Tie Interceptor build

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Well, its been a while since I've posted or finished a build. Unfortunately a lingering sinus infection left me hyper senstive to dust and paint since the spring which royally screwed with my modelling schedule. I've got a B-wing, Corvette, Discovery, Swift and a concept X wing to finish painting and a Salzo X wing (V2) to build I bought off Guy Cowen almost a year ago!!! I didn't even properly finish that E wing.
However, I intend to catch up with these in the spring. To keep me going I got hold of a Tie Interceptor a month or so back. This is one of the new casting from Mike and Steve and its an impressive beast.
First off the casting on the wings is fantastic for such huge pieces. God knows how he managed it. They are perfectly straight and level and are really solid heavy pieces ,so given that the originals have sagged somewhat over time ,I've got a few suggests for keeping them as level as possible. The detail on the rest of the kit is extremely crisp and accurate and didn't require much clean up at all.






The wings are amazing straight as you can see but will,if they are like the screen models, sag after a time or in high temperatures. So I've added some strengthing to the wings to go with all the plastruct T strips you will have to buy to finish off the edges. I had to get about a dozen from my modelling shop.



The front tips of the wings were the hardest to finish properly. The easiest way was to bend the T and cut off the excess that remained. You can see just how straight those wings are in the photo. That casting is impressive!







To keep the wings as strong as possible I've added a thin brass strip of 4mm x 30 cm around the inside of the wing. Its one complete piece thats been bent at right angles to the corners. Keeping it this way made it quite strong and when glued into the wing, I was surprised how rigid the whole structure went. The T strips also add to the framing.




You can see the brass strip edge between the T strip and the wing. I also cut off the existing T strip cast on to the rectangle in the centre. In the end it made it easier and neater than fiddling with the little gap that existed otherwise.



Also, to stop the wings slipping down on the armature I drilled ,chiselled and cut a square strip out of the inner wing circle and added a mirror image on the armature ends. This should help the wings stay in place as I'm going to try to make them detatchable, depending on how tight I can make the join.






With the wings done its the "Eyeball"to tackle. I've drilled second mounting point on a small block of wood as the originals displayed had two ports . This will also act as a platform for a battery pack support as well as help strengthening the whole socket over time.



Eyeball test assembled onto armature. The first fit was good, but with a pan of hot water and some tape and a bit of molding later the gaps will be very slight indeed once its glued together.



Top of cabin with roof in place.



The eyeball with cabin built in place. I've built a wooden platform benieth it. This is drilled out so that it will keep the eyeball rigid over time and it allows me to put two possible power sources in place. One from an external source through a stand coming in from benieth, and one from a battery pack that will be accessible through the top.



Used two 3mm LEDs for engines.This shot was with curtians partially drawn so the light leakage is pretty bad as its all test fitted at the moment.



Bright lights! Normal lighting. I strengthened the engines with thin copper tubing. Seem OK to the screen pics of Tie Interceptors over the 2nd Deathstar.




Can anyone tell me where these two mystery parts go? I can't find it on any reference photos, but I'm guessing they might have fallen off over the years.

swpropmaker

Looking good ... your last picture of mystery parts is not showing... fix the link and i'll let you know..

Steve

tk1608

Does the tank suspension part go at the back of the ball just above the rear hatch. kinda like this...I know this pic's a tie fighter but it could be the same..? can't help with the other bit..



That looks a great kit BTW..

Cheers

Phil

dirtydave

I believe the M10 tank part(part on the left) is only on the standard tie & not on the interceptor.Not sure what the other part is.

Dave

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Cheers guys ,so thats what its for. The other parts still a mystery then. Sprayed the wings this afternoon. Really brings out the detail and, unfortunately all the little bits I've missed. I'll tidy up with the epoxy sculpt tomorrow, spray the eye and glue the assembly around the armature.

swpropmaker

The U shaped piece goes in the center front of the upper cockpit detail part... notice the channel in the ceneter... it lines up with the raised area of the upper cockpit part.

Steve

jcuri1

Thats what I was just going to say !

jcuri1

And it looks great by the way !

vaderdarth

Lookin great!!!

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Spent the day on the electrics. I've planned and put in two power sources. One though the base and one will be a battery pack if I want to take it off the stand.
To prevent light leakage I've put the 3mm LEDs into 5mm aluminium tube and then crimped the ends to stop them slipping out. Its stopped all the excessive glowing and will help keep the lights firmly in place.



Battery pack in place on the shelf I've built. Nice and tidy for the moment.



The usual power socket in through the base ( I'll build a decent one later with a mirrored bottom)



Light test.



