X-wing Fighter 1/72 bandai on the kitchen table

[gedmac66]

Abso - bloody - lutlely Fantastic work mate ! Well done ! ... Seems you and scratch - building go hand in hand

As for not dropping $15 on a 3D part ... My train of thought is - if you have a go and it turns out reasonable , then sweet ! ... use the money saved , for something that’s maybe just beyond ones scratching abilities ! i.e anything that’s not scratch-able , or worth the attempt ( monetary wise ) :lol

:cheersGed

 

[gt350pony66]

LOL! well thanks Ged, I appreciate that...but I have to be honest, the scaffold was my first attempt at scratching up something complete that there was no kit for. I reckon I got a bit cocky so I tried the troop carrier. Honestly, once I got paint on it, it doesn't look so great. but it'll do. I have to say that the quality of my scratch on the troop carrier wasn't worth the time it took, however it was a good exercise in scratch building. I am going to expand on the diorama somewhat, which will require my building another scaffold, and I'm going to get two more carriers but the Shapeways units...but at least I've got the process on the scaffold down and it turned out pretty good...and with that one, scratch build is the only option...that I know of. confused

Abso - bloody - lutlely Fantastic work mate ! Well done ! ... Seems you and scratch - building go hand in hand

As for not dropping $15 on a 3D part ... My train of thought is - if you have a go and it turns out reasonable , then sweet ! ... use the money saved , for something that’s maybe just beyond ones scratching abilities ! i.e anything that’s not scratch-able , or worth the attempt ( monetary wise ) :lol

:cheersGed

 

[gt350pony66]

this is what I have so far, the white coat base troop/personnel are WW2 German mountain troops converted, some I had to remove their weapons, a few will be technicians working on equipment. I even ordered a couple of 1/72 snap-on tool boxes from shapeways for effect. I think I got the paint pretty close. I took some .25mm FO and the smallest squares of styrene sheet and made the little com unit with antenna on their left ears. the rest of the one's not yet used will get the full white outside gear and be on their way outside with weapons to meet the Imperial ground attack. the pilots without helmets are WW2 converted and in various states of readiness. The one's with helmets are the retrokit one's. nice figures, easy to paint, yet slightly disproportionate, from body part to the next, skinny legs, tiny faces, huge gloved hands. oh well, they'll "be there". one of the other members here who has a 3D printer has offered to take up the task in helping me with the Lea talking to the pilots and some tantauns, with and without riders. Hopefully it'll be an easy task for him.
The few "officer" looking guys were taken from an MPC cantina scene model that I bought just for the figures. had to mod a bit to make look more human. the Han and Chewy are also from the cantina set. Han is painted the proper colors for ESB, and I can't figure why Chewy came without his bandolier, but I managed to scratch up something good enough. I may go another route on Chewy though. Since I have like 8 MPC falcons in the closet, I've got plenty seated figures. I thought I'd try to cut Chewy's legs and arms and reposition them and seat him on the mandible welding near the maintenance well, and place a flickering LED right where he's welding. Sounds cool, but it may end up being more trouble than it's worth.
One more Bandai Xwing, and 2 more snow speeders are on the way, I started scratching some misc equipment, the "two barrel" power things, and I put the center of the bar thing from the cantina set together and greeblied it up some, thinking I'd place it on one of the ice walls and have hoses running out of it going here and there. Also will be scratching at least one more maintenance scaffold if not two, we'll see. BTW, this is the first time I put any real effort into figure painting. I watched a couple You Tube vids and picked up a few tips. Going forward I'm sure my skills will improve so don't beat me up too bad on these cause I know they don't look the best :lol

 

[gedmac66]

Hey Ross ,

Terrific update , and wonderful ‘ find ‘ on that MPC Cantina Kit ! ... so I’m guessing your wife doesn’t know about it or she turned out to be o.k. with it , seeings how you’re still alive !:lol ( re ; post #102 )

Not sure what your Figure painting skills were like before , but I gotta say I’d be chuffed to have done what you have so far with what you’re working with :thumbsup - those rebel fighters look awesome !

Care to share which WWII troops they are , manufacturer etc ?
Your rebel pilots are looking pretty cool too , and glad you’ve found someone with a 3D printer willing to help with Leia and ‘ other ‘ Echo Base figures .

