Model Builds with Archive-X Paints (Star Destroyer, AT-AT, Falcon, X-Wing, Slave 1, and other projects).

[skahtul]

This one has been on the bench for a while. It's a gift for a friend. The base color and primary colors are just the decals and normal 'pre-colored plastic pieces from Bandai. However, the weathering (outside of a few washes) are all Archive X. I wanted to test out the rust and some of the darker colors for weathering.

The camera really picks up the 'spattering' for some reason, it's not nearly that 'speckled in real life. Plus, once this is all dry I still need to flat coat it which will bring it all together.

 

[akumazeto]

No top coat. No preshade No washes. Ilm didnt use these techniques. But again I dont want to hijack.

 

[skahtul]

No top coat. No preshade No washes. Ilm didnt use these techniques. But again I dont want to hijack.

I appreciate that, and thanks for the input!

 

[Analyzer]

Great stuff!

 

[skahtul]

That's no Bandai (and for sure it's not, not even close... Maybe this is the thread where I just post all my random builds. I am just laying it all out to ensure the parts are all here. I am also about to tear into my second-star destroyer. I want to experiment with some multi-colored panels on this one.

After finishing up that 1:48 Bandai I really feel like tackling another X-Wing. I went a bit heavy on some of the weathering, and after watching some more videos and pouring over reference material, I want to dial it back a bit. I have an X-Wing model I want to eventually print (same files I used for my 1:24) to match my new 1:48 Y-Wing (Thanks SB!) but for now, this is a kit I picked up on eBay a while back. I could be mistaken, but I 'think' this is the same kit they actually used in the films, though I know they heavily modified it. If anyone has any references as to those modifications feel free to reach out!

Anyway, going to start in on this one while I decal up the Falcon.

 

[Hagoth]

That's the X-Wing kit used in ROTJ. I guess technically its a Studio scale. Not sure what they modified but I know it was not the lower hull which kept that dent feature. And as far as I can tell the vertical piece in the engine intakes was not moved forward either.

Star Wars: Episode VI - Return of the Jedi (1983) [4K] - StarWars Screencaps.com

Screencap Gallery for Star Wars: Episode VI - Return of the Jedi (1983) [4K] (4K 2160p Quality, The Movies). Luke Skywalker battles Jabba the Hutt and Darth Vader to save his comrades in the Rebel Alliance and triumph over the Galactic Empire. Han Solo and

starwarsscreencaps.com

This frame capture and the next three show it well.

 

[Padawan311]

The MPC kit was used in ESB and Jedi. To my knowledge, it wasn’t modified much at all. I have a couple of those kits too and want to build it soon.

 

[skahtul]

That's the X-Wing kit used in ROTJ. I guess technically its a Studio scale. Not sure what they modified but I know it was not the lower hull which kept that dent feature. And as far as I can tell the vertical piece in the engine intakes was not moved forward either.

Star Wars: Episode VI - Return of the Jedi (1983) [4K] - StarWars Screencaps.com

Screencap Gallery for Star Wars: Episode VI - Return of the Jedi (1983) [4K] (4K 2160p Quality, The Movies). Luke Skywalker battles Jabba the Hutt and Darth Vader to save his comrades in the Rebel Alliance and triumph over the Galactic Empire. Han Solo and

starwarsscreencaps.com

This frame capture and the next three show it well.

Nice, thanks for the reference!

The MPC kit was used in ESB and Jedi. To my knowledge, it wasn’t modified much at all. I have a couple of those kits too and want to build it soon.

That makes it even easier

I am not sure what scale they are (a good deal larger than the 1:48 scale X-Wing I just did) but they are a great size.

 

[Hagoth]

As near as I can figure the MPC X-Wing is 1:43 scale or at least really close to that. I agree on the great size. It's a good base to make an awesome display piece with and has internal room to do all kinds of cool stuff. It's what I'm using in my current X-Wing project.

Knowing what movie production schedules are like I would not be surprised if their use in the movies was basically straight out of the box. I'd love to know more of the back story around that piece of history.

 

[INVAR]

The MPC kit was used in ESB and Jedi. To my knowledge, it wasn’t modified much at all. I have a couple of those kits too and want to build it soon.

I do not think the MPC kit was used in ESB at all, and if it was used in Jedi - it was for background shots with multiple 'hero' scale ILM builds in the foreground.

In this pic from 1983 - you can see to Uncle George's right - the studio scale hero-X-wing used for Wedge's fighter in Jedi.

In fact, the studio lighting was so hot, simple store-bought styrene would melt under the lights. ILM did use the DIE Cast Kenner TIE fighters for the shots of bazillions of TIES for the Emperor's arrival on Death Star II.

While it is certainly possible that ILM shot box-built MPC X-wings for background shots - I highly doubt any of those were for foreground ships.

 

[Padawan311]

It has been confirmed that it was used in ESB and Jedi. Check out this video from Prop Store. It’s great reference as well.

 

[skahtul]

I do not think the MPC kit was used in ESB at all, and if it was used in Jedi - it was for background shots with multiple 'hero' scale ILM builds in the foreground.

