Studio Scale TIE Fighter
- Thread starter swpropmaker
- Start date
Here we go - here you see one wingstar in position (with the extra armature passing through), and then the second one nested behind it - see how much armature is STILL sticking past? Sadly, these two wingstars when together are THICKER that .25", which is the ANH wing thickness. So there will be at least this much extra armature to contend with.
Here you see the 1/4" Plastruct H-Beam edge thickness roughly correlates to this delineation in the resin wingstar that clearly shows that the master was the correct thickness at some point (look at the red line). Below that, I show how both wingstars when nested together (as shown above) are still thicker than the .25" H-Beam (red lines delineate the wingstars thickness). These stars should sandwich two layers of Kool Shade (and that construction paper) and be level with the H-Beam, as ANH TIE pictures clearly illustrate.
So yeah - this is gonna be rough to get looking correct to ANH specs.
Here you see the 1/4" Plastruct H-Beam edge thickness roughly correlates to this delineation in the resin wingstar that clearly shows that the master was the correct thickness at some point (look at the red line). Below that, I show how both wingstars when nested together (as shown above) are still thicker than the .25" H-Beam (red lines delineate the wingstars thickness). These stars should sandwich two layers of Kool Shade (and that construction paper) and be level with the H-Beam, as ANH TIE pictures clearly illustrate.
So yeah - this is gonna be rough to get looking correct to ANH specs.
vaderdarth
Master Member
Almost sounds like your armature is an interceptor armature which had to be made longer to accomodate the bend of the wings vs the cockpit. Very odd. I texted Steve about it.
vaderdarth
Master Member
I'm in the middle of the hero build myself, I'll look at it tonight and see what everything will look like when I assemble the wing parts. I was thinking the armature should extend only .25 or so with no wings. I'll get back to ya.
Well I hope it can serve as a cautionary tale for any one else that will eventually build one of these. I have not seen a single hero build done yet so I guess this is why? It would have helped if there had been instructions or a heads up that there were two lengths of armatures floating around out there. Mistakes happen when you send kits out (and I'm fine with that - it's not a professional business), and if I had known to check these kinds of things, I would have. No idea what I'm going to do at the moment. If I cut this armature and mess up the ball, I've essentially wasted a good billable week on this. My plan is to use a couple billion Dremel cut-off wheels and eat up a couple of evenings.
My brain is screaming this is why you scratch build, dummy!
My brain is screaming this is why you scratch build, dummy!
Jason, you got a hacksaw and/or grinder? The extra length should come off ok, shouldn't it?
Thanks for the headsup and sorry your build has hit problems. I'm curious about the construction of the stars and panels - are the stars supposed to actually sandwich the Koolshade? I imagined the stuff was cut to fit within the frames as separate panel/sandwiches. But then I only have the Koolshade, I don't have the TIE hero kit to wrap around it yet (anyone wanna flog me one?)
Thanks for the headsup and sorry your build has hit problems. I'm curious about the construction of the stars and panels - are the stars supposed to actually sandwich the Koolshade? I imagined the stuff was cut to fit within the frames as separate panel/sandwiches. But then I only have the Koolshade, I don't have the TIE hero kit to wrap around it yet (anyone wanna flog me one?)
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vaderdarth
Master Member
Steve agreed with me on the armature being an Interceptor. Says he's gonna call you Jason. If you've already built that cockpit around the armature you have, you will need to use a hacksaw to cut the armature BUT only after you build the hero wings to see where they need to stop. He can give you the Hero Arm length so you can measure your armature to double check that this is the problem.
Dave
Dave
I think a solution is in hand for this - a jig and an aluminum cutter. It's an unnecessary headache, though, isn't it? A little more care and attention and this woudl not happen. I know a resin garage kit requires extra elbow grease, but it infuriates me when you have to do extra work for no other reason than someone was asleep at the wheel. That's not a fault of lack of reference, or other understandable things - it's just sloppiness. It's lame. I'm not blaming Steve, either - for all I know, one of his helpers shipped this one to my client. Impossible to tell.
"TBH I'm nore concerned about the thickness of the stars themselves."
It goes like this: < wing star - kool shade - paper - kool shade - wing star>
The 1/4" Plastruct H-Beam dictates the thickness - Gene's pics prove this.
