AP's Studio Scale TIE Fighter (2020)

[madebyap]

Use Mr Finishing Surface 1500 Black.
You can buy it in a spray can.
It may be more expensive than Vallejo or Stynylrez primers but unlike those others this primer levels perfectly and is incredibly resistant to being scratched off.

I just picked up some of the Gray, black seems to be out of stock everywhere (the spray kind). Thanks for the reco!

I did some priming with the vallejo through my airbrush and holy crap, priming a 1/24 scale model is way different than priming a 1/72 scale model haha. My hand is craaaampped.

 

[madebyap]

More wing work today.

So I noticed on the edges of the wings, there was a bit of a dip on most of them. You can hopefully kind of see it here:

It wasn't on all the sides, just... well, most. So I grabbed my Bondo and went to town... (and yes... I Bondo like I'm a three-year-old with a twitch...)

I will say though that after sanding it down with 220, 320 and 400 it filled in the dip, and came out pretty smooth. The proof will be in the primer pudding. I'll be doing that later this week when the Mr. Finisher arrives.

 

[madebyap]

Oh, another question for the pros...

So my CoolShade looks pretty bad. Almost like an air conditioner at a crappy motel...

Any suggestions on how to fix this? I mean, I'm sure the black will hide some of these crimes, but damn...

 

[PeetL]

I just picked up some of the Gray, black seems to be out of stock everywhere (the spray kind). Thanks for the reco!

I did some priming with the vallejo through my airbrush and holy crap, priming a 1/24 scale model is way different than priming a 1/72 scale model haha. My hand is craaaampped.

I've bought an Iwata mini spray gun for such situations, otherwise you'll be there forever laying down a uniform coat.

 

[PeetL]

Oh, another question for the pros...

So my CoolShade looks pretty bad. Almost like an air conditioner at a crappy motel...

Any suggestions on how to fix this? I mean, I'm sure the black will hide some of these crimes, but damn...

View attachment 1340162

If you have the patience, gently go over the grooves with a scribing tool (guide it over a straight edge ruler). Tamiya make a nice panel line scribing tool that you can find in Amazon.

 

[PeetL]

It may help to first rub along the direction of the grooves with a stiff brush to remove any loose gunk, but from the look of the cast Koolshade it's more likely to be irregularities in the resin in these grooves which can only be cleaned up by rescribing them.

 

[madebyap]

It may help to first rub along the direction of the grooves with a stiff brush to remove any loose gunk, but from the look of the cast Koolshade it's more likely to be irregularities in the resin in these grooves which can only be cleaned up by rescribing them.

Thank you! I’ll pick up one of those scribers and give it a go.

 

[skahtul]

I've bought an Iwata mini spray gun for such situations, otherwise you'll be there forever laying down a uniform coat.

Nice! I did not know such a thing existed. I always use rattle cans on larger projects because I can never get a perfect coat on my larger builds with my air brush. I will look into one of these for sure.

 

[madebyap]

Hello tribe! A brief update.

These wings are just hella busted. I tried using the scribing tool (thanks PeetL for the reco, I'll be using it on projects for sure!). The problem with the koolshade/coolshade (what is the proper spelling? I've seen it both ways haha) is that it all is physically dented, or just cast poorly (this was listed as a miscast so I knew kinda what I was getting into).

Here's an extreme close-up. You can see how it's just a wavey, dented mess. I think the only way to fix this is to replace all the coolshade somehow.

I am going through and scribbing some of the really bad ones, just to try and define them a bit better, but damn...

Another fun thing, so I started priming as well.

And even though I washed all the parts, I guess I didn't get into the coolshade grooves (that sounds like a jazz album) as well as I should so the Vallejo primer scratched off... so, I cleaned it all off, re-washed and really got in there, and have since primed with the Mr Finisher 1500 Gray (thank you again PeetL) and feeling pretty good now.

The primer did reveal some crimes that I need to solve but we'll deal with that tomorrow!

 

[PeetL]

Great job!
As for the "dented" regions of the Koolshade (yes, spelled with a "K" as per the past company's name), you could chisel those areas as flat as you can, fill them with some epoxy putty to make them level, and then create styrene louvres and glue them on.
If there are too many such damaged regions, an alternative is to forego using this casted Koolshade and opt for using the following high quality cast that my friend makes.
PM me if you want to follow this option.

