Estes Maxi Brute X-Wing Fighter

[James Duffy]

In the halcyon days of my youth, spring was heralded by the arrival of the new Estes catalog. In late '77 an issue of "Model Rocket News" tucked into an Estes Christmas catalog teased the imminent arrival of flying models from the recently released film "Star Wars," so I watched the mailbox attentively for the arrival of the new offerings from our favorite rocket company.

When the '78 catalog arrived that spring it did not disappoint. In additional to the expected X-Wing and TIE Fighter models, there was a surprise: a super-sized Maxi Brute version of the X-WIng, billed as being the same size as those used by the effects team for the film! Alas, at $17.95 it was far outside my price range, so I contented myself with the standard version of Luke's fighter. Life went on, cars/beer/girls intruded, and soon a quarter of a century passed. Until...

Late in the '90s Estes secured a renewed license from Lucasfilm for a reissue of several of the Star Wars kits, along with an unexpected entry. Under the North Coast Rocket brand, Estes seemed to be reissuing the Maxi Brute kit. Or was it? Online chatter revealed that while it was the same size as the old Maxi Brute kit, it differed significantly in the manner of construction, and was intended to fly on far more powerful engines. It even offered rear ejection of the recovery system, doing away with the unsightly seam at the nose found on the earlier Maxi Brute. The years had placed a bit of money in my pocket, so I snatched up the kit. The construction and finishing was a delight, and the NCR X-Wing immediately ascended to the #1 spot on my list of all-time favorite builds. I used the build as an opportunity to play with some weathering techniques, and even entered it into a few IPMS static model contests here in Texas, taking home a few award plaques along the way. The model flew once, sustaining a bit of damage from "snap back" of the rear ejection core, so I fixed the model and retired it to shelf and outreach duty.



Still, there was a void in my rocketry experience that could only be filled by the old Maxi Brute X-Wing. Early in the 2000s I began prowling eBay for a kit, and finally managed to snag one around '05, for a very reasonable $75. I opened the kit, surveyed the parts, and quickly decided that it would never, ever look anything like the models used in the movie. Mildly disappointed, I placed it back on the shelf.

Fast forward to a random occurrence a few years ago. I placed a photo of a project online, and in the background of that photo was a copy of a recent monograph highlighting the Eagle spacecraft from "Space: 1999." Scott Branche noted this detail and pinged me, alerting me to the existence of an online community called TheRPF, which I assume stands for "The Replica Prop Forum." Here I found a rich trove of data on actual movie miniatures and props, along with build threads from people who studied these models obsessively.

One of the things I learned from TheRPF was that most of the commercial models of the X-Wing fighter were lacking in significant ways. This leads serious builders to either scratch build models, use expensive, exotic resin "garage" kits from low-volume manufacturers. or extensively modify existing commercial kits, correcting the flaws. Surprisingly, the preferred starting point for this last tack is (wait for it!) the Estes Maxi Brute X-Wing kit.

It turns out that the shape of the MB kit fuselage is considered the most accurate representation of the models as seen on screen. There are even a few on TheRPF who believe that Estes managed to get their hands on the remains of a "pyro model," a simplified model built to be destroyed on-screen, and that this was the dimensional basis of the Maxi Brute kit. You can plow through the whole thread here.

So, thanks to Scott and his tip-off about TheRPF, I began to look at the Maxi Brute X-Wing on my shelf a bit differently. I'm going to build this kit and document it here, trying to make it look as much like a studio scale model as possible, while still retaining the ability to fly the rocket.

Stay tuned, we'll begin shortly...

James

 

[Antares JS]

Following. Looking forward to it.

 

[James Duffy]

Let's start by discussing how the original studio scale models were built. Working from concept drawings supplied by the art department, the model builders at Industrial Light and Magic would build basic shapes from acrylic, fiberglass, resin, sheet styrene, and other traditional prop building materials. They would then detail these basic shapes using styrene shapes and parts from found bits and off-the-shelf model kits. Over on TheRPF, forum members have developed extensive "parts maps" showing what specific model parts were used to detail out the filming miniatures. In particular, a bunch of tank parts were used, such as the hull of a 1/76 scale Sherman tank that is clearly visible on the back bulkhead of the X-Wing models. Airfix 1/144 scale Saturn V third stage parts were used to construct the large turbine sections of the X-Wing engines, and Revell 1/32 scale F-4 engines comprise the slender trailing bits.

