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Well, here we go. Finally have enough done to warrant my first post in my first WIP here. This is also my first time back at the bench in over a year. And this is my first personal project since... my Tamiya P-47 many many years ago.

Time to shake off a lot of rust.

This is a little out of my comfort zone. I don't do much sci-fi. And I've only dabbled in 1/72 maybe a half dozen times in my life. It's so much smaller than 1/48! I mean, look how tiny BB-8 is!

FYI, the body detail was sanded off as I want to position his head on an angle. And since his body is on a sphere, all I need to do is adjust the placement of the decals on his body when the time comes. Seemed silly to cut off his head an re attach it.

26630693572_fbca7e6289_c.jpguntitled by _m_sinclair, on Flickr

Since this is a Star Wars kit, it seemed like a perfect opportunity to add my own "greeblies" to this X-wing. A great way to add a little extra detail and help make it my own. I went looking through old kits. But due to the small scale I quickly realized that my collection of photo etched detail sets was the way to go. I even found a supply of fine solder wire I probably purchased ten years ago and never touched. Till today.

I also drilled out a vent (maybe, who knows) and added some very fine etched screen. Why? Because it looked right.

26698170296_1b7cef278c_c.jpguntitled-2 by _m_sinclair, on Flickr

More random etched pieces added where it looked appropriate. Some came from an Aber King Tiger set. Other pieces are from an old Verlinden Humvee set. I also used a fine drill and added the appearance of fasteners all over the ship. Just another way to add a little more visual appeal.

This is the bottom of the fuselage.I had planned on adding some antennas like what you see on current aircraft. I was thrilled to discover the kit already has two! They just needed a little sanding to thin them down to make them look just right.

26117698794_ecafe81d60_c.jpguntitled-3 by _m_sinclair, on Flickr

I removed Poe's head and angled it to make it appear he is looking at something. Likely need to add a little filler to clean up the neck area.

26117694064_45b63e20fe_c.jpguntitled-4 by _m_sinclair, on Flickr

I made a small pitot tube and attached it inside one of the intakes. I figure since the ship flies in atmosphere frequently it might make sense to have one. And if you don't like that, just call it a random sensor.

26451490530_9850a8165a_c.jpguntitled-5 by _m_sinclair, on Flickr

Same as the fuselage. Various bits of PE. Fine solder wire and a fine drill used to replicate fasteners on different parts of the S foils and engines. I expect the lower engines will be more visible so I added a little more detail on them.

26451482430_ee7a0707e5_c.jpguntitled-6 by _m_sinclair, on Flickr

One of the "top" engines detailed on the right.

26451476070_c7310e2904_c.jpguntitled-7 by _m_sinclair, on Flickr

This time it's one of the "bottom" engines on the right side.

26657981301_2d2897b23d_c.jpguntitled-8 by _m_sinclair, on Flickr

Oh how I missed you.

26657974191_65593e992b_c.jpguntitled-9 by _m_sinclair, on Flickr

Got some primer on just to see if anything needs cleaning up.

26451454780_362f03eeaa_c.jpguntitled-10 by _m_sinclair, on Flickr

26657964951_552dc0aa25_c.jpguntitled-11 by _m_sinclair, on Flickr

Looking pretty good so far. Still early days though. And I am immensely rusty!

26724117515_7e1cc33aec_c.jpguntitled-12 by _m_sinclair, on Flickr

This kit is amazing. By far the best 1/72 kit I've ever seen! The cockpit detail is better than many 1/48 aircraft kits!These intakes are fabulous.

26630620562_93e2f6fbcb_c.jpguntitled-13 by _m_sinclair, on Flickr

So this is where she stands as of now.

26630616822_e85f1e2fea_c.jpguntitled-14 by _m_sinclair, on Flickr

I do apologize for the blinding white background. Haven't done this in a while and need to pick up some coloured paper to put in the photo booth I threw together today. Oh and if you haven't seen Andy's X-wings, get your butt over there now! Stunning work.

Thanks for looking.

-matt

Edited by M_Sinclair
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That's some lovely detailing Matt. I particularly like the round mesh vent at the back.

I'd considered drilling fasteners on the panels on my X-Wing, but thought it wouldn't look right. After seeing yours, I may have to revisit that idea

Andy

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Thanks guys!

