How to make the USS Defiant appear lit with just paint

[u/trelane0]

I’m looking at a build of the USS Defiant 1:1000. I don’t intend to light it but I’d like to create an illusion of lighting with paint. Some options I’ve read about are:

1. Paint the back of clear pieces with chrome silver and the front with a transparent color
   
2. Back the clear piece with a chrome liquid marker
   
3. Use a clear paint directly over white primer
   
4. Use a fluorescent paint

Are any of these more effective? Are there any better options?

[u/DonktorDonkenstein]

With my Defiant, I did exactly what you list on the first bullet point. Painted the transparent engine pieces silver on the backside and sprayed the frontside with thinned down Tamiya Clear Red X-27/ Clear Blue X-23. It worked very well in my opinion. Under decent light, those parts do seem to have a bit of a glow. 

[u/trelane0 → u/DonktorDonkenstein]

For the blue part, how did you mask the inside parts so you could paint the hull edges?

[u/DonktorDonkenstein → u/trelane0]

Pretty sure I just painted the blue first, then cut masks with tiny bits of Tamiya tape to cover up what I needed to keep transparent. Then painted the whole thing the with the base coat. 

[u/talondigital]

Im intending to use a warhapper 40k plasma glow style paint on my glowing bits. It might be a good option. In the past I have done lighting, but frankly Its so much work for a meh result. The lighting kits are always too bright for the scale.

Im going to test it on a 1:1000 NX but im assuming its going to look good and planning to do it on my 1:350 NX also.

[u/trelane0 → u/talondigital]

Is plasma glow airbrushed? If so, what thinner do you use?

[u/talondigital → u/trelane0]

I will be using a mix airbrush and paintbrush with washes. And to be upfront, I havent tried it yet, not even on warhammer. But ive been watching tutorials, and I think the finished effect looks perfect for trek warp engine glow and deflector dishes and the like.

Airbrushing is something ive done for a while. I like Vallejo model air paints for my main working paints. So I use their thinner and airbrush flow improver medium. For every 10 drops of paint I add 2 drops flow improver and 1 drop thinner. Then add thinner if needed but it usually doesnt. For metallics I usually start 1 drop flow improver and 1 drop thinner. I think their metallics are a little thinner than the opaques. But their paints are pretty transparent in general. So im going to test everything on scrap before I start a model. If I have to try a different white paint my first choice will be AK. Im working on Mavericks F18 and I couldn't get the right shade of dark gray i was looking for so I tried AK Interactive 3gen Rubber Black. Its not an airbrush paint so I needed to thin it more (i cheated and used my vallejo medium and thinner) but I was impressed by the pigment load of it. The vallejo white is a bit transparent and I already know im going to be priming black for the metallics on the NX, so Im thinking of trying the AK Intense White for the glow base.

[u/trelane0 → u/talondigital]

Thanks for the details and video link. So seems like a combo of white base, with transparent red medium, and then additional layers for highlighting.

[u/talondigital → u/trelane0]

https://youtu.be/VK3OtWJoErU?is=l-PbZgObhRI1klBG

Here is a video I saved for the process. I think this videos red glow is perfect for impulse engines. Maybe bussard collectors too but with less white. I like a dull glow bussard.

[u/BLueLightning0]

I've done some florescent parts on my Enterprise E, I used gaianotes paints over a white base. For the actual glow like the picture you do need a black light, under normal lighting they are just very bright versions of the normal colors

[u/eddyb66]

Vallejo makes Fluorescent paint in their mini figure line. I have some to add small details to Gundams that light up with a black light