X1 tie fighter's choice?

a7818239

New Member
I want to get my first Star Wars studio scale kit and would like to be a Darth Vader tie fighter so I was hoping with all the knowledge on here you guys could help me out on who makes the best.

now I have two choice.

1 is Chris Kelly's studio scale X-1
MMM_KELLEY_SITH_PLANET_X1_BUILD_004.jpg
MMM_KELLEY_SITH_PLANET_X1_BUILD_007.jpg


2 is nice n X-1

111.jpg
222.jpg

please help me to choose!
thanks to everybody
 
Nothing makes it better!
I own a Chris Kelley X1 and it is accurate aside from a few scratch build greeblies,..i even think his tie ball dimensions are more accurate than the niesen version,that is if Steve used his dimensions from his tie-fighters to master the x1.
If that is the case then his tie ball is slightly undersized and the Chris Kelley x1 is more accurate.
The x1 mastered by chris kelley is now cast and sold by korbanth and it seems that he uses or used a type of resin that causes problems with paint adherence.
I am not sure he still uses this resin or if something else causes/caused this problem but if he solved this problem than you can't beat the price of his current X1 offering,.it's a steal!
I am not sure if korbanth includes a metal armature rod but that is a must since the wings are heavy.
My version of the C.Kelley tie has wings casted by Mike Salzo(which i think also casts Steve Niesen's x-1,i am not sure)so all the details(diamondplate solar panel) are there and the warpage is minimal.
I am not sure if korbanth can pull this off,but if he can then i believe his X-1 is the better one for accuracy and price.
That just my opinion.
 
Thanks for your opinion, appreciate it.

Nothing makes it better!
I own a Chris Kelley X1 and it is accurate aside from a few scratch build greeblies,..i even think his tie ball dimensions are more accurate than the niesen version,that is if Steve used his dimensions from his tie-fighters to master the x1.
If that is the case then his tie ball is slightly undersized and the Chris Kelley x1 is more accurate.
The x1 mastered by chris kelley is now cast and sold by korbanth and it seems that he uses or used a type of resin that causes problems with paint adherence.
I am not sure he still uses this resin or if something else causes/caused this problem but if he solved this problem than you can't beat the price of his current X1 offering,.it's a steal!
I am not sure if korbanth includes a metal armature rod but that is a must since the wings are heavy.
My version of the C.Kelley tie has wings casted by Mike Salzo(which i think also casts Steve Niesen's x-1,i am not sure)so all the details(diamondplate solar panel) are there and the warpage is minimal.
I am not sure if korbanth can pull this off,but if he can then i believe his X-1 is the better one for accuracy and price.
That just my opinion.

- - - Updated - - -

Any particular reason? Cheers

Nice N models all day long and twice on sunday
 
I think akumazeto means praying all day long and twice on sunday for the kit to arrive complete and in a decent amount of time:lol
AHHHH !sorry for that Steve,..i just could help myself,..won't happen again!
 
I'm with Voodoocaster here. Nice N kits are nice and I wish I could fully recommend them, but get ready to wait if you buy it directly from him. When he says he has a kit in stock ready to ship, it's about a 2 months wait, that happened with my bwing. I know, two months ain't that bad but that's not what I call "ready to ship". And i'm still waiting for an Awing that I fully paid back in February (we are talking about a very expensive kit here). And with little to no communication, you pretty much have to harass him to get any update. Will probably never deal with him again. I have seen some Nice N vader tie in the Junkyard section recently, I'd check here first if I were you

Edit: I also feel bad for outing him like that, but I'm very displeased with these business practices. If I knew the wait would have been that long, on an expensive kit I fully paid ahead, I would have probably not ordered. And the excuses he gave are kind of bull****
 
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I wanted one of Steves kits, and since I’m not on FB, I asked my wife to contact him on FB messenger. He got back to her, but never emailed me after several assurances he would send me an invoice for the model.

Too bad, I really would have liked the model....his comms are crap.
 
Not wanting to turn this into reasons why not to buy from Steve but, yes, there does seem to be enough reasons not to. The (still active) pinned post in this section being a big one.
Still all feels a bit cliquey, which is a shame.

Thanks for your input.
 
Anyone wants a Nice-n Models Bwing mine is for sale for 500. I started the main wing hence the price. Korbanth resin is still having adhesion issues.
 
I can't get paint to stick to my Neisen Vader either. Tape pulls it right up. Heck, I sprayed it with compressed air to get dust out of the built and painted ball and the paint just sheeted off and blew away. Hopeful that since I have sanded the entire thing, again, that I'll have more luck with Krylon Fusion as a primer. We shall see.

It's a good idea to sand the whole thing anyway, as it has a pebbly texture (from the 3d print, maybe?). Shave off all the chips and redo them. It's faster.

37867637_10156569662613156_5356696586099359744_n.jpg

Just be careful what you buy - ask if they are using mold release, or if the caster they sub the work to is using mold release. Have a clause that you will get a full refund if you can't get primer to adhere. I bought two full BB-8s from Korbanth that were mastered so poorly that you could see deep grow lines. Add to that that there were dents in the forms because the molds were apparently not rigid enough? Anyway, sent them back and got a full refund. And then was unfriended on Facebook by Korbanth, lol.

So in my opinion, you just need to scratch build everything. It's faster, less work, less headache, and probably cheaper.
 
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Sanding seems to be a good solution but make sure before you sand that you wash and scrub the freshly moulded resin in warm soapy water and let it air dry. after that, to make sure their is no "oily"residu, i usually whipe the parts with acetone or alcohol.
If you sand without degreasing the parts you might end up sanding the grease into the surface of the resin which basicly is the thing you were trying to get rid of.
Fortunatelly i have had (not yet) any adhesion problems and i never sanded the resin parts before painting by the way ,.i only scrubbed and wiped.
I also have heard that some resins are just badly mixed(badly meassured part A and B) and the oily part keeps seeping out of the "cured"resin parts no matter what you do.
You could try to fix this (helps with sticky "not well cured"resin) by dusting talcum powder or calcium carbonate on the parts in the hope this will absorp most of the oil.
You can remove the chalk after a couple of days,..but i think the chalk will only have absorbed the close to the surface oils ,.there will remain oil in the deeper areas finding it's way to the surface(advanced when the temperature rises) .
To get rid of the mould release maybe you could also try to spay the resin with laquer thinner or naphtha and wipe the parts,.. i am not too sure though if this will dissolve the silicone or vaseline based mould release or just thin it.
If it just thins it than it will be of no use and perhaps naphtha will dammage the resin surface.
 
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