I'm back!
a little side project today, clearing out the bfg bits box and I found some gems.
A dauntless with no bottom/'wing' section,but I did have a strike cruiser's bottom/'wing' section so problem solved there. Also my last metal cobra too, to keep it company.
So I decided to try an old classic on these:

Clearly inspired by John blanche's cover art for the game and, in extension, his own bfg paint jobs themselves.
So, after the success of the blanchitsu cruiser and cobra, I decided I liked the new way of painting.
So, rather than buy new models, I figured I'd repaint a few of my older voss minis in a new scheme:

This brown and blue scheme starts as a base of steellegion drab, followed by an all-over shade of nuln/agrax mix.
then drybrush steellegion drab. then drybrush zandridust.
now edge highlight ushabti bone.
now target shade nuln oil
rehighlight ushabti hith and yon.
the blue is the fang base with successive streaky highlights of russ grey and fenrisan blue.
also target shaded with nuln oil
the black is just successive highlights of skavenblight, mechanicus grey, dawnstone and white.
The windows/running lights are done in small dots of wraithbone. never done this before, but it really does add scale...

I had started with these cobras to test the scheme

then moved onto my zeus lunar: "Aggamemnon".

as it was bigger I could play about with the streaky prow/plates more and also add rust to the iron eagle. Which might have looked odd on the cobra sized prows.

and decided to complete the set with my zeus endeavour class: "Invictus"

This one had a refit from the classic bfg batteries to the actual zeus ones.
I was rearanging my storage box and found myself looking at some of my older ships and thinking. "you know what, these would look nice in the brown/blue scheme too":

"Achillies" Escort carrier.
This one had originally been done in the armageddon scheme but the wash had gone all shiny at the time. (old gw washes did that for seemingly no reason occasionally) A perfect reason to repaint her in the new scheme! Also a nice reference to bfg's Armada rulebook which this ship and its stats were first seen.
Used almost exclusively for convoy scenareos it is literally an excuse to convert the ship from launchbays, plasticar and aerials as, well as a forgeworld heavy transporter.

"Speedo Ghost" Fueller Escort.
So as not to feel left, out the Achillies has this fuel transport to join it in said convoy missions.
This mini was originally in a dirty grey colourscheme. much more resplendant now!
Both of these Logistic-vessels were chosen to see if the blue would work as pleasantly on a prow with banding as one without. I'm happy that it does, meaning that more ships may yet follow!

Next I tacked some system ships. I've always loved the sense of scale these give the other ships in fleet pics.
Most of these were done in the armageddon scheme before, but I felt this exploritary fleet was better suited as the ideal place for such minis.
Out on the frontier, you need to take all you can with you to survive.
Only the baby fueller (made from a meltabomb, tanktrack, sprue and aerials) was in another scheme, again the dirty grey scheme as was on the fueller mentioned above.
So a fleet like this needs a name!

Battlegroup "Artemis" as it currently stands.
more to come? youbetcha.
I need a novacannon in there for some long range scaryness but as I would rather spend the points on a characterful grandcruiser than a Mars, I'm thinking Dominator, it just so happens I have one in my old armageddon fleet (funny that, eh

). Yes, I know this still leaves the fleet without fighter/bomber support.
As for a grand cruiser?
Aside the astartes one I'm working on, I don't own one aside my old repulsiveclass. So thats a repaint out of the question.
So I'm thinking new mini for that!
As I'm going for a voss/armada era fleet, allbeit reinvisioned in Zac's zeus line, I'm thinking I need something similar for the GC; Like the chaos/imperial hybrids that came out around the time of the voss stuff from GW but also reinvisioned.
Anything to improve that slapped together look of the chaos ass-end over the imperial engines and that clown-shoe of a prow! LOL
So, something with obvious chaos visual references but less mc'gyvered together and somehow more integral in its design.
Class-wise, after a chat with Lord Borak, I'm leaning towards an Exorcist.
The fleet is sorely lacking any carriers and the exorcist would fit the bill and kinda makes sense as a lead vessel of an exploratory battlegroup.
watch this space!
Also
on a whim, I got another repaint done:

"sinclair" light cruiser, refitted from endurance to endeavour.

Based on a recast of one of AdmGR's prints of the 'Razor' light cruiser, this mini required a lot of cleanup and a new prow ram (old chaos spikey sprue).
It's also pretty damned huge for light cruiser too but it does bear an absolute striking resemblance to the artwork from the armada rulebook and, as such, the short lived metal voss lightcruisers from the battlefleet armageddon era.

As you can see, I've added a bit of extra life to it by putting one of those diagonal stripes oft seen in the rulebook and on Vaaish's and Horizon's imperial cruisers too!
It is indeed quite different to the zeus cruisers already in battlegroup Artemis, but I have three of these (two in armageddon colours) so had no qualms about adding this peice of bfg history to the fleet...