Four foot X-wing work in progress(photo heavy)

[Dyonisis]

Hello,fellow modelers. This is my first attempt at recreating the four foot X-wing fighter from Return of the Jedi. I originally posted this
on another forum,but two of the other members (who'll remain nameless,but not blameless) there made it an unbearable,and very unwelcome experience
(to say the least) for me to stay any longer,so I decided to share it here instead.
I was going to wait until I had more progress on this,but I decided that now is the time to post it publicly. I'm comfortable enough
with what I've done so far to share this with other forums.
I started this months ago back in May,but family problems,and other unforseen financial difficulties brought this project to a screaming halt!
I also had problems with the dimensions,and correct proportion of this fitting with known model kits,so I had another member of that forum
who was going to the exibit in Australia where it was to be shown,measure it for me. Of course,I was off by eight inches from the original incorrect specs
that I got from a fan based website.
I'm going to have him cast this for me instead of the guy that I was originally going to have cast it.

I have already spent over $130.00 for the few raw materials I have,and some of it I can't use from the first version,but there is a learning curve
here. Needless to say,I had to start over! This is the new version. I have spent hundreds of hours pouring over reference photos of this from

www.fantasticplastic.com ,and www.publicfotki.com to ensure that the parts that I'm using are correct,and determining what's a paint mark,
and what's a small part. I have also searched all over for the parts,and materials that I need for this build to be the correct size,and
dimensions. This has taken me a month to machine a couple of the parts with a router,and cutting the rest of the otherparts by hand with a Dremel Moto-tool,and
60 grit sandpaper to shape it. This has truly been a labour of love! Altough this is only the raw,and unfinished form,I'm still in the planning stages
of the fuselage,as the local hobby shop here in town doesn't have the balsa I need to finish it.

I know that there was already another person making one of these on here,but mine will be the accurate version of the Jedi model. This will have

an armature in it. I'm thinking about lighting this,but with fibreoptics in the cockpit as well,not just in the engines. I might make a different
version of this just for something more like the orignal ILM models for a display at the public library if this doesn't pan out the way I want it to.
I hope to have another member here cast it,as he and I had planned,but the fuselage is about four feet itself! Maybe roto-cast this instead?

I've been lurking on here for over a year,and I've seen a lot of great models from a few of the other members here. I hope that in time I can
show what skills I have,and prove that I can be a useful member here as well. I'll let the photos tell the story!

Here're are the first photos that I took. The last ones with out the date stamp are the ones I just recently took.
I removed the date stamp from last photos,as it only displays military time(d/m/y),and won't work any other way now.
Some of these are a little blurry. I apologize for that,the camera I was using is crap! I hope you'll like them anyway.
More to come. If you like what you see so far,stay tuned!




This is a reducer cap that I cut into the flash suppressor(half moon shape at the end of the laser canon).

Here are the wings before final cutting,and shaping. You can't tell from looking at this photo,but these are about four,and a half feet wide when spread out.

The hole in this wing is too big on the larger chevron. I'll have to cut more acrylic to piece back in before I fit the sheet styrene to it.

Here you can see that the bottom of this is too small,and thin,but it's no big deal,as I have to cut two of these anyway(one for each wing). I forgot to make this for the smaller PVC tubing that I've cut for this when I traced it out.

These were a bunch of Eddie Van Halen model musicman control covers that I made,and converted into the engine bells for the inside of the engine intake. This is why there are circles drawn on them. I photoshopped out the holes for comparison. I used these because I have no other use for them right now.

This is a comparison shot. This was originally 1/4" of an inch thick. Now it's 3/32" of an inch thick after routing. This was neccessary for the difference between the top,and bottom of the engine intake. This will have ribbing on the back of the shroud attached to it with to reinforcing ribs glued along the front edge.

Here's a better shot from above.