If they turn out sweet , maybe your contact would be willing to print more up for sale on here !? Like you’ve said before , there’s gotta be a demand / market for them - especially with diorama builders !

Anyhoo , keep these beautiful updates coming mate !

:cheersGed

 

[blakeh1]

Those German soldiers look perfect for the Rebel soldiers

 

[gt350pony66]

Thanks Ged, I think it's coming along rather well considering my limited abilities. As far as the wife not killing me, I was talking with Blakeh about switching to 1/144 so I get more stiff in the dio, if I'd done that, she might have had a negative comment considering what I've spend on 1/72 so far, and then to abandon it.
At the moment I can't recall the brand or item number, but I have the site saved so I'll take a look and post it later. I think our other member here was considering posting them on Shapeways or something if they come out good. he said he's had a bit of trouble in the past, but I'll keep you posted on that as well. Again, thanks so much for the positive feedback! :thumbsup

Hey Ross ,

Terrific update , and wonderful ‘ find ‘ on that MPC Cantina Kit ! ... so I’m guessing your wife doesn’t know about it or she turned out to be o.k. with it , seeings how you’re still alive !:lol ( re ; post #102 )

Not sure what your Figure painting skills were like before , but I gotta say I’d be chuffed to have done what you have so far with what you’re working with :thumbsup - those rebel fighters look awesome !

Care to share which WWII troops they are , manufacturer etc ?
Your rebel pilots are looking pretty cool too , and glad you’ve found someone with a 3D printer willing to help with Leia and ‘ other ‘ Echo Base figures .

If they turn out sweet , maybe your contact would be willing to print more up for sale on here !? Like you’ve said before , there’s gotta be a demand / market for them - especially with diorama builders !

Anyhoo , keep these beautiful updates coming mate !

:cheersGed

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Thanks Blakeh, they did work pretty well. Someone else here suggested I use them for this, but now I can't recall who it was...might have been you! thumbsup

Those German soldiers look perfect for the Rebel soldiers

 

[gt350pony66]

The German troops were on Hobbylinc, Pegasus #PGHC067, but the box was Ceasar, same ones. like 10 bucks for a bag full. I think its 45 of them. However, and I missed this, some of the troops are a different style, Hanshars...whatever that is, and they are wearing what looks like Shriner hats, with the tassel. however, one can shave the tassel off and make a tiny brim and attach it to the hat so you can use them as intended. :thumbsup

 

[blakeh1]

Thanks Blakeh, they did work pretty well. Someone else here suggested I use them for this, but now I can't recall who it was...might have been you! thumbsup

It wasn't me, but thanks for posting where you got them. I will have to look into that

 

[gt350pony66]

Sure thing :thumbsup I will say this for Hobbylinc, they have TONS of figures, lots of sizes...just no SW stuff :unsure

It wasn't me, but thanks for posting where you got them. I will have to look into that

 

[gt350pony66]

started on the snow speeder the past few days, man...what a POS kit these are. I hate resin to start with, pieces are never quite all there, it's a total sweat-fest getting them off the sprue without ruining the parts, they're rarely shaped and proportioned correctly...and these come from across the pond, by the time you pay the freight I think this first one was 45 bucks!! Then I decided I needed at least 2 more, and I ordered them before I started this one. yeah, 85 bucks for 2 more. I wish I'd started this one before so I could actually see how crappy they are, I probably would have attempted to scratch the other two. clearly you can see where the parts don't fit worth a ####, and the canopy is so thin and fragile, mis-sharpened, it's disgusting. But, to do this project, I had no choice. I emailed Bandai once more complaining that they had not stepped up to make one of these to compliment the rest of their 1/72 line, particularly to compliment the new PG Falcon. I'm sure there will be no reply to that either. oh well, it is what it is. another thing, being mostly a solid cast main hull piece, lighting is nearly a no go. I put a hole in the bottom to the cockpit floor for a micro LED so at least there will be a glow of light from the cockpit. I know, I'm a whiner right? :cry

 

[gt350pony66]

I also included the shots of the pilot next to his speeder, clearly he's as disgusted by this as well.

