RED 4 - Hero X-Wing with machined armature (motorized)

MonsieurTox · Aug 22, 2008

Hey guys,

When I built my V2 (awesome Salzo's kit) I was planning to motorized wings. Unfortunatly I didnt have the skills nor the ref at this time.

With the release of the V3, I thought it was worth to give it a try !

My goal with this X-Wing is to build mine like the Hero (meaning materials, design of the armature etc) but I will not focus on the details (you will notice the chips on the wings are the chips of the pyro wings

). I will use only 2 Airfix kits so it means I will not have the right cans (I should got 4 kits but I cant

, if someone has spare cans, I would be happy to buy them

).

The 2 first cans :

My first wing (I cheated and I added a rib at the root of the wing, it is hollow on the hero wings but it more esthetic IMHO). I used mostly acrylic, except for the inner plate which is styrene. The U-channels are styrene on the prop, but I used brass U-channels to add strenght to the whole thing !

I sanded the plexi to remove the lips of the scribbing job and to get a better grip for the paint :

I glued the wrong 251 part on the trailing edge of the wing. It has been corrected now :

Here you can the rib (styrene) I added at the root of the wing :

I will not be able to work on it before a long time, so dont expect updates soon !

-... . .- --.. · Aug 22, 2008

Re: Red ? Building a pyro with hero wings (haha)

Sweet! Thanks for posting this, Julien, it's looking really nice, and no wonder it's so strong. Looking forward to watching this progress.

Because I need multiple castings of the (kinda expensive) Sealab parts, I was considering casting the (kinda rare-ish) vintage Airfix stuff at the same time. I don't want to have to buy four of those kits either!

MonsieurTox · Aug 22, 2008

Re: Red ? Building a pyro with hero wings (haha)

Thanks, I have a question, from which kit comes from your dark yellow part ? Mine is not the correct part but it's very close, just missing the 2 raised details.

-... . .- --.. · Aug 22, 2008

Re: Red ? Building a pyro with hero wings (haha)

You have the right part. The two raised parts are actually from a different part in that same kit, just cut in half and glued on top.

MonsieurTox · Aug 22, 2008

Re: Red ? Building a pyro with hero wings (haha)

Oh ok many thanks !

Nwerke · Aug 22, 2008

Re: Red ? Building a pyro with hero wings (haha)

Great wings, that's going to look very nice. Why the pyro detail though -are you modelling the hero that was moulded for the pyro?

Offhand I can think of two or three details which do match between the pyros and one of the heros, but many which don't match, so I'm still unsure about that question.

MonsieurTox · Aug 22, 2008

Re: Red ? Building a pyro with hero wings (haha)

As I sais on my first post, I will not be anal with the details of this one, and since I did a while back my plans with the pyro chip pattern, it was easy for me to use it. Since I'm not recreating an X-Wing in particular, that's ok I think, and if I change my mind, I just can shave them and redo new more accurate !

Guy Cowen · Aug 23, 2008

Re: Red ? Building a pyro with hero wings (haha)

Julien, this looks amazing you really have a talent. I noticed that it looks like 0.2 mm styrene for the added little squares on the wing surface, On my Red 3 there is a mix of 0.2 & 0.5 mm, on the 0.2 squares they have been lost slightly as the paint tends to build around the edges, it may be I've gone to heavy on the paint. Its something to look out for though. How long does it take you to build a wing like this? Great great stuff.

Nwerke · Aug 23, 2008

Re: Red ? Building a pyro with hero wings (haha)

No offence intended, Julien! I think the pyro details are the best choice for a 'generic' X-wing anyway.

MonsieurTox · Aug 23, 2008

Re: Red ? Building a pyro with hero wings (haha)

Thanks Guy, actually I used 0.1 mm styrene to do the chips. I used 0.1 mm acrylic sheet to do the chips of my ISD and they pop very well, but the paintjob was very thin. You're right I will have to spray thin coats of paint if not they would disapear

Thanks for the advice Guy, I havent thought of that when I glued them ! Also, I dont know how my scribbed lines will look like once painted :/ I should spray a coat on this wing to check if all is ok !

Dont worry Nwerke, I didnt feel ofended

I just want to do something different (a Red or Yellow canopy X-Wing) as we can see on some pics of this thread : http://therpf.com/showthread.php?t=47417

There is probably no more ref on those weird birds, so I opted for a generic chip style, the pyro ones ! An no one will be able to say I'm wrong since those birds are not very well documented ! :lol

Nwerke · Aug 23, 2008

Re: Red ? Building a pyro with hero wings (haha)

MonsieurTox said:
Dont worry Nwerke, I didnt feel ofended

Oh good!

I just want to do something different (a Red or Yellow canopy X-Wing) as we can see on some pics of this thread : http://therpf.com/showthread.php?t=47417

Oh cool! Also, snap! That's exactly what I'm doing. :lol

There is probably no more ref on those weird birds, so I opted for a generic chip style, the pyro ones ! An no one will be able to say I'm wrong since those birds are not very well documented ! :lol

We know that the red canopy bird is built from pyro castings because it has a pyro butt end. But there's a shot of the yellow-canopy bird parked alongside Red 1 and one or two unpainted ones. If this was taken during the early construction phase, perhaps it was a hero too?

I'm doing the red canopy, which requires a small mod to the V3 wing and pyro-izing the butt plate. That's hilarious given all the effort I put into de-pyro-izing my V1. I'm definitely a complete idiot.:lol

Cheers,
Martyn

MonsieurTox · Aug 29, 2008

Re: Red ? Building a pyro with hero wings (haha)

Nwerke said:
Oh good!