Here you can see both the old,and new Phantom engine parts shown side by side for comparison. The smaller ones on the left of course are the original ones I made,but I can no longer use. The tube on the far right with the line on it is the one that I recently machined smaller in diameter. (I took this photo before I cut in down using a hand drill secured in a vise.) The first one was too big around,and I didn't know this until I looked at the reference photos. I then decided to cut a new one,and leave the mount on the end on it until I'm satisfied that the two pieces match the Phantom engines in the reference photos.

This is the wings' laser canon in the making. I still have yet to make the heatsink. The smaller part on the left is the reducer that I made from the black coloured mounts from an RC car.
These kept it from being jostled around inside the box it came in. I included these in the photo for comparison. It made a big mess making this.
The other parts are a needle-less syringe that I cut down for the finial in the end,and a brass tube inserted into a half inch diameter PVC tube.

Although a little haphazardly assembled for this photo - this is mostly what it'll look like when finished.

 

[IEDBOUNTYHUNTER]

Looks like your off to a great start. keep it coming.




Al

 

[eagle1]

Hi dude!. That would be me that is building the 1/12th X-Wing. I,m very impressed, your progress so far is awesome, this bird is not an easy thing to build in a short time is it?. I think it's great your'e building the 'Jedi' version, it has it's own quirks & qualities which will make a great display piece for you!. I just desired a scaled up 1/24th version so that's what she'll look like.
Does the size of the materials your'e using scare you?, does me on some parts and I think man, this birds going to be heavy!. (10mm acrylic sheet for wing boxes for example!).
Looking forward to your progress dude and If I can be of any help or you just want to chat that would be great.
Stu:love

Oh yeah, I'll post some pics of the little work Iv'e done on mine today.

 

[jawsmodels]

Gday mate. Glad youve put this out for everyone to see & help with. Looking good on the progress. Im sure you'll get good support for those times you need it. Keep at mate. Best regards,

 

[Dyonisis]

Hi dude!. That would be me that is building the 1/12th X-Wing. I,m very impressed, your progress so far is awesome, this bird is not an easy thing to build in a short time is it?. I think it's great your'e building the 'Jedi' version, it has it's own quirks & qualities which will make a great display piece for you!. I just desired a scaled up 1/24th version so that's what she'll look like.
Does the size of the materials your'e using scare you?, does me on some parts and I think man, this birds going to be heavy!. (10mm acrylic sheet for wing boxes for example!).
Looking forward to your progress dude and If I can be of any help or you just want to chat that would be great.
Stu:love

Oh yeah, I'll post some pics of the little work Iv'e done on mine today.

Not really the size of this so much,as finding the correct materials with the same dimensions as the original. The hardest part is making sure that the edges,and lines are true. What you,and I are doing is not impossible,just very difficult! I would not try this if you've never scratch built before people! This is definately not a project for a beginner. This is something that you'll only want to do after scratch building a few times with simple construction,and materials. With time,imagination,and a lot patience,anyone can do this. Be prepared to spend a lot of money though!

I can't imagine how much this will weigh in persplex(acrylic),and styrene - let alone resin. This thing is huge! I mostly used what I could find out of household items. I also used some special tools,and medical supplies for what I've done so far. Finding parts to fit the known model kits on here is tough enough,not to mention getting the proportion of the model itself! I've been watching your thread from the begining. This is what inspired me to finish what I started so long ago. An accurate Jedi model,and and alternate version would be great! I just wanted to build something that I could share with the public that has never been available before. I know that there are those that don't want something this big,but for those that do,it'll be here waiting.

There have been times when I've wondered what I was thinking. Though,there is a method to my madness! Mostly daunting,is the task of proprotion to the kit parts that were used in the original model. This,and I'll have to figure out to make the greeblies inside the wing wells,as there is no instruction manual,or plans for this. I want accuracy,and quality- not quantity! I'll box in the holes for the wing details with acrylic,so that this can be cast easily. These will be easy to copy once cast for anyone that would rather have persplex instead having the worry of drooping resin wings.

