Is anybody actually making kits right now?

[acesh007]

Im in the same boat wishing I had jumped on the last Salzo x-wing run. It's a good thing I ran into this thread as I was looking into the Korbanth X1 Tie. Im interested to know if anyone offers kits as well.

 

[vectorzero]

There are some resins that tend to sweat if not mixed in the proper ratio or are not mixed well enough. Cleaning with acetone or isopropyl only fixes it for a short time. The paint will stick at first, and then as the piece sweats again, the paint will rub off. There is a way to seal it, as I've heard a guy in the UK use some local stuff (that I can't remember now) that managed to stick and seal, and would take paint well. I guess you have to experiment.
Eventually it will stop, but I've had a piece that I've cleaned with isopropyl several times over a two year period, and it still has issues.

TazMan2000

See Post #9 of this thread for an approach to getting paint to stick.

Getting an accurate Studio Scale model kit is not easy. I've been interested for about 20 years, and committed to getting going about 5 years ago.

I think on average I’ve had each of the 4 Studio Scale Star Wars kits for 2 years before the build. Each has required additional purchases of donor kits.

For Star Wars kits my experience is that anything cast by Mike Salzo you can take to the bank. My X and Y are excellent. Steve Niesen does good kits, but delivery times and the casting process mean your mileage will vary. My TIE and TIE X-1 are excellent. But I would have smashed them up in frustration if I had tried to make them myself. Fortunately Andy (flyscriber) has the patience and the skills to power through the challenges.

I have experience of Captain Cardboard, but I got lucky it would seem.

So in summary in my experience the kit route IS a shorter time to satisfaction. But you will have to have patience waiting for another kit to come out, strike like a snake when it does, and put time effort and money to finishing it.

Its worth it though. I could stare at my ships for hours. They make me very happy.

 

[Dedalus5550]

If you don't want to go searching for anything, and I mean this not to sound harsh, this may not be a hobby for you. That isn't how this hobby works. It never has and it never will, probably. No one has ever sold a "turn key" kit, and if anything, I see things going in a more a la carte DIY direction with castings and part availability. You are always going to have to make a Plastruct order, or find something here and there to finish it. That's what most people dig about this stuff.

Okay, I'm sure I'm gonna get my booty handed to me once again, but does the Salzo X-wing kit count? I'm sure I've seen builds posted in this forum without being moved for not being SS. And I get that a certain 1/24th scale Y-wing is decidedly not SS. But haven't some of the Nice-N kits also been deemed SS? Some people have said that since some studio models were made as masters and then cast in resin for copies, the resin kits can be SS--or even that they need to be cast in resin. Does SS require that the model be made completely with parts sourced like the originals? Can a SS kit be built from a resin kit that is made from original parts? And I promise I'm not asking to start a fire. I was thinking of the OP. If he had no knowledge of the Salzo kits, or the X-wings made by those guys in South America (is that right), or that Red Jammer kit, should they be mentioned. Not that all or any of these are being produced currently--I don't know for sure.

Okay, I'm blindfolded and I had my last meal. Fire away.
Thanks,
Mike Todd

 

[Jkirkon]

Lol.
The Salzo X-wing ‘counts’. Remove the blindfold and take the cigarette out of your mouth. The firing squad has stood down.

 

[swgeek]

Yeah unfortunately there are builds in this section that should be moved to the General Modeling section.
As far as SS models, I don't see anything wrong with resin kits. Like you said, many of the real Star Wars filming models are basically resin kits cast off a master.
I think as long as the model is as close as possible in shape, size and parts to the originals it's a SS model, whether it's a resin kit or all original parts.