View attachment 802698View attachment 802699View attachment 802700View attachment 802701View attachment 802702View attachment 802703View attachment 802704started on the snow speeder the past few days, man...what a POS kit these are. I hate resin to start with, pieces are never quite all there, it's a total sweat-fest getting them off the sprue without ruining the parts, they're rarely shaped and proportioned correctly...and these come from across the pond, by the time you pay the freight I think this first one was 45 bucks!! Then I decided I needed at least 2 more, and I ordered them before I started this one. yeah, 85 bucks for 2 more. I wish I'd started this one before so I could actually see how crappy they are, I probably would have attempted to scratch the other two. clearly you can see where the parts don't fit worth a ####, and the canopy is so thin and fragile, mis-sharpened, it's disgusting. But, to do this project, I had no choice. I emailed Bandai once more complaining that they had not stepped up to make one of these to compliment the rest of their 1/72 line, particularly to compliment the new PG Falcon. I'm sure there will be no reply to that either. oh well, it is what it is. another thing, being mostly a solid cast main hull piece, lighting is nearly a no go. I put a hole in the bottom to the cockpit floor for a micro LED so at least there will be a glow of light from the cockpit. I know, I'm a whiner right? :cry

 

[blakeh1]

The kit was quite a pain to clean up. It does have some exquisite details though

I'm not a caster so I don't know how much the molding could change, but some of the stuff seemed a little bit of a head scratcher as to why they molded it that way

like this which is a total pain to clean up




and these could have used some kind of thinner runner to help clip them off better instead of being connecting directly to the big pour block




And this part was an absolute pain to cut from the pour stub and clean up



The canopy of course was the most delicate and required very careful handling



Still though, after clean up is is an excellent looking kit.

It would really be nice though to have a decent styrene kit right out of the box. Hoping someday Bandai does a 1/72 Snowpseeder and AT-ST or AT-AT combo, or even just a double speeder combo

 

[gt350pony66]

Detail, yes I can agree on that point, but man o man what a drag to detach parts, and the "warpty proportions I encountered and the obvious voids in the castings. I guess I'd be a bit less critical of it if they were 15 bucks or something. perhaps I just got a cruddy casting. I sure hope the other two coming are cleaner, but I'm not holding my breath on it. I think though, once I get the other two, I'm going to take a serious poke at scratching one, and if successful, I'll make some silicone molds of my parts and just make more that way. Yeah, I know...sound like a big undertaking for no more speeders than I need for this project...BUT, I see this as a challenge to come up with something better than this disappointing resin kit. And of course, about the time I get something decent figured out...Bandai will come out with theirs, right?:wacko

The kit was quite a pain to clean up. It does have some exquisite details though

I'm not a caster so I don't know how much the molding could change, but some of the stuff seemed a little bit of a head scratcher as to why they molded it that way

like this which is a total pain to clean up

http://i.imgur.com/nbEG3ctm.jpg


and these could have used some kind of thinner runner to help clip them off better instead of being connecting directly to the big pour block

http://i.imgur.com/Blpc822m.jpg


And this part was an absolute pain to cut from the pour stub and clean up

http://i.imgur.com/eFszVt4m.jpg

The canopy of course was the most delicate and required very careful handling

http://i.imgur.com/GSKnn8gm.jpg

Still though, after clean up is is an excellent looking kit.

It would really be nice though to have a decent styrene kit right out of the box. Hoping someday Bandai does a 1/72 Snowpseeder and AT-ST or AT-AT combo, or even just a double speeder combo

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Crap...my work pc won't allow me to see the images you attached :angry, I'm sure my laptop at home will. Have to check it out this evening. incidentally, my canopy was a total wreck, I'm going to try to scratch one this weekend.

 

[gedmac66]

View attachment 802698View attachment 802699View attachment 802700View attachment 802701View attachment 802702View attachment 802703View attachment 802704started on the snow speeder the past few days, man...what a POS kit these are. I hate resin to start with, pieces are never quite all there, it's a total sweat-fest getting them off the sprue without ruining the parts, they're rarely shaped and proportioned correctly...and these come from across the pond, by the time you pay the freight I think this first one was 45 bucks!! Then I decided I needed at least 2 more, and I ordered them before I started this one. yeah, 85 bucks for 2 more. I wish I'd started this one before so I could actually see how crappy they are, I probably would have attempted to scratch the other two. clearly you can see where the parts don't fit worth a ####, and the canopy is so thin and fragile, mis-sharpened, it's disgusting. But, to do this project, I had no choice. I emailed Bandai once more complaining that they had not stepped up to make one of these to compliment the rest of their 1/72 line, particularly to compliment the new PG Falcon. I'm sure there will be no reply to that either. oh well, it is what it is. another thing, being mostly a solid cast main hull piece, lighting is nearly a no go. I put a hole in the bottom to the cockpit floor for a micro LED so at least there will be a glow of light from the cockpit. I know, I'm a whiner right? :cry

