Studio Scale Tie Fighter Build - Nice'N Model Designs

[Corellianexports]

Electronics installed and forward hatch panels attached. I used a heat gun to help them adhere to the cockpit area:



Installed the engines with red LEDs and rear hatch panel. I forgot to paint the engines (aluminum tubing) German Grey which is why only one is installed in the photo.
Installed the rear hatch with upper detail (air lock?):


Top view of electronics:


Cockpit rear panel installed, hiding the electronics:


Top view:

 

[Corellianexports]

Final assembly -
It was easier to simply display the fuselage first, before finishing up the final assembly.
Once that was done, I used some clear silicon to attach the top hatch. The final, rear hatch panel
was added with some contact cement along with the engine part:



Engine lights tested good:


Blasters installed. Because these are so fragile, I decided not to use contact cement to keep them in place. Also, while testing the LEDs, I discovered that the right side wasn't lighting up as brightly as the left side, so it still needs some work:



A front shot of the lit up blasters:

 

[Corellianexports]

I had some trouble with the wings. While peeling off the tape, it took with it some of the grey paint. Unfortunately, I ran out of time and was unable to tape off the black parts and repaint the grey. In addition, I wasn't able to hand paint the small details on the fuselage or add the small decals, but I did decided to do a final assembly so I could display the entire model in time for Christmas.
So here it is all lit up:

One of my favorite shots in Empire is seeing the engines all lit up in the dark:

More shots:




In the display case:

 

[Jedi Dade]

nice build - but really too bad about the paint peel.

 

[Fett_Ish]

The same thing happened when I built mine (and my TIE Advanced). I used oven cleaner to remove all the paint, cleaned and repainted. Then it happened again. Same process, but the second time the paint didn’t come up. Both times I thought I had been very thorough and on the Advanced even more so, but whatever the release agent used, it is stubborn...

 

[Corellianexports]

I'm now starting the somewhat painful process of detailing the fuselage. The good news is that it's winter time so it's a good time to be inside doing this.
One of the more difficult parts of adding the decals to this model is that there isn't any white lettering out there that can be custom made and the few decals that are available don't match the lettering exactly, but the more I studied it the more convinced I was that the original lettering from 1976 came from standard rail road cars. The lettering "ILL-CC" keeps popping up on this model in white and it matches lettering found on large cargo trains. I came across some similar lettering in a local hobby shop that carries a large selection of train models.

Dry transfer lettering in white and black. It has turned out to be very useful. As tiny as some of the lettering is, some lettering on the TIE was even smaller, so I had to use parts of the lettering for those areas beneath the hatch locks or squares.

I also came across an incredibly useful reference photo in the new TIE Fighter Owner's Workshop Manual by our own residents, Reiff and Trevas. The reference photo shows details that are missing from the EFx model along with a detail (White with red triangle) that appears to have been placed wrong on the EFx model. It also shows a yellow rectangle on the right side that is white on the EFx model (left side), so I'm thinking that white color is more than likely wrong although I can't find a good reference photo of that left side.

So here's a progress photo with the white lettering added:

 

[Corellianexports]

Unfortunately, the back of the EFx model doesn't have any details. I was surprised to find that the Icons model did, although the details are basically just white rectangles and out of focus reference photos of the original models didn't help, so using measurements I was able to determine which decals were possibly used on at least three spots on the back of the fuselage. I really got some use out of the white lettering:

Once all of the white lettering was placed, I decided to start taping off the areas for the white decals and then begin painting. I used the same technique for the Han in Carbonite panels, which have some Aurebesh lettering in red (upside down and/or reversed) on them.
I used some standard Testors enamel paint, which ironically, I've also used on the Han/Luke/Leia ESB badges (Red and Yellow/Orange for the bumps).

