Wonky Donkey Posted August 10, 2019 Share Posted August 10, 2019 Hi all I'm a little late getting organised cos I've got a couple of other builds on the bench... However, I'm sorting myself out a bit now... In 1977, star wars hit the big screens. Obviously I don't remember it first time round but I'm a pretty big fan, as are my boys. All the ships /vehicles are pretty iconic but there's one that stands out... So I'm building Bandai's X-wing. There's hundreds of build threads for this kit or variants of it, in the space/sci-fi section, most of them expertly done, but I've never built any space/sci-fi kits so it's a first for me. I'll do the Skywalker/R2-D2 version 'cos my kids wouldn't forgive me if I don't. Just in case you're from a galaxy far far away, this is it: Th sprues are moulded in multiple colours - which would be good to see from some other companies too. This one has four including clear.. You get your own section of Death Star - 2 in fact - one as part of the stand and the other enables you to do the attack on the thermal exhaust port scene. I'll use the stand but probably not the exhaust port one due to shelf space. The instructions are very... Japanese.. 😂 Here we go then.. W-D 11 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hockeyboy76 Posted August 10, 2019 Share Posted August 10, 2019 Great choice, good luck with your build. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bugle07 Posted August 10, 2019 Share Posted August 10, 2019 Can't beat an X-wing! Looks a great kit, looking forward to this. Geoff Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Corsairfoxfouruncle Posted August 11, 2019 Share Posted August 11, 2019 (edited) Gonna follow this as I'm building one in the Sci-fi group build I'm hosting next month. Dennis Edited August 11, 2019 by Corsairfoxfouruncle 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wonky Donkey Posted August 11, 2019 Author Share Posted August 11, 2019 Cheers fellas. For some reason I decided to finish the stand and base first.. 🤷♂️ There's possibly some method in that, cos I've not worked with bandai plastic before, and it's a piece I can complete and put away now til the end. Death Star is "grey".... Unusually for me I primed it in black and then used thinish tamiya primer as the top coat. Looks alright to me, anyway. Bit of weathering to emphasise the details and so it looks dirty but not knackered given it was just finished when Luke blew it up. Stand itself I left black cos its not really there - it's just space, innit... I've decided to paint as many of the markings as I can rather than use decals and invested in a Green Strawberry mask set which will help. I need to decide how weathered - or more like battered - I want to go with this. I'll put together as many sub-assemblies as I can next so I can paint them in one session. I'm keen to use the snap together nature of the kit as much as I can, but there might be bits need a hand with some cement,and well see how we go re the need for any filler. May the force be with you.. W-D 7 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rabbit Leader Posted August 13, 2019 Share Posted August 13, 2019 A belated warm welcome Wonkey Donkey (I love that name!). This is something I didn’t quite expect however like the Star Trek Enterprise build on here, very fitting as a Year I was born build. Thanks for joining and I hope that you (and the kids) end up with a great X-Wing once completed. Cheers.. Dave 1 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wonky Donkey Posted August 16, 2019 Author Share Posted August 16, 2019 On 13/08/2019 at 12:50, Rabbit Leader said: Wonkey Donkey (I love that name!) Try it in a Geordie accent, like mine.. 😂 No real progress to report - still clearing other projects. Hopefully this weekend. W-D 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rabbit Leader Posted August 16, 2019 Share Posted August 16, 2019 7 minutes ago, Wonky Donkey said: No real progress to report - still clearing other projects. Hopefully this weekend. I think you can repeat this line for many builds at the moment... I'm guilty as charged as well. Cheers.. Dave Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wonky Donkey Posted August 16, 2019 Author Share Posted August 16, 2019 .... I've got 'til November, right? 😂 W-D Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rabbit Leader Posted August 17, 2019 Share Posted August 17, 2019 5 hours ago, Wonky Donkey said: .... I've got 'til November, right? 😂 W-D Yep.. the 22nd and I think I’ll need every hour up until then. Cheers.. Dave Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Colin W Posted August 18, 2019 Share Posted August 18, 2019 The Force is strong at the moment. I scored the 1/48 Fine Molds X wing last week ready for the movie Group build in September. If the Force is with this build there should be enough time. Colin 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wonky Donkey Posted September 3, 2019 Author Share Posted September 3, 2019 Watcha So, finally some progress to report on this. I've got a couple of lingering projects off the bench and can get on with the x-wing. 👍 I spent a fair while contemplating how to approach this. How much construction to do before painting? What the right "white" would be, how weathered do I want it? Should I use the decals or paint as many of the markings as I can? And all that. I think the way that will work best is to build up as many large sub-assemblies as I can but stop short of final assembly before priming and painting. With careful clean up, that all happened pretty quickly and I now have a pile of bits stuck on sticks to get primed: I have to say the detail of the parts is very impressive, as is the effectiveness of the snap together approach. I did add a dab of glue to one or two bits, but literally only the odd spot here and there for extra security. A thing or two for other manufacturers to take note of, I'd suggest (although admittedly the shape of the x-wing does lend itself to solid mounting points which some aircraft etc kits wouldn't, I guess). Unusually for me, I'll prime this in black and then try and layer the white on quite thinly to make it appear worn. That's the idea anyway - I'm usually too risk averse here and end up with