Resistance T-70 X-Wing

[Andy Moore]

T-70 X-Wing Fighter

Bandai 1/72

I ordered this from an ebay seller a few weeks ago, and it's just turned up. It'll be a slow burn build as I'll be fitting work on it around other projects, but I'll put up some sprue shots so you can see what's to come. It's not giving too much away to say that it's easily up to the high standards of Bandai's earlier releases.

There's only three sprues for the T-70, plus a forth for the base. Everything's exceptionally crisp and sharp with some incredibly fine detail on some of the parts. Sprue A has most of the fuselage parts, and is the one sprue that's moulded in multiple colours (that's one of the small niggles with this kit, which I'll get on to later). You also get the pilots and BB-8. One point to note, like the X-Wing (and most SW fighter, really) it's surprisingly small. The main fuselage section is about 12.5cm, which will go up to around 15.5 with the nose attached. To put that in context, it's just slightly longer than a Mig-15. I think, because of the elongated profile, it looks larger on screen. Wingspan's about 15cm.

Sprue B has the wing parts.This has a slightly different set-up to the original X-Wing in that the split is down the centreline of the wing so that, when opened, the leading edge drops down and the trailing edge moves up. The parts are moulded with an opposing upper and lower wing on each half, the two halves just push together and remain posable.

Sprue C is moulded in a silver grey which is a bit swirly in places, but the detail is still very sharp. This has got the landing gear, the alternate canopy frame, BB-8's compartment and a few engine details.

The last sprue is the base. This is essentially the same basic base that comes with all these kits, in this case with a sand dune texture/colour.

Wing close up

Inner wing detail panels

Upper fuselage

Fuselage side panels. This is where I have a bit of an issue with Bandai's policy of moulding parts in colour. The blue stripe that runs down the side is moulded as a separate piece, meaning it can be installed without painting should you wish. The problem come from the fact that the other blue sections, such as the dashes on the wings, only come as decals so, since you'll have to use the decals or paint the remaining blue sections, it makes the inclusion of the moulded blue parts somewhat redundant. If the blue sections hadn't been included, the whole of the side section could have been done as a single piece.

Cockpit parts. There's some nice raised detail here, best painted, as the included instrument panel decals aren't great

The pilots are probably Bandai's best yet. No funny, extended arms here (the one on the left isn't a dwarf, he's just sitting down)

And, of course, you get a mini BB-8

Those big split engine intakes are very well done with very deeply moulded detail

The split canopy is moulded in clear. There's a couple of flow marks in it which I've found in some of Bandai's other clear parts. It's not quite as prominent as it looks in the photo. You also get a slightly pointless glassless canopy frame, should you wish to pretend they fly around in space with no windows.

You get the usual Bandai choice of stickers or decals

Some are well printed, some aren't. If you look at the silver decal for the canopy frame, you can see that they can print a decent solid colour, so why then do they print some in a dot pattern that looks awful. Hence the reason it's best to paint the cockpit detail.

BB-8's marking are also a bit pixely, so I might try painting those too

These are the decals for the leading edge of the engine intakes, and if you want to paint the silver and blue parts rather than use them, Bandai do provide the small detail markings separately, albeit not enough, you get four of the blue diagonal marks when you would need eight. You do get enough of the little white triangles though

This may not be a problem for me though, as I might not be doing this scheme. For any that don't know, the design of the T-70 was heavily influenced by the original X-Wing concept art by Ralph McQuarrie, and I think it might be fun to paint it up in the colours from his illustration

Andy

Edited November 18, 2015 by AndyRM101

[Madmonk]

Had one of these arrive today along with the Falcon, another great kit from Bandai.

Looking forward to seeing what you do with it, the concept scheme looks interesting.

[pogursasha]

Wow, that's really nice. Looks like a big improvement on the cockpit detail.

Can't wait for your WIP, I always enjoy those.

[Will Vale]

Lovely photos, I really like the lighting. The head on view into the intakes looks like an ambient light render, it's so clean.

I think the glass-less canopy is for people who want the look of a studio miniature - I think they had empty frames to avoid getting inconvenient reflections or glare from the transparencies. I'm not entirely sure why that's a desirable feature in a model, I guess it's just a preference.

Will

[Andy Moore]

Had one of these arrive today along with the Falcon, another great kit from Bandai.

Thanks Warren. I haven't bit the bullet on the Falcon yet. I'm waiting to see what others do with it first (and also to see if the Revell/FM one becomes anything close to affordable)

Wow, that's really nice. Looks like a big improvement on the cockpit detail.