I want a resin fuselage with sheet styrene wings with an acrylic frame along the outside edges of them for stability for my own personal build. This would be more accurate to the original. I want a cold cast R2 head,so that this can be polished out,and look like an actual aluminum dome. I'll cast the body separately for the prototype,as this is small enough that I can do it myself. I'm making the fuselage out of balsa,as it'll be easier,and lighter to cast a hollow shell from.

Music is my first love. Even so,I love building models too! I've been building models for thirty years now,and I've built a lot of models for a lot of people - most have been scratch built. I've made all kinds of things,so this is no different,just a lot bigger than most of the things that I'm used to building - either for myself,or for other people! This has put my patience to the test a few times,as I have to figure out how I'm going to make the parts out of raw materials that take a lot of time to cut,and shape into something recognisable. The flash supressor is one example. The heatsink will be hard to figure out without a lot messy cutting,and sanding by hand. This is what it taking so much of my time(figuring out how to do it the safest,and easiest way).


On another note: If you look at the 32nd photo - you'll see that there is another one(when you scroll to the right) beside it. I didn't see that when I was inserting it into this post,otherwise I would have aligned it correctly with the others. This is the reason I had so much trouble aligning the text on my 19" inch monitor. I thought that I deleted the photo.....

Gday mate. Glad youve put this out for everyone to see & help with. Looking good on the progress. Im sure you'll get good support for those times you need it. Keep at mate. Best regards,

Good to see you made it onto the forum this time around! I made it too(at the last moment)! Are you still willing to cast this for me? I don't see how you're going to de-gas the mould for this,and cast it - I just don't see how,as this thing is a monster! There isn't a vaccum chamber big enough for the fuselage,even though it'll be two halves(top,and bottom). I don't think that even the wings will fit into 10 gallon a pressure pot!

I'm mostly having trouble getting the materials I need to finish this up. The local hobby shop doesn't have the balsa I need,and they don't know when they'll get another shipment in. I'll scratch most of what I need for the hyperdrive motivator(area behind R2 unit). The rest of the parts on it are from truck,and tank models.


Here are the latest photos:

 

[eagle1]

Wow, youv'e been pretty busy dude, impressive to say the least!.
I think it's great your'e making a 'Jedi' version, it will give people the option of 2 versions, yours and mine in parts offering as to people's taste.
Have you ID many parts, Iv'e only ever found a few on your version?.

I'm lucky in that I have access to lathes and a milling machine which gets every part either perfectly round or squared off on the edges of parts.

Another aspect i'm very lucky in is to be able to find everything I need in acrylic scrounged from my plastics supplier waste bins, large offcuts of almost anything I need.

Oh, I forgot to say welcome to you and was very sorry to hear your troubles on another forum site, I'm sure you won't get the same treatment here, the guys on the RPF/SS are just amazing dude!.
Stu

 

[TheRealMcFly]

That might be the most progress I've ever seen on page 1. :thumbsup

 

[greeble_gremlin]

Wow! another BIG X-wing Project!

Nice work and so much progress!

We are truly living in a new era of Super-Sized "studio scale" projects.

 

[Planettera]

Now this looks very interesting to follow up on. Can't wait to see how it will progress.

 

[MooCriket]

Great start! I'm looking forward to seeing more:thumbsup

 

[Dyonisis]

Wow, youv'e been pretty busy dude, impressive to say the least!.
I think it's great your'e making a 'Jedi' version, it will give people the option of 2 versions, yours and mine in parts offering as to people's taste.
Have you ID many parts, Iv'e only ever found a few on your version?.

I'm lucky in that I have access to lathes and a milling machine which gets every part either perfectly round or squared off on the edges of parts.

Another aspect i'm very lucky in is to be able to find everything I need in acrylic scrounged from my plastics supplier waste bins, large offcuts of almost anything I need.

Thank you,and thank you,everyone here for your compliments.

I can get acrylic fairly easy,and cheap. I just can't get balsa where I live. I live in a small town,and it seems that not everyone here is a huge fan of modeling.

