stevee671
Jr Member
I picked this up on the clearance rack at Hobby Lobby along with the Darth Vader TIE fighter. Of course, this is a snap-tite kit, so I wasn't sure what I was getting when I got home. I remember reading reviews on this kit way back when and for the most part, I recall them mostly positive. The kit comes pre-painted in Luke's Red 5 markings. Overall, it looked really good. Good enough for me to decide to leave it as-is. I decided to go with a burnt-umber acrylic wash over all the pieces.
Once dry, I wiped off the excess and sprayed the pieces with dullcoat. This was going to be an in-flight built, so I closed the landing gear doors. The nose had a very good fit. The mains just required both sides be glued together prior to attaching to the lower engine nacelles. I decided to paint the engines Tamiya gunmetal and apply a black wash to enhance the detail. That cannons were washed as well and I painted the two of the cannons rings yellow just to give the model a little more color.
Once everything looked good to my eye, I assembled the kit. Construction is very easy and the fit on this kit was excellent!
In the past, I have scratchbuilt my Death Star tiles. I was trying to get this on ready for a contest and just wouldn't have enough time. I had heard about Shapeways. They sell 3D printed modeling accessories. I went to their website and did a search for "Death Star Tiles". To my surprise, there was all scales of tiles. The ones I decided on didn't have a scale, but are very similar to the tiles included in the Bandai kits.
Here they are laid out. They come white, which makes painting them a breeze.
I painted the tiles an overall neutral gray.
I applied a black wash to the tiles and glued them to the base.
Once dry, I wiped off the excess and sprayed the pieces with dullcoat. This was going to be an in-flight built, so I closed the landing gear doors. The nose had a very good fit. The mains just required both sides be glued together prior to attaching to the lower engine nacelles. I decided to paint the engines Tamiya gunmetal and apply a black wash to enhance the detail. That cannons were washed as well and I painted the two of the cannons rings yellow just to give the model a little more color.
Once everything looked good to my eye, I assembled the kit. Construction is very easy and the fit on this kit was excellent!
In the past, I have scratchbuilt my Death Star tiles. I was trying to get this on ready for a contest and just wouldn't have enough time. I had heard about Shapeways. They sell 3D printed modeling accessories. I went to their website and did a search for "Death Star Tiles". To my surprise, there was all scales of tiles. The ones I decided on didn't have a scale, but are very similar to the tiles included in the Bandai kits.
Here they are laid out. They come white, which makes painting them a breeze.
I painted the tiles an overall neutral gray.
I applied a black wash to the tiles and glued them to the base.
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and nice weathering.
