# Colors Of The Refit Shuttlebay



## Harumph (Aug 31, 2006)

I wasn't originally planning on adding the shuttlebay to the PL Refit, but some projects I've seen that had look really sweet, so I thought I'd have to give this a try. I haven't found any accurate paint guides to this section of the ship though. I've been able to find this excellent page, and these two great images:

 .

My long time away from the hobby has left me with the (hopefully temporary) inability to match paints. I use Model Master Enamel. The colors I am interested in are the green seen on the walls, railings and ceilings of all decks, the blue of the landing bay & elevator decks, the blue on the alcoves of the landing bay and the white on the walls of the landing bay. I've found a few project walkthroughs out there but none of them have really matched what I'm seeing in these screenshots. I'm wondering if are there any folks here that may have made an attempt at an accurate representation of the colors as seen in the film and if they might be willing to post what they used to get there. I thank you very much in advance for any help offered.


----------



## SteveR (Aug 7, 2005)

If it's any help, I'm not going to try to match those colours exactly -- I'd like to avoid a toy-like look (because it's a small model with no atmospheric scattering). Instead, I'm going to take a pale grey or sand and just _tint_ it using the colours in those images for a noticeable, but more subtle effect.


----------



## Garbaron (Apr 23, 2004)

I used those same pictures as an orientation on what to aim for but did not replicate the colors 1:1, if that is even possible. The pictures told me this: 

- the landing deck wall are a beige color. 
- the landing bay and shuttle maintenance are floor is a bluish grey. 
- cargo bay floor is some kind of dust grey. 
- shuttle maintenance and cargo bay walls are grey / greenish grey. 
- ceiling at cargo area is grey green grey in landing bay. 

I dropped the green greys and made the ceiling one the walls have two color, beige for the landing area and stone grey for shuttle maintenance and cargo bay. You need to stick to lighter colors for the hangar / cargo bay overall otherwise you won't see much of this little set piece when looking in form the bay doors and that opening isn't very large to begin with. 

To pick up what SteveR said, too many and color full color can create a toy like look. To make it look big you need to chose your colors "in scale", this means no harsh contrasts in between, less intense and more subdued colors. 





Lighting is also a key. Too bright and you will be out of scale again. It isnt that easy if you want a touch of realism to this.


----------



## SteveR (Aug 7, 2005)

Yep ... and possibly increase the brightness and reduce the contrast of the colours as you go deeper in the hull. 

Garbaron's lighting scheme really draws your eye into the depths of the bay; this is what we want. To me at least, the shuttlebay isn't really about close-up detail (since we can't really examine it once it's inside the ship), it's about creating the _illusion_ of space and scale.


----------



## Jastor (Nov 8, 2003)

*Garbaron*

Garbaron nailed it IMHO. Really nice scale look.


----------



## Gemini1999 (Sep 25, 2008)

Being subtle in terms of lighting and color is what makes the shuttle/cargo bay on the Refit look good. Garbaron's is an excellent example.


----------



## Harumph (Aug 31, 2006)

I want to thank everyone for their feedback! This is the first time in my life that I've been able to discuss in any way with others about a specific starship modeling WIP and I've made sure to think carefully about the tips you've all given.

So, certainly I have taken to heart the lessons on subtlety of the colors and the contrast between them. I've downloaded the pdf of the Testors catalog and after a lot of study I think I'm happy with the following colors:



These will need lightening with flat white to get to the right contrast, but I think that the hues of each are close to what I'm seeing in the images. The insignia blue was the hardest choice for me because it's much darker, but of all the blues it's the one I felt was closest to the image. The first three arrive in the mail today, and when they get here I will spend some time in the man cave testing them and I'll post the pics as soon as I can.


----------



## sgrille (Nov 6, 2007)

*close up pic.*

http://movies.trekcore.com/gallery/albums/tmp2/tmphd0390.jpg


This maight be helpful, since its a bright close up of the upper level.


----------



## Harumph (Aug 31, 2006)

Thanks, that is very helpful, actually. Much more subtle than in the mattes. I think one of Trekmodeler's green grays would do fine here.


----------



## Harumph (Aug 31, 2006)

Alright, I've spent some time working with the green gray, and I think I like what I have:



I think it's pretty close to the lightest shades I see in the mattes and it _feels_ right to me. I need to finish installing the photoetch pieces on part 34 (the starboard wall of the bay), then I'll prime and paint.


----------



## galaxy_jason (May 19, 2009)

I tried to duplicate the matte paintings then ran it by Probert and he said it was too saturated. Then I showed him the photos you posted and he said "I forgot how saturated it was in TMP. Memories fade".

http://galaxyphoto.com/refit_350/bay_colors.jpg

But his intent was a more subtle look, the matte painters over did it.

I ended up over shooting it with light gray and I like how it came out...

http://galaxyphoto.com/refit_350/bay_1.jpg

And a quick test of my two-color lighting effect


----------



## Garbaron (Apr 23, 2004)

Love it Jason! Some great work you have done there .. but .. your turboshafts are upside down .. the "fat" end is up


----------



## galaxy_jason (May 19, 2009)

OK thanks. Maybe too late to change it. Cant really see it from the open doors anyway.


----------



## StarshipClass (Aug 13, 2003)

Great work! Wow!


----------



## SteveR (Aug 7, 2005)

galaxy_jason said:


> I ended up over shooting it with light gray and I like how it came out...
> 
> http://galaxyphoto.com/refit_350/bay_1.jpg


Yep, that's it. You can still see the different hues, but the saturation has been knocked down nicely. It has a "mature" look to it. :thumbsup:


----------



## galaxy_jason (May 19, 2009)

Garbaron, you sure about the fat side up? The directions show it as I have installed it.


----------



## Garbaron (Apr 23, 2004)

Yes, for one becasue the fat side exactly fits in to the ceiling and secondly look at this screen cap:

TMP hangar

The lift to the right has the lowest segment dark; indicating a lift capsule sitting at cargo level, the one to the left is glowing overall so there is no lift in that tube right now.


----------



## SteveR (Aug 7, 2005)

... and in that shot, it looks as if there's no room for the pedestal to be on the floor.


----------



## Fraley1701 (Sep 3, 2003)

galaxy_jason said:


> Garbaron, you sure about the fat side up? The directions show it as I have installed it.


I just checked my instructions, and they do show part number 225 installed just as Jason has them. So are the instructions in error?


----------



## Garbaron (Apr 23, 2004)

The instructions are wrong.

You can see the turboshafts on my build inserted the correct way in to the ceiling here



The "fat"end exactly fits the ceilings location for them. If you turn them upside down, with the fat end to the floor, there will be a gap between the shaft and the ceilings roof detail. 
Just try it out both ways, I thinkt its pretty obvious whats up and down.


----------