Oh, I forgot to say welcome to you and was very sorry to hear your troubles on another forum site, I'm sure you won't get the same treatment here, the guys on the RPF/SS are just amazing dude!.
Stu

I don't know if this is the proper place to put this - but I just found out through the grapevine lastnight,that I'm now officially BANNED from that site(SSM),as I'm no longer a participating member there anyway! Like that's supposed to hurt me? It's not like I could've deleted my own account. Otherwise,I would have! This was done out of spite,and pettiness. I did nothing to be legitimately banned for!

I was trying to choose my words very carefully,as what to say,but I really don't have an opinion on this situation,as I no longer have the desire to go on with such a site,and after all the time I spent uploading pictures,(site,after site for the administrator of that forum),only to come back full circle to no longer being affiliated with this man. I posted that I was leaving,and all the other members there saw it,so it isn't like they didn't see it coming. I've mentioned no names,or even the name of the site itself here,or anywhere else,but if any of the members there that are also members here - (PM me for the details of what transpired to lead up to this point.) Since I decided to have another member over there who is also a member here,and a poster in this very thread cast this for me - the administrator who was supposed to cast this for me originally,decided that since I am no longer willing to participate there to ban me without a valid reason,and out pure spite!

I was going to have him cast this,but all the insults,and hateful comments from him,and one other member there,have forced me to leave on bad terms. He reads the RPF,and I'm sure that him reading this thread is why I'm banned. I thought that I'd give him a second chance,but after single-handedly following him through many different forums,and uploading pictures on each one for hours (each time,he changed forums with multiple names),and motifs over a period of three months with no reward of any kind,not even a thank you - I decided that I finally had enough! I violated none of the rules of that forum,but I recieved unwarranted warnings because of my very last post on that site ever! I didn't violate any of the forum rules - even if I had done so,it wouldn't be enough warrant my being banned! I had the presence of mind to copy,and paste it for all who inquire to read should it ever be deleted.

Sorry for the rant,but I don't think this is the place for me to put down another forum,or go into further details,so I won't go any further with this. I just want to be perfectly clear on why I left,so other members here that are also member over there know the true story of why I'm no longer around over there. I needed to get away while I still have some sanity left! I won't get into a war of words,so I'll end it here.

If this violates any of the rules of the RPF - MODS Please DELETE this post. Not intending to offend any one,as I'm new here,and I'm not trying to make enemies with anyone - I'm just trying to keep the record straight for those who know who I am.

 

[3d-builder]

WOW I don't know Jack about the 4 ft 65, but I imagine since it's so far out of scale with the smaller filming minis you have to make just about everything on it!!:angry Well thanks for sharing I am looking forward to seeing the the fuselage and then it come together!:thumbsup

 

[3d-builder]

Not sure where you are or what's available in your area, but the 4ft hull
when finished is not to big for an industrial former.Although I guess if you are going to kit it, a formed hull would be minus panel lines and such if done this way.

 

[Dyonisis]

Not sure where you are or what's available in your area, but the 4ft hull
when finished is not to big for an industrial former.Although I guess if you are going to kit it, a formed hull would be minus panel lines and such if done this way.

I'm thinking about roto-casting,as this is the only way to make it in resin. I would vaccum form it if I had some way of heating it up with a large enough oven. I would have to make small indentations in this(fuselage)for marking the greeblies,as there are a lot of them. The scribe lines are another problem,as I don't know how to form this with them intact! The only thing I can think of is,to make a large vaccum box for this that can also act as a pressure pot. Maybe a plywood box sealed with RTV sealant along the seams with a vulcanized rubber gasket on the top? This could be secured with drywall screws. This would allow for it to be cast in resin.

This will be a two part fuselage just like the ILM prop itself. The originals were also made with a top/bottom assembly. This is the way I want it to be.

 

[79 DAYTONA]

WOW!!!!!!!!! Great start can't wait to see more.:thumbsup

 

[Dyonisis]

Here,you can see that I'm measuring the brass tubing to see if it's in spec with what I need for the tip of the bell shape parts used inside the engine intake shroud.

