Scratchbuild X-wing - from CGI to studio scale build

Hi guys, I'd like to present my long-term project - a scratchbuild X-wing. Seems like there's a lot of these recently I actually started a few years back, when I wanted to create a 1/48 paper model. I started looking for references and I found this site. Using all the materials I could find, I created a set of blueprints and a 3D model, both of which I'm improving over the time. Then I build a pair of fuselages from paper. They looked fine, and I got plenty of references, so sometime around the beginning of last year I decided to build a studio-scale version from balsa.
So, this is some of the progress from the last year and where I'm standing now:

0.early blueprints created from a 3d model

1.humble beginning, size comparison to half-sized paper model

2.aft fuselage frame

3.wrapping the frame with 1,5 mm balsa

4.carved upper part of the nose

5.nose attached to the fuselage - I had to break it off and glue it back two times due to slight misalignment

6.overall view

7.top view

8.current state: filler applied over more than half of the body and the kitparts that I currently have


The fuselage shape should be ready soon, then I'll apply more wood filler on all the surfaces and sand it smooth. I'll hopefully get the Saturn V kit soon, then I'll start making a wing prototype.

And - I'm most thankful to all the guys that share photos and information about the studio models and their own builds! I wouldn't be able to get this far without the info from this site.

Nice one. I can see this will end up in the One Stop X-Wing Sticky. Can't wait to see more.

Aurora said:

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I wounded why no interest in this usually the board like any thing x-wing

Ah don't read into why (timezones, life, whatever). Imkold just keep working on that sweet X & thanks for sharing!


-Mike

He certainly has my attention.

Love that balsa fuselage. It looks great
Following this thread with attention.

Rafa

The dims look pretty good. Are you gonna cast it in resin or build the whole thing as a wooden model?

Thanks for the comments! I'll definitely try to cast the fuselage, having a few rigid copies would be nice. I don't have much casting experience though. I only tried to cast an airplane wing with epoxy&fiberglass once. It went quite well, but the wing was about 1/10 of size of this thing...

looks to be progressing nicely!

Really impressive!

Why didn't you use styrene to make your fuselage? Balsa is flimsy and you won't be able to scribe panel lines in it for detail you could have have used Basswood just as light as Balsa but stonger and skinned it with thin sheet styrene.

Good work.
The shape looks right.

Awsome i mad my first one out of balsa as well
looking great!

I think it would look cool if you didn't skin it and left the plastic
parts on there raw....it would have a real different look! Like
it was never meant to look finished but it is finished.........
i dont know! LOL

I've never got on with balsa myself, but you're doing a great job!

Thanks guys!
I didn't have much resources when I started. Balsa was much cheaper than plastic, I had some at home already, and it was easy to work with, so I went with it. The downside is that making a smooth surface finish takes ages. I guess that I will use styrene for the canopy frame and the wings though.

I reworked the slanted area above the buttplate, it was noticeably off by a few millimeters here and there, so I ripped some material away and started again. I'm much more satisfied with it now, but it still needs some filling and sanding to make it even&smooth, of course.
I bought a can of Dupli-color car's filler and primer, made a pass over the surface and sanded it smooth to see if it will be usable as a protective surface finish layer over the wood filler. Luckily it worked just fine.

I added some more material at the back, now I have to sand smooth the surface.

I'm working on having a nice smooth surface on this thing. It's a never-ending circle of filling and sanding. I got myself a polyester putty, it smells awfully but it's way better than the wood filler I was using before; doesn't crack, holds better on the surface etc.
Ah, and I should finally make the canopy frame and the torpedo launcher tubes, it looks just wrong without them.

Hi!

Your fuselage is very beautiful!
Canopy frame looking good, too.

I'm looking forward to your future progress.

all the bests.

Thanks! I'm trying to do my best. And compliments on your X-wing, you did a great job on the rear plate!

Slowly getting there. There's still a lot of sanding & filling ahead, but I think the overall shape is ok now:

Incredible. Though it is a lofty and far off goal, I've always wanted to build a life-size X-Wing. Where I'd store it... no idea. If I ever do so, I'll have to contact you about blueprint. :-)

Very nice clean build!

Your looking great nice work!

I added the canopy frame (not quite finished yet) and made some puttying & symmetry fixes. Too bad it's freezing outside, so I can't spray it with primer.
By the way: how much does the sides of lower half of the nose protrude compared to the sides of lower half of the fuselage? I can't decide between 1mm or 1,5mm. Thanks for any help!