Didn't expect to get anything done today. But got a very quick painting session in. And my white balance should be more consistent now. A friend used it recently and it was still in jpeg mode. Got her back shooting Raw files again.

Intakes are going to get a couple shades of Alclad so they have received a base coat of acrylic gloss black. They've also been mounted on some wire to make handling during painting much simpler.

26710214886_a63bf05913_c.jpguntitled-17 by _m_sinclair, on Flickr

Cockpit base colours are on. Various shades of grey. Some warmer, some cooler.

26642598342_f58a7e7f23_c.jpguntitled-16 by _m_sinclair, on Flickr

Have a good day!

-matt

Edited by M_Sinclair
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Happy to say I'm really enjoying my time here on Britmodeller. Thanks for the positive waves everyone. I have to leave for work in ten minutes so a super short update today. Oh man, I can't wait for my next day off.

To help add a little dimension to cockpit I decided to emphasize the shadows. Or rather, I masked off areas to remain darker grey and sprayed on a lightened shade of the base grey.

26152425674_a79d04c9b1_c.jpguntitled by _m_sinclair, on Flickr

26664781692_d1229648e9_c.jpguntitled-2 by _m_sinclair, on Flickr

It's a bit more obvious in person. But the effect is supposed to be subtle. Just makes everything look a little less flat.

26664779442_6fbf55368c_c.jpguntitled-3 by _m_sinclair, on Flickr

26732936786_a3fc18ba6d_c.jpguntitled-4 by _m_sinclair, on Flickr

The intakes got a quick coat of Alclad bright aluminum (I think? something like that).

26664771972_29790ae203_c.jpguntitled-5 by _m_sinclair, on Flickr

Till next time!

-matt

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Thanks guys!

I had plans to get a post ready for May the Fourth be with you. But I spent most of my waking hours workin at the bench. So instead this post is going up on Cinco De Mayo at around 2am local time.

Not sure if anyone will actually notice what's changed since the last post. I'll try to point out the more obvious stuff.

Remember that insert piece for the top of the fuselage? Holds the BB unit? Well I painted her up.

26759264931_3d78ed476d_c.jpg20160504-MJS_4150 by _m_sinclair, on Flickr

According to three beautiful high res pictures I have of Black Leader, these exposed technical looking areas have an overall warm tone to them. So I finally had a chance to use my brown Mig wash to tint the whole thing. Worked a treat I'd say. The fuselage while also essentially black, will have a cooler tone. Again, this will match the pictures I've chosen as my main guide.

26733111352_982611a857_c.jpg20160504-MJS_4149 by _m_sinclair, on Flickr

Did a bit of work on the cockpit today. I know last time when I was painting the various bits it was pretty subtle. Anyone actually see a difference?

You may have to squint.

26221287854_ba76875f35_c.jpg20160505-MJS_4174 by _m_sinclair, on Flickr

Well it's bigger now!

26759227041_d7c7213e3e_c.jpg20160504-MJS_4168 by _m_sinclair, on Flickr

I think I'm calling the cockpit done. And I figured once Poe is added and the canopy goes on this is probably the best chance to have a look. So LOT's of cockpit shots now! And yes I know! I need something other than a white background. Stop yelling!

26759222381_46be3c8e29_c.jpg20160504-MJS_4169 by _m_sinclair, on Flickr

26733078242_96b68af79d_c.jpg20160504-MJS_4162 by _m_sinclair, on Flickr

26792374076_7f5e2ba2c0_c.jpg20160504-MJS_4160 by _m_sinclair, on Flickr

Many many layers of paint went into painting the cockpit. Kept trying to add various highlights and shadows. Trying to imply switches, panels, placards, screens, etc. Not going off of any specific reference here. Just trying to get a feel for a busy cockpit. The kit cockpit only comes with the one, well I'm calling it a multi function display screen. Just the one, right in the middle. But I decided to add two more on either side of the cockpit tub. At least, that's what those little green square things are meant to be.

26792377836_5ac4b8e4ab_c.jpg20160504-MJS_4159 by _m_sinclair, on Flickr

So this is what kept me busy for several hours today.