In the dark to test leakage with batteries. Not bad at all now.



Thanks for the info on the final mystery U bit. Now glued to top of cabin in the right area I hope. I'll tidy up the wings again and finish the eyeball tomorrow.

Guy Cowen

Looking really great, its also great to see you building again, they back up quite quickly those kits dont they

3d-builder

Nice you plugged the leaks looks great!

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Finishing off the "Eyeball". Your best friend here is a pan of boiling water. A quick dip into it softens the resin sufficently thato you can press it onto the armature and it takes the shape well and tight. Just about wiped all the gaps out. What few I had I filled with very wet epoxy sculpt.Flows like thick glue into the cracks.Its really helped keep those nice clean sharp edges cast in the two hull pieces when they press together.










One issue with using hot water was that it did cause a few bubbles which were not obvious to collapse, but its an easy fix with the sculpt.




Lighting experiment with an LED placed above the upper cockpit. The light cast through the cuts in it gave it a good feel, but Im not sure if its too strong? In normal light it fades. I can play with the positioning until it works anyway.









Thanks Dave ,Jcuri, Steve, 3D and Guy. Its good to be building again and playing with ideas for the kit. Still its been a good time for the SS forum with some realy superb pieces finished and started ( goodluck with that Slave 1, somehow I think it will be your best yet Guy !)

moffeaton

Loving this!

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Thanks Jason, not as comprehensive as your Y wing build instructions but then again there's slightly less parts!
Just as a footnote (seeing as a thunderstorm has woken me up, thought someone had dropped an atombomb);
Repairs!
I built this kit on bubble wrap and still managed to damage some of the detail on the wings. Easiest way to solve it is to get the thinnest sheet of plastruct available and cut it a thin sliver about 1.5mm off it with a steel ruler and a very sharp blade.
Remove a part of the existing damaged area by cutting it down only slightly, shave a bit off the top. You can then use this remaining "lip" to support the strip you've cut. A thin smear of superglue, push the strip level against it with the edge of the steel ruler and it should be ok. Its not an invisible repair but its fairly un noticeable.





I'm off back to bed!

Guy Cowen

Bed, hmmm, should go to ........... guess I'm on trouble again!

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Guy, I suspect that you'd give Owls a bad name in terms of staying up late. But I guess both of you are hunting things, one donor kit parts ,the other mice! Both require alot of patience and keen eyesight to be successful I think .
The days post and pictures.

Well, there she is with her wings on. They are detatchable (for the moment),though I may have to glue them on in the end but they are firm enough for now. Grey primer complete, a few bits to clean up but generally I'm almost there except for wing and cockpit lazers, finishing the cockpit/pilot, and the final paint job.
Almost sorry its over BUT I coughed up for the Red Jammer Y today as I'm coming up quickly on the list, so I guess thats my Xmas and New Years build sorted , courtesy of Steve and Mike. Its almost a pity Moffs build instructions are so spectacularly illustrated and detailed, takes all that painful guesswork out of it! (thank god).
As you can see the Tie is a big ship and the detail comes out really strongly with the primer on.
I matt blacked the cockpit and inner hull and it nicely reduced the glare from the LED to more realisitic levels to give that red backlight that you see in Ties in the films and I'm pleased with that. So its just a matter of finishing off now, I'll try to get the proper grey colour for the ship when I can track it down.

ralphee

Cut, try Haze grey by Tamiya, very close and lovely to shoot!

Lee

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Thanks Lee, off to the Model shop tomorrow then !

ralphee

Its worth a shot bud, i blasted my TESB pods with it for the Mem show, really nice hue, changes hue from blue to grey very nicely depending on lighting, and as you know, the Tamiya rattle's are top bomby for finish!

lee

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I' ve picked up two types of LED holders for the lazers under the cockpit, a 3mm and a 5mm from Maplins in the Uk. They both look pretty close to the studio model but which size is it? It may be my eyes but in the few photos I have found of the studio model the smaller size seems right. But apparently there were two scale versions of the Interceptor built. In the end I settled on a compromise. I built 3 versions using 3mm, 4mm and 5mm tubing and settled on the 4mm in a 5mm LED holder.

Alnitak

thanks for sharing this...you are doing an awesome job! can't wait to see it finished..it is going to be impressive...

vaderdarth

looking great!!!!

3d-builder

Thats so nice.....love the hue in there, great job getting
the seams out of her!

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Thanks guys.Just a quick up date whilst the wing masking dry off. Pictures of finished front with Tie guy in place. The lighting works well and I remembered to add that bit to the front of the windows.