2013 Nice-N Tie Interceptor Build

Planetary · Sep 2, 2013

I am in the early stages of the Nice-N Tie Interceptor build for a friend. This is my first Star Wars kit, my usual forte is real space and Japanese figure garage kits (mostly Godzillas). So I've gone through a LOT of research on threads from others who've built this kit as well as other sites and even went so far as to pick up the Fine Molds 1/72 and 1/48 Tie Fighter and Interceptor plastic kits to get a good idea where some parts go (I have no instructions) and have pretty much figured out how I'm going to do this kit which will include lighting.

Several questions for those with more experience and knowledge about this subject....

As it's a studio scale "replica," is it recommended that I do not add "windows" (basically, clear acetate cells) in the front and top cockpit areas?

Due to the large support rod that runs through the center of the spherical Cabin, the actual cockpit interior is severely compromised with the back panel and "door" parts set very far forward so that there's no actual seat for the pilot. Nor are there any interior side panels that have the multiple triangular red-lit displays. Is that how the actual studio Tie Interceptor model was built? I should add that my kit includes a pilot who is sculpted in an odd sitting position with his legs straight out (but no feet) but is still too long to fit between the front instrument panel and the back wall. I've not seen any build that addresses this problem.

Lastly, I have a problem with the wing/panel gun parts. I have 4 parts of one side, but only 1 part of the other. This, I need to get ahold of another part as I really do not want to try and recast the part (the original castings aren't great for this part) or worse, scratch build one fresh. I would be happy to trade one of my extra gun parts if anyone has an extra of the one I need.

I will post lots of photos as I get into this build.....

MonsieurTox · Sep 2, 2013

You could just buy one of the Tamiya 1/35 Flakvierling38, shave the part that is unsymetrical (the rest of the assembly looks to be the same) and replace the part with a fresh flakvierling38 part. This kit goes for less than $10 (and you have 4 guns if you want to replace them all

).

MonsieurTox · Sep 2, 2013

Planetary said:
As it's a studio scale "replica," is it recommended that I do not add "windows" (basically, clear acetate cells) in the front and top cockpit areas?

Indeed, except if your friend wants a replica of an actual TIE Fighter as it should be in real life. If he wants a replica of the studio model, then dont add any glass !

Due to the large support rod that runs through the center of the spherical Cabin, the actual cockpit interior is severely compromised with the back panel and "door" parts set very far forward so that there's no actual seat for the pilot. Nor are there any interior side panels that have the multiple triangular red-lit displays. Is that how the actual studio Tie Interceptor model was built?

It is how every studio TIE (TIE Fighter, TIE Interceptor, Vader's TIE Fighter) was built. It is accurate to the studio models.

I should add that my kit includes a pilot who is sculpted in an odd sitting position with his legs straight out (but no feet) but is still too long to fit between the front instrument panel and the back wall. I've not seen any build that addresses this problem.

Once again it's accurate.

Here's a pic of an original ANH TIE Fighter cockpit ball with an original pilot (courtesy of Gene) :

If he doesnt fit, just cut his legs !

ralphee · Sep 2, 2013

A few miniatures had canopy glass, removable too, not on any TIEs AFAIK, early compositing didnt cope too well with from my limited knowledge!

Lee

- - - Updated - - -

What Julien said, many SW pilots lacked legs, poor fellas!

Lee

Planetary · Sep 2, 2013

MonsieurTox said:
Here's a pic of an original ANH TIE Fighter cockpit ball with an original pilot (courtesy of Gene) :

[url]http://i65.photobucket.com/albums/h203/monsieurtox/Divers/tiepilot_zps8f4adea3.jpg[/URL]

If he doesnt fit, just cut his legs !

LOL, it looks like he's reacting in horror to losing his legs.

BTW, as far as I can tell from photographs, is the body and cockpit of this kit essentially the same castings as what was used for the eFX Tie Fighter?

Thanks for the tips everyone, especially regarding the Tamiya kit as a substitute for the guns.

MonsieurTox · Sep 3, 2013

You're welcome.

Yeah the Nice-N TIE was used as base for the eFX one.

Be sure to get the Flakvierling38 not the Flak38 if you want to go that way !

Planetary · Sep 4, 2013

OK, here I go. Starting with photos of the parts along with some comments regarding minor blems, etc. Most of the parts have since been cleaned up since I took these shots. Some required virtually no clean-up at all. I will be starting the cabin interior tonight.

Voodoocaster · Sep 5, 2013

Don't forget to put plastruct T-rod/beams along all the outer edges of the wings.
The kit does not provide these so you have to get them yourself,..that is if you want to be studio scale accurate

Succes with your built

Planetary · Sep 6, 2013

I've run into a problem that hopefully someone who's already built this kit might have a different solution then the one(s) I'm batting around which involve a lot of work....

I noticed the solid support bar with the threaded bolt on the center is about 1/4th an inch too long on each side for a total of about 1/2 inch too long. That's not a major deal as I can cut it down to size. However, I also discovered the diameter of the bar is about 1 1/16th inch diameter while the holes in the wings, support brackets and sphere are all about 1 3/16ths inch diameter thus giving a lot of "slop" between the support rod and most importantly, the wings. I guess I can use probably brass sheet 1/16th inch thick formed around the exposed ends of the support rod to act as a shim. I'm almost considering just finding a 1 3/16th inch dia. steel pipe and having it cut to the proper length and drilling and threading a hole in the center for the finished model's support which would probably be easier.

