Bandai Snowspeeder

[Andy Moore]

Thanks guys

Are you going to be going for a standard colour scheme or an expanded universe scheme?

A standard scheme for this build. The kit has markings for Luke's grey stripe speeder but I'll probably do it as a red stripe one. An EU scheme would be nice though, I might pick another one up in the future and try that

Andy

[Rich G]

Thanks guys

A standard scheme for this build. The kit has markings for Luke's grey stripe speeder but I'll probably do it as a red stripe one. An EU scheme would be nice though, I might pick another one up in the future and try that

Andy

Good choice, everyone would have to have Luke's on their shelf!

I always wondered why they were referred to as Snowspeeders, it's not like they wouldn't be able to fly anywhere else, and if I recall they had trouble adapting them to the cold on Hoth? So it would seem that they are just speeders, they could have been deployed on desert planets or jungle planets too

Rich

[Madhatter]

I don't know why I keep coming back to look at this when I just leave it feeling envious of your painting skills

Seriously great - and very realistic - work Andy

[Pete in Lincs]

Colour me impressed. And green with envy!

Desert speeder? Now there's an idea!

It's always bothered me, the harpoon was great

for dealing with the AT AT but what was it's

original purpose?

[Andy Moore]

Desert speeder? Now there's an idea!

It's always bothered me, the harpoon was great

for dealing with the AT AT but what was it's

original purpose?

It's always bugged me too. How convenient that it came equipped with the one weapon that would take down an AT-AT. Actually, I think I did read somewhere that they were used for cargo handling, although why you'd want to spear a cargo container with a harpoon, I've no idea.

A desert one does sound good. Or maybe a display team. I guess these would be the equivalent of a Hawk.

Andy

[Blastvader]

That's bloody fantastic that is! I've got to ask though, how did you get some of those blends with acrylics? As that's something I've only ever been able to achieve with oils.

Great idea with the stillage by the way. I've also just received my Snowspeeder and also want to have it in a workshop setting but cannot for the life of me work out how they landed the things. I've got to think it has some kind of repulsorlift system like some of the other Incom Airspeeders (T-16 etc) and as such probably just has some stub legs that deploy to protect the superstructure. I'll have to look in to it a bit further but the method of propulsion seems feasible as you never see any of them at any great height.

It's always bugged me too. How convenient that it came equipped with the one weapon that would take down an AT-AT. Actually, I think I did read somewhere that they were used for cargo handling, although why you'd want to spear a cargo container with a harpoon, I've no idea.

A desert one does sound good. Or maybe a display team. I guess these would be the equivalent of a Hawk.

Andy

The 'Harpoon's magnetic though isn't it, it's not like a Star Wars version of Moby Dick. And Kenner were going to release a desert version (Sandspeeder) see:

[gruffy]

Colour me impressed. And green with envy!

Desert speeder? Now there's an idea!

It's always bothered me, the harpoon was great

for dealing with the AT AT but what was it's

original purpose?

To harpoon cargo containers in space ( not that I'm a Star Wars geek/ fanatic !) lol!

[Pete in Lincs]

So you have a flyer that can connect

to an object whilst in flight.

You'd better have a long cable,

If that object doesn't start moving, & quickly,

it is going to drag your flyer down!

I'll go for towing some sort of repulsor

equipped glider/cargo carrier.

[Andy Moore]

That's bloody fantastic that is! I've got to ask though, how did you get some of those blends with acrylics? As that's something I've only ever been able to achieve with oils.

Great idea with the stillage by the way. I've also just received my Snowspeeder and also want to have it in a workshop setting but cannot for the life of me work out how they landed the things. I've got to think it has some kind of repulsorlift system like some of the other Incom Airspeeders (T-16 etc) and as such probably just has some stub legs that deploy to protect the superstructure. I'll have to look in to it a bit further but the method of propulsion seems feasible as you never see any of them at any great height.