Taping off the sections for the red:

 

[Corellianexports]

Red was applied to most of the white rectangles/decals, so now it's on to the yellow areas. Oddly enough, there are three yellow lines near the front that don't appear any where else:

 

[Corellianexports]

I let everything dry for 24 hours and then removed all of the tape. The "decals" are now complete.
Front:

Rear:

Up next, adjusting the blaster LEDs and adding more paint to the wings. No much left.

 

[Fett_Ish]

Looking good! Makes me want to ad these details to mine. You did a great job with painting those markings.

 

[Corellianexports]

Thanks.
After putting in the hours, I can see why ILM didn't detail the remaining TIEs. Lots of work, but it adds some realism to the model. It's just too bad these things are flying past the cameras in ANH to the point to where none of the details can be seen.

 

[Jedi Dade]

It looks great. But I have a question about your reference, because when I saw some of the TIE models in person in 2002 they did not have many of these markings that you are painstakingly placing. I know they were likely repainted for TESB and ROTJ, and I'd be interested in your source.

Thanks,
Jedi Dade

 

[bigpetr]

Lots of theese markings can be seen here:

TIE-Spotting. *First post updated*

Ok, After a realy loooooooong prop/model break I’m finally gearing up to build some models again. Both subjects are TIE’s! One is a wee one the other one is bit bigger.:) Anyway, I’ve read thru a lot of old TIE threads, many which have been very active during my leave. A lot of cool info...

www.therpf.com

This is image posted at studioscalemodelers said to be from ANH:

 

[Corellianexports]

A very nice photo, but unfortunately it is mirrored.
The best reference photo I've found so far is the Reiff and Trevas book, TIE Figher Owner's Workshop Manual:

The SW Chronicles book has a fairly good reference of the ANH TIE:

 

[Corellianexports]

It looks great. But I have a question about your reference, because when I saw some of the TIE models in person in 2002 they did not have many of these markings that you are painstakingly placing. I know they were likely repainted for TESB and ROTJ, and I'd be interested in your source.

Thanks,
Jedi Dade

Please see above.
Ironically, I probably saw the same TIE models you saw in 2002. I saw them at MoM in San Diego. If I remember correctly, they had at least one TIE model from ESB. Those models were repainted ANH models which probably never had any decals.
I'm theorizing that only one ANH TIE model had all of the markings above (due to reference photos and the large amount of work that went into adding all these little decals) and that model was stored for reference; possibly not used in ESB or ROTJ. Because the remaining TIE's didn't have any decals, they were simply repainted.

 

[bigpetr]

Does this highly decaled model still exist in this form?

 

[Corellianexports]

It's a good question. I will try to remember to ask the guys I know from Icons and find out.

Getting back to the build, I finally got a chance to take a good look at the peeling paint on the wings. I decide to start fixing them by rubbing the exposed parts with cotton swabs dipped in denatured alcohol:

I left them to dry over night and then used some 220 grit sand paper to sand the areas down. I finished off some of the surfaces with 600 grit sand paper.

Next step will be to hit just those exposed areas with some fine primer and then semi-gloss black.

 

[Corellianexports]

The areas are painted, but they are uneven with the existing layers of paint, so I use a small amount of putty to level them out:

 

[Corellianexports]

One of the laser cannon LEDs wasn't as bright as the other one, so I decided to check the electronics to make sure there wasn't a loose wire:


Checked the voltage and both LEDs are good, but the problem turned out to be the LED itself. It could be damaged, but more than likely it's different from the other one. Ironically, it's the same LED I used for some R2 front logic boxes.

I found a replacement, but I think I found something better at an online electronics store: 3mm white flashing LEDs.
I should have them in a couple of days, so hopefully they will do the trick.

 

[Corellianexports]

I received the flashing, 3mm LEDs, but their flash rate turned out to be slower than the 5mm LEDs I have from All Electronics.
The only draw back to the 5mm LEDs is that they're not very bright, so I've decided to attach them to the super bright 3mm LEDs which will make them flash. I'll be attacking that small project this week.

Here's the super bright 3mm LEDs all set to go: