Nearly Finished SalzoV3

Here is my first post to The RPF! Be gentle guys as it's my first SS kit and first resin kit:unsure. A little on the build. It sat around on my table for weeks as I researched, as I wanted it to be perfect. Little did I know what I was in for! At that time here on the forum there was some contention around ownership of some pics and for weeks ( it seemed to me, drooling over the idea of seeing something that would actually help me make that perfect Red 5) I would peek into the thread and see no new info available to a non member. So I printed off a couple pics watched the movie (no freeze frames or scans) and set to work, deciding against this perfect Red 5.:eek
I used brass tube and heat sinks to replace the cannons,added some carbon fiber strips to the tench in the rear of the wings to battle any possible sag. Ran a rod sown the center of the fuselage for the same. As I decided that I was no longer replicating the actual SS I left the support around the cockpit windows and placed "glass" in there to protect Luke from the vacuum of space! I was now making a SS sized model of my Red 5. It became fun after being a bit of a stress.
Etching primer was laid down,then black primer, then, still afraid of my airbrush I used a bunch of tamiya rattle cans, followed by scratching, washing, dry brushing,etc... I also used a set of weathering pastels,chalk, mascara, not exactly sure,but alcohol cleans it up and blends it nicely. I did this an hour or so a day over the course of a few weeks, let it sit for a few months and repeat. I think more than a year later here it is. I might go in and do some panel work. I am toying with the idea of adding the some inaccurate markings like the torpedo and cockpit markers from other X-Wings for some more visual interest as it isn't in hyperspace and is.

She sits in my HT awaiting the arrival of my Steve Neisen Tie Fighter to make chase down the trench:love.
I would like to thank Mike for the kit. I got it from him promptly,in perfect condition and it went together like a dream for a first timer.
Hope the pics show up.Thanks for looking and all the (unknowing) help I have received from this forum.:ninja

Looks pretty darn good for your first SS and resin kit! I don't think you are going to have any sagging issues with the extra work you put into it. Nice touch with the real heatsinks and tubing.

I too shied away from doing an uber accurate "Red Something" build on my first SS kit as well. It relieves a lot of pressure that way!

:thumbsup

The painting and weathering are outstanding !!

Very nice!:cool

Outstanding job. I've seen a lot of replicas with weathering that looks like it was just smeared on paint. Not this one!

Fett_Ish said:

She sits in my HT awaiting the arrival of my Steve Neisen Tie Fighter to make chase down the trench

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Let's see pics! Nice work...

looks great been working on a v2 lately also a red 5.

Looks a flawless build to me, and the paint job is just fantastic.
Great job for your first SS model dude, keep em coming!.
Stu

Thanks for the feedback guys. I was nervous about posting with all the incredible builds here. Now that I have looked at the pics I think I am going to get a little closer on color for the cockpit,add some paneling I see on some other builds and get some more weathering onto my engines. Any feedback on what folks might think will help me make this build better as far as weathering and painted panel colors/placement (not necessarily perfectly accurate to the actuall RED5, but close) is greatly appreciated! Wish I could aford another as I enjoy working on it so much.
Hopefully my Tie will come out as well.Gonna have to scoure the boards for info on making it at least a close to accurate color!
Again thanks for looking.
Tony

Very good looking model! I have a V3 also and can't wait to get started - just have to do a little more research. May I ask you what color you used as the overall basecoat?

ILMwannabe said:

Very good looking model! I have a V3 also and can't wait to get started - just have to do a little more research. May I ask you what color you used as the overall basecoat?

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I used all Tamiya rattlecans on this.The basecoat was INSIGNIA WHITE (US NAVY). It isn't cheap, and it took alot (many,many) cans to cover the black primer,but I like the end result.:eek I should have used my airbrush, but I am scared of it still!:$ The more stuff I see the more I think the originals were white. I think the weathering,dark basecoat and compositing,make it seem gray. I am surely wrong, but it works for me. One thing I learned on this build-more sanding! Some parts of my paint job have a slight texture (only on the wings) as I didn't sand finely enough. I wont make that mistake on my Tie! Mostly because I can't cover it up with weathering.

I really recommend building the cannons from brass stock and a few bucks worth of heat sinks. Mine are a little askew, I plan to someday tear them down and re-do them. Anyway I did it as I was worried I wouldn't be able to sand down the seam without creating a flat spot. It was an easy and relatively cheap upgrade. I remove the resin of the small brass rod,leaving a sanded down nub. Slid my brass over it with a generous helping of epoxy,added three heatsinks,and viola-heavy wings that need some reinforcement:lol!Its hard to mess up. I did feel like I was doing,at least partialy,something that had been done by "those guys" all those years ago.........

Fett_Ish said:

The more stuff I see the more I think the originals were white . . .

. . .I really recommend building the cannons from brass stock and a few bucks worth of heat sinks. ......

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Agree 100% Many thanks for the paint info!

Yes I also believe that most of the X and Y-Wing models were painted white over black, just like has been mentioned in several books. Vintage pictures of when the models were newer seem to support this, especially pictures of Red Leader, Red 5, and Red 12. Also Gold Leader, Gold 2 and Gold 3. The exception is Red 3.

For some reason Red 3 (Biggs) does not look white at all - part of it might be the aging and heavy weathering, but it may be that Red 3 was painted with another color from the start. The bottom half seems darker than the upper. It's a strange bird. The bottom half of its nose is unlike any other X-Wing (hero or pyro).

I've seen partial pictures of when Red 2 was new (painted as Blue Leader) and it looked white. I can clearly see why people always get confused about the colors. Also, they look different in the movies. The blue screen and film duplication makes them look different colors also.

The main thing to remember is that each X-Wing model was quite different in both details and paint.

So in the end we can build them either as they were, or as they appeared to us in the movie theatres, or maybe a mix of both (?).

Really impressive build....hard to believe it's your first resin kit...i need to build one of these for myself someday...
mike

mslz22 said:

Really impressive build....hard to believe it's your first resin kit...i need to build one of these for myself someday...
mike

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There you go! From the man himself! Highest possible compliment!