Alas due to moving house I do not have any middle stage photographs.
With the Skyranger ready to paint I had to decide how I wanted to paint it! My preferred aesthetic, as with the Thin Men, is something simple with solid blocks of colours. This is primarily because it is easier for me to paint. I took a picture of the model and on my computer drew the outline of the various parts. Then I experimented with different combinations of colours. The original Skyranger is grey so naturally that is the core colour. The xcom logo is generally either a yellow or blue so I figured highlighting the model with those colours would make it easy for me to match it with future models.
A quick mock up to test colour choices.
Once I had decided the colours it was straightforward job to paint. A core grey for the body, a light grey to highlight raised features and a dark grey for engines and thrusters. I then used thin black lines to improve the suggestion of armour plates / military style and to effect where there should be things like doors.
I had to paint the exit ramp onto the model as it is really just flat wood
Since the model has no actual raised or indented sections I had to paint the various electronics and lights flat onto the model. For the front lights I used blue with black border and the back lights are red with border (Do military vehicles beep when reversing?…).
The xcom logo and blue front lights.
The rear lights are red. Again painted on as I didn't try to carve grooves.
A final finish was the xcom logo on the front and tail, which took a few tries! Overall I’m very happy with how the model looks. It’s very simplistic, I didn’t do any weathering which would probably add a lot, but since the model is not very detailed I think it better to lean into the simplicity. I have yet to varnish it but I might leave that in case anything comes up to add to it.
In all its glory!