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TIE Interceptor (01212) 1:72 Carrera Revell The TIE Interceptor was introduced as a sister ship to the general-purpose TIE Interceptor, to add a little variation to the chase and battle scenes of the Star Wars saga. It has cranked "wings" like Vader's TIE Fighter, and a long tapering forward wing section that mounts some large cannons. It looks like it's speeding when standing still, which gives the impression of its function. The type first saw use in the Battle of Endor during the historical documentary Return of the Jedi, where its sleek lines differentiated it from its more pedestrian sibling. Its four wingtip mounted forward-facing cannons gave it more concentrated firepower, and the space between the blade-like forward panels gave the pilot a better view of his surroundings. It eschews shields and hyperspace capability to squeeze more speed out of its twin ion engines, which are also equipped with an autothruster to further enhance performance, which is why they are usually allotted to elite squadrons of experienced pilots. The Kit This is a reboxing by Carrera Revell of the Bandai kit, at least partly because the worldwide rights to making and marketing models of Star Wars subjects has been divided between them geographically, so Revell are being sensible and licensing the excellent kits from Bandai, who cut their teeth on Gundam kits of amazing complexity and detail, including co-moulding in various colours and plastic types on the same sprue, as well as being able to create detail that is almost beyond belief at small scales. The kit arrives in the same black Star Wars themed box as its Bandai equivalent, adding Revell product details and code on the sides by way of a sticker that blends with the box very well. Inside the box are four sprues in grey styrene, one in black, one in a lighter grey, a clear sprue, a transparent fluorescent yellow sprue, decal sheet, sticker sheet, and instruction booklet, which is pure Bandai as I happen to have an original release on my shelves. As already mentioned, the detail is exceptional for the scale, and the model can be built without glue or paint if you wish, having push-fit turrets and pegs, plus a stand with a small slice of the Death Star moulded into it, a pair of blaster cannon beams, and a detailed crew figure of what is my absolute favourite Star Wars uniform, the TIE Pilot from the original series. There is also a weird flat manakin figure on a small stand that is possibly there to give the model scale, although most people would probably have preferred a standing pilot for use in a diorama or vignette. Construction begins with the pilot, who has a pair of Imperial decals on his helmet, and is then glued (we’ll say that, even if you choose not to glue your model) to the seat back, and then the floor, which has the seat base and cushion moulded-in. A console and twin control grips are then fixed into holes in the floor, and you are advised to ensure that the pilot faces forward by a scrap diagram nearby. OK then? The upper interior surface of the cockpit rear is covered with several triangular decals that depict the flashing lights in the background of cockpit shots in the movies. The cockpit floor and pilot are inserted into the rear (facing front, remember!), and the ‘pit is enclosed by fitting the front wall after adding a few more decals that may be seen if you look in through the top hatch. A lower insert is clipped to the bottom of the newly minted assembly, taking care to orient it so the twin pins face the rear, as shown by the stylised “ that point out various features through the build. The cockpit assembly is quickly shrouded by the two hull halves, which have the ball structure and the mounts for the wings moulded-in, adding the clear top hatch and signature faceted windscreen part, both of which have decals or stickers to replicate the painted frames for those that don’t want to paint their model. Two little inserts are placed on the top supports, then the underside has a central cover fitted, plus a pair of cannon barrels, and a small part in the centre of the cover, making sure to align them correctly with the help of a scrap diagram that yells “CHECK!”. It’s a bit condescending, but the consequences of putting some of the parts in the wrong way around can be more annoying, so it’s worth paying attention. You have been WARNED! The cranked and elongated solar wings are started with the framework, to which a small black panel with a pair of holes is fitted, before the two large tapered panels are clipped onto the frame, and surrounded by the grey frames, which is a task that is done twice in mirror image, adding the cannons to the forward tips, and another pair of barrel-like protuberances on a carrier are fixed at the front of the cut-out in the centre. The hull is then mated with the wings to finish the basic model build, unless you wish to show your TIE Interceptor in a firing pose. This involves inserting a pair of adapters to the barrels of the cannons, then fixing the clear luminous yellow/green tapered “bolts” into the hole, although there are only two supplied, so you can’t depict a full salvo unless you buy two kits and use them all on one. There is a styrene stand included in most Star Wars kits from Bandai, which consists of a long arm that plugs into a section of boxy detail that resembles the surface of the Death Star. A