F&M B-Wing, Orange conversion

MonsieurTox

Master Member
Hey guys,

Here's my buildup of the fantastic B-Wing mastered by Moe and cast by Frank. What a beautiful kit !

You know me, I cant build something OOB, so I'm converting it to the orange version (Moe did a generic version).

Of course you can build it OOB and it will looks just outstanding but if you want to follow the Orange way, you can follow this thread ! :) I wont go for a 100% accurate model, but I'll try my best to represente the orange version.

First the cockpit :

bwing1.jpg


The details are beautiful, basically I used the all the resin parts (I broke one of them though, so I replaced it with the correct 1/32 Tomcat part). I havent added all the wires yet. I forget to shave one of the side wall detail and replace it with the accurate Orange part (the cast part is accurate to the Blue B-Wing). It's too late :(

I removed the blukhead which was modeled with the cockpit, just glued the separate detailed rear wall to save some millimeters... if you dont, you would have some problem to "close" the cockpit.

bwing2.jpg


OK, so let's start the conversion ! First shave all the panels of the cockpit.

You'll get that :

bwing3.jpg


Sand it the best you can to get a smooth cockpit :

bwing4.jpg


Then glue your new accurate panel :

bwing5.jpg


Once again to save some millimeters, I cut and sanded down the back of the cockpit :

bwing6.jpg


Assembled :

bwing7.jpg


You need to remove the panels of the tank the same way you did on the cockpit :

bwing8.jpg


Sanded :

bwing9.jpg


I havent added the new panels because I cant find my styrene sheets I bought 2 weeks ago :facepalm

Next, remove once again all the panel of the main wing pod (I didnt removed the ones of the cockpit pod because they look close enough).

Then cut the access pit and fill it with the correct greeblies. Yeah you start to get something that looks like the Orange B !

bwing10.jpg


I didnt used the resin insert that goes in the pod but rather did another from styrene because I had to do a notch in it after having all the details of the access pit (the resin is thick and I hate cuting/sanding resin when I can do it another way !). Of course you can just use the resin part :)

bwing11.jpg


I built the armature from 14 mm copper tubing and soldered a "T" to get a mounting point. Of course it's better if you can find a 15x15mm square tubing ! )

bwing12.jpg


Now close the wing very carefully.

Next step, puttying with bondo and sanding the leading edge and pod/wing joint.

bwing13.jpg


Repeat the process several time to get something smooth ! :)

Finish with fine putty :

bwing14.jpg


Now we have to remove this raised panel (only if you want to get the look of the original mini on its stand)

bwing15.jpg


Hole is cut and you can see through it the mounting point :

bwing16.jpg


More to come soon !

I hope you like guys :)
 
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Blimey Julien, now that is a tutorial! Love the extra mileage your putting in, makes it worthwhile to mess with these kits!
Lools a lovely kit anyhoo, your just making it even better, show off :lol

Lee
 
I look forward to this....and hopefully possibly putting this wonderful tutorial to use myself.
Either way, it is a very nice kit created by Mr's F&M.
 
Nice work Julien. Yeah I did make a generic work, the only way to make a fast way to chose between the two versions. Some details are different between the two, but Frank and I didn't want to make parts that only ended up in the trash can. Waste of resin and time - therefor the generic version.

Look forward to see this one done.
 
Hey guys, thanks for your comments, glaf if it can be useful.

Haha yeah Frank, couldnt resist and started it ! That's a good timing because I'm waiting for some PD parts :)

Glad to have you here Moe !
You did a fantastic job and thank you, this model is hard to nail and you did it well !

Back to the modification, I wont use the insert of the big intake, actually the kit depicts it like it is now on exhibit (both B-Wing), but actually the center of the intake can be removed, it's a mounting point cover. It's just not pushed back on the ref pics we see :) But in the original production pics you can see the middle of the intake is flush with the sides.

New bulkhead :

bwing17.jpg


Done, in place with the original part next to it :

bwing18.jpg


Cover removed :

bwing19.jpg


Like it is now on the B-Wings :

bwing20.jpg


This is the part on which will be glued the rear cone. I drilled holes to save some weight... I dont know if that's significant or not lol

bwing21.jpg


This is the only proportion issue of this kit : the rear cone !
It's way to short on the kit, I found the right part (nose of the Shuttle tank) :

bwing22.jpg


A lot better but... I trimmed the part a bit too short ! :p

Now the side wings !

Lot of work to remove the airbubbles of the leading edges (not Frank's fault, it's barely impossible to get those parts without bubbles). First job reduce the size of the plating and fill the engraved lines :

bwing23.jpg


Then shaving most of the details and replace them with original kitparts, same with the styrene chips etc... Rescribe the new panel lines and add the wires !

bwing24.jpg


bwing25.jpg


Voila !

Hope you like
 
Agreed! Julien, I was planning to remove that intake because it looked like it wasn't seated correctly, but was told "no". This was just after I was "caught" rotating the cockpit, which the curator did not know was do-able. Hehe.
 
Yepp,this kind of tricky kit need talented modeler as Guy,Lee and you on it,Im enjoy seeing resin kit parts replacement build as you guys,making the model shine and not just assemble it,great update,superb as usual:thumbsup
 
Its always more fun than an OOB build anyhow, modding and improving these kits is a blast in the end.
Its looking great Julien, the cockpit aft cone is a superb find. Wings are looking sweet, should really pop in primer.

lee
 
Thank you guys !

Haha yeah Jason those curators dont know much about those props, a shame ! :facepalm

Yeah Lee, cant wait to shot some primer on the model to see how it looks ! :D

I'm very happy with the result, I'm close to the end now, gonna post some more pics, thanks for looking !
 
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