Can't wait for your WIP, I always enjoy those.

It is very nice, the cockpit detail is excellent, if you stick to the moulded detail and avoid the decals

Lovely photos, I really like the lighting. The head on view into the intakes looks like an ambient light render, it's so clean.

I think the glass-less canopy is for people who want the look of a studio miniature - I think they had empty frames to avoid getting inconvenient reflections or glare from the transparencies. I'm not entirely sure why that's a desirable feature in a model, I guess it's just a preference.

Will

Thanks Will. You should have seen some of the things Flickr thought they were, with their predictive tag thing. They tagged the engine shot, and others, as abstract and surreal, BB-8 was tagged as sports, as they thought he was a football and the silver sprue C was tagged as a guitar

Bandai have included open canopy frames with all their OT models to replicate the studio models which, like you say, didn't have glazing to avoid reflections while filming, but it never really made sense to me to build the kits that way. It is just personal preference. It depends on whether you want to make a model of a model (i.e. the studio miniature), or whether you want to make a model of what the original model represented (i.e. the "theoretical" real thing)

In the case of the T-70 though, as far as I know, it's only existed as a full scale prop, which would have been glazed, and a digital model, which would have "digital" glazing. I guess it's nice that they've provided the option though.

Andy

[Madmonk]

I find the glazing to be a bit thick and can make the interiors difficult to see. It's a bit more time consuming but have used OHP slides to replicate the glazing.

[Andy Moore]

I find the glazing to be a bit thick and can make the interiors difficult to see. It's a bit more time consuming but have used OHP slides to replicate the glazing.

Yes, that's a good point Warren. The open frames do at least allow you to add your own glazing

Andy

[ScootyPuffJunior]

In the case of the T-70 though, as far as I know, it's only existed as a full scale prop, which would have been glazed, and a digital model, which would have "digital" glazing. I guess it's nice that they've provided the option though.

There was a model of the ship on display along with other props at Star Wars Celebration over the summer and it did not feature glazing.

I typically use the glazed canopies because I like making the ship appear "real," but I've done a few without just for expediency's sake.

[Andy Moore]

I've started getting the wings together. So far, it's been the usual Bandai super-engineering on everything, but with one small exception. The four panels that attach to the wings clip over two lugs, which then leave two points that will need filling. It's not really a big deal, but Bandai have usually hidden connections like this on the previous kits. Still, when they're filled, it should be fine and, as they're on the underside, they aren't that noticeable anyway

the rest of the wings fell together with no issues. I used glue here and there, just to make sure parts held, but it's not really necessary. About 40 minutes work got both wing halves together. The intakes and nozzles are just loosely attached at the moment, as I'll remove them for painting

The cockpit's up next, and the pilot too, as I'll be doing this one in flight.

Andy

[ScootyPuffJunior]

This ship really is a thing a beauty and I can't wait to see what you do with it.

I have one as well and it's on the short list of potential future projects.

[Madmonk]

Good to see it is as well engineered as the other kits, the wings shouldn't be too difficult to sort.

When I get round to mine l'm thinking of trying to light it up and display it as seen in the trailers flying just above water.

By the way Andy, CultTVman has the Revell/FM 1/72 Falcon on Preorder at $240USD, about £165 then you will have the carriage charge as well as the import duty to pay so expect it will be about £250 tags it is only available in USA.

[theanorak73]

it's suprising to see how much of the new star wars stuff is based on old non-used designs from the origional films. i don't have all the books anymore but im sure the girl in the new films looks just like an old concept drawing for luke skywalker !!!!

[Thom216]

Very neat. Makes we want to pull mine off the ToDoShelf.

[Andy Moore]

Thanks guys

By the way Andy, CultTVman has the Revell/FM 1/72 Falcon on Preorder at $240USD, about £165 then you will have the carriage charge as well as the import duty to pay so expect it will be about £250 tags it is only available in USA.

I'm passing on it, unless they do officially release it in Europe. Something around £150 I could (just about) live with, but I can't justify more than that on one model (even if it is the Falcon). I guess there's an outside chance that Bandai may scale theirs up, but I won't hold my breath.

it's suprising to see how much of the new star wars stuff is based on old non-used designs from the origional films. i don't have all the books anymore but im sure the girl in the new films looks just like an old concept drawing for luke skywalker !!!!

I'm sure that was the idea with Rey. Luke was a girl at one point in the development of Star Wars, so I guess they're resurrecting that idea for the new film. Speaking of which, I'm really hoping that Bandai will release Rey's speeder. It's a brilliant design, and looks like it's come strait out of the original trilogy.