Any suggestions?

Planetary · Sep 21, 2013

This week's update.

I've built and painted the interior details. I am unsure whether the interior cockpit and pilot are simply flat black or a slightly lighter shade, maybe a very dark grey. Photos and information is a bit contradictory on this. Anyway, here are some step-by-step photos leading up to a dry fit of the "Eyeball" sphere.

dirtydave · Sep 21, 2013

Hey,looks like your off to a great start.In your last picture(test fit E)your bottom half is the rear & the top half is the front,need to spin the top half 180.

Dave

Planetary · Sep 21, 2013

dirtydave said:
Hey,looks like your off to a great start.In your last picture(test fit E)your bottom half is the rear & the top half is the front,need to spin the top half 180.

Dave

Do'h!

Because of the way I drilled the four small pins to join the two halves, when it comes time to assemble to two halves together, they will only align and join the correct way, but without 2 of the 4 pins in place, it was easy to accidentally stick the two halves together incorrectly.

GF · Oct 4, 2013

Check my tie build and solution for the bar diamater, I wraped styrene sheet around the bar for a perfect fit.
http://www.therpf.com/f10/ss-tie-fighter-build-up-finished-70234/

Gerardo

Planetary · Oct 15, 2013

Another update. It seems the more I work towards a finish line on this kit, the more prep work I wind up doing. The major task the last week was rebuilding the very thin strips that border the bumpy solar panel areas on the wings. I knew a few of them needed to be redone, but as I looked harder with some magnifying glasses, I discovered about 70% of all the strips were coming off the wing, had gaps or other issues that needed addressing. It's VERY painstaking work redoing these almost whisper-thin strips with Plastruct .010 x .040 strips. There's also some other tubing and other detail parts on the two wings that I have yet to rebuild or replace and this doesn't even include the "T" Strips that go around the outside of both wings. There is also a huge void on one "arm" of the Sphere part that I initially puttied but I noticed that once the putty dried, it cracked and didn't look good so I basically carved out the entire scribed panel area so I can replace the panel with a clear piece of sheet plastic cut to shape.

I am designing the build so the wings can be easily detachable via a locating brass pin and a threaded screw for each wing into the main support rod. The "Cap" detail part will essentially fit on top of two brass pins holding the brass mounting strip in each wing and be easily removable.

The day is closing in once I paint the wings where I will basically assemble the two halves of the Sphere and attach the wings in one fell swoop!

Planetary · Nov 6, 2013

This photos in this update is actually from almost two weeks ago. I was in an auto accident, a little shaken up and didn't do any work for over a week. But I decided to post some photos of progress up 'til then instead of posting photos when it's finished (which it nearly is). One major hurdle was biting my lip and final assembling the Sphere. Once the Cockpit is installed and those halves are permanently joined, there's no turning back if something inside is screwed up.

Regarding the Pilot, I added some very subtle highlights using some Metallic Steel so he doesn't get lost in the dark Cockpit. The interior lighting looks pretty nice the way I kind of winged the layout using those "posts" and a pair of scratch built bare metal foil "reflector panels" in the ceiling which is out of sight once the Interior is assembled. Using a hair dryer, the two Sphere halves soften up pretty good to the point I was able to minimize gaps except in a few key places on the "arms" of the Sphere where they come to near right angles on the four sides. Some putty and fine grit sanding and the joints blend really nicely.

I'm at the point where all I need to do is finish stripping the paint off one of the two "wings" which for some reason the paint started peeling right off when I tried to mask it. No problems with the other wing or the Sphere using the same paint. Once I repaint the wing, I just need to mask off the black panels and give the wings and the Sphere the final coat of paint and it's done.

3d-builder · Nov 6, 2013

Looking good!!

GF · Nov 6, 2013

Is your interior black or dark grey? if you want to match the movie model it should be a med grey, BTW use self etching primer
for more bite and avoid paint peeling off.

Gerardo

vaderdarth · Nov 7, 2013

lookin good!

Planetary · Nov 7, 2013

The interior is about 90% Neutral Black (aka, *really* dark gray) but the camera and lighting doesn't really make that clear in the photos. The battery pack is 100% Black so you can kind of see the difference in values in one photo. Inside, the Pilot is Flat Black and his helmet is (semi gloss) Black, basically so someone looking in the cockpit and more easily see the pilot and the interior in contrast to the Flat Black front window frame which will be installed last.

Regarding the paint/primer, I don't know of a brand that's safe to use on "soft" resin/plastic parts so I used the typical Mr Hobby fine grade primer I always use on these type of kits. What's odd is that there's no problems with *any* of the other parts including the other wing. I suspect this particular piece is cast from a different batch of resin then at least the other wing and may be "out gassing" or sweating a chemical that is causing this problem, something I have seen with a few other resin cast garage kits.

Nwerke · Nov 7, 2013

Could be as simple as a tad too much polyol in the mix. "Ol" as in "oil" so if that is what is sweating you will struggle to get paint on it, ever. It should really have gone in the 'bad casts' bin, but it can be SO difficult to tell sometimes!

You can think a cast is perfect and it turns out it has pockets of uncured gunk inside the thicker sections, which don't even weep or deform until the next hot weather.

2013 Nice-N Tie Interceptor Build

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