Converting the 1:48 FM X-Wing into ILM hero Red 2 (Blue 1)

[Marko@Rockvoice]

Thanks, but no fibreoptics... I wish I could to that but truth is - I have never ever done that before. So I dare not try it on this one :confused

I was not satisfied with the Red-2-nose.
So I made a new one - still needs the last bit of sanding:

Note that the fuselage front is cut by 2 mm.
More photos to come tomorrow!

 

[blbarrett]

Cool project!

 

[Gus76]

Wow! Looks like you know what you are doing! Excellent job so far!

 

[Marko@Rockvoice]

Before I forget...

CAN ANYONE HELP ME OUT WITH DECALS FOR BLUE ONE/ RED 2 ?

I know that some of you guys made schematics/drawings with the complete set of decals that were used on BLUE ONE / RED TWO.


Although I had already cut the clear canopy into corrected shape I spent some time on building a new one from scratch.

This is the raw version - just glued - no filling or sanding done yet...

Next thing to do is small details on wings and fuselage and then... primer!

 

[moffeaton]

I can send you a set for $20 plus shipping - it has the pics you need, too. You can scale down from studio scale pretty easily, but I'm not giving out the file I made

 

[moffeaton]

http://www.therpf.com/f13/studio-scale-decals-110977/

 

[Marko@Rockvoice]

Yeah great!
Where do I have to sign?

;-)

 

[atom]

Hi!
You did what I wanted to do!:love
You are great!
The canopy in particular is my ideal form!:thumbsup

 

[Marko@Rockvoice]

Hi!
You did what I wanted to do!:love
You are great!
The canopy in particular is my ideal form!:thumbsup

Yeah, thanks man!

To figure out the shape of Red2's canopy took me a while.
Feel free to contact me if you want to talk some detail!

 

[atom]

Hi!
I am remodeling CCX into RED2 now.
The canopy shape is the very important point of X-WING, I think. Your canopy shape looks very good to me.:thumbsup
BTW, I have jason's decal sheet. It's awesome! I highly recommend to you!
I gonna ask you some questions about fuselage, sooner or later.
Then again!

 

[Marko@Rockvoice]

Time for some other modifications!

In spite of my correction of the fuselage's width, there was some work to do.

I cut the upper area so I was able to bend the "edge" outwards 1mm on each side.
Next, I glued one pre-sanded 0.7mm stripe of styrene on the upper part's sides. This way the new droidstrip will sit in an adequate environment.

As speaking of... droidstrip...

Here's the piece that my friend ChrisGFX created.

I have this one and some other parts 3D-printed for 1:48 and 1:72 X-Wings:

Finally, here is a sideview of the new nose - I am still lacking reference on Red two / Blue one - so I hope this is close:

Could someone please verify or comment on this one?

 

[atom]

Hi! Marko!

As my opinion, your nose cone is very close to real RED2.:thumbsup
I have the lateral image of the nose cone, but cannot attach it now because it is saved to my home PC. Please wait until the weekend.

 

[Mike J.]

Marko,

Attached are some images that should be helpful

For more images of Red 2 / Blue 1, please look here:

Starship Modeler

Regards,

Mike J.

 

[Marko@Rockvoice]

Thanks for the pics!
I think I only have to correct my nose a little till it meets the original shape.

And so the battle rages on...

The fuselage of Red 2 is really way different from the other Hero X-wings... Have I mentioned that before?

The lower fuselage got 1 mm height, while the upper fuselage is sanded slightly more flat to the front. The "edge" between upper and lower fuselage feels correct to me now.

The canopy frame also differs from the other X-Wings. In this case - I had made it like the other Heros before... so - re-do!

The R2-Unit and droidstrip is placed further back on Red 2. I filled the area and will re-cut the R2-shape later:

 

[atom]

Hi! Marko!

To tell the truth, I did the same thing on my CCX-RED2. :thumbsup
Everything needs modification for RED2.
For example, nose cone shape, canopy shape, fuselage shape, the place of R2 socket and torpedo tube.

 

[Marko@Rockvoice]

Okay... first coat of base color.

In comparison with the Fine Molds version out of the box:

This is just for the shape of the fuselage - Still waiting for my 3D-printed backplate...

Already applied the darker coat of base grey and did some pre-shading. Tomorrow it's time for white color ;-)

 

[complex plastic]

Magnificent,

You attention to shape and detail is amazing.

Cheers,

Jase.

 

[masterjedi322]

That is looking awesome! :thumbsup

Sean

 

[ILMwannabe]

Absolutely fantastic work Marko! My highest compliments - you rock! :thumbsup

I had no idea that the Fine Molds 1/48 was so "off" - it had many favorable reviews when it first came on the market, but you make it look easy.

Thanks to Atom also for pointing out your thread to me.

I'd be interested in buying a copy of your Droid Strip and/or rear plate, if you want to make castings of them in 1/72nd scale. You can contact me by PM if you wish and we can share information.

Yes, Red 2 was very, very different in many ways. Even the upper laser cannons were different . . .

 

[JMChladek]

I have to admit, the first time I saw you come up with this thread and post the progress, I had to think to myself... "why?"

But honestly, seeing all you've done and just how good the results look, I am now thinking "why not?" This is looking REALLY GOOD!!!