X-Wing Help

[Darth_Nickel]

I "think" this a CC Xwing Kit. I think....I bought this kit a while ago, started to work on it and put it aside during warmer weather to do some other larger work outside.

So, now I'm back at it since it's a little colder now.

I bought my kit from a member here, who I believe bought it from another member, etc...

I'll be honest. It's really NOT been a fun build. Everything has a problem. I am almost ready to throw in the towel. I just want a nice xwing, and have a little fun doing my first SS build.

When I was working tonight, I realized... something seems off. I've watched the little video like 100 times now. Scott keeps telling me... the parts clean up real nice. I see him just do a quick file... bam. It's good to go... I then look at my kit. What the heck man... I need to fill, sand... fill... fill... sand... heat... fill... sand.. sand... pray...sand... fill... you get the idea.

Then I pulled out a part and noticed this.

I'm not a mold maker, but I do recognize silicon. Why is there silicon in this part? Was this kit used to make a recast product and/or do I have part of a recast product? That may explain why my kit looks so different than what I've seen before and the pains I am having getting this thing together.

Here are some more shots to show how the kit looks.

Is this normal? Don't those tubes look REALLY long... Do I need to cut those down?

Any help would be very cool... 'cause frankly... this SUCKS.

 

[eagle1]

Hi mate, I find it odd that this kit has a myriad of colors for different parts, I thought all CC kits were cast in the same color TBH?. To me it looks like you were given a cobbled together kit with parts from who knows where, no wonder you have had a major headache building this puppy!. The cannons don't even look to be the correct diameters?.
All I can say is don't let this kit put you off SS building there's way better kits out there especially for the X-Wing.
Hope some of the X-Wing guys chime in and can give you some good advice dude?.
Good luck mate, perserverience is the key.
Stu:confused

 

[Darth_Nickel]

Thanks Stu. I thought the same thing about the color.

Man i just was working on the wings... geezzz nothing is easy... Back to the filler.

God knows what I am going to end up with on this darn thing.

 

[Bigturc]

Hey mate,

Just like Stu said, don't let this kit drive you away from SS .. take your time, part after part. I guess you've seen my highly pictured build threa (Salzo V3) but it should give you a good idea of what my parts (directly from Mike) look like. In my book, they're truly awesome with not a lot of work to do on it.

I've been working on my X-Wing for the past 2 months .. it may seems like a long time (considering others build these in 2-3 weeks and that includes the paint job). But again, this is all new to me just like you and I have more questions then answers and sometime, I will wait quite a long time before someone chimes in with the answer I'm seaking .. again, take your time .. I love how mine turns out .. and for a first build, I'm really happy since I went the whole nine yards with not only lighting but a oscillating circuit .. again, I learn as I go.

Shoot questions my way if you want, I'll try my best to answer you (with my less than moderate experience) loll

Cheers and good luck!

 

[Treadwell]

That chunk of silicone (with an e) just means that when the part was removed from the mold, it took some of the mold with it. That means the next part poured had a nice big blob of resin in the same shape as your silicone chunk.

Different colors don't mean anything; it just means your parts weren't all poured out of the same batch of resin. When you're pouring resin, you often have a little left over and have some small molds ready to take the excess, even if they're for another project. That way there's no waste. Those smaller X-Wing parts would be perfect examples.

Some of those rough spots are the points at which resin is poured into the mold. They're unavoidable. Sometimes the mold can be made so that the pour spout is in an area that will be covered up when the model is built, though. Not always.

 

[TridCloudwalker]

If it gets to be too annoying, I'd be happy to take the kit off your hands for you.

 

[Darth_Nickel]

That chunk of silicone (with an e) just means that when the part was removed from the mold, it took some of the mold with it. That means the next part poured had a nice big blob of resin in the same shape as your silicone chunk.

Different colors don't mean anything; it just means your parts weren't all poured out of the same batch of resin. When you're pouring resin, you often have a little left over and have some small molds ready to take the excess, even if they're for another project. That way there's no waste. Those smaller X-Wing parts would be perfect examples.

