Star Wars Theme Group Build

Some undercoating pictures. I undercoated in black so I could bring out some shadow when I eventually top coat. I used a Vallejo black primer and I'll topcoat with a Tamiya Insignia White (AS-20) which seems to be the colour of choice for a lot of Star Wars craft.

The undercoating process helps me to identify areas on the model that need further sanding - especially the main body portion. These MPC kits were notorious for their I'll fitting parts but with a bit of work and some application of putty later, I should be able to make it look pretty flush.

The other thing I want to do - a dream of mine as part of this build - is to install lighting for the engines. So, I've gone ahead and *gently* scribed out the exhaust ports with a scalpel blade and a hand drill. It was actually easier than I thought to achieve. It just needed a lot of patience and about 4 cups of coffee. I intend inserting some exhaust ports courtesy of Shapeways. I know these aren't film accurate but I never liked the plain-ness of the original engines. I intend to do a few things differently with my build to individualise it to my taste.

ohbejuan said:

These all look great. I made a start as well. Another Y-Wing!View attachment 119892

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Nice

banistersmind said:

Some undercoating pictures. I undercoated in black so I could bring out some shadow when I eventually top coat. I used a Vallejo black primer and I'll topcoat with a Tamiya Insignia White (AS-20) which seems to be the colour of choice for a lot of Star Wars craft.

The undercoating process helps me to identify areas on the model that need further sanding - especially the main body portion. These MPC kits were notorious for their I'll fitting parts but with a bit of work and some application of putty later, I should be able to make it look pretty flush.

The other thing I want to do - a dream of mine as part of this build - is to install lighting for the engines. So, I've gone ahead and *gently* scribed out the exhaust ports with a scalpel blade and a hand drill. It was actually easier than I thought to achieve. It just needed a lot of patience and about 4 cups of coffee. I intend inserting some exhaust ports courtesy of Shapeways. I know these aren't film accurate but I never liked the plain-ness of the original engines. I intend to do a few things differently with my build to individualise it to my taste.

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Looking good!

Yep, y'all are doing fine. I shoulda got all up in here too.

I do likes me some Sci-Fi.

Rob.

I primed the forward section with Stynylrez metallic primer. My plan is to use some chipping fluid along the seams and edges and then paint my planned scheme.

ohbejuan said:

These all look great. I made a start as well. Another Y-Wing!View attachment 119892

Click to expand...

Ah yes, the dreaded Bandai mold in color is sometimes more of a pain than a help. I built 4 of the Y-Wings so far and each one I spent so much time sanding and filling the seams around that part so it didn't like a separate piece with panel lines.

That is the one downside to an otherwise amazing kit

blakeh1 said:

Ah yes, the dreaded Bandai mold in color is sometimes more of a pain than a help. I built 4 of the Y-Wings so far and each one I spent so much time sanding and filling the seams around that part so it didn't like a separate piece with panel lines.

That is the one downside to an otherwise amazing kit

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So far the Bandai kit has been a good fit. Although I have spent the last couple of days painting the 1/72 pilot.
I am going with the episode IV theme. (Orange jumpsuit)

Glad to see all these projects!

Also a big thanks for starting this group build. It really gave me a fresh start on a project I had set aside when I went into overload trying to get too fancy with things. I had planned on adding more lighting than the kit that was included with it, and also was getting crazy ideas about adding more of an interior in the cockpit tube etc... Plus I could not decide gears up or down. So I shelved it thinking I would not get it perfect

However as time has gone by I really want to get this built and on display, even if I skip all the bells and whistles

So back at it, starting with the gun turret wells. The detail in this is just incredible.
I had a hard time finding definitive shots of the panels, and also trying to match up what I did find with the Bandai details.



I used light coats of Tamiya AS-20 from the can over the black plastic, but kind of left a bit of the black showing through as a pre-shading type of thing. Then picked out the details by hand

Since I was excited to start back on this, I kind of just dove in at first without a plan, and I gave it my best approximating the look, and it is not perfect, but considering how little you will actually see once it is all buttoned up I am not going to stress over it

This one I will use for the bottom anyway, and try to be a little neater/cleaner with the top one as far as keeping lines straight etc...

TimM63 said:

So far the Bandai kit has been a good fit. Although I have spent the last couple of days painting the 1/72 pilot.
I am going with the IV episode theme. (Orange jumpsuit)

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I prefer that look to the ROTJ outfit

and speaking of Y-Wings, you should recognize these parts that are centered with the Tamiya 1/35 8Rad on the side of the neck if you built one

they used that subassembly in several places on the Falcon. Again, the detail an accuracy Bandai put into this is stunning



and here

And last thing for this evening, the two underside maintenance bays

Sprayed with Tamiya AS-20 straight from the can, no primer since I wanted to keep the detail as crisp as possible and not cover up with too many paint layers

Then used thin washes of black and brown oil paints and some Vallejo black pigment powder in spots to get that grimy used look

I got the pilot done and the cockpit together. What a chore painting these little bits.

TimM63 said:

I got the pilot done and the cockpit together. What a chore painting these little bits.

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My bubba fett is tiny and very rubbery so really difficult to clean the huge amount of flash on him. I'll give it a go but might have a look for a better quality figure. PM

Pantherman said:

My bubba fett is tiny and very rubbery so really difficult to clean the huge amount of flash on him. I'll give it a go but might have a look for a better quality figure. PM

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Made a little bit more progress today, got some base coats done and trimmed up a few parts. Pantherman

TimM63 said:

I got the pilot done and the cockpit together. What a chore painting these little bits.

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Looks great!

Pantherman said:

Made a little bit more progress today, got some base coats done and trimmed up a few parts. Pantherman
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So tiny!

Pantherman said:

Made a little bit more progress today, got some base coats done and trimmed up a few parts. Pantherman
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You weren't joking about all of the flashing on Boba. Good thing is with his size and how far into the cockpit he sits should help with hiding some of the roughness.

GaryG64 said:

Looks great!

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Thanks
It did until I zoomed in on it. I will need to fix it.

TimM63 said:

Thanks
It did until I zoomed in on it. I will need to fix it.

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Fix it? Looks good to me, brother.

GaryG64 said:

Fix it? Looks good to me, brother.

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Thanks. The pilot is not really visible when everything is done so I may leave him alone.