Gold Leader Y wing, NiceN kit conversion.

So, finally found some energy and time to get back to building filming models. Found the time to clean up all the thruster parts today, and managed to build one before time go the better of me. I did use original Saturn parts for the thruster bases as my kit supplied ones weren't quite up to snuff. Anyhoo, pretty tricky little things, Jason Eatons guide helped a lot, hoping to knuckle down now and have this in primer in a couple of weeks, really want to get to painting her now, quick iPhone pics on the fly.

lee



 
Very clean, Lee. Looks just fine without the paint, too! But, if you treat it like your speeder, it'll be a deadringer.
 
Steve, yeah the resin ones were a little off, i spent an age truing them up only to not use them and build a Gold Y lol. So if anybody needs a set of Jammer cans?
Thanks Allan, it was Richard and his Defiant that gave me a kick up the backside TBH, seeing him paint that thing, well it just got me motivated to get the build work done here, and break out the airbrush, with the ref on this bird now, i reckon i can make a reasonable job of it!
 
My building was also a little off! Managed to glue one of my nozzle cones on out of line. But it doesn't show really unless you look right down the arse of the engine.

I hear you re renewed painting motivation. Saw the film recently on my bro's home cinema, and seeing the beauty shot of the two Y's going down the trench on such a huge scale moved me to such deep emotion that I thought right, that's it, I'm buying that replacement airbrush I haven't dared to get for the last 2 years (and which has also held up the V3 paintjob) - bills be damned!
 
Yeah those nozzles are a tad tricky, due care for sure lol. Be nice to see you get to painting both of those birds Steve, it is nice to have fresh motivation though, the break did me well TBH, I'm chomping at the bit to paint this.

lee
 
Found a little bit of time to test out some paint on this. Ive shot Tamiya Insignia white, over a satin black undercoat. This will be chipped and scuffed into so i can make the weather job as authentic as possible. Ive shot the side stripes and canopy in Tamiya Haze grey, could do with some opinions here, these were shot in low light and no flash, not sure if i need more blue, but, that was something i didn't want to do, im not a fan of the stark duck egg blue look........hmmm, what do you guys think?

lee

 
The way I'd approach a toned-down version of that blue would be to make it pale as heck in tone, and dull, dull - so it looked totally washed-out, barely discernible against the white, like - the way it appears onscreen (or used to). For me, it's not that that grey is too grey - hey, do a grey canopy - it's that it's too dark, but maybe you're gonna knock it back with misting? I'd take the tone of that grey on the canopy up to at least the tone of the cockpit interior you got there, or the grey on that speeder. That's a nice warm off-white, though. Hope I can get mine as good.
 
Looking good Lee,havent started to study this beauty yet.
Yeah Colins right,a bit misting for sure.
Cant wait to see her painted,no doubt,another beautiful build like you always do.

Don
 
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Steve, the ref i have on this bird shows this blue to be, very blue indeed. I went with Tamiya haze as its a good chosen hue for painting TIE's and PD pods etc, seemed feasible.
I can make it work i think, but were looking at it here in stark freshly painted contrast, so its hard to judge, misting i think will be key to taking the contrast back a ways, but i liked the higher grey content in Haze rather than a duck egg blue hue......blooming models lol.

lee
 
I agree. It would be hard to put that blue on it. It seems to go oddly with the yellow. I like your idea of a gray as a base, even if it's not dead accurate.
 
As it goes looking at the ref more, the Tamiya Haze applied is very close and as good a starting point as i can see. The actual paint on the prop is misted, scuffed, and worn, and those misted areas give off more of the blue hue, whereas areas of a more untouched paint, are very close to the Haze grey, so i really think i can make it work, all in good time, theres a heck of a lot going on paint wise on this bird..........more than many realise.

lee
 
Oh, I definitely share your discomfort about that blue, and understand the move to grey. When I did my FM Y-wing I made it so the blue was barely readable, lol! Also the blue canopy on the hero Xs... definitely going to make that practically grey, like how they look onscreen...
 
Steve you should try this Haze grey, it is in fact very blue in certain light, for instance, my Probe pods are painted in the same paint and they come up very blue, but grey in certain light, so yeah i think it'll work, there is so much to mist over yet, so its a bit of trial and error.

lee
 
Another thing about Tamiya's Haze Grey is it comes up a bit lighter with a flat clearcoat. Personally, I think this color is the perfect off the shelf alternative for the original Stormy-Sea color. Many thanks to Gene for his lengthy color comparison. To my eye it can look both blue and grey, depending on lighting, just like the original TIE.

But that all said the Y's always look Grey. Maybe these accent colors were only misted over the base white, and not full opacity. That said, I think Juliens right, after a mist of white and some weathering it'll come up just right.
 
Paul, Julien, spot on fellas thanks, the blue is misted with base colour, these misted areas, then do appear more washed out/duck egg blue in photography, its pretty cool. The Haze ive applied already changes its spots frequently, moving from blue to grey, so yes, you guys are on my page for sure, this is the right path, just needs refining on my part.
I have to add, i love this Tamiya insignia white, looks a perfect solution to what is needed on the X and Y wings, should weather up beautifully.

lee
 
OK, a small update, not been applied to SS models lately but, while having some pretty freaky weather here in the UK, i had a little scare on this old girl.
Seems the heat, while my cockpit module was resting on the armature, had warped the rod by quite a bit, causing a fair bit of droop, its a problem with most men of a certain age im told!
Sooo, i had to mod this area, this is no way a bag, but just a heads up to keep an eye on the resin protrusion, so first i cut a 19mm diameter length of ABS tubing, this fits spot on over the inner alloy nub of the armature, nice and tight, thats what she said :lol


Then, razor saw the existing armature rod away, go gently, don't hack into the underlying alloy.


Slip over the ABS, its a super snug fit to boot!



And BAM, cockpit seated nicely.


Seeing as its a very good fit, I've chose to screw and bond the tubing into the cockpit, this makes it all nicely and easily removable, you never know i guess!




Hope it helps some of your guys out, as if this were to warp in sunnier climes, and one had already bonded on the cockpit, id hate to be the guy to put that right, ok, now i need to make some progress on the old girl!

bests........lee
 
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