X-Wing Toy Conversion Finished

Randy13 · Mar 9, 2015

While working on my Duel Truck, I missed working on something Star Wars related so I started a toy conversion from this.

I'm not looking to make this screen accurate but I do want to change some things on this toy that bother me. I plan on changing the laser cannons. Adding proper details to the inside of the wings. Work on the butt plate and make the droid socket a little smaller. And do something about the fuselage and nose.

First the laser cannons. The heat sink part here had to go.

I replace the cannons with aluminum tubes.

I rebuilt the heat sink parts and cannon rear from scratch with pieces of styrene and rebuild the the tips. I just want to make something closer to the filming miniatures and look less like a toy.

Thanks for looking.

Timmythekid · Mar 9, 2015

Re: X-Wing Toy Conversion

Be watching this with great interest! I've got two boxed, waiting to be modded into a nice Red 2 and 3, as well as an earlier 2002 release as Red 5...but I'm too chicken to jump into them before I see someone else's journey with this thing first

Do you remember what sizes you used for the tubing? And thoughts on a source for a properly-scaled droid? I've heard the Revel Jedi Starfighters droids are a good fit, but the kits are like $35 anywhere near me, which is stupid for a half-inch piece of plastic droid dome.

Randy13 · Mar 9, 2015

Re: X-Wing Toy Conversion

I wrote down the tubing measurements and I'll have to look for those. I think I scaled them down one step from the studio scale size. I'm going to make this one Red 3 and I already have the Biggs action figure. For the droid, I'm going to use a PEZ R2D2. The size is about right for this toy and costs a lot less than a Jedi Starfighter.

Randy13 · Mar 10, 2015

Re: X-Wing Toy Conversion

For the tubing, I started off with this very helpful guide. Thank you to whoever made this.

I did not start off with the 5/16" tube. Instead I started with the 9/32" which fit perfectly into toy part. I then stepped down to 1/4" and 7/32". Then for the next part of the shaft, I used 3/16" instead of 7/32" like the guide shows. For the very tip I used 3/32" tubing. I kept the length about the same as the guide but just a mm or two shorter.

Randy13 · Apr 1, 2015

Re: X-Wing Toy Conversion

I'm not going to rebuild the wings but just add to it. After removing all the little raised pieces, I cut out a thin sheet of styrene and etched in the revised panel lines.

The one good thing about the inside of the wings it that there's enough room to add more accurate details. The long thing styrene part in the middle is there for support.

Then a test fit. For now I have just penciled in where surface details will be going.

Junk Pilot · Apr 1, 2015

Re: X-Wing Toy Conversion

Great stuff, Randy. Looks awesome.

Randy13 · Apr 1, 2015

Re: X-Wing Toy Conversion

Thank you sir.

Laspector · Apr 2, 2015

Re: X-Wing Toy Conversion

What do you use to etch those panel lines?

Randy13 · Apr 2, 2015

Re: X-Wing Toy Conversion

Laspector said:
What do you use to etch those panel lines?

I used the back side of an X-Acto blade with the tip broken off. Once 3d-builder recommended this, I haven't used anything else. I started with a few light passes of the blade before adding some pressure. I also tilted the blade a little on a couple of passes to make the groove a little wider. I did use a small file just to clean things up but that was probably overkill.

Randy13 · Apr 12, 2015

Re: X-Wing Toy Conversion

While waiting for putty and primer to dry on my Duel truck build, I had time to work on the wings.

Here are the original wings with the small surface details removed.

Here's the replacement which I just lay over the top.

The inside with surface details.

Randy13 · May 12, 2015

Re: X-Wing Toy Conversion

Another shot of the inner wing details.

When attaching these wings, I followed what PHArchivist did on his toy conversion and added square metal tubing to prevent the wings from sagging.

Then closed them up.

PHArchivist · May 13, 2015

Re: X-Wing Toy Conversion

Looks good so far!

Randy13 · May 13, 2015

Re: X-Wing Toy Conversion

Thank you very much. I studied your thread a great deal before I started working on this. I just plan on a couple of more changes since I'm not going for that much accuracy. I just want it to look less toy-like. Then I want to focus more on the paint job.

Randy13 · May 25, 2015

Re: X-Wing Toy Conversion

I worked on the droid strip and making the socket smaller for the PEZ R2D2. First I'm going for a close fit and I'll fill in the gaps later.

I did a little droid adjustment and this is how it turned out.

I scratched up some small details under the front and back of the engines. I couldn't stand seeing those blank spots.

Another look at the inner wings.

Dark grey primer.

Thanks for looking.

droidgeek · May 25, 2015

Re: X-Wing Toy Conversion

Wow! Randy, such major improvements. Really looking fantastic!!
This will be a truly great display piece.

Randy13 · May 25, 2015

Re: X-Wing Toy Conversion

Thank you very much. :thumbsup

NitroTech · May 26, 2015

Re: X-Wing Toy Conversion

I'm following this super close. I love the detail, the more the better and thanks for explaining what and how it's done. Newb question, what's your main source you're getting all the details from? BTW, I see the beginnings of Artoo in the background. Nice!

Hagoth · May 26, 2015

Re: X-Wing Toy Conversion

Awesome work on detailing this toy. Great tips on what you are doing to improve the wings. What scale would you say this model is? Looks like about 1:35.

Randy13 · May 26, 2015

Re: X-Wing Toy Conversion

Thank you NitroTech and Hagoth. I'm using pictures of the Red 3 studio model taken by Jason Eaton for reference. I tried to match the most visible wing details as much as I could. I'm going to leave the engines the way they are. If I remade those, I might as well make the entire thing from scratch. I haven't given much thought as to what scale the toy is. An action figure which is 1:18 scale fits in the cockpit but I feel is a little too large in proportion with the toy. My guess is that the toy might be closer to 1:24 than 1:35 but still smaller than studio scale.

And yes, I have started a 1:1 R2D2 build as well. That is something that I'll just work on from time to time while waiting for paint or glue to cure.

Hagoth · May 26, 2015

Re: X-Wing Toy Conversion

Might be something in-between. The picture of the cannons in your hand are what made me think it was about 1:35 or slightly larger. Is the overall length closer to 14" or 24"?

Ahh, just noticed the ruler in the picture of the wings. Pretty darn close to 1:24.

A 1:1 R2D2. I can see where this is going. Next it will be a 1:1 X-Wing for him to ride around in.

Now that would be a cool project. :cool

X-Wing Toy Conversion *Finished*

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X-Wing Toy Conversion Finished