 

[Fett_Ish]

I have Hero Wings now, but for years my TIE sported stars just like this. I had to do much of what you are and a bit more cuz they were pretty wonky. As far as the louvres are concerned I found that once painted, I chose a semi-gloss black, it looks fine, good even. I may have muttered awesome when I finally put it next to my X-Wing. My biggest advice to you is to wash it with something more than dish soap. I had to strip mine not once,but twice after being completely painted as the blue painters tape pulled up my topcoat and primer after painting the black. I think I used simple green followed by warm water and soap, followed by alcohol and then soap and water again.

tldr, don’t fret over the chipped koolshade it’ll be fine after paint, make sure you wash wash wash before paint....

Hello tribe! A brief update.

These wings are just hella busted. I tried using the scribing tool (thanks PeetL for the reco, I'll be using it on projects for sure!). The problem with the koolshade/coolshade (what is the proper spelling? I've seen it both ways haha) is that it all is physically dented, or just cast poorly (this was listed as a miscast so I knew kinda what I was getting into).

View attachment 1341934

Here's an extreme close-up. You can see how it's just a wavey, dented mess. I think the only way to fix this is to replace all the coolshade somehow.

I am going through and scribbing some of the really bad ones, just to try and define them a bit better, but damn...

Another fun thing, so I started priming as well.

And even though I washed all the parts, I guess I didn't get into the coolshade grooves (that sounds like a jazz album) as well as I should so the Vallejo primer scratched off... so, I cleaned it all off, re-washed and really got in there, and have since primed with the Mr Finisher 1500 Gray (thank you again PeetL) and feeling pretty good now.

The primer did reveal some crimes that I need to solve but we'll deal with that tomorrow!

 

[Millenniumf]

If it were me, I'd leave the koolshade alone. The unevenness gives it a real world, used universe look, and as noted even the ILM models had beat up koolshade.

 

[madebyap]

Fett_Ish thank you for the Simple Green tip! If all goes south I'll strip and do that. Ugh. Just keep learning. Just keep learning...

Millenniumf I'm actually going to go that route for this one and just leave it as is. I'm hoping with the black, the imperfections are covered up better. Plus, to your point about "real world used universe look", maybe this was one of the TIEs that chased the falcon into the asteroid field!

 

[ringleheim]

If you're going to strip paint, I find Easy Off oven cleaner (the yellow can) works best, better than Simple Green, brake fluid, and all the other commonly suggested things out there.

Note that the blue can of Easy Off will not work at all.

 

[madebyap]

If you're going to strip paint, I find Easy Off oven cleaner (the yellow can) works best, better than Simple Green, brake fluid, and all the other commonly suggested things out there.

Note that the blue can of Easy Off will not work at all.

Noted thank you! Also getting back to this in a few days so hopefully an update soon!

 

[Jedi Dade]

Yeah I had one of Steves Original casts... Lets just say resin casting has come a LONG way since that time... and your kit was a distinct improvement over the one I got from Steve. That is not a complaint! Steve's kits were on par or better than most resin kits of the day - just by today's standards they were rough. Don't try to fix the koolshade - that way lies madness and disappointment. Just fix what is actually broken and you'll have a nice model when you're done. no pun intended. However of you want a super nice TIE - grab one of Steve's current kits and you will NOT be disappointed. They are much better engineered and cast these days

Jedi Dade

 

[rooker2k]

hi madebyap

maybe this could be interessting for you

what you see here is a Resin SLA Laser 3D Print, the Parts are assembled. In this case here are 4 parts
1. main body
2. cockpit window
3. top part
4. bottom part

inner cockpit and backside are merged with the mainbody

Thinking about the koolshade was not easy but the result is also good for a 3d print, check this:

Hope you like it

Cheers

 

[Star Lord]

Do you have a link to Steve's website or? I take it he is still producing this kit? Would love to get my hands on one.

 

[Star Lord]

Actually, I just found it. Hopefully they are still available.

 

[rooker2k]

Actually, I just found it. Hopefully they are still available.

They are available but i heard alot that you pay it and need to wait years for deliver.

if you want one from me contact me