quite a uniform top coat, but I ll have a bash.. Anyway, off to prime the thing. Cheers for now. W-D 4 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wonky Donkey Posted September 3, 2019 Author Share Posted September 3, 2019 Ok, so far so good. Black primer (except Luke and R2 who got white) and a random overspray of the top colour (tamiya white, few drops of buff and some light gull grey). Next a top coat, which I have to keep thin and light (notes to self!) and I can start some detail painting on the pilot and R2. W-D 7 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rabbit Leader Posted September 4, 2019 Share Posted September 4, 2019 That’s an interesting technique there W-D. Looks to be quite a nice kit and the detail as you mention really pops out. Nice progress. Cheers.. Dave 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wonky Donkey Posted September 10, 2019 Author Share Posted September 10, 2019 I now have a top coat of "off-white" on which I'm reasonably happy with. Looks worn without looking knackered. I also spent too long painting Luke and R2 given they'll be hard to see when it's finished. Forgot to photograph them though - next time. OK, next is to paint the cockpit and add decals for the instruments and displays. Not immediately clear what colour to do the interior. Balance of probability it's the same as the outside from movie stills, but I went with neutral grey. Then mask and paint the myriad random panels around the airframe. There's a surprising amount of colours involved, using the decal sheet as the basis: Red Yellow Buff Light tan Numerous greys - I reckon neutral grey, rlm02, EDSG-ish, a sort of blue-ish grey, maybe a light grey too... Metallica for engine and exhausts. Best check the stocks of masking tape... W-D 7 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PeterB Posted September 10, 2019 Share Posted September 10, 2019 Can't remember which make but didn't somebody do a "battle damaged" version of the X Wing? If I remember correctly the "damage" consisted of a few stickers. Interesting kit and a lot more detail than I expected. Pete Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hockeyboy76 Posted September 10, 2019 Share Posted September 10, 2019 Nice build so far dude. It’s looking good. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wonky Donkey Posted September 10, 2019 Author Share Posted September 10, 2019 3 hours ago, PeterB said: didn't somebody do a "battle damaged" version of the X Wing? If I remember correctly the "damage" consisted of a few stickers. Hmm, now you say that PeterB... I'm not sure, but was it Kenner or someone like that...? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PeterB Posted September 10, 2019 Share Posted September 10, 2019 No idea but must havew been at least 25 years ago I would think. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CT7567 Posted September 13, 2019 Share Posted September 13, 2019 On 9/10/2019 at 10:03 AM, Wonky Donkey said: Metallica for engine and exhausts. Seems a little later than '77, but it's your model 😄 On 9/10/2019 at 1:43 PM, Wonky Donkey said: didn't somebody do a "battle damaged" version of the X Wing? If I remember correctly the "damage" consisted of a few stickers. In 1982 during the height of the original toy line's run Kenner re-released the X-Wing with "battle damage" stickers. A battle-damaged TIE followed in 1983: Battle Damaged X-Wing Battle Damaged TIE 2 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wonky Donkey Posted September 13, 2019 Author Share Posted September 13, 2019 🤘.... Bloody predictive text Anyway, this week (or is it a decade...?) I have mostly been masking random panels.... There's a lot to mask for sometimes just one tiny panel. For example, in addition to the "white", there are 5 colours on this side of the upper fuselage panel with two still to go (soz for the pic quality here): I've added some chipping with maskol. Looks quite stark at the minute but I'm hoping once it's got weathering and varnish on it won't. I decided not to chip each and every panel. Firstly, not every panel would get worn I guess, and second it presumes they're painted. So a couple of the colours - the buff and one of the greys - I've left them "clean" as if they're made of some other unobtainium type material. Just for amusement really. Truthfully, I don't recall the original being quite so colourful. I did flick through some scenes on the film when I really started to doubt things, and to be honest it's hard to tell. Bit more to go yet, but we're getting there. Oh, and here's Senor D2. I painted him rather than use decals as I doubted they'd conform. Hence the lack of straight edges... 😂 Ciao the now W-D 10 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Joel Abery Posted September 13, 2019 Share Posted September 13, 2019 Im wondering if you are going to do a diorama of Luke rasing it from the swamp as in the return of the Jedi is it 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wonky Donkey Posted September 13, 2019 Author Share Posted September 13, 2019 1 minute ago, Joel Abery said: Im wondering if you are going to do a diorama of Luke rasing it from the swamp as in the return of the Jedi is it If I get fed up of all this jeffing masking Joel, it'll certainly be going in a swamp.. Technically, I think Yoda raised it from the swamp. Failed, young Skywalker did. Mm. W-D 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Joel Abery Posted September 13, 2019 Share Posted September 13, 2019 Haha my friend you are right. Mm failed did Skywalker but you can let the force"awaken" and bring balance back to this painting saga lol. Hang in there bro Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Corsairfoxfouruncle Posted September 13, 2019 Share Posted September 13, 2019 1 hour ago, CT7567 said: Seems a little later than '77, but it's your model 😄 In 1982 during the height of the original toy line's run Kenner re-released the X-Wing with "battle damage" stickers. A battle-damaged TIE followed in 1983: Battle Damaged X-Wing Battle Damaged TIE And I had both of them, I was eleven and as big a star wars geek as i am now. Dennis Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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