ScootyPuffJunior

Lovely work on that mini-Falcon! You've inspired me to get cracking on mine.

Great looking alien! Now you just need an in-scale Will Smith to punch it in the face!

Impressive as always, Andy! I also just received this kit in the mail and yours will no doubt be a real inspiration.

Nope, it's the Bandai kit. Great job, Habu!

I received Bandai's Vehicle Model 004, which is the First Order TIE fighter set. My plan is to make a diorama with them and the 1/144 scale Millennium Falcon.

That turned out great! It's such a great design and you've done it a wonderful service.

That's looks brilliant!

Hey guys, I have a Fine Molds Slave I model kit in my stash and after having completed Bandai's 1/144 scale version, I'd really like to tackle its larger cousin. I could live with not lighting the small version, but the 1/72 version needs lights for the full effect.The tricky part is that I have no idea where to begin with lighting it because I've never done it before. I'm not looking for anything too fancy; lighting the three engines (with a flickering effect if possible) and a couple of lights for the cockpit area. If anyone has lit this kit that can offer some advice and direction to me, I'd really appreciate it!

All done! This model is now in the RFI forum here.

Kuat Systems Engineering Firespray-31-class patrol and attack craft Slave I Bandai Slave I (1/144 scale); completed in Tamiya and Vallejo acrylics, MIG enamels, and Secret Weapon Miniatures pigments. The stand and the Star Wars decal are from the Fine Molds version of this model and the mythosaur skull was made with my Cameo cutting machine. All and all, I think this kit turned out great. I was pretty nervous about starting it because the paint job is pretty complex, but once I got in the thick of it I was okay. It could probably stand to use some more weathering and I'll probably do some before I take it to the model club meeting next month, but for now I'm calling it done. The work in progress log can be found here. Comments and criticism is welcomed as always!

I sprayed the first coat of green, which is the going to be the darker of the two on the hull, over the entire area. It's essentially the Tamiya equivalent of RLM 02 and I made it by mixing RLM Grey (XF-22) and Khaki (XF-49) in a 1:1 ratio with a tiny extra bit of XF-22 added. Using the studio model as a guide, I applied masking fluid with torn pieces of sponge. Give the nature of the original paint job, no model will ever match it exactly, however, the goal here was to just get close. This color is Tamiya J.A. Grey (XF-14) with a tiny bit of Deck Tan (XF-55) added to it. After I painted the dark green panels with J.N. Green (XF-11), I did a quick dry fit of the major hull pieces just to see how it looked. I thought that the RLM 02 color was a little dark so I sprayed the entire hull, sans the dark green pieces, with a very thin coat of J.A. Grey to tone them down. I weathered the wing supports with a handful of MIG enamel washes stippled on with a sponge and then blended into the surface. This was probably overkill because they are barely visible one the "fenders" are added and the entire assembly is inserted into place. The panel lines were done with a mix of MIG Dark and Neutral Wash and then cleaned with a some enamel thinner. I still have a couple small pieces of the wing supports to paint as well as the laser cannons and then I can move into the final stages of the build; more weathering.

Thanks Andy! Your fantastic build of the 1/72 scale Fine Molds version was a big inspiration for this build. I also have that kit in my stash and I hope to get around to building it some time soon.

Thanks guys! I worked on the the fenders last night. The one on the left was painted with Tamiya J.A. Gray (XF-14) and had liquid mask applied to mimic the weathering on the studio model. It was then given a coat of J.N. Green (XF-11) mixed with a touch of Field Grey (XF-65). The one on the right was painted with a witch's brew of Tamiya greens and had liquid mask splattered on it by dipping a piece of torn foam in liquid mask and using air from my airbrush to apply it. A coat of the same green color as the other fender was applied and the masking was removed. The underlying green was a little too bright so I sprayed some heavily thinned dark green over it to tone it down.

It looks like you're off to a good start! I have one of these little guys on the way to my house as we speak and I can't wait to get it.

Yes. It's hard to see in this picture but there are two removable parts that can be swapped out for an open loading bay configuration:

Thanks! Of course you can bookmark it! I've noticed there aren't than many builds of this model so I'm trying to record everything as best I can. If there's something particular you want to know about what I did, feel free to ask!

Awesome! It should come as no surprise that it's a fantastic little kit. I'm working on one right now over in the Work In Progress forum.

I wasn't happy with the front skirt but I also didn't really want to change it. After sleeping on it last night, I woke up and was content with how it turned out. Not happy, but willing to leave it as is. I then spent the next twelve hours at work and my dissatisfaction with it grew throughout the day. After I got home and had a lovely dinner with my wife, I head to the studio and decided to fix it. Needless to say, I am much more pleased with the end result. I used the same grey-green base color, applied a layer of liquid mask, sprayed a coat of pink made with Tamiya Pink (X-17) mixed with a little Tamiya Deck Tan (XF-55), applied another layer of liquid mask, and finally gave it a coat of the same red-brown from the first go around only with a tiny bit of Flat Red (XF-7) added.

