Hi everyone,
After waiting for a few years to see if Kotobukiya would ever release a TIE Fighter to go with their "1/35" scale cross-section X-Wing with diorama, it looks they're not going to do it. Therefore, I decided to commission a computer model at the correct scale so it can be printed out and assembled to compliment the Kotobukiya X-Wing that Dean Dymerski painted for me a few years back. Here's a pic of the X-Wing.
First, I did some checks to see if the Kotobukiya X-Wing was 1/35th scale as advertised. After measuring the height of the figures included with the kit, the diameter of the R2 dome, the length of the "droid strip" on the back of the fuselage and some other key measurements, it became apparent that the scale of the ship (based primarily on the size of the figures and R2 dome) is actually 1/38.
Next, I was able to get measurements from the eFX TIE and decided that since the pilot in the ILM miniatures was 1/24 scale, the rest of the ship should be the same scale. Sure, I know there's "official" dimensions for how big the TIE is supposed to be according to Lucasfilm but I wanted the size of the ships to relate back to the pilot figures inside them. After getting all the key measurements that I needed from the 1/24 scale model, I worked out the scale factor to reduce everything down to the desired 1/38.
Here's a couple of renders showing the X-Wing (scaled to match the size of the Kotobukiya model) and the TIE next to it.
This looked great to me so I decided to go for it. Because this isn't a studio scale model, I wanted to put an accurate cockpit interior inside. Here's a render that was created from the blueprints of the full size set that the actors were filmed inside.
Next up, work was started on modelling the computer version of the 1/24 studio scale kit utilising measurements to match the diameter of the cockpit ball used by ILM and the thickness of the styrene "plating" they put onto it.
Here's a render showing the 1/24 model with the scaled down 1/38 version that we'll be printing.
For the past couple of weeks detailing has been added to the model and it's being prepped to make it "print ready". Note that the Koolshade panels aren't shown in the renders because it slows down the rendering time. Originally, we were thinking of creating the wings the same way as the 1/24 model but after thinking about it from an ease of assembly and painting point of view, we decided to use the same sort of technique that Fine Molds did on their 1/48 kit. Basically, there will be a black Koolshade panel with all the segments of Koolshade on one piece with recessed grooves in the panel which the "wing stars" and surrounding frames will fix into after the Koolshade panel is painted. The scaled down Koolshade panel will still be "sandwiched" between the wing stars, it just won't be done in separate segments. This means that the Koolshade can be painted black and the wing stars / framework can be painted haze gray separately, then stuck together after painting to avoid any tricky masking. Great!
Here's a couple of renders showing the de-constructed model.
I wasn't sure what to do about the pilot because the figure included in the cockpit interior render was basic and not ready to be printed. It looked like I would have to get one sculpted but then I stumbled across some pics of the pilot figure from the Revell "Easy kit" TIE. Since it was a cheap kit, I picked one up and to my amazement, the size of the pilot is pretty much exactly the same scale as the pilot in the Kotobukiya X-Wing! (It's worth noting that even though the Revell pilot figure is 1/38 scale, the actual ship is undersized compared to the size of the figure, so I couldn't just display the Revell TIE next to the Kotobukiya X-Wing)!
Should be ready for printing in the next week or two so I'll show some pics of the parts when they're done. Looking forward to this!
Chris
After waiting for a few years to see if Kotobukiya would ever release a TIE Fighter to go with their "1/35" scale cross-section X-Wing with diorama, it looks they're not going to do it. Therefore, I decided to commission a computer model at the correct scale so it can be printed out and assembled to compliment the Kotobukiya X-Wing that Dean Dymerski painted for me a few years back. Here's a pic of the X-Wing.
First, I did some checks to see if the Kotobukiya X-Wing was 1/35th scale as advertised. After measuring the height of the figures included with the kit, the diameter of the R2 dome, the length of the "droid strip" on the back of the fuselage and some other key measurements, it became apparent that the scale of the ship (based primarily on the size of the figures and R2 dome) is actually 1/38.
Next, I was able to get measurements from the eFX TIE and decided that since the pilot in the ILM miniatures was 1/24 scale, the rest of the ship should be the same scale. Sure, I know there's "official" dimensions for how big the TIE is supposed to be according to Lucasfilm but I wanted the size of the ships to relate back to the pilot figures inside them. After getting all the key measurements that I needed from the 1/24 scale model, I worked out the scale factor to reduce everything down to the desired 1/38.
Here's a couple of renders showing the X-Wing (scaled to match the size of the Kotobukiya model) and the TIE next to it.
This looked great to me so I decided to go for it. Because this isn't a studio scale model, I wanted to put an accurate cockpit interior inside. Here's a render that was created from the blueprints of the full size set that the actors were filmed inside.
Next up, work was started on modelling the computer version of the 1/24 studio scale kit utilising measurements to match the diameter of the cockpit ball used by ILM and the thickness of the styrene "plating" they put onto it.
Here's a render showing the 1/24 model with the scaled down 1/38 version that we'll be printing.
For the past couple of weeks detailing has been added to the model and it's being prepped to make it "print ready". Note that the Koolshade panels aren't shown in the renders because it slows down the rendering time. Originally, we were thinking of creating the wings the same way as the 1/24 model but after thinking about it from an ease of assembly and painting point of view, we decided to use the same sort of technique that Fine Molds did on their 1/48 kit. Basically, there will be a black Koolshade panel with all the segments of Koolshade on one piece with recessed grooves in the panel which the "wing stars" and surrounding frames will fix into after the Koolshade panel is painted. The scaled down Koolshade panel will still be "sandwiched" between the wing stars, it just won't be done in separate segments. This means that the Koolshade can be painted black and the wing stars / framework can be painted haze gray separately, then stuck together after painting to avoid any tricky masking. Great!
Here's a couple of renders showing the de-constructed model.
I wasn't sure what to do about the pilot because the figure included in the cockpit interior render was basic and not ready to be printed. It looked like I would have to get one sculpted but then I stumbled across some pics of the pilot figure from the Revell "Easy kit" TIE. Since it was a cheap kit, I picked one up and to my amazement, the size of the pilot is pretty much exactly the same scale as the pilot in the Kotobukiya X-Wing! (It's worth noting that even though the Revell pilot figure is 1/38 scale, the actual ship is undersized compared to the size of the figure, so I couldn't just display the Revell TIE next to the Kotobukiya X-Wing)!
Should be ready for printing in the next week or two so I'll show some pics of the parts when they're done. Looking forward to this!
Chris
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