The blending was done by adding a drop of Vallejo Glaze Medium to the paint. It keeps the paint workable longer and gives it more of an oily consistency. You could do the same with flow retarder but I tend to find that retarder keeps the paints wet for too long. The glaze seems to have a better balance between working time and drying and blending seems easier with it too.

I was originally going to go with stub legs on this but in the end the cradle seemed like an easier option. I'd thought four, telescoping tubular legs, two front, two rear, either side of the cockpit section. The Kenner/Hasbro action figure version had a central nose leg but that wouldn't work on this as it'd retract into the forward cockpit.

Andy

[Blastvader]

I'll remember that Andy, cheers.

Does the glaze medium also break the surface tension in the same way as adding something like washing up liquid? Just as I don't see the usual acrylic tide marks one might normally expect.

[ScanmanDan]

The more I look at your cradle the more I like it. Simple but with enough detail to make it interesting without distracting from the real star of the show. ( Magic! )

Alternative paint schemes- I like the racer angle but if I were to go off script I'd think about a Black Ops/Stealth Night-Speeder. All metalicaly blue/black a la SR-71 or F-117.

Just a thought

Dan

Edited October 3, 2015 by ScanmanDan

[Madmonk]

Great work as always Andy.

I've always fancied doing the Snowspeeder as a display team vehicle, Red Arrows or Blue Angels!

[Andy Moore]

Thanks guys

Does the glaze medium also break the surface tension in the same way as adding something like washing up liquid? Just as I don't see the usual acrylic tide marks one might normally expect.

Probably not to the same extent as washing up liquid, but it gets rid of some of the tendency to leave tide marks. The paint doesn't pull back as it dries so any blending you do tends to stay as it it. It behaves more like an oil with the glaze added. Of course, there's nothing to stop you adding washing up liquid to it as well.

I'm still waiting for the seat harness to be delivered before I can button up the interior so I've just been detailing some of the external parts. The engine nozzles only have indentations on the ends so I've drilled those out (undrilled on the left)

Since this is meant to be a maintenance bay setting, I've decided to cut away one of the fuselage panels and add some pipework underneath. I'll add some more wiring/pipes before painting.

The base is also about ready for paint. I cut the aperture out because you can't have Star Wars without a health and safety defying hole in the floor. I've build a box to fit below it and added a couple of wheels left over from my Whippet build. I'm thinking of this as maybe being a power or refueling connection point. The wheel with the sand coloured bit on the top will have a length of cable coming from it, the other end of which I'll either attach to the bottom of the speeder or leave laid out on the floor. The other detail bits at the right side could be another power unit or maybe a vent system.

The base will be sprayed grey, then different panels masked off and sprayed in lighter and darker shades along with some lines/markings on the floor, maybe some hazard stripes or some Aurebesh numbers. I'm going to leave the forward part of the gun off the speeder on the side with the removed access panel so I might have that on the ground or on a low trolley. I did think about picking up Hasegawa's 1/48 deck crew set but they'd need a lot of work to make them look like rebel ground crew, plus they're a bit too action posed for this setting. I don't want to add so much stuff on the base that the focus goes from the speeder so I'm going to leave it as it is for now and see if it needs anymore when it's all done.

Andy

[Nigel Heath]

Excellent work, I am really looking forward to the base coming together and probably learning a whole load in the process.

[Gimme Shelter]

It just carries on getting more and more fun to watch being built

Tip top

[Andy Moore]

I got some primer on the base last night. It was deliberately patchy to act as a bit of a pre-shade (although most of it got covered anyway). there was just enough to give a key to the following paint layers

Then tonight I've started to get the various panel effects on. This started with an overall mottled coat of mid grey, after which I mixed a lighter tone, masked off some large sections and gave them another mottled coat

I gave all this an hour or so to dry, then started masking off smaller sections and spraying them in lighter and darker greys. All this was done with Tamiya and Gunze paints thinned with Self Leveling thinner which dries so fast that you can mask over it after a couple of minutes

The next step will be to add some lines and markings then some weathering, tyre marks, oil spills etc. then I'll paint the frame black. Hopefully the harness should turn up tomorrow and I'll be able to get some more done on the speeder.

