My first model in 4 years! FM 1/48 TIE
- Thread starter STEVE THE SWEDE
- Start date
STEVE THE SWEDE
Sr Member
I'm not a slow builder, I swear! Time just haven't been on my side lately!:lol Anyway, yesterday I managed to get some work done on the back! Pheeew, lots of work to be done here. It would probably go faster to name the things Fine Molds got right then what they did wrong! I now know what I will be giving the FM crew for Christmas.....GLASSES!
A lot of work was spent on the "box" that holds the suspension part. The stock kit doesn't even have this super important detail!? Just a sad little square for the suspension part to rest on.The Acreation Photo etch sheet had the box included but the size and angles were wrong.
I ended up using it anyway but put in a lot of work re-shaping it and adding the missing details. So far what you see on the back is a mixture of PE details, stretched sprue, 1mm brass tubes and sheet 0,4mm sheet styrene.
Sadly I just discovered that the "armor" parts that holds the engine exhausts/LED's are way to small and shaped wrong! Since they are shaped to fit snuggly around the cockpit ball they're gonna be a real pain in the a%* to scratch build. Don't really know how I'll approach this yet.:unsure
Furious with anger with my over priced super inaccurate kit I continued with something easier instead. Adding the missing rivets to the hull hatch. They're hard to spot in the pic but they are all there, drilled with a 0,25mm bit.
That's it for now.
Cheers,
Steve.
A lot of work was spent on the "box" that holds the suspension part. The stock kit doesn't even have this super important detail!? Just a sad little square for the suspension part to rest on.The Acreation Photo etch sheet had the box included but the size and angles were wrong.
I ended up using it anyway but put in a lot of work re-shaping it and adding the missing details. So far what you see on the back is a mixture of PE details, stretched sprue, 1mm brass tubes and sheet 0,4mm sheet styrene.
Sadly I just discovered that the "armor" parts that holds the engine exhausts/LED's are way to small and shaped wrong!
Since they are shaped to fit snuggly around the cockpit ball they're gonna be a real pain in the a%* to scratch build. Don't really know how I'll approach this yet.:unsureFurious with anger with my over priced super inaccurate kit I continued with something easier instead. Adding the missing rivets to the hull hatch. They're hard to spot in the pic but they are all there, drilled with a 0,25mm bit.
That's it for now.
Cheers,
Steve.
sepsis4503
New Member
Thanks Steve. I have the same model and find it's not all that great. I bought photo etch for it and finding this a bit confusing ( new to the etch). If it's OK I would like to follow you and copy your tie fighter. The guns will be a nice start.
Darrin
Darrin
STEVE THE SWEDE
Sr Member
Wow, Didn't expect this old thread to pop up again! No, I didn't give up, just put it on hold while I finish up a commission build. Just as Darrin said though, it's very lacking and even with the extra PE it's still tons to do. To be honest I just ordered a Bandai TIE (I have to see what all the fuss about!) and even tough that's smaller I might ditch this one in favor for that. As soon as it arrives I'll compare them and see who goes out as the winner, size vs details!
Steve
Steve
STEVE THE SWEDE
Sr Member
Sorry, I'm probably not gonna finish this one. Not in a long time anyway. The Bandai is so much better and to be honest they are both so small that it's just the same to me. Once the Bandai is done I'm planning to finish my Studio TIE. It's in an awful mess so I can't really say that I'm looking forward to it that much.
Steve.
Steve.
STEVE THE SWEDE
Sr Member
Guess what, GOONIES NEVER SAY DIE! 6 years later and I've decided to finish it after all. I still think this is a horrible kit (compared with Bandai's version) and that Fine Molds pretty much screwed up every singel hull detail. BUT with some elbow grease and a good PE kit I really think it has the potential to shine! Here's the finished backside of the hull, sheet styrene, Photo etch and brass tubing makes a big difference.
More to come....
Steve.
More to come....
Steve.
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STEVE THE SWEDE
Sr Member
Small update, yeah, I know. I'm slow as hell.
I've been trying to convert the cockpit to match the filming miniature. I'm actually playing with the idea of going half scale SS model, no pilot, showing mounting hardware inside the pit and so on.
Also started to work on the engines. I've used two pre-wired chip LEDS from Evan Designs. I can really recommend these guys, awesome to deal with with fantastic products! If you're an electrical dummy like me you can't go wrong with them. Super easy!
And here's the back ready to blast off! The engines brass tubes has small strands of 1mm fiberoptics in them to enhance the two rear mounted chip LEDs.
We're slowly getting there! Who knows where this kit will be in a year or two!LOL
Cheers,
Steve
I've been trying to convert the cockpit to match the filming miniature. I'm actually playing with the idea of going half scale SS model, no pilot, showing mounting hardware inside the pit and so on.
Also started to work on the engines. I've used two pre-wired chip LEDS from Evan Designs. I can really recommend these guys, awesome to deal with with fantastic products! If you're an electrical dummy like me you can't go wrong with them. Super easy!
And here's the back ready to blast off! The engines brass tubes has small strands of 1mm fiberoptics in them to enhance the two rear mounted chip LEDs.
We're slowly getting there! Who knows where this kit will be in a year or two!LOL
Cheers,
Steve
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