Toadmeister
Sr Member
Gorilla Glue for the wings. I don't care much for Super glue for larger bonding areas.
Vader's TIE from old MPC kit
- Thread starter Toadmeister
- Start date
Toadmeister
Sr Member
Been working on its display stand and base.
Almost looks like it belongs in the poster behind it.
Almost looks like it belongs in the poster behind it.
Toadmeister
Sr Member
One more for fun
I enjoy seeing people who love these old models enough to give them a good facelift. Well done!
SB
SB
Constantine
Well-Known Member
Looks great! Vader still looks like his taking a poop though. 
Toadmeister
Sr Member
Looks great! Vader still looks like his taking a poop though.
Just how does Vader eat and poop? Do droids wipe him afterwards?
Deep thoughts.
Toadmeister
Sr Member
Making some progress with the stand. Wires for lights will route inside the brass extrusion.
Galactican
Sr Member
Fantastic!!!
Toadmeister
Sr Member
Very happy how the top hatch turned out
JeffBond
Well-Known Member
Great work. I remember being thrilled with the MPC kit when it was originally released back in the day--it was a great size and a fun build. I remember I just built a new pilot (a standard Imperial one) because the Vader figure was so horrible. To me though the biggest problem with the kit that is more or less unfixable is the proportion of the cockpit ball to the rest of the body--it's just too small, and most of the other Vader TIE kits reproduced this problem until the Bandai one that finally seemed to get it right.
Toadmeister
Sr Member
Interesting as I haven't noticed the porportion issue. Now I'm curious and will have to compare.
That is a great improvement over the original kit. Nice job!
Toadmeister
Sr Member
Given this was my first ever attempt adding LEDs, I struggled a bit wiring and powering them. Many lessons learned.
I had initially planned running the wires down inside my brass square extrusion stand. This quickly became too complicated for both the stand and connecting to a he 9v battery. A 9V battery is pretty large to hide even under a base and the stand has to be sturdy. I didn’t want to compromise either.
Eureka! Why not use a smaller battery and fit it all inside the model? There is ample room on the rear deck behind the cockpit and even an access panel I can create, I think that’s the hyperdrive. So I did a little ham-fisted surgery, re-routed the wires and made it happen. It was a bit difficult and risky this late in the game but worked out. I used smaller CR2032 batteries in a small switch case I bought on EBay.
Now I could make the stand pretty simple. I decided to use the Bandai DS tiles I have been hoarding for the last couple years. I inserted and Glued the brass square extrusion directly to an appropriate sized square hole that was perfectly sized for it. Plenty sturdy.
I still got a few touch ups. Will be painting the brass extrusion black.
I had initially planned running the wires down inside my brass square extrusion stand. This quickly became too complicated for both the stand and connecting to a he 9v battery. A 9V battery is pretty large to hide even under a base and the stand has to be sturdy. I didn’t want to compromise either.
Eureka! Why not use a smaller battery and fit it all inside the model? There is ample room on the rear deck behind the cockpit and even an access panel I can create, I think that’s the hyperdrive. So I did a little ham-fisted surgery, re-routed the wires and made it happen. It was a bit difficult and risky this late in the game but worked out. I used smaller CR2032 batteries in a small switch case I bought on EBay.
Now I could make the stand pretty simple. I decided to use the Bandai DS tiles I have been hoarding for the last couple years. I inserted and Glued the brass square extrusion directly to an appropriate sized square hole that was perfectly sized for it. Plenty sturdy.
I still got a few touch ups. Will be painting the brass extrusion black.