26222194623_9b40b6b8af_c.jpg20160505-MJS_4178 by _m_sinclair, on Flickr

Tomorrow work will resume on teeny tiny Poe Dameron. And I will have to figure out whether to leave everything seperate for painting. Or do something similar to Andy's T-65 and modify the wings so they can be added after the fuselage is assembled.

What to do, what to do.

-matt

Edited by M_Sinclair
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That cockpit's a thing of beauty Matt, as is the rear panel. Also, I know it's only the primer, but it does look great in green. I might have to do a camo one some day

Andy

Thanks gents! It's definitely my best 1/72 cockpit ever. Which gets me excited, thinking about when ever I get around to building another 1/48 aircraft.

And I completely agree about the green Andy. I was tempted to paint the cockpit with an interior green to contrast against the black exterior. But a green exterior or maybe a green camo pattern would look amazing on an x-wing.

-matt

Edited by M_Sinclair
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Beautiful work. It was a real pleasure to click through to the originals in your Flickr account and see all the detail of the work you have put into the cockpit and the upper venting bay.

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Thanks Rob. Glad you like em.

Meant to post this with the last update. Really like this angle so here it is.

26759236921_487e9de954_c.jpg20160504-MJS_4161 by _m_sinclair, on Flickr

So for the last three days I've been working on painting wee little Poe Dameron. Well, not all of him. Just his distinctive helmet. The kit comes with really nice decals for his helmet. But it's for the white, black and blue version for his grey and blue X-wing. And since I'm stubborn and decided to paint his Black Leader X-wing, that helmet just wouldn't look right to me.

So after painting the figure red I masked off the red portions of his helmet using really small pieces of tape. Over that went a layer of tan. More excruciatingly small strips of tape. And finally a layer of straight black. Some people might be able to do it all by hand but I wanted my airbrush to do most of the work and just do what little touch ups I can.

So this is what it's supposed to looks like.

26776673011_32d7c57540_c.jpgpoe 28 by _m_sinclair, on Flickr

26571313520_4c420825ac_c.jpgpoe 32 by _m_sinclair, on Flickr

26776672801_74699c8d0b_z.jpgxwing by _m_sinclair, on Flickr

Well. I already see I messed up the location for the stripes on the right side of his helmet. Ah well. So this is just supposed to vaguely resemble his helmet. And from a distance.

Like, from the next town over.

Anyhoo. After the tape came off I spent quite a while touching up details and shapes as best I can. Think the rebel logo turned out fairly well on the right side. But the others on the top of his helmet and on his life vest, not so much.

26239454323_4199fb67fa_c.jpg20160505-MJS_4189 by _m_sinclair, on Flickr

26809857936_495c6bba85_c.jpg20160505-MJS_4195 by _m_sinclair, on Flickr

Using a fair bit of Vallejo paints on this project. And man, their flat white covers exceptionally well!

26239441433_574b3e019d_c.jpg20160505-MJS_4197 by _m_sinclair, on Flickr

Oh man, I can't wait to get back to 1/48! And I finally got some coloured paper for a less intense background.

26571218470_823e056d29_c.jpg20160505-MJS_4200 by _m_sinclair, on Flickr

White balance still isn't as consistent as I'd like but working on improving my model photography as well. It doesn't help the bulbs I have are all way too "warm".

Thanks for looking! Should have an update tomorrow.

-matt

Edited by M_Sinclair
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Well I'll take that as a success then in regards to Poe's helmet! Thanks!

Yesterday at the local hobby store I lucked out. They happened to have the exact size brass rod I needed for the blaster barrels. And it was the last batch they had too.

So this morning I cut the rod to length for four barrels. Sanded them and slightly rounded the front end of each barrel. The grey barrel is the plastic item from the kit. Very nice, but not hollow.

26249159733_779363b9ed_c.jpg20160506-MJS_4203 by _m_sinclair, on Flickr

Fine copper wire was placed in the back side of each barrel. This copper wire with barrel attached was then inserted into a hole drilled out in each gun to help keep things secure. Eh voila. She's now fully armed.

26853424285_082936f4af_c.jpg20160506-MJS_4204 by _m_sinclair, on Flickr

26248089654_d554b76597_c.jpg20160506-MJS_4215 by _m_sinclair, on Flickr

-matt

Edited by M_Sinclair
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