I've been longing to build a model of one of the coolest Star Wars ships of all time, Boba Fett's Slave I. Like all Bandai kits, this 1/144 scale version of his iconic ship comes premolded in various colors but unlike most Bandai Star Wars kits, this one has to be painted if you want to accurately represent the ship. Having the parts organized by color makes painting it pretty easy given how complex the rear of the ship is. I removed and cleaned all of the parts from the sprue and organized them by what color they were to be painted. After I got all of the rear pieces organized, I started painting the cockpit. Most sources show that the cockpit should be army green but I much prefer grey, which was Tamiya Neutral Grey (XF-53) in this case. I highlighted a few bits with some Vallejo light grey and silver and gave everything a wash with MIG Dark Wash (enamel). The front console was painted with Tamiya Deep Green (XF-26), I applied some liquid mask with a sponge and then gave it a coat of NATO Black (XF-69). The bottom dark grey layer of the rear was painted with Tamiya German Grey (XF-63) and given a wash with MIG Dark Wash enamel. The engine nozzles were undercoated with Tamiya Buff (XF-57), had some liquid mask applied with a sponge, and then given a coat of coppery brown mixed with a few Vallejo reds and browns. I preshaded the green bits with Tamiya Flat Black (XF-1) and gave them a coat of Tamiya Field Green (XF-65) followed by a wash with MIG Dark Wash enamel as the first pass of weathering. The grey parts were preshaded with Tamiya German Grey (XF-63), painted with Mr Color 315 (Gray FS16440), and given a wash with MIG Neutral Wash enamel. I also applied a few of the small decals on the grey parts. I love how layers of parts are stacked on top of each other to make a complex surface. There is even parts that can't really be seen unless you hold it just so; it really is quite impressive. After all of the pieces are in place, more weathering will be added to dirty everything up, mainly chipping on the raised areas, more enamel washes, and possibly some pigments. The stabilizers were painted with Mr Color 315 (Gray FS16440), the yellow markings/chips were painted with a mix of Flat Yellow (XF-3) and Yellow Green (XF-4), the red strip was painted with a mix of Flat Red (XF-7) and Hull Red (XF-9), and the entire assembly was given a pin wash with MIG Neutral Wash enamel. After everything dries, they'll get a coat of matte varnish and then more weathering. Moving on the the front "skirt," I started with the base coat of pale green. According to the painting guide supplied with the Fine Molds version of this kit, the "correct" color is supposed to be Tamiya J.A. Grey (XF-14). This was a little too green for my taste, I mixed in some Tamiya Medium Grey (XF-20) and Flat White (XF-2) in a ratio of 3:2:2 to get this wonderful pale green. Also, I took this photo while experimenting with a new 50mm lens I bought for my Nikon. I would like to take all of my work in progress shots like this but it's much easier to grab my iPhone and snap a few quick pictures. After giving the skirt a nice coat of chipping fluid, I sprayed on the redish brown. All and all, I'm not entirely happy with it. I decided to use chipping fluid instead of liquid mask applied with a sponge. It's not bad, it's just not the finish I was aiming for. I guess it will be cool because the chipping on the skirt is going to be different than the hull, where I will be using liquid mask. The colors I used were Hull Red (XF-9) and Buff (XF-57) for the red, Pink (X-17) for the chipping, German Grey (XF-63) over Medium Grey (XF-20) for the grey panels, and Vallejo Model Air Tank Brown (71.041) for the brown panel. After this picture was taken, I managed to get a panel line wash on with MIG Dark Wash enamel. Once that is sealed in with some matte varnish, I'll move on to more weathering.

Thanks everyone! This was a fun model to build for sure but it's about to go to a new home because a friend of mine offered to buy it from me (this is the sixth kit he's bought of mine... he commissioned an X-wing and three TIE fighters from me and then bought my Red 6 X-wing to go with his Jek Porkins bust). I'm also happy to note that I used that money to buy a new lens for my camera so hopefully my photography will improve!

I got the dual kit in the mail yesterday myself. When I get around to painting it, I'll probably do it as Blue Leader (sans the glorious mustache, of course).

I am very much looking forward to your build of this kit. I have one on the way to my house as we speak and I plan on making it my next build (hopefully in time for my model club meeting next month!).

Fantastic job on the SD! It's such a great little model and you've done it a fine justice.

TIE Interceptor 181st Imperial Fighter Wing | Bandai 1/72 I did this kit as a nice sendoff build before I went on vacation for the week between Christmas and the New Year. It's painted as the personal TIE Interceptor of Commander of the 181st Imperial Fighter Wing, Soontir Fel. The red "bloodstripes" signify ten combat kills, something nearly every member of the elite 181st bore on their Interceptors. Since Soontir Fel is one of the greatest pilots in the Galaxy, his personal fighter has seen lots of action against the Rebellion (and New Republic), so I decided to give it a little bit of weathering. I painted the entire ship with Alclad metallics and used some liquid mask for chipping before giving the entire model a coat in a custom blue-grey I mixed up with a couple Tamiya paints. The wing panels were painted with a mix of Vallejo Model Air Black and Arctic Blue (metallic) to give them an iridescent shimmer. The red strip is just Tamiya Flat Red weathered in the same manner as the hull of the ship. The rest of the weathering was done with MIG Productions enamels. Comments and criticism is welcomed as always!

BTL-A4 Y-wing Bandai 1/144 scale Bandai "Vehicle Model" Y-wing (1/144 scale); completed in Tamiya & Vallejo acrylics, Mr Color lacquers, and Mig Productions enamels. This is was a fun little weekend project! I started it late Sunday morning and finished it up Monday morning. I painted it as Dex Tiree's Gold 2 who was famously shot down by Darth Vader during the Battle of Yavin (I had no intention to copy you, Andy!). Truth be told, it could probably stand to have a little more weathering, but I'm pretty happy with how it turned out, especially for something I started on Sunday around lunchtime and finished up Monday morning. I still can't get over the detail on this kit; for something that fits in the palm of my hand, it's absurd! Comments and criticism is welcomed as always!