A couple of us have picked up some of Games Workshop’s new dog fighting game Aeronautica Imperialis. We’ve played a handful of games and some of us are further along in our painting than others.

Our early impressions are the game is pretty good. The miniatures are great: they look good, have nice detail, go together easily, go together well and paint up great. That said, there is a bit of a lack of variety in the planes out thus far. It’s really just a fighter on each side (Ork and Imperial) as well as a couple of bombers. So it needs some more units to come out and expand the options and increase the variety within the game. Hopefully GW stay committed to the game and release some more miniatures.

Given those impressions, it’s probably best to highlight what we’ve like most so far: the planes. I’ve gone for an Ork force, but I started my painting with the two Thunderbolt fighters from the starter set.

• Fuselage & Wings:
• Underside/Shadows: Abyssal Blue (SC-08)
• Base: Intermediate Blue (VMS 71.005)
• Highlight: Bering Blue (SC-06)
• Panel Lines: PLW Black Night (A.MIG-1611)
• Highlight: Bering Blue (SC-06), thinned and carried toward tips/edges
• Tail:
• Base: Golden Yellow (70.948)
• Panel Lines: PLW Black Night (A.MIG-1611)
• Highlight: Sand Yellow (70.916)
• Engines (NMM Aluminium):
• Base: Graphite (SC-03)
• Highlight I: Nacar (SC-02)
• Highlight II: White (SC-01)
• Shadow I: Anthracite Gray (SC-04)
• Shadow II: Abyssal Blue (SC-08)
• Windows:
• Base: Sky Blue (SC-50)
• Wash: Blue Shade (VGC 73.207)
• Highlight I: Base
• Highlight II: Arctic Blue (SC-05)
• Guns:
• Highlight: Graphite (SC-03)
• Base: Eclipse frey (SC-16)
• Wash: Dark Wash (A.MIG-1008), thinned
• Missiles:
• Base: Sky Grey (VMC 70.989)
• Wash: Dark Wash (A.MIG-1008), thinned
• Tip I: Antares Red (SC-37)
• Tip II: Mars Orange (SC-39)
• Bombs:
• Base: Ardennes Green (SC-45)
• Wash: Dark Wash (A.MIG-1008), thinned
• Tip: Sky Grey (VMC 70.989)
• Weathering:
• Pigment I: Black Smoke (P023)
• Pigment II: Panzer Grey, Fading (P035)
• Pigment III: Volcanic Sands (P040)

One thing I wanted to try was NMM for the metal parts. On these it is engines and the guns. The guns are very small so I didn’t go for too much there. However, the engines have a full blown affect, aiming for an aluminium like metal.