Tie Interceptor build

[CutThumb]

I' ve picked up two types of LED holders for the lazers under the cockpit, a 3mm and a 5mm from Maplins in the Uk. They both look pretty close to the studio model but which size is it? It may be my eyes but in the few photos I have found of the studio model the smaller size seems right. But apparently there were two scale versions of the Interceptor built. In the end I settled on a compromise. I built 3 versions using 3mm, 4mm and 5mm tubing and settled on the 4mm in a 5mm LED holder.

 

[Alnitak]

thanks for sharing this...you are doing an awesome job! can't wait to see it finished..it is going to be impressive...

 

[vaderdarth]

looking great!!!!

 

[3d-builder]

Thats so nice.....love the hue in there, great job getting
the seams out of her!:thumbsup

 

[CutThumb]

Thanks guys.Just a quick up date whilst the wing masking dry off. Pictures of finished front with Tie guy in place. The lighting works well and I remembered to add that bit to the front of the windows.

 

[PHArchivist]

Brilliant build...!

 

[Jaiden Turr'n]

Very nice! I used to love building models like this but I can't find them anymore. This turned out great! What did you use for your power socket from the base?

dAVid.

 

[CutThumb]

Wings have dried. Just a hint, really, really check you have sprayed everything thoroughly black with a strong light source BEFORE you remove the masks. They take about a half hour to mask per side of wing and it is surprising just how easy it is to slightly miss sections if you are not carefull. It took me an afternoon before I was satisfied I got the lot. You do not want to rush this bit or end up doing it again.
I will be respraying the grey with the TS 32 later on so I will remask again. I'm going to try and vary the areas so there is some subtle shading. It would have been easier to do this first but its getting a little too cold now and I wanted the base coats to really stabilize for a while before I use an airbrush. tTis was all done with Halfords rattle cans.

Its always satisfying but slightly nerve wracking when the masks come off. But I was pretty pleased just how clean the wing ended up. The detailing and casting on this studio scale is really stunning. A +++

This is still the base grey undercoat. Front and top lid are removeable. Again the detail comes out really strongly in this kit once that undercoat goes on evenly.

Used the flash just to show how with strong lighting the colour grey changes.

Fresh from the Imperial factory floors.

PH, thanks for the thumbs up. To finish off I need to clean up the four wing lazers and attach, build a plug for the rear stand between the engines when not being used, spray with the Haze grey and paint several areas with darker grey so it meets the screen model. And the electrics just want soldering properly into position.
I have to say its a beautiful kit,very well engineered and cast and its been a pleasure to build it. Steve and Mike did a superb job on this . I now want its older brother to build in the future, the original Tie, though I think design wise the Interceptor is a sleeker looking craft. Anyone in two minds about getting one don't be, its an easy choice to make in the end.

Jaiden, there are two power source. One a 1.5x 2 battery pack when I want it to stand lone. The other is just a standard jack (I think) from Maplins UK ,controlled by a variable voltage unit that allows me to run it off the mains (very carefully!). The stand is from IKEA as recommend on another thread.

 

[TK9120]

That is just beautiful. I've always loved this ship. Ties are cool but these wings are so evil looking. Nice work.

 

[thegreatgalling]

You have done an absolutely amazing job, def. did this beautiful ship (and model) justice.

 

[roback]

Wow!.. beatiful kit... I love the paint!!!!! ..like ANH

 

[ralphee]

Cracking build Cut (forgive me as i dont know your name lol) that Haze Grey really nailed it, sealed the deal, slammed and dunked...you get the picture LOL.
Very clean build, you really need a std TIE to accompany though.

lee

 

[cayman shen]

Wow that is stunning. I know from having built a few cheapo TIE Interceptor kits that masking the wings suuuuuucks, and any small error is immediately, painfully obvious. Great job on that. It's amazing how light affects the color.

 

[dbhs]

Beautiful work on this. Every detail looks sharp.

 

[CutThumb]

Not going to start a new thread for this ,just add it on. I picked up a Tie fighter on e-bay a few weeks ago, one of a run of twenty five done by Steve N. I had hoped to get one of the new ones ,but as thats not happening now, or ever by the sound of it, I picked this up instead. It had already been built, but to be honest , was in need of a lot of work to tidy it up to get to the kind of level I was happy with. The main body wasn't bad at all apart from a few missing details and scribe lines, but the wings were not good at all.
One of the biggest issue was one of the wing sides stars was very badly slip cast,so the mid lines were out by about 1cm on eachside. So I rebuilt them closer to eachother so they line up better.

A few bits of detail were totally missing, some of the wingstars were thin and detail bubbled so I cleaned/rebuilt them.

One of the wing bottoms was completely solid and I had to recut the lines. Having done that alot of the edges had chips and looked crap so I opted to replace everything around the edges and go from a New Hope version to ESB

I still want to make a New Hope version sometime so I designed the wings to be removable like the Tie Interceptor:

So its been a bit of a slog to get it to where I wanted it to be but I'm pretty much there now. The engine will light, I'll add a pilot and a backstop. Here's what it looks like as of today:

Just a question on the painting: Is the EBS version a colour match for Tamiya Haze Grey and are the wings Matt Black as opposed to Gloss Black? Any other info about detailing comes to mind with any one let me know please.