Resistance T-70 X-Wing

[Andy Moore]

Are you going to put the little splitters in the intakes, or are you keeping this basically stock but for scheme?

I'd thought about adding them, but there's so many other small differences between the two that I decided not to bother. I'll just keep it as a stock T-70 and paint it in the concept scheme as a small homage to Ralph.

Andy

[Jim Kiker]

Hi Andy,

Clean and crisp work as usual here; very nice! Any chance that you might consider modifying the cockpit canopy and add splitter plates to the intakes, to get closer to the original design? Hint, hint... :-)

Cheers, Jim

[Sgt.Squarehead]

Gotta say I too much prefer the concept design to the new X-Wing.....The new two part turbofan intake thingy looks utterly ridiculous IMHO.

Go on Andy, do the deed.....Sometimes Sci-Fi (CGI) designers need rescuing from themselves!

[Andy Moore]

It would be nice to have a proper concept version, but to modify the T-70 would mean an almost complete scratch build. The concept doesn't have the offset wing design, the engine elements on the inner wings are plated over (I did consider doing that, but it seemed a shame to cover up the detail on the kits parts), there's so many other differences that it doesn't seem worth making a few mods that wouldn't alter the appearance that much, so I'll just stick with the paint scheme.

And on the subject of the paint scheme, I'm still trying to decide on whether to add markings to the wings or not. The concept didn't have any, but it doesn't seem like an X-Wing without them.

The three versions I've got are;

1: without any addition markings

2: With orange panels

3: With the panels plus the grey/white/grey stripes from below the cockpit, repeated on the wings

I could split the orange wing panels up, but I think they look better as a single panel. Personally, I'm not keen on the grey/white/grey bands, although I could move them to the wing undersides. The first version is the most accurate to the concept art, but it seems a bit too plain. What do you lot think?

Andy

[Sgt.Squarehead]

#3 for me.

[Blastvader]

I'm on for No.2.

[ScootyPuffJunior]

Number three.

[Hugh Jampton]

I'd go for 3 also Andy. As you've said the first one is to plain.

[MetroRacing]

I'd go for 3 too. Once you've seen it, 2 doesn't look right lol

Ashley

[Nigel Heath]

Two or three with three slightly ahead. I like the repetition of the grey bands on the wings.

[Thom216]

I'd say no1 if you could have a full stock McQuarrie fighter.

But since it is different, and this is basically a homage, I'd go with no3!

[Andy Moore]

Thanks for all the opinions everyone. The consensus seems to be number 3.

I was all set to go with that one, then Will Vale left a comment on Flickr, saying he thought that the 2nd one was more elegant, and I kind of agree with him. I'm not sure if the grey stripes are a bit too fussy, Ralph's illustrations were always quite bold and simple.

Anyway, it's not a problem to defer the decision until later in the build. I can add them once everything's together. I've got the orange panels done, at least. I'm not 100% happy with the colour, I think it should be more yellow. I used Gunze H24 Orange Yellow as it was the closest shade I'd got, and I didn't want to start mixing colours in case I needed to touch up something later, and couldn't mix the same shade.

I also lightly sprayed the body and wings with white first, as I thought the pale grey I'd originally used was a bit too dark

I sprayed the engine panels with Alclad just to add a bit of variety to the wings. The engines are paneled over in the illustration, so I guess you could say this is what they're like underneath. I'll need to add some kind of wash to them, but I want to keep it subtle. The ship in the illustration is pretty clean and I want to keep the model the same way

Andy

[Zarichta]

Beautiful work Andy.

I really like your paintwork. AT-ST topic was really amazing.

Congratulations.

I'm following this with attention.

[Thom216]

Whichever one you choose will be great.

[Andy Moore]

Thanks guys

I've got the fuselage stripe on, which seems to have come out reasonably well. I'm really starting to think that the orange is too dark though. I might have to lighten it before I do the orange stripes on the nose, which will probably mean going back to a white base on the wings and re-spraying with a more yellowy orange. I suppose it doesn't really matter that much, but it just seems too strong, while everything else is quite neutral.

Oh, and BB-8's had his decals applied. Just got to paint his antenna and eye

Andy

[Sgt.Squarehead]

Would it be worth trying an overspray on the orange-panels.....Something like a very strong filter?

The engine bay looks very dark and a bit stark at the moment, although I suspect that is an artefact of the image rather than the reality.

[Andy Moore]

Would it be worth trying an overspray on the orange-panels.....Something like a very strong filter?