If you look closely,you can see small lines that I scribed into the end of this for spacing the discs that will start the first row the be attached to this tubing before I cut them to size.

Here,I'm measuring to see that the brass tubing is big around enough for this,as it is what I'll be using for the base of the discs. This will make it easier for me to attach them to the 1/8th inch thick plate which this assembly will be mounted to.

I'm using the engine intake shroud to size up this plastic mount to which an RC car was originally bolted to. This will help me decide if this will be usable for this part of the build. Luckily it does. This will save me a little time scratch making this. The holes in the discs will allow me to insert this into them,and then shave them all down accordingly to create the stairstep effect of the original. This will make it look like the bell housings of the Jedi model.

I'll have to sand the mould marks off this,and use superglue to replace the plastic that is now missing on the outside ring at the bottom. This will make a perfectly round shape when finished. This will be the larger ring in the middle of the bell housing.

A trial test to make sure that this is a snug fit.

This will make it easy to see how much of this disc I need to shave down to the correct specs.

This is 1/8th of an inch thick. This is the plate that I'll use to mount the engine bell to the bottom engine shroud.

Measuring to ensure that this is in the proper thickness that I need. It actually needs to be 3/32nds of an inch thick. I'll have to shave it down.

Here,I'm cutting the tubing to the length I need for the other end of this to go through the bell for support with a pipe cutter,as the piece that I'm using to glue the discs to - is hollow up to the inner stub.

I cut small tubing with an Exacto saw,so that it doesn't collapse,as this pipe cutter is too big. Tubing this size (5/16th),and smaller that need to be bent, I fill with water,and freeze to keep them from being crushed,and collapsing on themselves during the bending process.

5/16th tubing for small parts. This will be the tip of the engine bell inside the engine shroud. I'm also using this same tubing for the laser canons.

This piece I shaved the entire length with a Dremel Moto-tool(the original version)for the back of the wing detail. This will be glued to the wing,and cast as one piece with it.

Another look.

This took me a half hour just to cut this at an angle,so that it'll look exactly like the wing reinforcement spar in the back of the wings.

A closer look at the tubing that I've cut for this project. 11/32nds,5/32nds,and 1/8th of an inch.

This is to give you an idea of how long this piece is.

I still have yet to cut the rest of this to size,and make the end of the reinforcement spar for the back of the wing. I'll post photos of the parts that I'm copying. I of course,have made a blueprint style drawing of the wing,and all the dimensions of the parts are made according to this.

 

[jawsmodels]

"Build it & they will come".

 

[Dyonisis]

A little update since yesterday. I made a few new pieces,and now I'm about ready to finish all the raw parts into their final form.

Here,you'll see that these were recut for accuracy inside the wing panel detail. That small chip was the first one I made,but I felt that it was too small,so I made another one,which is in the wing support frame(inside the larger hole). I did this as I realised that the hole for the panel detail was cut too big!

These are the parts that decorate the outside of the engine on the left. They have no real life function - they're only for ornamentation. The master pattern is laying underneath them. I taped them together,so that I could sand each surface identically on both pieces as they were taped on both sides with scotch tape(this is why it looks white). This will eliminate guesswork doing this by hand with a 3-M sanding block.

As each side had sanded through the tape - I retaped it once it was matched up with the original master. I do this for multiple pieces to ensure continuity. This also keeps the pieces aligned as I sand with 60 grit sandpaper.

The two half circles were traced from the engine housing(Saturn V parts). I taped these together while sanding them to shape as well.

The retangular piece(with the paper label on it)will be cut to its' final length as soon as,I can glue the bottom of the engine shroud to its' backing piece. Now that I cut the 4" inch PVC Pipe I've been using for this,it wants to spread out a little past its' original measurements,especially since it has been thinned to 3/32"nd of an inch thick. I'll have to squeeze it back to the correct size,and hold it until the glue dries.

