FM 1:48 X wing WIP

welshwarrior123

Hey guys,
Well having nearly finished my boba fett suit and having just watched the new Blu Ray star wars films, Ive got it in my head that I really want to build an X wing model.

Now im totally new to models etc, ive been doing a bit of research and have seen that there are a few commercial and garage kits out there. As much as I would love to get a SS sized X wing, I simply couldnt afford it at present nor do I have the experience to take on something like that.

Now Ive found two kits, one is the fine molds 1:48 the other is an AMT kit. Im a total noob at with this stuff and was hoping for some opinions. Ive done some searches on here and google and I couldnt find much info.

Are there any other X wing models out there worth looking at? Budget wise I dont want to spend more than £50-80. I know these "where/what to buy" threads arent really favored, but Im stepping out of my comfort zone and dont want to waste any money on a sub par piece.

Thanks,

Welsh

blakeh1

A while ago there was a thread about the different X Wings

JMChladek posted what I thought was an excellent synopsis...

1. 1/72 FineMolds X-Wing (most options in a styrene X-Wing kit)
2. 1/48 FineMolds X-Wing
3. Revell 1/60ish scale X-Wing
4. AMT/Ertl Pro-shop X-Wing (some proportion problems, but best of the AMT kits)
5. Revell 1/125ish scale X-Wing (pocket snap kit, nice but so small, good for dioramas)
6. Argonauts X-Wing (good detail, best of the bunch in its day)
7. MPC/AMT/Ertl original 1/41 scale X-Wing (not as good by itself, but can be built nice with some TLC)
8. Estes Maxi-Brute X-Wing (want studio scale licensed kit, this is the only game in town short of a Kenner/Hasbro X-Wing. It needs a lot of work, but it can be done as the basic shapes are there at least)
9. MPC/AMT/Ertl 1/60ish scale snap together X-Wing (a distant 9th place, needs a lot of work to bring up to a good standard, but it can be done).


The 1/60ish scale MPC/AMT/Ertl snap x wing is definitely a distant last. The pilot is molded in and is terrible
I also can't speak for the Revell kits as I do not have it, but from my experience with other Revell stuff, they usually are excellent fitting, but you'll want to strip the pre-painted stuff (or mask off the red stripes) and paint over it. They also tend to lack some of the finer detail, but usualy have good proportions for the actual hulls.

The 1/41 AMT X-wing, you will at the very least need to scratch the details on the undersides/insides of the wings since there are non, get a new pilot, and fix the cockpit.

The Fine Molds stuff really doesn't need any work in my opinion as it has a lot of detail lacking in the AMT stuff unless you are looking for 100% screen accuracy

Robiwon

It depends on what you want to do, if you want to do any extra detailing, and how accurate a kit you want, or what size you want. For ease of assembly and good detail you can't go wrong with the Fine Mold's kits. If size is more important, but don't want to swing the bucks for a SS kit, then go pick up a ProShop X-Wing. It's the biggest plastic model kit out there. You could also go a bit bigger and get one of the newer Hasbro electronic toys. You will need to repaint, fill screw holes and do some scratchbuilding to make one of those look sharp.

Here is a link to my build of the ProShop kit. It's an older kit but it is much bigger than the FM and MPC kits. You can find them on the 'Bay for about $20-$25.

http://www.therpf.com/f11/my-proshop-x-wing-54034/

Jedi Dade

All of the kits are good kits really. Personally I really like the original ERTL model plus it was screen used in a few places... with some care it builds into a really nice model. plus you can usualy get it vairly inexpensively off ebay... well under your stated prices...

Jedi Dade

Junk Pilot

Hopefully you will find this thread helpful once you find the kit you want.

http://www.therpf.com/f10/one-stop-x...thread-124738/

welshwarrior123

Problem is that im UK based, and all the decent stuff is state side and most places on the bay wont ship international.

I would like to eventually get a SS version, like I said I cant afford that at present nor ould I feel comfortable building something so expensive first go. At the moment im thinking about getting the FM 1:48, mainly due to the size and some of the images Ive seen they look really good.

Thanks for the link Robiwon, was a good thread to read through, and the X wing looks great, but unfortunately there dosent seem to be any up for grabs atm.

Im off down a local model shop which is just down the road, never actually been in there before, and will have a look at the off chance that they have anything. But I can see me ordering the FM tomorrow.

Does anyone have a decent colour chart for an X wing? Im familiar with an airbrush but mainly work with Humbrol.