We're not going to do any of that, mostly because it would be prohibitively expensive. Instead, I plan on using traditional scratch building techniques. A bunch of styrene will be used, in sheet, formed panel, and extruded strip form.

More later,
James

 

[neil_w]

Hey this is awesome. Looking forward to this.

 

[James Duffy]

In many ways this will be like building a scale model, using existing documentation and photos as scale data. However, that approach is complicated by the fact that no two filming miniatures were constructed the same way. Details, paint, weathering, and in some cases, basic shapes differ from model to model. Further, there is no canonical reference drawing of the X-Wing that we can refer to to build our model, as the original artists did not document their work. Further, their oral recollections of building the models back in the '70s are clouded not only by time, but by the fact that by their own admission they were high at work most of the time. (I am not making that little detail up.)

In addition to photos of the models I will also be referring extensively to a recent 1/72 scale kit of the X-Wing from Bandai. This kit is considered to be reasonably accurate, and itself is based on actual measurements taken from models in the Lucasfilm archives. In short, I am going to scale up this kit as we build the Maxi Brute.



More later,
James

 

[neil_w]

Are you going to actually build the Bandai kit, or keep the pieces apart for reference?

 

[mbeels]

Very interesting, your model looks like it could be a museum piece!

 

[James Duffy]

Rather than rush in and start using up irreplaceable kit parts, I'd like to begin by creating a single wing panel. We'll use the kit parts as guides and templates, but otherwise leave them unmolested. The scratch wing panel can be completed all the way through painting and weathering, after which we can step back and decide if the final result will be appropriate for our vintage kit.

A significant scale weakness on the Estes kit is the absence of detail on the wing surfaces, particularly in the voids on the inner panels. Using the Bandai kit as a primary reference, we can create a workshop drawing to guide us in making something with a bit more authentic flavor.

The balsa kit wing panels are die-cut 3/32" balsa. We are going to replace these components with 1/16" balsa stock, faced with .015" styrene sheet. The styrene can then be scribed with panel line detail and covered with raised detail bits, just like the studio scale models.

The kit wing panels can be used as patterns for cutting the new parts from 1/16" balsa. The balsa is then trimmed just a bit on both the trailing and tip edges, about 2.5mm. This will create a recess on the finished part that matches the studio prototypes and allows the addition of more detail.

The styrene sheet is cut from .015" stock using the templates attached below. Note that there are recesses (apertures, voids, holes, chasms, whatever) in both the balsa core and one of the styrene faces.

Once the wood and styrene are cut we can laminate them all together.


Note that we've masked the interior surface outer wing panel so that we won't get spray adhesive on it in the next step.

More later,
James

 

[James Duffy]

The wood and styrene parts are laminated using 3M High Strength 90 adhesive. This is a spray contact cement that is applied lightly, then allowed to flash off for 7-10 minutes.


Once the cement on each surface is dry to the touch, the parts can then be brought together to complete the laminate stack.

Full disclosure: I've been working on this for weeks, so don't think that I'm knocking everything out in a single day.

More later,
James

 

[James Duffy]

Are you going to actually build the Bandai kit, or keep the pieces apart for reference?

The Bandai kit will remain unassembled for now, although I may build and paint it for grins at some point.

James

 

[James Duffy]

The next step is to engrave the panel line detail into the surfaces of the laminated wing, using the patterns posted earlier. First, the line locations are drawn with pencil, after which we can go back and cut the panel lines. The best method I've found to cut the lines is to first lay a piece of Dymo tape alongside the line location, using it as a guide. You can then drag tool alongside the Dymo tape to cut the line with a tool called a panel line scriber, available from Squadron. Another surprisingly useful tool for this purpose is the back side of a #11 XActo blade with the tip broken off.

Here's a quick shot of the engraving process.

After the lines are in place we can add the raised details at the appropriate locations. All of the raised bits have been cut from scrap .015"-thick styrene sheet.

A length of .060" half-round styrene stock is inserted into the recess at the tailing edge of the wing panel.


More later,
James

 

[dhbarr]

Woo, it's a hot one in this thread!