In this pic from 1983 - you can see to Uncle George's right - the studio scale hero-X-wing used for Wedge's fighter in Jedi.

View attachment 1474522

In fact, the studio lighting was so hot, simple store-bought styrene would melt under the lights. ILM did use the DIE Cast Kenner TIE fighters for the shots of bazillions of TIES for the Emperor's arrival on Death Star II.

While it is certainly possible that ILM shot box-built MPC X-wings for background shots - I highly doubt any of those were for foreground ships.

That is my understanding as well, just far off back ground shots only. They would likely not hold up under close shots as the detail is lacking

 

[skahtul]

It has been confirmed that it was used in ESB and Jedi. Check out this video from Prop Store. It’s great reference as well.

Great reference, thanks!

 

[Hagoth]

Looking closely at the shots from ESB of the first transport with X-Wing escorts that left Hoth, they could have been MPC kits. There is not a decent side shot to confirm but from head on the intakes look like MPC as there is no visible vertical piece there. They are moving pretty fast with a lot of blur so it's hard to tell.

However in RTOJ when the fleet comes out of hyperspaece they are clearly MPC all the way from the background to the foreground. Again they are moving pretty fast with a lot of blur so that makes it easier to get away with any lack of detail. The uppr cut dent in the bottom of the fuselage is clearly visible the entire time.

 

[robn1]

the studio lighting was so hot, simple store-bought styrene would melt under the lights.

The studio models were covered in styrene kit parts and they held up OK.

 

[Jaitea]

I do not think the MPC kit was used in ESB at all, and if it was used in Jedi - it was for background shots with multiple 'hero' scale ILM builds in the foreground.

In this pic from 1983 - you can see to Uncle George's right - the studio scale hero-X-wing used for Wedge's fighter in Jedi.

In fact, the studio lighting was so hot, simple store-bought styrene would melt under the lights. ILM did use the DIE Cast Kenner TIE fighters for the shots of bazillions of TIES for the Emperor's arrival on Death Star II.

While it is certainly possible that ILM shot box-built MPC X-wings for background shots - I highly doubt any of those were for foreground ships.

The studio models were covered in styrene kit parts and they held up OK.

As Robn 1 says,.....all the models were covered in kit parts, thats what the Studio Scale section is devoted to,...ID'ing those kit parts

Looking closely at the shots from ESB of the first transport with X-Wing escorts that left Hoth, they could have been MPC kits. There is not a decent side shot to confirm but from head on the intakes look like MPC as there is no visible vertical piece there. They are moving pretty fast with a lot of blur so it's hard to tell.

However in RTOJ when the fleet comes out of hyperspaece they are clearly MPC all the way from the background to the foreground. Again they are moving pretty fast with a lot of blur so that makes it easier to get away with any lack of detail. The uppr cut dent in the bottom of the fuselage is clearly visible the entire time.

The MPC X-Wing that popped up on PropStore was Brian Johnson's model when he worked on ESB, it was used for the Rebel Transport/Ion Canon scene

J

 

[Analyzer]

That's the X-Wing kit used in ROTJ. I guess technically its a Studio scale. Not sure what they modified but I know it was not the lower hull which kept that dent feature. And as far as I can tell the vertical piece in the engine intakes was not moved forward either.

Star Wars: Episode VI - Return of the Jedi (1983) [4K] - StarWars Screencaps.com

Screencap Gallery for Star Wars: Episode VI - Return of the Jedi (1983) [4K] (4K 2160p Quality, The Movies). Luke Skywalker battles Jabba the Hutt and Darth Vader to save his comrades in the Rebel Alliance and triumph over the Galactic Empire. Han Solo and

starwarsscreencaps.com

This frame capture and the next three show it well.

You can definitely see the distinctive bottom hull bend of the MPC X-Wing in those shots

 

[skahtul]

Alright, I finally have started in on my X-Wing. My 'idea' here is that I am finishing it 'just enough to show up on camera from far away. I have zero no what ILM would have done, but in my mind and for this build, I was attacking this from the standpoint that it's just for a far-off shot, not the close-up hero shot. So I filled in some of the seam lines but left others. I am just painting the canopy windows black, etc. It was more just a fun exercise to think like they 'might' have back in the day as they rush to get a few of these X-Wings built for distant shots.

With the above in mind, I am also going to take some real liberties in the paint job and just do something that I think will look good and just using other reference X-Wings as a guide.

At first, I was not really a fan of this kit with all the flashing and other issues, but the more I built it up the more I liked it. I think this is probably my favorite size kit to build. It's a good deal larger than the 1/48 Bandai X-Wing I finished a while back.

 

[skahtul]

The one area I could not let go of was the guns, the plastic ones are off-center, tons of flashing, and I broke the tip off one of them just moving them arround.

So I took some of my aluminum rods and used the same process I had used on my 3D Printed 1:24th scale X-Wing and made some new ones, so much better!

 

[skahtul]

While I was off yesterday I also finally found a good (and cheap) way to mount my helmets. Basically, I just used a shelf bracket and a $4 stick of 1" wood to make a quick mount. Much cheaper than what I have seen these sell for online so I thought I would pass this along.