The engine bay looks very dark and a bit stark at the moment, although I suspect that is an artefact of the image rather than the reality.

After looking hard at the concept art, I think the colour is probably pretty good, but it's too strong. I think an overspray of the base orange mixed with a bit of white might do it, but I'll have to test it on something first.

I think the starkness of the engine bay is down to the photo. I had to underexpose slightly to stop the white from blowing, so everything else looks dark. Having said that, the whole thing is quite stark in general, which is something I'll need to fix. I think some very pale filters on some of the panels will break up the large areas of white, and maybe a pale grey panel line wash to give it some definition.

Andy

[Andy Moore]

I've done the nose stripes and over-sprayed the wing panels with a lighter orange yellow mix. There's a bit of discrepancy between the wings and nose as the paler mix was going over the original colour on the wings, and strait over the base white on the nose. Since they're not close together, I think it's acceptable. I could probably have gone a bit lighter still with the colour, but I'm leaving it as it is now.

And I'm now thinking that it does need those grey stripes on the wings. The cutout section on the orange panel look wrong as it is.

Andy

[Mike]

Looking nice Andy, but you're going to have to work on that seam on the fuselage

[Sgt.Squarehead]

I've been building PST kits recently, so TBH I hadn't noticed it.

[Hugh Jampton]

Andy,

It's really coming along well, it would be nice to see your crisp version up against a weathered example, to see the contrast.

Regards

John

[MetroRacing]

I hope I'm not going to cause a rumble by saying this but the more I look at the design, the less I like it.

I love the fuselage shape but it's the engines. I noticed the intakes look like half a jet engine intake, and the implausability of how the work work has stuck. But now I've noticed the 'exhausts' is that what there called? They don't flow with the design. Just sit there like afterthoughts.

Great build though. After seeing all these kits in this section I'm itching to get one lol.

Ashley

[Andy Moore]

Thanks guys

Looking nice Andy, but you're going to have to work on that seam on the fuselage

Yeah, I think they'd have trouble pressurising the cockpit with a gap like that

Andy,

It's really coming along well, it would be nice to see your crisp version up against a weathered example, to see the contrast.

Regards

John

I've got the regular X-Wing to do, which will be weathered to hell and back, and I'm sure I'll be getting another of these to do in the movie scheme (Not the orange and black one though, that just doesn't work for me)

I hope I'm not going to cause a rumble by saying this but the more I look at the design, the less I like it.
I love the fuselage shape but it's the engines. I noticed the intakes look like half a jet engine intake, and the implausability of how the work work has stuck. But now I've noticed the 'exhausts' is that what there called? They don't flow with the design. Just sit there like afterthoughts.

Great build though. After seeing all these kits in this section I'm itching to get one lol.

Ashley

The design seems to divide opinion. I quite like it, but there's plenty who don't. They were clearly trying to pay homage to the McQuarrie concept, and his designs were quite stylized (his original 3PO looked very much like Maria from Metropolis).

As far as the intakes go, I don't think they're meant to be turbines, so a half round inlet wouldn't really be much different from a circular one. In fact it's probably best to think of them as something like an F-104 intake turned through 90 degrees.

The exhaust nozzles are pretty much the same as the original X-Wing, although maybe a little more streamlined.

Andy

[Andy Moore]

I've added the grey stripes to the wings, and I think it looks better for them. It's taken it further away from the simplicity of McQuarrie's artwork but I think it looks more cohesive as a design. I also tentatively added a grey enamel wash to bring out some of the detailing. I've not had any alarming cracking yet, so I think I've gotten away with it. I've picked out a few panels in a warmer grey tone, but it doesn't show that well in the photos. I'll probably have to add some more shading to help define the shapes more, as the white just overwhelms everything at the moment.

The joint between the upper and lower halves of the fuselage is more prominent than I'd hoped. I could have stuck it all together before painting, but the masking for the panels and stripes would have been a lot more work. In general, I have to say the fit on this hasn't been as good as the other Bandai releases that I've built. It's not bad by any means, just not as perfect as the others.

The grey panel line wash doesn't show up that well, but you can see it better on the engine details

I think it helps give it more definition, without making it look too dirty. Having said that, I think I'm going to have to give it some very light weathering, just to break up that vast expanse of white.

Andy

[Sgt.Squarehead]

I like the stripes, they hint at tac-markings and provide some nice cool contrast to the warmer tones. The engine bays look a lot better in that picture too.....Amazing how much difference lighting can make.

PS - I like the new engine configuration less & less with each new angle I see....Those tailpipes are horribly skinny!