 

[James Duffy]

We'll turn our attention next to the open sections/voids/holes/whatever on the inner surfaces of the wing panel. The NCR kit provided a simple sticker to simulate this, while the Maxi Brute kit uses, well, a hole, covered by paper on one side. Neither approach is acceptable, at least not in this dojo.

After staring at the tiny parts of the Bandai kit for far too long, as well as plowing through a host of X-Wing photos on the internet, I managed to put together a reasonably detailed drawing of what the hoo-hah in the open sections looks like. (That drawing is attached below.) This will serve as the basis for a master to be built up from styrene bits, then a mold will be pulled off of the master. We can then use this mold to create resin parts that will drop into the open wing panels. Everyone still with me? Good.

This particular task is complicated by the fact that the finished part can only be a little over 1/16" thick so that its does not protrude from the opening. In order to keep things thin most of the structure will be constructed from .010" thick styrene sheet, along with some low-profile U-channel stock. A few drilled holes complete the part.

Note that there are multiple mirror image parts. Everything has been attached to a .040" styrene sheet that will form the base for the mold box.

Scrap styrene is used to form the sides of the mold box, with everything held in place by masking tape.

More later,
James

 

[Cl(VII)]

Wow...gonna learn something here.

 

[James Duffy]

Before we pour the mold material we are going to skip ahead a bit and build the masters for some more detail parts that will eventually be placed on the wing saddles. (Drawings are attached below.) Styrene bits are again used to create the masters.

Scrap styrene is used to build up mold boxes around these masters.

More later,
James

 

[James Duffy]

With all of our mold boxes ready we can go ahead and pour some rubber.

I have used Micro-Mark 1-to-1 Rapid Mold Rubber with great success for many years. The 1-1 mixing ratio makes it pretty idiot proof, and the finished molds pick up the finest surface detail from the masters.

Here's what the goo looks like after it is poured into the mold boxes.

After allowing the mold to cure for about four hours we can carefully disassemble the sides from the mold box and peel back the rubber from the master and base plate. Here's what our completed molds look like with the masters from which they were pulled.

More later,
James

 

[Cape Byron]

Wow! A masterclass in nurnies and greebles.

 

[afadeev]

Man, I've had an X-wing on my "to-do" list for years, and have a "regular" #1298 kit somewhere in my build pile.
But this one will be putting Estes #1302 to shame!

BTW, are you going to fly yours?

a

P.S.: Then, of course, there where those guys who built a life-sized X-wing and flew it some time in 2007. Just search YouTube for "What Really Happened to the Life Size X-Wing"

 

[James Duffy]

Wow! A masterclass in nurnies and greebles.

Hah! You win the opportunity to tell the class what "nurnies & greebles" are, and how they fit into the grand scheme of movie prop building.

 

[regent]

Nurnies are bits of detail on objects, usually models, both physical and computer generated, of fictional technology, that serve no real purpose other than to add complexity to the object. The detail can be made from geometric primitives, including cylinders, cubes, and rectangles, combined to create intricate, but meaningless, surface detail. Nurnies are commonly found on models or drawings of fictional spacecraft in science-fiction. Nurnies are closely related to greebles.

A greeble is a small piece of detailing added to break up the surface of an object to add visual interest to a surface or object, particularly in movie special effects. Greebles are closely related to nurnies.

 

[James Duffy]

With the molds complete we can now pour some resin. The finished parts out of the wing opening molds will be very thin and fragile, so they will be backed by a layer of 1/2-ounce fiberglass scrap. A small amount of resin is mixed and slowly poured into the mold, allowing it to propagate into all of the nooks, cracks, valleys, and other hidden bits of the mold, after which any visible art bubbles are popped with a toothpick. The fiberglass can then be laid over the top of the resin (which will ultimately be the back, unseen portion of the part), allowing it to wick into the goo.

Because the layer of resin is so thin it will take some time to cure, usually 30-45 minutes. To remove the parts from this particular mold I flipped it over, part side down, and peeled the rubber away from the part.

You can see that these parts are very thin, even translucent in places. The parts can be trimmed away from each other and the scrap using scissors and/or a sharp knife.

More later,
James

EDIT: These were the first parts I popped out of the molds, and there are clearly some air bubbles visible here. One of the things to keep in mind when building a Star Wars model is that nothing need be perfect, as long as it looks used, weathered, and real.