Hey Ross ,

Clicked the like button after seeing your photos , but before reading the post :$!
Sorry to hear the kits such a PITA to assemble , let alone prepping for ! Though from the images , the details look pretty good - for their scale .
Don’t reckon you’re whining , we’ve just been spoilt by Bandai that’s all .
Give it a few , and I’m sure you’ll have them ( agree with you regarding holding off on further purchases until you had this one at hand ) , looking just as smart as the x-wing !

:cheersGed

 

[gt350pony66]

Thanks Ged! I think you're right, we've been spoiled with Bandai fit and finish. What this reminds me of (only worse) is when I do one of the MPC Falcon kits...awful part fitment. Then again, some of the problem with those is they're all old kits and have warp to 'em. I'm sure I can get these looking better, I'm just complaining :facepalm
You know, I just noticed this, Perth...I know you were down under but never noticed exactly where, duh. When I worked at a big Chevy dealer in San Francisco years ago, we had a guy come from West Coast Chevy in Perth, twice a year and get a ocean container of stuff from/thru us because it was cheaper than getting from GM...for some reason. Can't remember the guys name though...cool dude though. he'd always say if I ever wanted to move down under he'd hire me! :lol

Hey Ross ,

Clicked the like button after seeing your photos , but before reading the post :$!
Sorry to hear the kits such a PITA to assemble , let alone prepping for ! Though from the images , the details look pretty good - for their scale .
Don’t reckon you’re whining , we’ve just been spoilt by Bandai that’s all .
Give it a few , and I’m sure you’ll have them ( agree with you regarding holding off on further purchases until you had this one at hand ) , looking just as smart as the x-wing !

:cheersGed

 

[gt350pony66]

ok...I went to the hobby shop at lunch and bought around 35 bucks worth of Evergreen, stuff I didn't already have...and I'm #eLL bent to scratch a snow speeder that's better than this resin stuff...with a two piece hull...so you can light the d@## thing! lol

 

[seven]

Your Main Hanger Repair Gantry looks great. Really cool to see.

I recently picked up the Blueprints book that has a drawing of this gantry in it. One of the things I noticed in the drawings that I left off mine was the triangles that go on both sides of the railing posts. hopefully they can be made out in the attached rendering

Lookin' good so far!

 

[gt350pony66]

hey! thanks for the VERY clear pic, I just went off of movie still shots that weren't that great to start with. I see that the main cross rail support for the walkway is slotted, except on the ends. I did get that wrong. This shot you posting though is much more clear. I was thinking of building at least one more if not two. first ones never being perfect anyway, any follow ups are better, and will be thanks to you! :thumbsup

Your Main Hanger Repair Gantry looks great. Really cool to see.

I recently picked up the Blueprints book that has a drawing of this gantry in it. One of the things I noticed in the drawings that I left off mine was the triangles that go on both sides of the railing posts. hopefully they can be made out in the attached rendering

Lookin' good so far!

 

[gt350pony66]

ah, do you mean the triangled support bracing at the uprights through the center, or the ones on the ends? I also see that I didn't do the angled ram support webbing at the tops

Your Main Hanger Repair Gantry looks great. Really cool to see.

I recently picked up the Blueprints book that has a drawing of this gantry in it. One of the things I noticed in the drawings that I left off mine was the triangles that go on both sides of the railing posts. hopefully they can be made out in the attached rendering

Lookin' good so far!

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or the bottom...

ah, do you mean the triangled support bracing at the uprights through the center, or the ones on the ends? I also see that I didn't do the angled ram support webbing at the tops

- - - Updated - - -

my ladder angles are also wrong :facepalm

 

[seven]

Yes, the triangled railing supports. They also have decorative triangles on the face. But they are not there on the ends were the ladders are.