The <kool shade - paper - kool shade> should socket into the H-Beam, and the wing star on each side should mate up perfectly with the other H'Beam surfaces.
So the wing stars should be really really thin - as thin as the protruding bits of the "H". (technically that H is on it's side, like a capital I)
Crop from Gene's pic posted elsewhere:
"TBH I'm nore concerned about the thickness of the stars themselves."
It goes like this: < wing star - kool shade - paper - kool shade - wing star>
The 1/4" Plastruct H-Beam dictates the thickness - Gene's pics prove this.
The <kool shade - paper - kool shade> should socket into the H-Beam, and the wing star on each side should mate up perfectly with the other H'Beam surfaces.
So the wing stars should be really really thin - as thin as the protruding bits of the "H". (technically that H is on it's side, like a capital I)
Crop from Gene's pic posted elsewhere:
Oh dang, I've just been on the previous page editing my post; spelled something wrong and also sounded like I was saying 'stuff your build, I only care about...' which wasn't what I meant to convey, sorry. I do get the notional construction but thanks for the response.
But! Are the stars MEANT to be solid all the way through? The H channel does wrap around the Koolshade but that stuff isn't one big sheet, it's twelve little triangles. We know that they run pretty close to the centreline of each arm from Gene's pic of the broken one, but do they go the whole way there? If so that's gotta be a hellishly flimsy construction.
Rather than making completely thin, flat stars which lie on top of the Koolshade, could one not cut a picture-frame-like rebate into the inner sides of the arms, but leave a mating surface down the centreline of opposing arms?
I'm just looking for any advantages or explanations for the thick star arms...
But! Are the stars MEANT to be solid all the way through? The H channel does wrap around the Koolshade but that stuff isn't one big sheet, it's twelve little triangles. We know that they run pretty close to the centreline of each arm from Gene's pic of the broken one, but do they go the whole way there? If so that's gotta be a hellishly flimsy construction.
Rather than making completely thin, flat stars which lie on top of the Koolshade, could one not cut a picture-frame-like rebate into the inner sides of the arms, but leave a mating surface down the centreline of opposing arms?
I'm just looking for any advantages or explanations for the thick star arms...
You are absolutely correct - many Koolshade wedges... a thin plexi lasercut star could go in between the two resin ones and act as that "gate" to keep the wedges in place, and would keep things from warping.... extended out far enough, you could probably weld it to the H-Beam with Weld-On, and that sucker is locked! The plexi star would only be as thin as the <kool shade - paper - kool shade> would be, yep!
Jestefarean
Sr Member
VaderDarth or Steve...could you please post the proper length for the Hero and Interceptor Armatures? I have one of each at home...going to go check if they are identical in length or not. (hoping they aren't, which means Im good) If they are I'd like to know what I have...can always cut, but can't always add...
-... . .- --..
Sr Member
Alright ladies, time for armature check!
Jestefarean
Sr Member
vaderdarth
Master Member
if you have two armatures, the longer one is the interceptor.
vaderdarth
Master Member
There is a trim line on the wing stars. You sand them down to that trim line. If you poured them that thin, they'd be too brittle to ship as big and lanky as they are. It takes a bit of work, but a belt sander does the trick. I keep saying I want to build one of those vibrating sanding jigs with the holes in it attached to a vacuum hose to catch the dust..............I'm too lazy to follow through.
PS the black matte art board is about 1mm thick, it is rigid and will help hold the shape, especially once the koolshade is glued down onto it.
the wing shape is cut out of the art board. The wedges of koolshade go down with the ends touching the ends of the other pieces. Then the stars already painted are epoxied down onto the koolshade all the way to the corners of the wings for ANH, But only to the beginning of the outer wing trim for ESB/ROTJ
Dave
PS the black matte art board is about 1mm thick, it is rigid and will help hold the shape, especially once the koolshade is glued down onto it.
the wing shape is cut out of the art board. The wedges of koolshade go down with the ends touching the ends of the other pieces. Then the stars already painted are epoxied down onto the koolshade all the way to the corners of the wings for ANH, But only to the beginning of the outer wing trim for ESB/ROTJ
Dave
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