two-part joint fits to the top of the support that allows movement of your model in all directions, which is slotted into the exhaust exit by using another adaptor part that has a hole in the bottom to accept the peg at the top of the universal joint. There is also a clip included on the sprue that permits you to link several bases together at any of the four sides, which all have corresponding recesses moulded into them. This clip-together facility extends to their figure kits too, although you’d have to be sure there is enough space between them so it doesn’t look too crowded. Markings There is one set of markings for your Interceptor, which is a generic scheme that can be applied to any model, and the markings are supplied as both decals and stickers. Decals Stickers The decals are quite leathery from experience, so make sure you have plenty of strong decal softening solution ready. It may be that you replace some of the decals with paint if you feel that would be easier or more accurate. Conclusion The detail present on this kit is excellent, and being able to build it without glue should appeal to a wider audience, as will the option of stickers, which seem to have been aimed toward kids or absolute novice builders. The design of the ship is appealing, and as landing gear was a sore-point with TIE fighters of all sorts until relatively recently, the stand is a useful addition, as well as taking up less cabinet space. Very highly recommended. Carrera Revell model kits are available from all good toy and model retailers. For further information visit or

Imperial Shuttle Tydirium (05657) 1:106 Carrera Revell Star Wars. If you’ve never heard of it, you must have been stuck behind a wardrobe for the last 40 plus years, so go and catch up while we all roll our eyes at you. The original trilogy of films was a ground-breaking trio of films that combined fun story-telling with leading-edge special effects, and most importantly, a great range of characters on both sides of the good/bad divide. By the time the third film of the trilogy, Return of the Jedi reached the screen, the marketing machine was well-and-truly up and running, and many new ships and characters were shown on screen for the first time. One such ship was the shuttle Tydirium, a Lambda-class T-4a shuttle that was stolen from the Empire by some enterprising and brave scallywags, to be used to breach the security at the perimeter of the exclusion zone around the planet Endor, where the new-and-improved Death Star 2.0 was being built. The immortal words “It’s an older code, but it checks out” were uttered, and Chewie ‘flew casually’ down to Endor to commence their operation to destroy the shield generator that was confusingly installed on the planet, protecting a fully operational battle-station that would have presumably had its own shield generators like the first one did before they had to claim on the warranty. Anyway, it’s best not to think too hard about any of the Star Wars stories, and just enjoy them for the fun, innocent hokum that they are, or were. Another shuttle was seen landing, or taking off from a platform as Luke hands himself over to his dad’s tender mercies, showing off its folding wings as it does – a series of design cues that have been continued in other similar shuttles and ships in the Star Wars universe. The Kit This is a re-release of a kit that was first tooled in 2006, and is quite a bit smaller than the original kit from another manufacturer that appeared around the time of the film’s original release. It is moulded in a peculiar scale of 1:106, as has been Revell’s habit for many of their Star Wars offerings, and this kit was initially an EasyKit, with push-fit location turrets and pegs still visible on the insides of the parts. The kit arrives in a shallow end-opening box with the usual black theme and all the standard Star Wars logos, plus a badge that marks this as a 40th Anniversary of Return of the Jedi (RoJ) release. Inside are eight sprues in a chewing-gum white styrene that could be left unpainted by a novice to depict that off-white shade that is typical of original trilogy ships, a clear sprue containing the windscreen, and in my example at least, two sprues of vinyl crew figures consisting of a Stormtrooper and Imperial Officer figure in seated positions. A decal sheet and instruction booklet complete the model side of thing, but there are also six thumb-pots of acrylic paint in various shades from white through various greys to black in the box, plus a #2 paint brush and a small bottle of Revell Contacta Professional model glue, with a fine applicator for precision gluing. I made the mistake of dropping the black pot of paint, which caused the lid to come adrift briefly due to the impact, scattering a small amount of thick paint everywhere. We all know that a little liquid goes a long way, so don’t do that. Detail is pretty good considering the model’s original intent, and apart from the windscreen being transparent rather than darkened, it looks like a Lambda Class shuttle, although there is some conjecture about the size and shape of the “head” of the shuttle, as the model and the full-size studio replica had differing dimensions for whatever reasons, and that has been picked up upon by the purists. This boxing includes a poster that is rolled up into a narrow tube within the box and held in place by an elastic band, which left the poster rather curled