As a quick update, I thought I would show you a brief look at the first steps of painting. Based on the pictures in the source material, I've decided to go for black as background colour for both the intake vents and exhaust ports.
It's amazing how much of a difference just this simple thing makes to the overall appearance of the ship. Next I will have to settle on a colour for the base coat; I suspect this will take a bit of trial and error. More updates soon, hopefully.