Bandai 1/72 BTL-A4 Y-Wing

This one's a real doozy, guys. Get ready.


A long shipping time, from a nation far, far away...





Background:
This is Y-Wing Pack 7, of the Pack Squadron training unit. That's all I have for the moment, but stay on target...


















Figure in the center is Pack Leader; his white gloves and brown boots are a throwback to some Action Fleet pilot figures. Additionally, the colorful guy on the right is a call-back to the Action Fleet Alpha Series "Prototype" Snowspeeder pilot.

The Build:
I tend to put a lot of thought into my models. Not just paint scheme, but back story. Since this is a training fighter, I knew I was going to have to bang it up a whole lot. As usual with my Star Wars builds, I first primed with Rustoleum Plastic Primer (white), which has a great warm tone to it. Then I washed/glazed the heck out of it, varying the colors across the hull to show heavy wear. As per my norm, the entire kit is hand-painted (disregarding primer). If you look closely you'll see a great variety of discoloration, paint chips, "fresh" paint and primer, replacement parts, and even a sculpted dent. Here's a (non-exhaustive) guide to a lot of what's going on:

While a less skilled modeler would greatly appreciate Bandai's color separation, I had other plans, so I filled and sanded the seams here. And by that, I mean I had to carve out a significant portion of the channel AND reduce the thickness of the "stripe" pieces before filling with Apoxy Fixit, as Bandai's tolerances are so tight that the primer I added prevented the part from fitting properly.

Dent! Also some additional patch panels added.

Decal sheet (plus decals for other projects) designed in Inkscape.


BUT WAIT! There's more!
More Background:In the backstory I came up with, the fighter's astromech, R5-V77, went rogue during a training exercise and took control of the fighter, ejecting the cadet. Pack Leader was forced to disable the rogue Y-Wing; R5-V77 would go on to lead a secret cult of Rebel Alliance droids and generally be a pain in the butt to sentient Rebels.








R5-V77, a.k.a. "The Chosen One."


Thanks for sticking with it! Hope it was worth your time. Of course there's a huge writeup for each and every little figure involved with this fighter, which will come soon.

Very cool! I like that you went with another color scheme. I also like the ejecting pilot.

I haven't gotten the kit yet, but that yellow detail on the cockpit looks like it would have to be glued and filled anyway. Unless I'm wrong, on the studio model it's a painted detail, not an entire panel shaped like that.

Correct, there is no "stripe panel," it's supposed to be painted on over the existing paneling. I would have taken a giant sticker over Bandai's solution any day.

Longtime lurker, just registered so I can post, amazing model!
I love what you've done with the unique paint scheme and the story. I have a bandai y wing at home as the next model for me to attempt, won't be as nice as yours but its a hell of an inspiration!