up. Rather than show a photo of an extremely curled up poster, we refer you to the photo on the front of the box, which shows many of the main characters in front of an exploding Death Star that has the logo beneath the faces, and “Return to a Galaxy Far Far Away” at the top of the poster in a non-canon serif font. Construction begins with the vertical fin, which is in two halves and the instructions would have you paint the inner lips of the halves black, which is at variance with any photos of the filming miniatures, and is probably to hide the fact that there are no greeblies (small and meaningless details) moulded into the recess between the skins, so whether you do this or stick some tiny bits of styrene into the space to detail it, is entirely up to you. The exterior has raised panels that can be painted a darker grey, or you could use the decals that are provided instead. The same process happens with the wings, although these have no gaps between the skins, so no black paint is needed. The wings are cranked, and at the forward root there is a blaster in a hemispherical turret, one gun per side of the wing, making up a pair. Each wing has a pair push-fitted through a hole, and they should remain mobile if paint or glue doesn’t intervene. The lower hull is a flat panel with curved sides that also has slots for the wing hinges cut into these curves. It has main gear bay depressions moulded into it, although there are no details within other than a hexagonal hole in a rectangular depression, into which the two-part landing legs fit along with their flat landing pads, adding bay doors forward and aft of the bay. If you are posing the model in flight however, closed bay doors are also supplied. The rear bulkhead is inserted into a space inside the back of the lower hull, and you are told to add 20g of weight to balance the model so that it doesn’t topple forward, and apply the white decals with blue surrounds into the depressions for the engine exhausts, to give the impression of hot plasma glaring from the apertures. The top of the fuselage has the same curved sides and cut-outs for the hinges, with a raised area in the centre that supports the fin and gives the people in the rear compartment room to stand up straight. A front bulkhead is inserted after placing the fixed twin blasters on pegs in the upper, then the upper hull is glued over the lower, mounting the wings in their slots as you do, leaving the glue to dry thoroughly before trying to pivot the wings, to avoid putting unnecessary stress on the hull. The nose and crew cab is next, starting with the neck that has the cockpit moulded into the front, and detailed instructions are given on painting this single-part moulding to add a little life to it. The neck is mated with the underside, and the upper portion with glazing clipped into position is brought down to complete the nose. As already mentioned, the windscreen is a glossy black in the movie to hide the interior, and you are incited to paint the inside of the part black, applying grey frame decals to the sides, unless you intend painting them instead. You could instead add layers of a clear smoke colour to the inside that could be left translucent to show an impression of the detail of the cockpit within, especially if you intend using the two figures, which have their own painting guides from various angles. Finally, the nose and fin are joined to the hull to complete the model of one of my favourite Star Wars ships. Markings There was only one Tydirium and that is Star Wars grey, therefore most of the decals are supplied to avoid painting the accent panels that add some visual interest and alleviate the monotony of a white ship, but there are some provided to detail the crew figures, a dashboard decal, plus the two engine and window frame decals that we already discussed. Decals are by Cartograf, which is a guarantee of good registration, sharpness and colour density, with a thin matt carrier film cut close to the printed areas. Conclusion It’s not a highly detailed studio quality replica, but it’s a decent rendition of this appealing space craft, and a little more shelf-friendly than the other mainstream kit of the type, which is now a long time out of production. Recommended. Carrera Revell model kits are available from all good toy and model retailers. For further information visit or

Hi all. This ship from the Star Wars saga first appeared in the Return of the Jedi movie. It appears very briefly, at the moment before the attack on the 2nd Death Star, spreading its wings to the combat position. It is a heavy fighter equipped with various types and powerful cannons and that was expected to have more prominence in the development of the final battle, but due to the thinness of its fuselage and wings, there were problems with the Chroma process during the post-production of the special effects and their scenes were removed. It also appears at the end of the last movie in the galactic saga but I have not managed to see it. This time I am going to start the model the cockpit, which I have painted with various gray tones of Vallejo MC except for the metallic part for which I have used Alclad Aluminum, having as a base color the Neutral Gray of this Vallejo. I have highlighted details using oil and used Vallejo matte varnish for the final finish of the instrument panels and satin varnish, also from Vallejo, for the metallic area. Andrés S.