Troy Downen

I'd highly recommend either of the Fine Molds kits. You'll be very happy with them, and probably disappointed with the ERTL / Revell kits. The 1/48 FM kit is more expensive than the 1/72 version, but will be impressive once you're finished. The FM kits have detailed painting instructions with good color references (albeit in Japanese, but they include Tamiya and Gunze Sanyo numbers) and GREAT decals which include "weathered" / damaged details. Really, you can't go wrong with the FM kits. I'd suggest picking them up online from Hobby Link Japan if you can't find them locally.

JMChladek

Thanks for the mention blakeh.

I found the original thread. The rankings I did are shown on the last page, as well as revelation of a raised panel line X-Wing from the MPC stable that I never knew about.

http://www.therpf.com/f11/best-x-win...59/index2.html

Anyway, since you are in England, your best option for an easy to obtain X-Wing is the Revell kit. It is a decent kit IMHO. The FineMolds kits are superior, but you would have to likely order direct from Japan (Home Page | HobbyLink Japan) to get good prices, unless Comet Miniatures in London has them (but you are in Wales, so that means mail order anyway) and didn't mark them up much. If you look for used MPC X-wings on UK soil, options there are from Dennys Fischer (1978 boxings), and Airfix (ROTJ boxing, both kits same as the MPC kit, but re-boxed with different manufacturer logos). Later on when AMT got international distributorship (after they acquired MPC) some AMT kits ended up on UK soil. It should be possible to acquire one for less than a kings ransom.

welshwarrior123

Well I managed to score a 1:48 FM X wing, the model shop I went to didnt have any surprise surprise, but found one on the 'bay for £40 shipped from Japan. Just hope I dont get hit with customs now.

Should I post up a review as I couldn't seem to find much images of the 1:48 size model. I may turn this thread into a WIP being as this is my first model and such, I could probably use some help and advice from the pro's as I want this to look good.

Thanks for the help any ways guys, I'll post up when it arrives.

Welsh

Troy Downen

Start a WIP. I'd love to watch, as I'm sure others would too. Let us know when it arrives!

welshwarrior123

I guess I will start a WIP thread then, I could probably use the imput off you fellas when I eventually come across a problem.

I know that the kit comes with list of colours, but none of you happen to have a colour list do you? Or could point me in the direction of one? Would like to get all the supplies ready so im rearing to go when the kit gets here.

Cheers,

Welsh

Anakin Starkiller

I'd go with a Hasbro FX x-wing, and upgrade and detail it. It's not much smaller than studio scale and looks the part really well with some work.

Dan

jedimaster

The kit comes with the decals to do a few different x-wings. The base colour also differs from bird to bird so once you have decided which x you are gonna build you can then pick the base colour. The main hero birds in the film were red 1,2,3 and 5. Then you have the Pyro's 1,2,3,4,6and 12.

I would assume you are building a hero model so just remember x -wings were not white. And if you are doing red3 it was a darker grey than the others. Good luck with the build.

welshwarrior123

Geez I feel like such a noob with all these questions lol.

Yeah ive read that they come with a few decal sheets, but would much rather airbrush the paint job. I pretty sure that I want to go red 5, seeing how good other peoples build up of this ship and that its the protagonists ship, I feel its a good one to start with.

So any colours/inks etc that I should get for red 5, would rather use humbrol paints but any paint list is better than nothing.

Thanks,

Welsh

jedimaster

For the red markings you will need floquil caboose red. That's the original colour. They also have a range of colors that were used on the x's. If you were replicating a studio model I would say go with these. But in 1/48 just mix the colours until they look right to you're eyes. All the opinions in the world won't mean a thing unless you are happy with it yourself.

Troy Downen

Jedimaster is right; use your own judgement on colors. You'll be most satisfied, I believe.

You'll need some brush colors for the pilot figure. See attached exerpt from the FM instructions if you want to get a head start collecting colors. Also see the color reference chart to give you some idea of what colors FM is recommending for the kit. On the left are Gunze Sanyo paint colors, on the right are Tamiya. I'm not sure what is in the middle column. Also Gunze Sanyo? I don't use them so I'm not familiar with their color codes.

Attached Thumbnails

   

Rats

The left column are the numbers for the Gunze Sangyo/Mr.Hobby Mr.Color range, which are acrylic laquers (resin based), the middle column is Gunze acrylic water based (aqueous hobby color range) and the right is indeed Tamiya acrylics.