I'll glue the engine bells to this once I have the shape I need for it. Then I'll glue the retangular piece with the engine bells to the engine shroud. This will complete the bottom of the engine intake. (I'll explain all this further as soon as,I get the parts ready for photos.) I'm just in a hurry to get some real progress done on this,so that I have something to share.

A little better photo of the partial wing assembly.

 

[Dyonisis]

This is the bottom of the engine shroud. This will have the bell shape piece inside it after it's all assembled. This will all be cast as one piece for ease of assembly.

This isn't glued at this point. It's just laid out to see if there are any inconsistencies in the shape. Here in this photo,you can see that it's a little too big on the very sides.

This shows the same on the other side. This needs to be trimmed to the final shape.

In this photo you can see that I aligned the edges up inside for the bottom of the shroud of the engine intake. I taped it,and re-taped it until I got the proper fit between the two pieces. I held this in one hand to keep it from springing out of shape while shifting the tape with the other hand. I did this with the smaller part laying on top with the tape already attached. This makes it easier to remove the tape,then edge the tape over ever-so-gently while easing up on the smaller shroud(held with other hand),so that this alignment could be achieved without a lot of hassle.

Please forgive the blurry pic. When I took it,everything looked perfect in the tiny screen on the back of the camera itself.

Despite the blurriness,you can see that this is aligned. What I was trying to show is the step in between the two. This is how the actual X-wings all were. The inside of this is rough from the extrusion process. I'll either sand it smooth,or glue some sheet styrene to it to hide this. The internal appearance of the engine intake has some greeblies(coolant lines)that are moulded into the ILM model,so I'll have to make sure that this is the same when I put those same greeblies in this one. This will have to be smooth in order for me to do this.

This is another shot to show the differences in thickness between the two pieces. Why the ILM guys made these engine shrouds with a step in between - must be purely cosmetic. The dark(dirty)look of this is from the wet,or dry-sanding paper. This was routed to this thickness,so sanding this smooth filled the cellular core(PVC)with small sanding grit that won't come out. I'll have to spray this with satin lacquer to seal it,and make it smooth before I glue the greeblies to it. It looks like the back edge of this is rounded over,but it isn't. This is a shadow cast from the direction of light through the window.

A shot from the other side.

This is a photo of the piece that will hold the F-4 Phantom engine once assembled. This isn't glued,it's just sitting in there for examplery purposes. This still needs to be drilled in the middle,and have the reinforcement disc glued to the back of this acrylic piece.

This photo is included in this set to show the tape method I use to make multiple sides congruent,and true to each other. These were too small to cut with a router,let alone a CNC machine. I had no way of keeping these in place,or rather to keep them from flying off the router table,or from being shattered by the high speed bit. There are four of these,and they will be the ends to the intake plenums that the Saturn V engine housings will be attached to.

This horrible photo was supposed to show how I scored along the excess with a box cutter(razor knife)to be removed with the Moto-tool. I held the camera with my left hand while trying to hold the knife in my right hand. They should put the button in the middle for ambidexterity(left,and right useage). The button on this one is on the right - for RIGHT HANDED USE ONLY!:angry

Here's another one. (The same thing). I only uploaded these because,they looked perfect in the viewfinder screen in the back of the camera.

Here's a shot from above to show how cleanly I cut this to match the curvature of the engine shroud. I can see now that this isn't as close as it needs to be for clarity.

This still has yet to be glued in this photo. It's just laid on top for example.

Same thing here. This is not even with the rest of the parts' edge,as the two are not joined in any way,as of this time. This is just a sample shot.

Here,it is drying. This after being sanded smooth with 600 grit,so that the acrylic will have some "bite" to it with the PVC,and the surface will not be shiny. This will make it easier to paint the final cast version of this part. This will make it an easier surface for the paint to stick to. I still have to sand the inside smooth. This will be the next step. I put a block of wood(1/2" inch MDF)on top of this to help keep all the edges evenly glued while it sets.


*Next fuselage* Stay tuned - I hope this will go well!

 

[Stormy320]

Wow - that is awesome.

I believe!