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3d Printed 1/72 X-Wing - COMPLETED


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Hello everyone!

 

Last year I completed a build of three Fine Molds 1/72 X-Wings (one of them being a rescue after a botched attempt from my teen years) as Red-2, Red-3 and Red-5. Given that Fine Molds provide extra parts for a landed version with an open canopy and extra decals to build several markings, I had a lot of spare parts, even after using some in my rescue of poor old Red-2.  With such a large pile of parts and decals available I decided they shouldn't go to waste and decided to try and build yet another one, the caveat - this one is mostly 3d printed on my cheap, sub-$200 FDM Tevo Michelangelo printer! I know there's a lot of debate if 3d printing scale models is possible and given the entry-level equipment I have, I hope I can prove resoundingly yes. It won't hold to scrutiny at a very close inspection compared to Bandai or Fine Molds' fantastic kits, nor win a contest, but as something to sit nicely on the shelf it would do. 

 

A big, big thank you to the creator of the absolutely fantastic 3d models I am using for this print - 1/24 X-wing by Simhopp and Cockpit and pilot for 1/24 X-Wing by Simhopp! They're free, to boot!

 

Scaled down to 33.3% it's very close in size to the Fine Molds kit; however, to exactly match the spare parts I had to resize the wings with some changes to their STL files. At 33.3% the main fuselage (comprised of four main sections) is about 2.5mm shorter than the FM kit with the rear section being just a tad shorter; barely noticeable even if they're side by side but if you want the exact length, print the forward fuselage halves at 34.3% and the rear at 35.5%. I printed the main parts from white PLA and then switched for the gun barrels to a sturdier white PET using a 0.2mm nozzle at mostly 0.1mm layer height.

 

As I assembled the trio in flying mode, this one will be landed in a mini diorama displaying Red Leader. What I'll be using from the FM kit as spares will be:

  • clear canopy (in fact, the spare one from my oldest kit, after polishing it with Tamiya polishing compound)
  • top engine covers
  • engine nozzles (short versions; what remained as spares)
  • landing gears
  • spare pilot figures and R2 droids

 

The main parts printed and assembled:

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Engines with nozzles as test assembly:

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Gun barrels:

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Pilot figure; yes, it's 1/72 and 3d printed! Photo taken before I painted the helmet using Red Leader's markings:

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Panel line scribing details; not only am I not great at scribing but PLA is porous and keeping an even line is quite difficult...

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The first couple coats of primer revealed tons of impurities in the print. Tedious amounts of sanding, rescribing, repriming, and then some more all over again, followed. I'll spare you photos, it was boring and the kit is still waiting for a final primer coat. There are still numerous small detail issues I am not fully satisfied with but at this point it's about equal in detail level with the quality of pre-2010s Eastern Europe garage kits that I grew up with, so I guess it will do!

Edited by Ventsislav Gramatski
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Small update. I haven't done much work on the build recently, between family members falling ill with COVID-19 and work, I just don't have the mojo.

 

3d printed two additional pilot figures and testing how I envision the mini-diorama. You can see the WIP primer coatings on the X-Wing. Read Leader also has his helmet markings painted on, I'm really happy how they turned out!

 

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New pilot figures painted. The red helmet one is supposed to be Red-4, known as "John D". The second in the classical "this is how I got him!" pose is supposed to have that cloth cap the rebel pilots on Hoth had in The Empire Strikes Back. It came more out of necessity as I wasn't happy with how the head turned out but it can easily repainted. 

 

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Edited by Ventsislav Gramatski
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  • 2 weeks later...

Thanks everyone! Been feeling better and the build has accordingly started to progress. In fact, I've made great strides over the past couple of days and it's been mostly the horrid cold weather (heavy early spring snowfall here) that's been holding me down because I need to frequently ventilate.  

 

X-Wing fully sanded and primed, at last! And next to it is an old MPC 1/89 Y-Wing that I'm also salvaging. This was missing several parts, so I also opted to finish it by making the parts with custom 3d models and then printing them.

 

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Slightly off-topic but here are the 3d printed additions to the Y-Wing (canopy and outer port engine nacelle/pylon):

 

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Decals and base colors in place. Main fuselage is a custom mix approximating the Mr. Color FS36495 Light Gray that I used on my Fine Molds X-Wings, sprayed with several thin coats on top of the Mr. Surfacer Gray 1500 primer. Same with the color for the canopy and engine nacelle bands, done using Mr. Color RLM 65 Light Blue - it has a noticeable green tint that I really like (though I am a bit suspicious how it will look like on actual Luftwaffe planes in 1/72). White block is, again, Mr. Color 01 White.

