Bandai 1/72 T-65B X-Wing

[ThePlasticOne]

A long shipping time, from a nation far, far away...


Hello! This is my (non-welcome center) inaugural post on TheRPF, so I figured I'd start with a bang.

I am mostly a scale modeler, and most of my stuff is sci-fi. I am super into Bandai's Gundam lineup, so it excited me to no end when they got the Star Wars license. I've only started acquiring these kits over the last year or so. This is the first of them.

First! A little Background. As a nearly lifelong Star Wars fan I've created any number of my own fictional characters within the universe, using the old-fashioned "Star Wars Name Generator" to come up with Terwo Labos. Between head-canon and roleplaying games,Terwo has been everything from a Jedi to a New Republic footsoldier to a bounty hunter and everything in between - he's like my personal Highlander in the Galaxy Far Far Away. I brought back Terwo as an OT-to-Post-OT era Rebel Alliance/New Republic pilot, leading Dragonslayer Squadron (which comes from the name of an X-Wing, Dragonslayer One, that a previous incarnation of Terwo flew as a bounty hunter). Almost all incarnations of Terwo are accompanied by an R4 astromech, because I just love the things. This Terwo comes with R4-N50, a droid from his family's speeder repair business on Garel. There's a much longer backstory, if you guys are interested in reading it I'll post it, it's just quite long.

Aurebesh reads "DRAGONSLAYERS." Custom sculpted R4 dome. Logo designed in InkScape.

R4-N50 is based on an older custom R4 action figure:

And oh yeah, I got a treasure trove of action figure customs...

About the Build
The kit is about 99% snap fit with a teeny drop of cement on some parts. I didn't bother with any of the seams on this one - Bandai really did an excellent job on the Star Wars kits. For my purposes, I was happy with the X-Wing as it was, but I do fill and sand where I need to. The kit is stock except for the R4 astromech dome, of which I hand-sculpted two from Apoxy Fixit. The base coat is Rustoleum white Plastic Primer, washed in a mix of gray hobby acrylic and water. Other than the base layer, the entire kit is hand-painted, including the wing flagging, with Apple Barrel acrylics and equivalent, as well as a spot of Citadel paint here and there. Decals were designed in Inkscape and printed on HobbyCal Inkjet decal paper, using my black hole of an Epson.

Decals: "COL. T LABOS" in Aurebesh; kill markers including Death Star II and capital ship kills using West End Games' interpretation of Rebel pilot markings

Decal: New Republic logo (New Canon)

"Tan lines." In the backstory, the fighter was "promoted" from Dragonslayer Five to Dragonslayer One; I interpreted the extra stripes as the equivalent of vinyl decals that could be removed at will.

Yeah, I know the laser cannons don't line up, hush...

Decal sheet

As a little bit of a completionist, there is also a 1/18 scale Terwo Labos action figure in the works (or at least a new one, based on this particular Terwo). And to quote Yoda...there is...another...

Hope you enjoyed. More 1/72 Bandai goodness coming up soon!

 

[Dobber]

Wow! I love it! The colors and markings are great and the new droid looks fantastic as well. I love this custom.

Chris

 

[Axlotl]

Yah, for what it is, this is great man. :thumbsup
I wish I could buy you an airbrush and compressor and some decent paints.
I want to see what you could do with some quality tools.
So much potential here...

 

[ThePlasticOne]

Oh, I could do a lot with quality tools (went to art school, learned all that jazz), but it's the time and space that I don't have...

I cut my modeling teeth on miniatures back in the teenage days (BattleTech, mostly) so in my head I'm all about the brush, and even at this scale with this particular subject it works out. I'm starting to butt my head on the 1/48, but I've learned to work with what I have.

 

[SithSim]

Looks great! Looking forward to seeing more

Sent from my SM-T230NU using Tapatalk

 

[blakeh1]

I love the color scheme, the greens and black really look good together. The modified R2 unit looks great as well

and kudos for the cool backstory

 

[teleray]

Really really great stuff. Kudos. I have three of these I'm trying to decide what to do with. Probably one Red 5 for sure, and then maybe I'll get creative like you have. I would love to read the rest of your backstory for the character. Please post.

 

[ThePlasticOne]

I thought you'd never ask

Colonel Terwo Labos
Terwo Labos was born on Garel just days after the formation of the Galactic Empire, on a world that found itself heavily involved with the Rebel cause in the years to follow. Generations of his family operated a mechanical repair shop on the planet called Labos' Wrench-Turners, and he grew up familiar with speeders and star freighters. While the Imperial government was, as typical, heavy*handed in its control of the planet, the Labos family privately remained staunch supporters of the late Republic and the Alliance to Restore the Republic.

Witnessing numerous incidents between Rebel sympathizers and Imperial forces on the streets of Garel, Terwo was instantly swayed to the cause from a young age. One fateful day, Imperial soldiers came knocking (or ramming) at the door of the Labos household and shop. A local commander was convinced that the Labos family were harboring Rebels, and repairing their vehicles. Little did Terwo know that the commander’s accusations were true, but the Labos family maintained their innocence and loyalty to the Empire. Every few months following, a detachment of Stormtroopers would appear and ransack the apartment, searching for any little tie to the rebellion. There would be occasional beatings, and many threats. Eventually, an even bigger squad of Stormtroopers smashed their way into the home in the middle of the night, seizing Terwo’s father from his bed and arrest him for “tax evasion.” Though Terwo would spend the rest of his life searching, he was never heard from again. Terwo and his mother maintained the family business, continuing to suffer Imperial investigation, and aiding rebels whenever possible.