Cheers, JT

ralphee

Id go with Tamiya acrylics TBH, easier to work with and mix for any of the ILM props.
You could use Caboose red, but again, you could use a Tamiya mix to pull that off, think maybe a few drops of grey into Tamiya's flat red will cure that.
As for base color, i still think Insignia white will make a great base color for any of the birds barring Red3.
Look forward to seeing what you do, as your Boba paint is just awesome, and id agree, dont use the decals, paint the lot.

lee

jedimaster

Lee is right on the base colour. I used insignia white over dark grey primer on my Ss x's it looks great. Lee also gets a buck from Tamiya every time he mentions them. In fact if you look at the pix in his posts , there is a Tamiya product placed somewhere in the background.... Go on ask him what airbrush he uses. He hehe...

No seriously I re kon Tamiya paints would be the way to go. I liked em so much, I bought a whole rack.. No seriously the whole rack.
[IMG][/IMG]

derex3592

You won't be disappointed in the Fine Molds kit. It was my first model after about a 15 year break. You don't need to glue very much of it at all. The build is super easy. I went ahead and used pics of the eFX SS scale X-wing as painting references. I also used the decals that came with the kit. They went on perfectly and with plenty of decal set they look painted on. Good Luck!

Noumcea

Regarding the equivalent paints between manufacturers, you might find these link helpful;

Ultimate Model Paint Conversion Chart - Paint4models.com

and

Color Reference Charts - Federal Standard

Hope that helps.

welshwarrior123

Hey Guys,
Well I was going to wait to post until the model arrived, but it seems customs has got its money grabbing hands on it. Thanks so much for all the info, and especially the colour charts/conversion site.

Ive been busy though, I went ahead and used that paint conversion site to convert the tamia into humbrol (Thank Noumcea) But It turned out I had most of those colours anyway, so I used that as an excuse to go out and actually buy the Tamia colour plus a few extras. I also picked up some pigments that I though would be cool to chuck on the x wing for when I cant get in those small spots with the airbrush.

Hopefully the next update now will be with me working on the model, I will then either start a new thread or try and re-name this one.

Thanks again guys for the advice,

Welsh

welshwarrior123

Well guys,
After about 3 weeks, I received a battered brown box, Finally it arrived...and amazingly no customs charges. Luckily the model itself was in better condition than the delivery box.



My Initial thoughts of the model was that it is incredibly detailed, but whether its because ive been reading through a lot of SS X wing wips, it was a little smaller than I expected. So depending on how this kit goes, im really tempted to get a SS version, but thats a long way a way yet.

Now Im not going to do any extra detailing to this piece, Just a straight up build and paint. With it being my first go at something like this I dont want to ruining it. I may fill in any gaps/seams but that will be as far as I go.

So back on topic, I laid out all the pieces to see whats what. Then went ahead and washed them with warm soapy water. (Not sure if this was needed, but Ive seen others do this to get the mold release off the parts and did not want to take any chances)



As eager as I was to get building this thing, I thought It would be best to read through the instructions and see if any bits needed painting etc which I wouldnt be able to do with it built. So I started with the cockpit.

Like Jedimaster said, I went ahead and mixed my own blue up for the cockpit, then painted in the details with blacks, greys, reds etc... Didnt really go screen accurate with it, just sort of painted it on the fly :S



Then I had to see what it would look like in the canopy so I taped it in place. Really happy so far.



Thats all for now, I will be taking my time over this. Ive decided to go for red 5, maybe even get another to do Wedge and have the two together (again long way away). Ive looked at the decal sheet as well, and I think the only decals I will be using will be the blue details on the guns and the cockpit section. Other than that all airbrush.

Any comments and crit welcome, take it easy though as its my first ever model lol.

Welsh

jedimaster

Great job so far mate. If I could offer some advice and you probably already have but if ya mix ya own colours , I always mix a little more than I need and keep it in a separate jar just for any touch-ups you may need later on. Off to a good start man.

Simon.

youngwm

Looks Great! I just ordered this kit and should receive it next week.. This model will be my fourth build.. After reading this I hope it even comes sooner but I have a kit to wrap up in the mean time. I have been researching different lighting options for the same kit were you thinking of installing Led lights? I researched on youtube and the engine lights they make for this kit is really nice but then cost does play a factor. Here is a link and juno is also a member of this site. Lightbenders

The FM kit images that I have seen and what I have read I can't wait to start.. I paid like 70 for mine in the US. I think I am going to air brush with the colors for-mentioned in this thread. I also read that comouflage grey works well but that the x wing is def not white!!

Keep the pics coming I should start mine next weekend and will prob post pics as well.
The colors in the dash was there any reference or did you just decide to go with the color's..
I just finished a small dash and did not go with any specific reference for the 1/48 snowspeeder. here is a pic, this was my second build so I am a noob as well.