenomena Brown, which was then highlighted with
The rings were added by cutting a circle of clear
it’ll fight around. A nicely painted fleet fighting successive coats of drybrushing. The first
plastic, and then cutting another circle out of the
over a good-looking tabletop is one of the highlight was with Snakebite Leather, then
middle so that it fitted snugly around the planet’s
highlights of Battlefleet Gothic (along with progressively lighter shades of brown were added
middle. This was then glued into place using PVA
crushing your enemy’s fleet entirely!). by mixing in more and more Bleached Bone until
glue and then the rings were painted on.
the last coat was pure Bleached Bone.
ASTEROIDS AND PLANETS The planets were just as simple to create. The
Although it may seem quite daunting to try and smaller moons started off as table tennis balls,
make terrain like the planets and asteroids shown while the larger ones were originally spheres of a
below, it isn’t as difficult as you may think. material called oasis – it’s normally used for
flower arranging! Like the asteroids, these were
The asteroids were roughly cut chunks of covered in textured paint to seal the globe and
polystyrene (the dense stuff used for insulating is allow the paint to stick.
best as you won’t get bits everywhere) which is
available from any DIY shop. These were covered The planets below were painted by dabbing the Above: Astronomy books are a great source of ideas for
in textured paint (which you can buy or make by colour on with a sponge, but cans of different making celestial phenomena.

MODELLING PROJECTS
It’s a good idea to plan out what you want to make before you start any work. Decide how big your asteroid field is going
to be, or how many planetary defences you want. This means that you can work on several models at a time, which
speeds things up greatly. By completing each stage on all the models at once, you’ll hopefully find that the
glue or paint will have dried on the first model by the time you’ve finished the last. This
means no sitting around literally watching paint dry. It also means
that if you’re mixing paints (to highlight an asteroid, for
example), you will be using
the same colour on each
model, which will make
them all look consistent
with each other.

Left: Asteroids
made from
chunks of
Above: The planets were made using oasis polystyrene with
globes, which is available from florists and garden centres. craters cut into
The moons were made from table tennis balls. them.

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C O N V ERSIO N S
WHAT ARE CONVERSIONS?
A conversion is simply a model that has been changed in some way. It can be as
simple as sticking on some spare masts, or as complex as chopping up several
ships and gluing the bits together to make one or more new ships. There are
various different conversions on this page, which will hopefully serve as some
inspiration for you. For example, the Blackstone Fortress to the right has defence
turrets and launch bays added, to better represent the way the Fortresses looked
when they were still under Imperial control. Wrecked ships, like the ones below,
can be an interesting addition to an asteroid field or used to represent ships that
have been reduced to hulks.

This transport ship has

Tools like a pin vice, clippers, modelling putty been glued to the side
(known as ‘green stuff’) and a modelling knife are of the Fortress to look
very useful for converting models. as if it is docking.

WRECKS AND HULKS

As well as
chopping up
perfectly
good ships,
you can
create hulks and
wrecks from the
parts of the plastic
cruisers that you
haven’t used. You can glue these parts on to
a central ‘spine’ made of balsa wood or
plastic, to give the
appearance of a battered
vessel.
Note the internal structuring on
these conversions. Brass wire has been added to these ships to represent extra scanner
arrays and communications antennas.

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SC RATC H BU ILD IN G
Scratch building is the pinnacle of the modeller’s materials there, especially in the model railway Right: You can easily
craft – creating something out of nothing! Whilst department. The orbital platform below was turn an asteroid into
an asteroid base. Add
converting makes modifications to existing mainly constructed using beads from a hobby
a few spare pieces of
models, scratch building involves building models shop! spaceships or bits
from a pile of bits and pieces. from old kits and
Battlefleet Gothic has tremendous scope for all
you’re there. Don’t be
Using fairly ordinary materials and a little kinds of scratch built models, such as ground- disheartened if it looks
imagination, you can build giant space stations based missile silos and ancient warp gates. The rough before you paint
and asteroid bases. Plastic rods and plasticard Showcase pages that follow include many models it, paint covers a
sheets are available from modelling shops, and which have been converted or scratch built, multitude of sins.
you’ll find all manner of other interesting including Dave Andrews’ amazing space dock.

Left: Dave Andrews’

scratch built space
dock just goes to show what
you can build out of squeezy
bottles and old cereal
packets when you’re a
talented miniatures designer!

Right: The planetary defence platform was built from

a selection of beads and buttons bought at a craft store,
and also uses plastic rods which are available from
most model shops.

Below: Torpedoes, bombers and mines which have

been put on bases to replace the markers supplied with
the game. The torpedoes have been stuck directly onto
the marker, whereas the bombers and mines have been
mounted on Epic 40,000 infantry bases.

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SH O W C A SE
Left: An Ork space hulk scratch built by
Andy Chambers. This monster piece (all
twenty three centimetres of it!) was built from
wire, polystyrene, lots of bits of spaceships,
plus less identifiable detritus.

Below: Illuminator-General John Blanche has

painted this Dauntless class light cruiser and
Cobra destroyer in the same colour scheme he
used for the cover painting for Battlefleet
Gothic.

Below: This impressive Chaos battleship was scratch built by Chris Smart. Chris raided parts
from Epic 40,000 miniatures for his ship.

Above: Imperial Retribution class battleship and Dauntless class light cruiser painted by
their designer, Dave Andrews.

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SH O W C A SE

Top Right: A light cruiser and escorts painted with blue and black banding.
Above: This huge and magnificent space dock makes a splendid display piece!
Left: The turrets and other features of this converted Blackstone Fortress were left over from an Imperial cruiser plastic sprue, while
the docked ship is a transport pinned into place with metal wire.
Below: Transports are often merchant vessels, so you can mix lots of different colours and markings in a squadron, adding variety to
your fleet.

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