Oh cool! Also, snap! That's exactly what I'm doing. :lol

We know that the red canopy bird is built from pyro castings because it has a pyro butt end. But there's a shot of the yellow-canopy bird parked alongside Red 1 and one or two unpainted ones. If this was taken during the early construction phase, perhaps it was a hero too?

I'm doing the red canopy, which requires a small mod to the V3 wing and pyro-izing the butt plate. That's hilarious given all the effort I put into de-pyro-izing my V1. I'm definitely a complete idiot.:lol

Cheers,
Martyn

Hey Martyn, I dont know for the yellow canopy but I agree with you about the red one, it's a pyro ! Lol yeah we all looked for making Hero X-Wing and finally we got the best Hero kit, we convert it into a pyro ! :lol I will not mod the butt plate though ! I will just build it as a hero model but with pyro chips and say 'yeah yeah it was the hero which was the master for the pyro molds" :lol

Anyway great find on the pic with the bottom plug ! That makes perfectly sense regarding the different thickness of the back.

Now I would like to thanks Mike (Salzo) to offer us this wonder V3 kit which is IMHO one of the best GK kit available. Casting is perfect, I love the new resin. Mike, thanks for all !

Now some new pics :

Almost done with one wing :

I've started a second. To answer a previous question, it takes me about 8 hours/wing. Yeah I'm a slow modeller ! :unsure

I removed the lips of the canopy because they were not on the pyro model and I assume they were on the Hero to support the glasses.

I sanded and glued new chips. The chip pattern of the V3 is perfect for a pyro though. But I wanted them in styrene for the weathering process (sanding them revealing a white color).

I also designed the armature for it (S-foil armature) and should get it soon. Of course it will be motorized.

And I entirely redrawn my ROTJ AT-ST plans. I will not get them before 2 or 3 months...

Guy Cowen · Aug 29, 2008

Re: Red ? Building a pyro with hero wings (haha)

Great work Julien, cant wait to see this come together

MonsieurTox · Sep 7, 2008

Re: Red ? Building a pyro with hero wings (haha)

Thanks guy

Armature parts :

Kuhn Global · Sep 7, 2008

Re: Red ? Building a pyro with hero wings (haha)

I have two words for this build Julien...

BAD ARSE!!!!

love:thumbsup

This is SWEEEEEEET!

But then again.... what else would we expect from you my friend?

Pure and Professional EXCELLENCE!

MonsieurTox · Sep 7, 2008

Re: Red ? Building a pyro with hero wings (haha)

Thanks my friend

But dont get me wrong, I havent machined those parts myself... I just did the drawings and a very kind guy did them for me...

-... . .- --.. · Sep 7, 2008

Re: Red ? Building a pyro with hero wings (haha)

MonsieurTox said:
Thanks my friend

But dont get me wrong, I havent machined those parts myself... I just did the drawings and a very kind guy did them for me...

Very cool - can't wait to see the wings in action! Any idea yet how you're going to drive it?

MonsieurTox · Sep 7, 2008

Re: Red ? Building a pyro with hero wings (haha)

-... . .- --.. said:
Very cool - can't wait to see the wings in action! Any idea yet how you're going to drive it?

Yep, all is already designed and unlike the ILM systems, mine will work just fine ! :lol

Nwerke · Sep 8, 2008

Re: Red ? Building a pyro with hero wings (haha)

MonsieurTox said:
Hey Martyn, I dont know for the yellow canopy but I agree with you about the red one, it's a pyro !

Ah but is it? It clearly has a rear mount where most of the models we see in the newer pyro-filming pics seem not to be on traditional mounts. Perhaps most of them didn't have a real armature? Maybe the fact Red Cockpit does is evidence that she really was a "hero-pyro", as discussed in the heroes-vs-pyros thread? Or possibly it's no such thing.

Lol yeah we all looked for making Hero X-Wing and finally we got the best Hero kit, we convert it into a pyro !

Ha ha. Poor Mike, having to cope with maniacs like us mutilating his creations.

Anyway great find on the pic with the bottom plug ! That makes perfectly sense regarding the different thickness of the back.

Thanks! If that thing still exists - it's probably still usable. Oooh!

Now I would like to thanks Mike (Salzo) to offer us this wonder V3 kit which is IMHO one of the best GK kit available. Casting is perfect, I love the new resin. Mike, thanks for all !

I have some minor criticisms of the kit - as every kit, it is not perfect - but it is very, very good. I like the new resin too. I second you - thanks, Mike!

I've started a second. To answer a previous question, it takes me about 8 hours/wing. Yeah I'm a slow modeller !

I *want* to buy a second, but I'm too poor.

I sanded and glued new chips. The chip pattern of the V3 is perfect for a pyro though. But I wanted them in styrene for the weathering process (sanding them revealing a white color).

Um, if you sanded through the base coat on a real pyro, you'd get tan resin. ;p
The chip pattern is actually not quite perfect but it is reasonably close to it. The panel lines are really good on the fuselage and one pair of wings. I think I replaced about 70% of my chips, but only a small amount of changes for panel lines.

I also designed the armature for it (S-foil armature) and should get it soon. Of course it will be motorized.

Wow. Can't wait to see how that takes shape.

Cheers,
Martyn

MonsieurTox · Sep 30, 2008

Re: Red ? Building a pyro with hero wings (haha)

Hey guys, it looks like black and white pics are the thing to do of the moment

Here some pics of my armature in progress :

Hey Martyn,

Well I dont know for the Red Canopy X, I'm not specialist enough to do what it is !

Dont get me wrong I was meaning 'I started a second wing', not a second X-Wing :lol

The fact is old styrene becomes yellowish which is closest to the tan color of the resin than the gray resin of the kit !

I replaced all chips, I saw a lot of lines were not exactly perfect, but I dont plan to putty them then rescribe them, they are fine to me

RED 4 - Hero X-Wing with machined armature (motorized)

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