1:2700 TIE Fighters?

[Richard Baker]

There have been a number of build threads for the new Zvezda Star Destroyer kit. Somewhere on one of the forums I saw a member post a couple of pictures showing a tiny Blockade Runner and a set of tiny TIE Fighters. The TIEs were still on a 3D printed Sprue and sitting inside the kits main hangar deck.


Now that I have a Zvezda kit myself I am trying to find the source of those TIEs. I plan on opening up those Upper Deck Bays along the superstructure and build a few TIE launch bays.


I have gone through all the threads I can find and done a search of Shapeways (which has a horrible search engine) with no luck.


Does anybody have a clue as to where these TIEs might be available? I know even in the super/ultra mediums they will be clunky, but for my purposes they should work out fine.

 

[Fair Play]

https://www.shapeways.com/product/5BVZ3Q7PF/1-2256-tie-fighter-x24?optionId=42663685

This is the only one I could find. It is not 1:2700 but 1:2256, which might be acceptable ...

 

[3Dsf]

Why not make one yourself and print it using Shapeways? A TIE fighter is a super simple design, especially at that teeny size where details aren't visible. You could put one together in a free program like Tinkercad in minutes.

 

[Richard Baker]

I may end up doing that.
Frustrating thing is I saw a photo of these fighters posted on a Zvezda ISD thread, either here or over on Hobbytalk I thin and I cannot find the source now. Somebody has already created these, be it on Shapeways or another 3D modeling site, and now that I want them there are no where to be found...

 

[3Dsf]

Hm. Might be tough to get anything more than a stick with two hexagons in terms of details, though. Estimates of TIE fighter size seem to vary wildly. Let's go for the big end of the scale and say that the wing height is 11 metres. At 1:3700 that'd be a mere 3mm high!

http://cf.geekdo-images.com/images/pic2223531.jpg

 

[3Dsf]

Well, I just put this together. At 3mm tall it's barely printable via Shapeways. The basic problem is wing thickness - even at this thin a wing, which is technically slightly too thin to pass Shapeways' automated tests, the wings are a bit toylike...

 

[Richard Baker]

I'm just looking for something to fit inside the tiny .175"x.3" upper deck hatch/bay- I am going to build a couple tiny TIE hangars with ceiling racks and would like not to show them empty.

 

[Robiwon]

Sure it wasn't on the Zvezda Star Destroyer FB group? Nope, just checked. I'll share this though from a build going on.

 

[3Dsf]

It would help if I could read, wouldn't it?

The Zvezda product is 1:2700, not 1:3700. So that would make each TIE fighter 4mm if you go for a big 11m wing. Not 3.

 

[Dedalus5550]

Bandai will have one in 5-4-3-2,...

 

[3Dsf]

Okay. I've posted my model to Shapeways if anyone wants to try it. PM me for the link.

 

[Scratchy]

You can always scratch some up with styrene, make a mold and cast a whole hanger bay full.

I'm old fashioned that way

 

[3Dsf]

Okay. I've gone ahead and published a set of nano-sized 4mm TIE fighters. 30 ships on sprues, since at that size there's not much difference in price between two and 30. (Shapeways' setup fees)

Let me know what you think!

https://www.shapeways.com/shops/the-age-of-plastic

 

[rbeach84]

TIE's this size should have photoetched wings...
R/Robert

 

[3Dsf]

Yes, I agree. But it's super easy to slap a 3D model on Shapeways. Less easy to make a nice brass etch.

The ideal would be the body and arms as 3D prints, glued to super thin etched brass wings.