My Nice-n Snowspeeder build thread!

[ecl]

I’ve been working on this Nice-n snowspeeder kit for a couple of months now. I’m taking my time with it, being my all time favorite Star Wars vehicle, I wanted to make sure I’m happy with the finish. Some modifications were made to the model, the biggest being a new scratchbuilt canopy. I’ll be rebuilding the opening flaps on the engines, as the resin ones came very warped; probably easier to just build new ones out of styrene. Overall, it’s a beautiful kit—and a heavy one too.

The cockpit and canopy have yet to be glued down. I’ll be doing that once the bottom of the ship is all painted up. I’m also modifying the pilots to fit better inside the cockpit.

 

[JLinNY]

Nice work!! Man that's a beautiful kit.

 

[Pepperbone]

Love the paint job and detailing. Very nice.

 

[Talaris]

Looks very nice!

 

[DeLano80]

Awesome. What's the x-wing?

 

[Jkirkon]

The x-wing looks to be the Korbanth kit to me.

 

[ecl]

Thanks!

Yes the X-Wing is the resin Korbanth kit. Still need to finish the paint details on the bottom.

 

[ecl]

Small update: made orange tinted goggles for the pilots. (The other guy is still being painted). It was a much needed detail! I sculpted a little buck out of epoxy putty found at the hardware store, and used a heat gun to form them from cut pieces of trading card toploaders—they were just thin enough to do the trick. They were then tinted orange with Tamiya translucent orange spray paint (Really cool stuff).

 

[ecl]

Finished painting the second pilot! Not glued it yet though; still making some adjustments in the cockpit.

 

[ecl]

Finished up the opening and closing mechanism for the ‘air brakes’/flaps.

 

[Craig1701]

Fantastic build! Can I ask...what paints did you use?

 

[ecl]

Thanks! For the base coat, I used a combination of these three Tamiya colors. I don’t have an airbrush, but really love these Tamiya paints. I just start with the AS-20, and then will do alternating mist coats with the AS-16 (which warms it up slightly), and a bit of the darker AS-2. The weathering over the top (various layers of light mist coats, enamel (a couple Archive X colors; weathered black and engine black), and also the occasional pastel for helping with gradients) significantly shifts the color as well. Generally, I try to create a surface that has a lot of subtle contrast in it from the weathering. Matte clear coat—either Tamiya or Mr. Super Clear—is applied during the process to help seal the finish. The final result is a very matte, almost ‘dusty’ looking surface that I really like. For the darker panels, I just made a custom mixture from a couple tubes of Vallejo acrylics and brushed them on.

When I finally finish up this model—just need to weather the rear and bottom hull—I’ll take better photos under more ideal lighting conditions.

 

[Craig1701]

Thanks! I love AS-20 and have used it on quite a few of my builds. Good idea to combine the three colours. Your model looks great! I just pre-ordered the Hasbro Black Series Snowspeeder and intend to repaint it.

Great job again!

 

[ecl]

I’m very curious about the black series snowspeeder! From the photos I’ve seen, it looks really amazing. Should paint up real nice; and even more cool is the fact that you can put the figures into it!

 

[Craig1701]

I’m very curious about the black series snowspeeder! From the photos I’ve seen, it looks really amazing. Should paint up real nice; and even more cool is the fact that you can put the figures into it!

Yes! I've taken two Hasbro toys (big solar panel wing TIE Fighter and the big Millennium Falcon) and modified/painted them to look more like models than toys. Their size tips them towards studio scale, although I know they are not.

However, I think the Hasbro Black Series Snowspeeder could be close to studio scale. I have the Master Replicas snowspeeder and the Hasbro ship is bigger.

Does anyone know where one can buy decals for a studio scale snowspeeder?

 

[Peacefrog35]

I'd love to see a comparison of the MR snowspeeder and the black series. I just received my black series this week from gamestop and am blown away by it.

Yes! I've taken two Hasbro toys (big solar panel wing TIE Fighter and the big Millennium Falcon) and modified/painted them to look more like models than toys. Their size tips them towards studio scale, although I know they are not.

However, I think the Hasbro Black Series Snowspeeder could be close to studio scale. I have the Master Replicas snowspeeder and the Hasbro ship is bigger.

Does anyone know where one can buy decals for a studio scale snowspeeder?

 

[skahtul]

Nice work, that is a fantastic build!

 

[Ogibendogy]

Nice work, especially on the weathering.

 

[Lear60man]

Hope you dont mind....but like you, Ive repainted a few of the larger toys. This is the Black Series Snowspeeder after a few hours under the knife. Not a full strip just stripping a few panels and sloppy weathering. Then repainting and adding new details. The frosty window have to go though.

 

[ecl]

Hope you dont mind....but like you, Ive repainted a few of the larger toys. This is the Black Series Snowspeeder after a few hours under the knife. Not a full strip just stripping a few panels and sloppy weathering. Then repainting and adding new details. The frosty window have to go though.

That looks very cool! I haven’t seen the new Black Series Snowspeeder in person yet, but it looks super impressive from what I’ve seen in pics. It looks much more like a model than a standard vehicle for figures. Great job with the subtle repaint, it looks sharp!