Finally got a bit of progress on this. The cockpit is done, so I can start getting it all together. The cockpit's had a very basic paint job, as I don't think you'll see that much through the canopy. The pilots been painted more along the lines of the original orange X-Wing flightsuit, rather than the redder version from the new film. The rest of the cockpit was painted black, followed by a heavy dry-brush, then a few individual buttons picked out. The display screen's done with Tamiya clear green

Andy

[Dads203]

Very nice paintwork Andy, another stunner in the making fella.

Dan

[noelbarnes]

This is looking great Andy. I am working on the Revell 1/50 version at the moment. The Bandai has the edge on detail, but the cockpit is much the same. Really looking forward to seeing your completed.

[Nigel Heath]

Brilliant introduction, that's a good product review in its own right. You "basic" paint job on the cockpit would put many other's best efforts to shame. Great start and looking forward to tagging along for the ride.

Nigel

[Will Vale]

Nice edge highlights! I agree about Rey's speeder, that would be a cracking kit, especially if they do it in the figure scale.

Will

[Hunter Rose]

Nice paint! Looking good Andy

[PhantomMajor]

thats some amazing work you have done there, i have a copy of that kit waiting to be built, so i'm following this with interest!

[Andy Moore]

Thanks guys

I'm up to my neck in work at the moment, but hopefully I'll get the fuselage together soon and get some paint on

Andy

[theanorak73]

may i ask what paint you use for your " paint chiping". looked excelent on the scout walker and snow speeder. seems to be a gun metal colour. and is there any particular way to apply it ????

[Hugh Jampton]

Great work so far Andy, as mentioned previously the paintwork is fantastic.

Are you painting the T-70 as the guide or will you be waiting for the film to see if there are any variants? If you can wait that long.

Regards

John

[Andy Moore]

may i ask what paint you use for your " paint chiping". looked excelent on the scout walker and snow speeder. seems to be a gun metal colour. and is there any particular way to apply it ????

For chipping, I mainly use either Vallejo German Camo Black Brown, which is best for a dark rusty steel look, or Vallejo Dark Rubber (or any dark grey, really) which gives a less rusty effect. I don't normally use metallics for chipping, but I sometimes rub over the corners with a metal pigment to give them a bit of a sheen. I think I used Dark Rubber on the AT-ST and a paler grey on the Speeder.

I usually either apply the chips with a sponge, or paint them on with a fine brush. If I sponge them on, I'll usually add some brush work too, to tie the smaller chips together.

Great work so far Andy, as mentioned previously the paintwork is fantastic.

Are you painting the T-70 as the guide or will you be waiting for the film to see if there are any variants? If you can wait that long.

Regards

John

Thanks John. I'm not actually going to do the film version at all. Since the design was based on an early Ralph McQuarrie concept painting for the original X-Wing, I thought I'd try to replicate the colours and markings from his illustration (or something similar, at least)

Right, where were we

The cockpit's done so I've got the fuselage together, apart from the upper section. I want to get some primer on the parts before I get the upper and lower parts together, mainly to cover up the blue plastic. There's a lot of unnecessary parts to make up the fuselage sides, which result in a lot of joints. Fortunately everything lines up fine, but it would have been easier to mould it all as one and add the blue stripes as decals. I do like the way the little lugs on the silver block under the seat poke through the side fairings to form the guns

The wings are done and base coated. I'd bought some Vallejo White Grey a while ago, which I'd intended to use as a base coat for the Y-Wing and the regular X-Wing, so I thought I'd try it for this. The colour in the illustration is probably meant to be white but I didn't want it to end up looking too stark so I thought the white grey would suit. However, when I poured some out, it seemed, to my eyes, to have a blue tint to it, which wasn't what I wanted, so I mixed a few drops of Aged White into it, which warmed it up a bit.

It looks almost like it has a green tint in the photos, but it's more neutral to warm in reality. I don't know yet how I'm going to give it any contrast. In the painting, it's pretty clean and unweathered, and I want to keep that look. I don't really want to use a wash as I think the result will be to exaggerated. I'll probably try masking off some panels and spraying a slightly different tone. I'm not sure either about any dashes on the wings. You can't tell if there's any from the painting, but the wings might look a bit plain without them. The film T-70 has clearly used the bands in front of the cockpit (albeit in blue). I might try to integrate the vertical dark grey/white bands on the wing. I'll do some mock ups on the computer and see what looks best.

Andy

[Thom216]

That's gonna look pretty in the original livery!

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