 

Note the canopy, which is a spare one from a 1/72 Fine Molds X-Wing - it fits neatly in terms of size but the instrument panel block on the 3d printed model is slightly higher, so the front canopy part doesn't fully close; this won't be an issue, as it will be displayed with an open canopy.

 

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Next, I added the stencils. As I no longer had any decals available for them, I made them using a fine black marker, as well as masking and painting. Yellow stencils done using Mr. Color RLM 04 Yellow, while the red "arrows" behind the torpedo tubes are ModelMaster Acrylic Insignia Red.  Some of the panel lines that I didn't scribe were added using a sharp pencil (thanks to @opus999 for the idea in his awesome 1/72 Monogram P-51 build!). 

 

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After that, I did some post-shading, essentially using a slightly darker or lighter tone of the main fuselage color, gently airbrushing over the panel lines and middle of panel sections, respectively. No photos yet as daylight ran out but I think it looks far batter with the shading, at least in person. Everything then sealed with a coat of gloss varnish and left to cure overnight. I need to coat it once more to cover everything evenly and (hopefully), over the weekend I'll start on the wash and weathering. Nearing the finish line now! 

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Thanks for the kind comments! In all honesty, the praise should go mostly to the created of the 3D model, which is utterly great! I'm also kind of cheating here, as I'm using Fine Molds parts for several highly detailed areas where an FDM printer just won't cut it.

 

"Almost there!" as a Rebel pilot says during the Death Start attack. Gloss coat on, added a couple of panel washes using very diluted black enamel paint. Again, next to the 1/89 MPC which I'm building in parallel.

 

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Following that, I sprayed the burn damage on the fuselage. Fun trivia fact, the Red Leader studio scale model had a bright, non-weathered white panel in the front fuselage section behind the radar dome that sharply cutoff to a black 'blast mark' section. As with many other small details in the original Star Wars it's a nice backstory implying that the ship was damaged in combat and sections of the fuselage were repaired but scorch marks remained. I fear I may have overdone it?

 

Next came detailing the cockpit, gluing the undercarriage legs and laser cannons (an exercise in frustration as I kept braking them off) and the pilot. For once, something went very smooth and easy - the engine nozzle assembly, the Fine Molds nozzles snuggly fit into the rescaled 3d printer engine bodies without any glue, just like Bandai's snap joints! 

 

Lastly, I made some postshading with white oil paint to smoothen out the gradient between the main color and the darkened recesses. Nothing really major but the oil paint tends to blend in and prevent the overly sharp contract that can result from a strong black wash.

 

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And there it is, just need to spray a final coat of matt varnish and attach the main canopy, and done!

 

Wanted to mention, I really enjoy how the (horribly out of scale) astromech droid on the Y-Wing turned out!

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Edited by Ventsislav Gramatski
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Sprayed a flat coat on the X-Wing over the weekend and attached the canopy. Should have been done!... but alas, no. When I placed it next to the other ones, it didn't sit entirely right. Fine Mold's Star Wars kits are famous for their very fine panel lines (according to some, too fine) and when I built them a couple of years ago, I really strived not to overdo the panel lines. The result is that they are visible but very fain and tend to blend into the fuselage when you move away a feet or two, depending on the lighting.

 

On the 3d printed X-Wing, well... let's just say scribing on PLA isn't easy and I'm not great at it to begin with! So, the panel lines ended too wide, too deep, and too contrasting. After some consideration, I took a decision and went back to redo them - a painstaking process of painting over each panel line with Mr. Surfacer 1500 grey, then very gently sanding (so as not to damage the varnish coat), finally "washing" very carefully with a tad darker shade of grey than the main fuselage colour. 

 

They're still too deep and wide but blend a lot better, at least in person, so the the 3d printed X-Wing doesn't look as jarring next to the Japanese kits.

 

So, here it is (excluding the pilot ladder, which I forgot to attach)!

 

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These little guys were a pain to paint!

 

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The ball (BB-8) and the red/white R2 droid are the "stock" ones using decal, the yellow/white and red/black R5 droids are a combination of eye straining painting and modified decals. They do look cute, though! Each is about 1cm tall.

 

Now I need to think about how to make the base for the mini diorama. 🙄

 

And, I finished the MPC Y-Wing, but that will get its own RFI thread. Small preview.

 

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  • 1 year later...

Took me only an year but this summer I got to base the whole thing and complete the mini diorama. Definitely lazier with my photo camera though, as I still don't have proper photos. 

 

Here are some shots of the mini diorama from a scale model expo a couple of months back that I snapped with my phone, next to some of my other Star Wars models, hope you like it!

 

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