This is the 1990 re-box of the original tooling released by MPC in 1983. No extra's added to the kit, it's just been done as a fun build and to get a bit more airbrush practice in (my third kit by airbrushing). The front inner cockpit surround was scratch-built from scraps as it was missing from the kit; it's not an exact replica of the missing part, but for what little you can see of it, it'll do the trick for the purpose of my shelf anyway! Painted with Tamiya acrylics, with X-35 satin gloss clear coat. Panel weathering/shadows using Citadel Miniatures 'Nuln Oil'. Display stand done using Halfords satin black car paint. As always, comments and suggestions welcome! 😎👍 Cheers!

Well, I started building this resin kit back in 2015; I managed to get the bulk of the kit together and painted. It was an easy enough build but before I could call it done I really wanted it in a diorama. In Return of the Jedi, the opening scene shows Darth Vaders Shuttle leaving the Imperial Star Destroyer and heading for the 2nd under construction Death Star. The diorama I wanted to create was the docking bay that Darth's shuttle arrives in. Now this was going to be a challenge, so the model sat on the shelf of doom until the end of last year. Modern LED lighting technology has now made it possible for me to finally get this diorama built. So I set about looking for a suitable base, it had to be tall enough to accommodate the shuttle and long enough to recreate the force field entrance. I had an old freezer box tray that I opened up the rear and glued an empty ice cream tub to the rear. This would serve as the hanger bay entrance. Lots of scratch building over the past few months have got me to the present position in the build. I ordered twelve 1/144 Storm Troopers and a tiny Star Destroyer from Shapeways 3D printing company. I wanted to give a force perspective to the diorama. Hopefully I will get this diorama finished before the end of this month, "The Force is with me, and I am one with the Force”

OOB, except for the LEDs, of course.

Hi folks, Thought I'd get this party started at least so it's here when I have the time to get the build going. This is the MPC Snap kit of the Return of the Jedi B-Wing Fighter. I finally managed to track down a kit at a reasonable price, but was amazed at how small it is. Definitely a "box scale" kit . Anyway, here's a photo of the box and its contents taken this afternoon: This is the condition in which it arrived - no paint, no glue, but some parts off their trees. As it was a sealed box, I'm going assume that rattling around in its journeys caused the parts to leave their homes and start wandering. I intend lighting this, as it's simply a case of lights at the front of the wing-fold mechanisms, cockpit lighting, and of course engines. As it's so small, the LEDs will have to go into the locations of the lights, rather than trying to bend fibre-optic cable, or creating perspex light-guides. It's just not worth the hassle . I have a bag of about 100 warm white 3mm LEDs, some of which I shall use for this - any colouring will be done using Tamiya transparent paint, but otherwise the warm-white colour is much more in line with the incandescent bulbs used in the filming models. Power will be supplied externally at 6V, and stepped down to "bugger-all current" by various resistors... so that the lights don't overpower the model. This means I'll have to devise another stand to hold the batteries, battery holder, on-off switch and the wiring leading to the model. I have some planning to do . Although it's possible to articulate the model (it's designed to allow the wings to fold, and the cockpit rotate), I'm not sure yet about how to hack the cockpit section around to allow the wiring through and still allow it to rotate. We'll see. Anyway, there it is! I'm looking forward to this, and hope to make a start in the next few days.