Some of those rough spots are the points at which resin is poured into the mold. They're unavoidable. Sometimes the mold can be made so that the pour spout is in an area that will be covered up when the model is built, though. Not always.

This is reassuring to me, thank you Treadwell. I had hoped it wasn't what I was afraid of.

For kit quality, I'm not understanding (just in comparison to what I've seen on the video and from what I've seen through here). Perhaps it's an old kit, done in a hurry, but I've got so much work to do before it will be ready to start the assembly, it's a little overwhelming. I am having a hard time getting past the video where he's saying... no bubbles, little flash, clean up real easy, etc... I'm watching, looking at my parts and thinking... darn it... that's not what mine look like...

I've also noticed some parts are a little different. For example, in the instructions on the laser cannons. The 2 close "fins" on the heat sinks should match the 2 "veins" on the cannon body. My cannons don't have any veins. The rods on my cannons seem really long too. Is this all normal?

 

[GF]

Those seem all normal flaws for a garage kit which always invlove some sanding and putty work. It's better to sand off than have chunks missing which you have to fill and then sand.

GFollano

 

[TridCloudwalker]

I've also noticed some parts are a little different. For example, in the instructions on the laser cannons. The 2 close "fins" on the heat sinks should match the 2 "veins" on the cannon body. My cannons don't have any veins. The rods on my cannons seem really long too. Is this all normal?

The "veins" should be two wires you install youself coming out of the long rectangular piece on the rear sides of the cannons. And I agree, your rods look weird, though not too long, but rather too short.

http://tridity.org/~achernak/Prop%20and%20Model%20Stuff/Models/X-Wing/cannonep0.png

That link cas a cannon picture scaled to actual studio scale size. Just open it in photoshop or illustrator.

 

[Bigturc]

Darth, check my thread for more info on the canon "veins":
http://www.therpf.com/showpost.php?p=727215&postcount=108

 

[Darth_Nickel]

The "veins" should be two wires you install youself coming out of the long rectangular piece on the rear sides of the cannons. And I agree, your rods look weird, though not too long, but rather too short.

http://tridity.org/~achernak/Prop and Model Stuff/Models/X-Wing/cannonep0.png

That link cas a cannon picture scaled to actual studio scale size. Just open it in photoshop or illustrator.

wow. I had no idea I was the one that needed to add those. Looking at the video, it looked like they were molded on the part. Ooopppps. I was just going to add them when I saw they were not there. Excellent.

GF - thanks for the tip on the garage kits. Again, I was only going by what I saw on the video/here and the parts always seemed so much cleaner.


I've bought resin kits before. I've just not done SS kits before. When I first started, I didn't think twice (since the parts "seem" about the same as say a blaster, helmet, other prop, kit etc...) It was the 90th time through the video I started to question, on top of some broken parts, different colors then the silicone. I started to think it was a recast product.

Al - Your thread is amazing man. I'm just now getting through it. I was having some issue resolving the V3 with what I have. I've got an older kit, so where I am at (assembly of the hull) it's a bit different.

I appreciate all the insight and help (and feel a little bad that I am showing my ignorance). This time last night I thought I had a bad kit, so I'm feeling MUCH better tonight.

 

[Max Zephyr]

I beilive both the original CC kit and when Mike took it on had those wires cast into the guns (just flat strips). The later kits from Mike where revised and no longer cast in. As far as the leading edge of the foils, they are a real bugger to clean up and you'll find several holes from air bubbles and the large pouring stub. Mike totaly fixed this issue on the V3 kits. To fix the leading edge on the older foils I just sand them down and attach a thin styrene strip to the leading edge. Once sanded into the profile it sqaures it up and covers all the holes.

 

[Darth_Nickel]

Thanks Max. I have read that before, but never understood until now (and I'm still not 100% sure I understand HOW to do it). I'm a visual guy, so if you have any tips/tricks and pics, I would VERY much appreciate it.