Dissecting a toy TIE Fighter

[PHArchivist]

I took the plunge and attacked the newer toy TIE fighter to convert it into a display piece. Cal this a companion thread t my X-Wing toy conversion thread...

Starting point. The yellow hunk of resin is a cast off an original I inherited from a slightly inebriated Frak Cerney!

Removing screws

Removing more screws...

These are the parts for the pop-off wings... They sort of flew out when I pried the two fuselage halves apart

I primered them and re-inserted them so you can see how they fit inside...

Cockpit canopy just pops out.

Canopy extracted...

Windscreen extracted

If you look real close, you can see certain nubs with black marks. These are what need to be ground off...

Remoivng all that doesn't belong...

now time to fine sand...

 

[rider]

Oooooh baby. This will be most interesting as I am 50/50 about doing this. Been staring at that damn toy for the last few months and getting close to buying it, but I always get put off... Maybe this will change my mind.

Thanks for sharing this and I am well excited to see how it comes along and what issues you may find.

Keep up the good work. thumbsup:thumbsup

By the way, the other thing is, if this work out, you can get the Interceptor aswell and maybe use the wings and switch em around, having two ships from one kit. (That was my plan anyway)

 

[INCOM]

Nice to see projects like these. I've contemplated doing something similiar but with a code 3 Advanced Tie.

 

[foj3000]

Cool, I've begun work on mine. So far I've ground off those lousy posts on top and filled them in w/ some Aves.

I'm actually using the body of the newer Tie fighter w/ smaller wings. They retooled the upper hatch and the laser insert.( has 2 instead of 3, pic of Tie Interceptor, but it's the same.)

I also just got a Tie Interceptor that I'm going rework. (And After seeing Riders's V-wing , I had to get one of those. also wanna rework an A-wing, Darth Vader's Tie Fighter and the retooled Landspeeder. Still trying to get a Tyderium Shuttle and a Snowspeeder.-yeesh!)

 

[rider]

Gotta say, this is exciting.
Interceptor, it’s a bit of a dupe the toy resembles nothing of the new box art and sticks to the old mold sadly. That new top hatch looks good though.

Vader TIE. I have the old one and I think its just a bit too out of proportion sadly so I made do with the little Revell one.

The Snowspeeder looks great so that should work out cool when you find one.

Good luck with these and will love to see how they some along. :thumbsup

 

[phase pistol]

GO go go! :cool

 

[foj3000]

This is the DV Tie I picked up last month:

The proportions aren't too bad( It is a toy after all) Those Missiles in the front really suck though.

 

[rider]

It certainly is alright foj3000, and it’s really nice and big. I think if it’s possible to somehow make the wings just a tad bigger, it would fix the proportion issue and it would make for a very formidable piece.

Here’s what I have been trying. It certainly shows that I am terrible at building anything, but I have been trying to build a TIE body. Initially I was going to try and build the whole thing, but with these toys around, I am hoping that if I get that far, I can utilize their wings. But I keep getting stuck on the canopy frame. It just never looks right and seems to come out just a bit oversized I don’t know where I keep going wrong.:cry

The furthest I got was the grey primed picture (top right). But I scrapped it. The bottom two were my second attempt but I trashed it again. I don't think I will ever get to fulfill this, but ah well...patience eh...:angel

 

[foj3000]

Sculpting a sphere is probably the hardest thing to do. It may be better to start off w/ a plastic sphere and scribing all the detail onto it. You can get 4" spheres at Hobby Lobby, Michaels or almost any craft store. The best way to do the window frame is probably done by using Plastruct or Evergreen "T" beams layed up on a jig.
Try this website for some building tips:
http://starwarz.com/modelshop/index.htm

My original plan was to trash the center section of the Tie and just use the arms, but it seemed like too much work. I'm not trying to make an exact studio scale model, just wanna make a nice display piece.

 

[rider]

Thank you very much for that foj3000. :thumbsup

Good luck with the TIE and keep us posted on it

 

[yt]

Great thread here!

 

[foj3000]

Here's a bit of an update:
I didn't like the vinyl,polyethylene ,crap plastic the hatch was molded in. So I pulled a mold off the hatch and cast a resin copy. here it is next to the original:

I also cut off that round piece off the top, I'm going to use a better piece that I found in my junk box.

Here I test fit the hatch onto the body, the fit is not bad, just needs a little fine tuning:

Looks a lot better w/out those dumb posts on there.

 

[rider]

WOW. That looks really cool.

 

[PHArchivist]

I thought about casting the hatch too. Any thoughts on sharing!?

 

[foj3000]

I thought about casting the hatch too. Any thoughts on sharing!?

I want to cast a couple more for me, I made a really quick & dirty mold,but if my mold holds out I'll send you one. Shoot me a PM

 

[phase pistol]

TIE-riffic. :cool

 

[rmschneider104]

I like what I'm seeing. Keep at it!

 

[ob1al]

Watching this thread with great interest and looking forward to any updates.

 

[PHArchivist]

Zeroing in on the X-Wing, hitting the TIE in between.

Got most of the ball "cleaned", then time for filler. Will also be creating a new dashboarda nd new windscreen frame. This one will likely have a surprise about it that I can't tell you yet!

 

[rider]

Breath.... Bated....:love