(I did manage to get a couple of perfect parts out of the mold, though, which will show up in my next post.)

 

[modeltrains]

No kiddin? That is something!

Surprisingly, the preferred starting point for this last tack is (wait for it!) the Estes Maxi Brute X-Wing kit.

 

[John Kemker]

Nurnies are bits of detail on objects, usually models, both physical and computer generated, of fictional technology, that serve no real purpose other than to add complexity to the object. The detail can be made from geometric primitives, including cylinders, cubes, and rectangles, combined to create intricate, but meaningless, surface detail. Nurnies are commonly found on models or drawings of fictional spacecraft in science-fiction. Nurnies are closely related to greebles.

A greeble is a small piece of detailing added to break up the surface of an object to add visual interest to a surface or object, particularly in movie special effects. Greebles are closely related to nurnies.

To some, a greeble is an invisible critter only seen by cats. Ever watched your cat intently staring at something you can't see? It's a greeble!

 

[modeltrains]

Mostly the greeble and nurnie thing has me hearing, "Sir, we found the alien station hidden in the third ring of the Greeblenurn system's fourth planet."

 

[James Duffy]

With the insert parts removed from the mold we can trim them down with a pair of scissors or a #11 blade.

At this point we can test-fit the parts into the wing cavities. I'll sand the back of the parts to fine-tune the fit, then glue the parts in place with epoxy. CA or a solvent-based glue would be a poor choice for this application as those adhesives would probably create distortions in the plastic laminate that would be visible on the other side of the wing. Epoxy won't do that.

The next task will be to add a little detail bit that extends from the surface of the inner wing panel onto one of the inserts, after which we can prime and start painting.

At this point I've posted everything I've completed on this project over the past several weeks, so this thread will now go into a real-time mode. Look for a couple of updates a week at most.

James

 

[Mugs914]

What resin are you using to cast your parts James? I've used the Aluma-Whatever you can get at Hobby Lobby, which seems to work okay, but is there another product that you would recommend?

 

[James Duffy]

What resin are you using to cast your parts James? I've used the Aluma-Whatever you can get at Hobby Lobby, which seems to work okay, but is there another product that you would recommend?

I've tried a lot of different resins over the years, but have settled on the CR600 product from Micro-Mark:
https://www.micromark.com/Cr600-Casting-Resin-32-Oz
In addition to producing great looking parts that paint and glue well, the 1-to-1 mixing ratio makes the stuff pretty idiot proof.

James

 

[afadeev]

I've tried a lot of different resins over the years, but have settled on the CR600 product from Micro-Mark:
In addition to producing great looking parts that paint and glue well, the 1-to-1 mixing ratio makes the stuff pretty idiot proof.

James,
Crazy thought - would you be interested in selling your inserts to others?

Something like this might push me over the edge and buy a MB X-Wing off eBay...

 

[James Duffy]

Crazy thought - would you be interested in selling your inserts to others?

Something like this might push me over the edge and buy a MB X-Wing off eBay...

That's not an unreasonable request, and frankly one that I have expected. At this point I really don't wish to get into the resin parts business, but I may have a better idea. What if I were to send the masters to an established 3D printing company so that they could duplicate the parts digitally, and offer the fiddly bits as 3D printed parts?

James

 

[James Duffy]

Almost time to start shooting some paint. First, thinned Elmer's wood filler was carefully applied to the bare balsa on the leading edge of the wing, then sanded down. Next, we need to add the trapezoidal extension to the wingtip. The pattern for this part can be found way back in post #8. This part was cut from .060" thick styrene stock, which proved to be just a tiny bit thick. A few passes of a sanding stick allowed the part to fit into the gap on the wingtip nicely. Tamiya plastic cement was used to install the part.

The part was then sprayed with Tamiya white primer (no drama, no photo), after which the panel lines and other details were pre-shaded with airbrushed black acrylic.

This looks terrible, but hang with me. It will make sense soon.

The base color coat was applied with Tamiya TS-20 Insignia White spray lacquer (actually a very light grey), applied in a multitude of thin coats. This allows us to check our progress as the pre-shade coats are slowly vanquished. The goal is to get to a point where the pre-shading is just barely visible, but the details "pop."

We'll start painting the detail coats soon.

More later,
James