1/72 Bandai A-Wing

[Ventsislav Gramatski]

Hello everyone!

 

Another model to add to my growing Star Wars collection, another RFI - this time it is Bandai's 1/72 A-Wing that I completed last week. I finally understand the hype surrounding Bandai's Star Wars kits, even more so than the T-70 (Resistance) X-Wing that I completed last year, this kit was an absolute joy to build! The engineering is brilliant and it can be completed in an afternoon without needing a drop of paint or glue, while still being not only a faithful representation of the studio model from Return of the Jedi but also a very solid build, without any loose parts falling off. Everything from the multicolor sprues, the box art, even the instructions, is top notch quality. The Death Star gun tower is an added bonus!

 

Having decided that I won't be building an exact replica of the studio model but another similarly colored A-Wing that fought at Endor. I started by masking several of the odd out-of-place red panels (molded in colored plastic) and sprayed them with an enamel Revell matt white, then I pre-shaded the panel lines and sprayed the white-molded parts to get the same shade everywhere. The red panels just received a good panel wash. I sprayed the inside of the engines with Mr. Color RLM 04 yellow but several small streaks went around my masks and onto the white tail surfaces; so, I masked again and carefully resprayed the white panels. Incidentally, it resulted in a nice, gentle yellow gradient that looks like a decent representation of engine glow! Overall, I went for a decidedly less weathered look than my Fine Molds X-Wings using only a small brush to simulate paint chipping on the red panels, and I masked several panels and sprayed them grey as if they were changed due to battle damage.

 

One small mishap was caused by my airbrush when it splattered a black flake of paint on the starboard panels during the final matte coating process; the black dissolved and looked like a blast mark. Not being content with having a blast mark on a Star Wars model (...), I gently sanded down the affected panels, sprayed them matt white and redid the entire weathering. There's a barely noticeable difference in the shade of the panels if you look closely but I decided to stop trying to fail myself and accept it's a Rebel fighter - they always look cobbled together!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Still struggling to get good photos with my old camera and poor lighting... hope you enjoy, comments and criticism welcome!

 

Edited March 4, 2021 by Ventsislav Gramatski

[wombat]

It just this second occurred to me.

 

x wings, y wings etc....but the written language you see in Star Wars doesn’t use those letters 🤔

[Hook]

20 hours ago, wombat said:

but the written language you see in Star Wars doesn’t use those letters 🤔

You did in the very first version. 😎

 

https://marciokenobi.wordpress.com/2015/11/10/star-wars-original-trilogy-changes-the-good-the-bad-and-the-ugly-part-1-the-good/ , scroll down to "Good 2: Aurebesh Replaces English".

 

Lovely A-Wing!

 

Cheers,

 

Andre