Forum adverts like this one are shown to any user who is not logged in. Join us by filling out a tiny 3 field form and you will get your own, free, dakka user account which gives a good range of benefits to you: No adverts like this in the forums anymore. Times and dates in your local timezone. Full tracking of what you have read so you can skip to your first unread post, easily see what has changed since you last logged in, and easily see what is new at a glance. Email notifications for threads you want to watch closely. Being a part of the oldest wargaming community on the net. If you are already a member then feel free to login now.

I just finished up my build of Bandai's 1/72 X-wing, painted as Luke Skywalker's Red 5. This model was commission by a friend of mine as part of a trench run diorama with Vader and his two wingmen. This was my second go at Luke's X-wing after I did a Fine Molds version for my personal collection last summer. The Fine Molds version of this kit really doesn't compare to the Bandai one; Bandai's is superior in just about every way. The only real downside is how Bandai's plastic reacts to thinner, which is something I'll take into consideration on my next Bandai build. In my short time building models (three years), this has by far been the most fun I've had working on a model. It's just a shame that it won't be living in my display case!

Comments and criticisms are always welcome!

Epic stuff!

 Paradigm wrote:
Epic stuff!

Thanks mate!

That's awesome! Very well done! One question: did the kit come with that scenic death star base, or did you make that?

Nice

 ZergSmasher wrote:
That's awesome! Very well done! One question: did the kit come with that scenic death star base, or did you make that?

The Death Star tile is kit supplied. It came with a second tile that has the thermal exhaust port and a couple of photon torpedoes. Bandai has four 1/72 scale kits and they each have a unquie tile.

Very cool. How big is that model?

D

 evildrcheese wrote:
Very cool. How big is that model?

D

Not very:

Can you give some info on how you painted it? Its very nice

 Icelord wrote:
Can you give some info on how you painted it? Its very nice

Of course!

It was primed with Alclad Primer/Microfiller (grey) and preshaded with Tamiya German Grey (XF-63). I made a custom mix for the base color: one 10mL jar of Tamiya Flat White (XF-2), 2/3 of a jar of Tamiya White (X-2), twelve drops of Tamiya Flat Earth (XF-52), and four drops of Tamiya Neutral Grey (XF-53). This left me with a warm off-white color that I thought was pretty nice. Then I went to work painting all of the panels, which are supplied as decals but I absolutely hate using decals. The brownish panel on the starboard engine was painted with Tamiya Medium Grey (XF-20) and the panel on the port wing by the squadron markings was painted with Tamiya Buff (XF-57). The black squares on the lower wing were painted with Tamiya NATO Black (XF-69) and the bluish panels were painted with Vallejo Model Air US Blue Grey (71.114). The green panel is Tamiya Cockpit Green (XF-71). The barber shop stripe was painted with a mix of Vallejo Model Air blues: French Blue, Dark Sea Blue, and Intermediate Blue. I don't remember the mix ratio; I just added the different paints until I got a color I liked and that more or less matched the decal. For the fuselage, I used Tamiya Flat Yellow (XF-3) for the yellow areas (also used on the engine cowling), Medium Grey (XF-20) for the brownish panel, Deck Tan (XF-55) for the the beige panels, and a 10:1 mix of Flat Red (XF-7) and Hull Red (XF-9). The engine nozzles, are Tamiya Dark Iron (XF-84) and then drybrushed with metallic pigment. The engines in the wings were painted with Tamiya Gun Metal (X-10) over a black primer and then highlighted with a misting of Flat Aluminum (XF-16) followed by a dry brushing with some silver metallic pigment. The dark grey panels on the starboard laser cannon and on the underside of the fuselage were painted with Testors Acryl Gunship Gray (FS36118). I used Vallejo Model Air Dark Sea Grey (71.048) or Medium Sea Grey (71.049) (I don't remember which!) for the dark grey panels on the starboard side of the fuselage, except it was sprayed on top of Vallejo Game Color Bronze Fleshtone (72.036). The canopy frame was Tamiya Medium Blue (XF-18) over Light Blue (XF-23). For all of the chipping effects on the panels, I used Humbrol Maskol applied with a piece of torn sponge. After the paint was cured, I just wiped the Maskol off with finger or some poster tack if it was being stubborn.

Here's some WIP pictures:


After everything was painted, I gave the entire model a filter using Mig Productions 502 Abteilung German Ochre. A filter is just really thinned down oil paint and it's used to subtly adjust the color underneath. It is different than a wash, which runs into the cracks and crevices to simulate shadows. You just apply it where you want, which was the entire model in this case, but make sure it doesn't pool anywhere. This is done directly on the acrylic paint and the matte finish allows the filter to really soak in. It offers you more control over the final hue of the model as opposed to changing the base color. In this case, it further warmed the off-white base color and toned down the color panels. Unfortunately, the thinner reacted to the plastic on the of the snap-together parts and caused some stress fractures, but it was easily fixed with some cement.

After the filter dried for a couple of days, I gave the entire model two coats of Future (which serves as a gloss varnish) in preparation for the weathering. I disassembled the model (it's snap fit) even though I had originally intended on doing all of the weathering on the completed model. Taking it apart was a lot easier than I thought it was going to be and I'm happy I did it; it was a lot easier to work on without getting in my own way. I was planning on doing a panel line wash over the entire model, but I made a command decision to instead give the entire model a gunk wash. The process is very simple: put your desired oil color on a palette, apply generous amounts of oil paint on the model without thinning it, then wipe it off with a rag. This ends up discoloring the entire surface of the model and allows oil paint to build up in panel lines and recesses. This can be done over a matte or gloss varnish; matte leaves more oil on the surface compared to gloss, which may or may not be desired (as stated previously, I did this over a gloss varnish). After I let the oil dry for a week, I gave everything a matte varnish and began the next phase of weathering. First, I added the grey/black chipping on the S-foils and some other spots on the hull. I had forgotten to do this previously but luckily I caught it before I got any further on the weathering. It's a relatively small detail but it's pretty distinctive and helps complete the model. Then I started on some individual panel discoloration, primarily on the underside of the X-wing. I used some browns and greys (all from 502 Abteilung) to discolor a handful of panels using the studio model as a guide. To do this, slightly wet the panel you want to paint with a clean brush moistened with thinner. Take another brush and make a slurry of your desired color and apply it to the panel, but don't completely cover it. Clean your brush and moisten it with clean thinner and work the oil paint around the panel being careful not to leave brush marks. After all of the panels dried, I went around the model with some pigment powders for the final stage of weathering. I used a mix black, brown, and various rust colors from a selection of Secret Weapon Miniatures, Mig Productions, and Vallejo pigments.



Hopefully that covers it, if there is anything I missed that you're curious about let me know!

Unreal description. A beautiful job and you really answered everything! I don't think I could do that all that well haha.

Plan to get the other 1/72 Star Wars?

 Icelord wrote:
Unreal description. A beautiful job and you really answered everything! I don't think I could do that all that well haha.

Thanks mate!

Plan to get the other 1/72 Star Wars?

I just did these recently. They go along with with Luke's X-wing in a diorama that I am building:



I have a bunch of 1/72 models, both from Bandai and Fine Molds, in my stash, including the Millennium Falcon and Slave I (I have these in 1/144 scale as well). I also have some Y-wings and more TIE fighters plus a handful of 1/48 models, including a couple of snowspeeders, two X-wings (one Bandai and one Fine Molds), and an AT-ST.