Soon, news of the destruction of the first Death Star spread through the galaxy like wildfire, and Terwo was moved enough to finally join the Rebel Alliance. With relatives now picking up what remained of the Labos business, he left Garel for Lothal, where he met with a recruiter, and within a month found himself training in a Y-Wing with the Tierfon Yellow Aces. He brought with him R4-N50, one of the Labos family’s agromechs. Upon finishing his training, he was initially assigned to Blue Squadron as Blue Seven, flying an X-Wing in escort missions all across the Anoat sector, guiding Rebel supplies and personnel to the new base of operations on Hoth. He experienced his first combat operation with Blue Squadron during this time, engaging a squadron of TIE Interceptors over the plant Hosra in order for a commando team to extract a critical agent from the planet. The faster Imperial fighters inflicted heavy losses upon Blue Squadron, but the mission was successful. The fighter group returned to Hoth only to find an Imperial assault and the evacuation of the base; exhausted from the mission, the remaining Blue Squadron fighters created a diversion, drawing off several squadrons of TIE Fighters. They would follow a pair of transports out of the system, where they would eventually reunite with the Rebel command several days later, never leaving their fighters once. The remainder of the unit was highly commended. Blue Squadron was disbanded and its remaining members reassigned to Black Squadron, a fighter group that specialized in anti-capital ship operations.

Terwo, newly promoted to Lieutenant, flew as Black Four in his X-Wing. Over the next year, Black Squadron remained on the move, performing hit-and-run operations on Imperial supply operations, destroying several capital vessels, even taking down the Imperial Star Destroyer Disputer unassisted. Within a year, Terwo was made executive officer of the squadron, later flying as Black Five and leading the squadron’s Two Flight. Then-squadron leader Ta’ara Gamm re-christened her unit the Dragonslayer Squadron, in honor of the unit’s mission. Gamm was killed in action nearly instantly after the Imperial ambush over the forest moon of Endor during the assault on the second Death Star, when a suicide TIE Interceptor rammed her X-Wing to pieces. Terwo assumed command of the Dragonslayers, and operated in defense of the Rebel fleet until the rearguard squadrons were ordered to attack the Imperial fleet. In a momentary lull, Terwo was brevet-promoted to Captain, and assigned the remaining members of several squadrons; he led the combined fighter group to take down the Harbinger and Vehement. He was then tasked with escorting the Millennium Falcon and General Calrissian’s fighter groups to the second Death Star, after which he continued to lead his combined fighter wing in defense of the Rebel fleet. For his valor and leadership in the battle, Labos was one of the few pilots outside of Calrissian’s group to be allowed to claim a Death Star kill marker on his starfighter.

There was no rest for the Dragonslayers after the victory at Endor; a new Dragonslayer Squadron under Captain Labos, back to squadron size and now a mixed unit of X-Wings and orphaned B-Wings, continued taking the fight to the remnants of the Imperial Fleet. Dragonslayer Squadron was heavily involved in the major conflicts to follow. Labos was soon promoted again to Commander, and the unit was partially refitted with brand-new T-70 X-Wings in time for the decisive Battle of Jakku, where again Labos would assume command of several broken squadrons over the course of the battle. After the victory at Jakku, Commander Labos was promoted a final time to Colonel, and tapped by the New Republic Starfleet to lead the newly-formed Black Wing, with Dragonslayer Squadron forming his command unit. A quieter time fell upon the galaxy. As one of the newest starfighter commands, Black Wing survived the initial waves of disarmament and was mostly reassigned to sector-scale anti-pirate operations.

Colonel Terwo Labos continued to lead Black Wing for another six years following the Galactic Concordance. He was honorably discharged from the New Republic Starfleet, and returned home with R4-N50, where he took on command of the Garel Planetary Militia. At his swearing-in, he was surprised with the planetary government’s latest acquisition: the T-65B X-Wing he had valiantly flown for the Rebel Alliance and New Republic for over a decade, recently phased out of service and acquired at auction. Over the decades since, still wearing the distinctive green and black striping of Dragonslayer Squadron and bearing New Republic Starfleet emblems, Guardian One now serves the Garel Planetary Militia in a teaching capacity, helping train new generations of planetary defenders.

Though no longer in active service, Terwo greatly supported General Leia Organa’s growing Resistance movement, recognizing the threat posed by Imperial remnants still lurking in the Unknown Regions. His fears were confirmed when Starkiller Base annihilated the Hosnian System and much of the New Republic fleet; Labos’ duties to his homeworld and the men and women under his command are the only things keeping him from taking the fight to the Imperials once more.

Captain Terwo Labos, circa the Battle of Jakku (WIP)


R4-N50
R4-N50 is one of three R4 agromechs owned by the Labos family on Garel, working in their repair shop, Labos' Wrench-Turners. R4-N50 led an unassuming, normal operational life, until the fateful day when the local Imperial garrison began harassing the family. The droid found himself following young Terwo off-planet in his quest to join the Rebellion. R4 agromechs are generally unsuited for starfighter duties, but the Rebel Alliance was so wanting for droids that Labos was allowed to keep the droid, under the provision that the droid’s capabilities would be upgraded at his own expense. The tough workdroid received a new astrogation buffer, salvaged from a droid that supposedly once belonged to the old Jedi Order, allowing him to perform navigational duties in Labos’ T-65B X-Wing; frequent upgraded programming allowed the droid to better interface with the Alliance’s military equipment, and other members of the droid corps. R4-N50 served with Terwo Labos during his time in the Alliance to Restore the Republic and subsequent service in the New Republic, performing duties on board the same T-65B X-Wing for over a decade. The droid would continue to ride with Labos as a member of the Garel Planetary Militia.