Andy

[Dads203]

Very nice Andy, it's going to look great fella.

Regards

Dan

[Andy Moore]

Thanks Dan

A bit of late night masking. I decided to add some Aurebesh to the base. I printed out the letters and used this as a guide to cut a mask then sprayed it orange

More masking tomorrow

Andy

[Nigel Heath]

Blimey, that looks good but I would like a bit more explanation on how you achieved that lovely result. There seems to be all sorts of masking effects being used here.

[FZ6]

The base and maintenance trolley look fantastic. I love the masking effects for painting and in true Star Wars model making fashion you've detailed the base with parts from other kits. Keep up the good work.

Mark

[Andy Moore]

Thanks Mark, yes you've got to have some kit bashing for a Star Wars build.

Thanks Nigel, to be honest, there's nothing much here but straight masking and spraying. I guess the trick, if there is one, is to keep layering and overlapping the masked panels (and to keep everything square, which is the biggest headache). Some of it was done with masking tape while other bits, like the chunky 'L' shape under the letters and around the hole, were done by cutting the shape out of a piece of paper and simply placing it on the base and spraying.

All the panels were sprayed quite lightly to allow any shading and tonal variation from the previous layers to show through. I could have really gone overboard and done a lot of subtle shading and panel effects but you've got to balance it against the look of the final piece. I don't think any further work would have enhanced the base more, and it would probably have looked to busy.

I've started to add some line markings to the base. I hate doing this as it's so hard to keep the lines straight and with an even width. An easier option would have been to spray the line colour first then mask of the lines before painting the rest of the base. I didn't do it that way because I wasn't sure where the lines were going and I prefer the lines on top of the base which is how they'd be in reality. That way I can also lightly sand them back to show wear.

So the first step was to mark out the position of the lines with 3mm Tamiya tape, then place the masking tape up to those lines

When everything was masked, I removed the Tamiya tape leaving the lines ready for spraying

The lines were going to be yellow but I needed to start with a base layer of white

After which the yellow was added

Then the masking was removed. I'll be adding some more lines at the front of the base but they'll be white

I might also put a thin border around the hole and the control panel, possibly in red or in a yellow/black hazard stripe. It all look a bit vivid at the moment but when all the painting is done I'll tone it down with a dusty over-spray and some weathering.

Andy

[Will Vale]

Looking great, I managed to miss the first interior pics on Facebook so glad I found them here. I really like the base thus far, my only suggestion is that maybe the concrete could do with some non-airbrushed (stippled, sponged, scratched?) paint to add a bit of high frequency detail?

Will

[Nigel Heath]

and maybe some oil stains (would these high tech machines leak oil?). They have to need lubrication though so a bit of spillage is inevitable.

[Andy Moore]

Looking great, I managed to miss the first interior pics on Facebook so glad I found them here. I really like the base thus far, my only suggestion is that maybe the concrete could do with some non-airbrushed (stippled, sponged, scratched?) paint to add a bit of high frequency detail?

Will

Thanks Will. You're right, it does need some finer "noise" added, it's a bit "soft focus" at the moment. It's meant to be more of a metal plate than concrete, in fact I was originally going to base it with Alclad then mist the panels on in greys to tone down the metallic. That would probably have given it more fine detail. I'll probably try sponging on some Vallejo washes before the main weathering which should break up the surface a little more. I have in the past thought about printing bases but my printer's not really up to it and there's always the worry of it fading over time.

and maybe some oil stains (would these high tech machines leak oil?). They have to need lubrication though so a bit of spillage is inevitable.

Thanks Nigel, yes, there will be some fuel/oil stains and general scuffs and scrapes added at the end

[Despy]

This is a work of passion. I admire the creativity and workmanship here. Just perfect.

BTW I never paid attention to Aurebesh before and was not aware there was an alphabet. Maintenance area "A2" is a good touch.