Richard Baker
Sr Member
This is a fantastic project!- I am watching this build thread and taking lots of notes
Oh yes, and I tried something very similar. At this extreme bend, The styrene seemed to have enough memory that after cooling back down and/or contacting the liquid cement wanted to bend back too much again.Toadmeister, you're really kicking this! I had a thought on making those U-shaped pieces, unfortunately too late to help you, though perhaps a useful 'process' for future projects. You *could have* made a small wooden form that had the cross section of the interior of the curved part. Then, using hot, but not boiling water, heat up a section of the strip plastic to make it more pliable, then wrap it aroun the wooden form and clamp it. Then heat the water to boiling, give the whole shebang a quick dip and then allow to cool. Using the form would allow for consistent pieces with less 'fiddling'.
Does this make sense?
Again, wonderful job (and I 'second' your thoughts on armor kits and greeblies... invaluable for projects like my mash up project, described here: Something New from Something Else – a Kit Mash-Up Adventure | Hampton Roads Scale Modelers
Regards, Robert
One option could be to use brass or similar wire, put in a U-Shape using a jig to ensure uniform shapes for multiple pieces, then flatten it in a rolling mill
Could probably do something similar with plastic sprues and heating them before squashing flat between some weights
Those panel lines are particular difficult over the ball cockpit.Panel lines are always one of the hardest things for me to do cleanly.
Sometimes I'll hide my mis-scribes with blast marks or paint scratches [emoji38]
Yes, using the kit ones unmodified. I decided to draw the line somewhere otherwise the kit can really become a black holeAre you gonna keep the boxed version of the wing panel inserts?
The ones on the original are much flatter.
http://www.modelermagic.com/?p=2355
Makes sense, tbf the kit box looks okay as it is. Not to mention that it’s used in the ILM Tie bomber. Not sure about the angles. Masking and painting the solar panels black is gonna be a pain anyway.Yes, using the kit ones unmodified. I decided to draw the line somewhere otherwise the kit can really become a black hole
IIRC the original studio model has more shallow angles? Hard to compare directly in photos.
With the exception above, I like the kit wings and just wanted this portion to be trouble free on my build.
Actually, I've base coated black, will mask these "inside areas" and paint the ILM Stormy Sea frames.Makes sense, tbf the kit box looks okay as it is. Not to mention that it’s used in the ILM Tie bomber. Not sure about the angles. Masking and painting the solar panels black is gonna be a pain anyway.
Yea saw the primed pics. I did the other way around with the Bandai because then I had to mask only one black panel accurately at a time, but different strokes, I’m sure it’ll work out. Keep up the good work, really curious how the ILM Stormy Sea will work out.Actually, I've base coated black, will mask these "inside areas" and paint the ILM Stormy Sea frames.
Not necessarily easier but works good for me.
Most excellent!Wow, you are doing a damn fine job here!
I'm sorry to chime in so late but I guess it is not too late. I too have this kit and wanted to improve the Vader figure. It is the weakest part of the kit. My first attempt was filling the strange ridges that go straight through the eyes and the helmet. Then I painted it. It looked better than before and really didn't bother with the rest much since I though it would not be seen prominently on the finished model.
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Then I got distracted and put it into its box again - for almost a decade! THANK GOODNESS - my laziness paid off because in the meantime Revell released their version of the TIE-Advanced. The whole kit is very similar to the mpc one with three major exceptions: It is slightly smaller and the cockpit interior was completely different. And the best part: It came with a new, much better looking Vader figure.
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The Revell one is on the left, BTW.
This is how it looks inside the mpc cockpit:
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A difference like night and day, if you ask me.
The smaller scale of the figure is not too bad. On the contrary, it makes the whole ship appear larger. Which is a good thing for a Sith-piloted craft.