1/43 X-Wing

[Raven Morpheus]

Hey all

To cheer myself up after going to see, on the UK opening day, the not very good new Star Wars film, and because I've had it in my stash for a while now, I thought I'd make a start on my AMT/ERTL/MPC 1/43 X-Wing.

I have the flight display version -

https://www.scalemates.com/kits/114922-amt-ertl-8788-incom-corporation-t-65-x-wing

http://www.starwarsmodels.com/xwingfd.html

And I have a lighting kit which was very kindly sold to me by our fellow member Madmonk.

My references so far are various internet sources (mostly of the Bandai and Finemolds kits because everyone seems to build and blog about them) but I have come across this blog with what I am led to believe is pics of the actual RoTJ MPC ILM built model - http://www.phoxim.de/uwe_fischer_xwing/uwe_fischer_xwing1.html

The kit doesn't come with a pilot, there's no mention of it in the instructions. Which is probably a blessing as the one in the other AMT/ERTL/MPC kits is very very poor. I was going to go without the clear parts on the canopy, as per original filming models, but as the cockpit is poor, much poorer than I expected, I will be using those parts and making the cockpit glass "smoked" so that you can't see inside (and I'm sure I've seen scenes in the films where the full size hangar models appear to have blacked out glass in the canpioes), thus I've only used the LEDs from Madmonk's kit for the engines.

It's a shame there isn't any aftermarket parts for this kit, such as cockpit and/or pilot (at least none still available) but cockpit and pilot aside I think this is a decent kit, not quite as good as the AMT/ERTL/MPC 1/51 TIE Fighter kit though, but I wanted an X-Wing and I've got an X-Wing (and it cost less than a Fine Molds or Bandai 1/48 X-Wing)!

I think I may have made an error in assembly so far though, as I've glued the "tub" in before putting in the rear canopy glass, doh!!, I'm hoping I can squeeze the clear piece in without ungluing the cockpit "tub".

I had to glue the S-foils in the open position as they were not a very good fit in the closed position and also didn't seem to be as open as they should be unless I held them open...

I plan on spraying the model black overall (probably Vallejo Model Air black surface primer), then I'll apply a coat of 50/50 Tamiya XF55 Deck Tan and XF2 White (or is it XF1?) for the main colour, as per how the studio supposedly painted their models (although they used Floquil Reefer White). No idea how to do the markings (probably Red 5, yawn) other than masking them off, as I'm not sure of the quality of the decals that came with the kit.

Here's a few pics of progress so far, not much I must admit, even though I've spent the past 4 afternoons doing this - I was hoping this would be a quick one day (two afternoons) build and then I could get down to painting the model. Also note that the first two pics don't have the lights on.

The R2 unit is my switch, I just press him down to turn the lights on or off, the CR2032 battery pack and the wire connectors are all stuffed in the back.

Any comments, tips, advice etc. are welcome.

Edited January 3, 2016 by Raven Morpheus

[HOUSTON]

I cant advise you on anything but it

Looks STUNNING from here.

[Thom216]

Looking great! Like the engine effect.

[gunpowder17]

Looking really good so far. That old kit is still a great one.

[Raven Morpheus]

So, made a little progress on this...

It's looking OK so far I think. I want to do a panel line wash but don't really know where to start, especially as there aren't that many panel lines and some of the panel lines already appear to be shaded due to having under-coated the model in black and then sprayed the "reefer white" (50/50 mix of Tamiya Deck Tan and White) over the top of that. Or maybe it's just because they're deep and the light is poor in my kitchen this morning?!

Not at all happy with the kit decals though, but they are circa. 20 years old! The side decals especially are poor, they look like vinyl stickers! I would have been better masking the areas where the red markings go and painting them on, except I don't seem to have any red...

The canopy fit was terrible also, I should have made that fit better/puttied the gaps, before painting the main body.

I'd like to do some weathering, but I have no idea where or how to start with that either.

Still some parts to attach but it's nearly finished...

Edited March 27, 2016 by Raven Morpheus

[Hunter Rose]

If the panel lines are not great I'd use pigments instead of a wash, brushing a vary dark brown (like mig graveyard dirt) around all edges. Beauty of that technique is its shading and weathering all in one.

Also you can add some paint chips with a fine sponge.

Just a couple of suggestions, maybe look up some other x wing wips for more kit specific tips

[jake the snake]

Its not a bad kit. Ive built 4 or so in my time. Your doing great so far. Love the lighting.

[RussellE]

Just found this thread, Raven: Looks great so far.

I too have this kit in the stash. Actually it's been there about 20years-just never got around to building it. Was wondering if you could provide some insight as to how you went about lighting the engines?

One thing that I had been thinking about recently was using the AMT/Ertl as a basis to build a 1/24 version-but where to put it?

BTW, I didn't rate the new so-called "Star wars" movie at all, either

[Raven Morpheus]

@RussellE - The lighting for the engines is done with 4 CR2032 battery powered LEDs in a circuit kindly sold to me by our fellow member Madmonk. The switch is under where R2 sits. I just dremeled out some of the superstructure inside the back of the fuselage to make way for the little circuit board and battery holder and fed the wires through into the wings and into the engines. The back plate actually isn't glued, it just pops out with a little encouragement from a craft knife blade so that I can pull the battery holder out to change batteries.

[Raven Morpheus]

Moved to RFI...

[fullmetalpancake]

Great idea using the R2 as a switch.
Have you considered using magnets to hold the back plate on for battery changes?

[Raven Morpheus]

Great idea using the R2 as a switch.

Have you considered using magnets to hold the back plate on for battery changes?

No need. The backplate is tight enough that it fit in without anything to secure it. To get it off requires a little encouragement with a knife blade.