Estes Maxi Brute X-Wing Fighter

[James Duffy]

The point has arrived where I must choose a specific X-Wing prototype to model. This is a surprisingly complex task, as exploring the various Star Wars modeling sites online has revealed that there are a vast number of options, and even different versions of the same model appeared on screen. For instance, there were multiple Red 5 models (Luke Skywalker's ride, later given to Rey), and no two models match. This is the sort of thing that might drive a scale modeler to drink.

Here's my wish list for a prototype:

1) The more beat up the better. I'd really like to push my weathering skills on this project.

2) I like the X-wings with mismatched parts. There are many X-Wings in the films that show engines and laser cannons that clearly originated on fighters that carried a different paint scheme, for instance.

3) I wish to feature many "repairs" on my model, as these features add interest and are fun to execute.

4) "Rogue One" is my favorite SW film. (Yeah, I said it. Sue me.)

5) I don't want my X-Wing to be like all the others.

6) I don't want some SW accuracy dweeb to give me grief and tell me that my model is all wrong.

X-Wings appear at two points in "Rogue One." The first is on Jedha, where Saw Gererra's extremist rebel group apparently have managed to field some ratty old units, probably stolen from the Rebellion. These examples also feature a really cool black & white splinter camouflage scheme that appeals to me. A crashed unit shows up in the background of the battle scene that takes place in the Jedha City. (The second point at which the fighters show up in "Rogue One" is during the Battle of Scarif, but those are slightly cleaner core Rebellion units.)


There's also a Hot Wheels toy version of the Partisan X-Wing. The picture on the box is a better reference than the toy itself.


Doing a Partisan X-wing will allow me to hit all of the items on my list above. I can create a relatively unique model, have it be a representation of a vehicle that appeared in a Star Wars film, and also afford me some flexibility in interpretation, allowing me to integrate features I like from multiple production models.

So, looks like we're going to join an extremist political faction within a wider rebellion. Seems appropriate for our era, even...

James

 

[neil_w]

4) "Rogue One" is my favorite SW film. (Yeah, I said it. Sue me.)

I certainly won't argue. Although I wouldn't put it at the top, it's pretty high on the list for me. The only recent SW movie that gave me some chills and thrills like the original trilogy.

 

[Cape Byron]

Really looking forward to this, James. Weathering and battle-damage are really impressive when well executed. We'll learn a lot here, again.

This is the sort of thing that might drive a scale modeler to drink.

Mine's a Jameson's. Thanks.

 

[GuyNoir]

Woodward Reserve bourbon, please.

 

[Nytrunner]

Nice x-wing theme subject. I dont think i even noticed that style of fighter before.

 

[Charles_McG]

This is the sort of thing that might drive a scale modeler to drink.

I can help with that. From 10 to 112 proof. 0-8% residual sugar. 3-10 g/L titratable acidity. 300-3000 ppm tannins. Still to 75psig CO2.

 

[James Duffy]

Here's a quick update, highlighting a trick that I plan on using a great deal throughout this project. This is a paint chipping technique used extensively on WWII Japanese aircraft, which were notorious for both thin paint and heavy use, as well as on Star Wars models.

The idea is simple. After masking a panel where we wish to simulate extensive paint chipping, a random pattern of liquid rubber masking film is applied with a scrap of foam sponge. The masking material will be left behind in a random pattern, after which the chipped color is applied. After everything dries for a while, the dried rubber masking fluid is rubbed off, leaving a panel with chipped paint.

First, here's the liquid masking film that I use, from the Vallejo paint line. You can find it at hobby shops for a few bucks, and I note that Hobby Lobby now carries some Vallejo products. (Beware the crazy expensive offerings on Amazon, where third-party sellers offer it at a hugely marked-up price.) A similar product is available in the Humbrol line called "Maskol," which should work the same.

After masking the area to be painted a tiny puddle of masking film is applied to a paper card. Next, a scrap of foam rubber is dipped into the puddle, then spotted onto the masked area in a random pattern, making sure to get some on the borders between the taped and untaped areas. Allow the masking film to dry for a few moments.

Paint the masked area as you normally would. Here I used a bit of Tamiya X-7 red acrylic with a single drop of black added.

Allow the paint to dry a bit longer than you normally would, then remove the masking tape. The dried masking film can then be removed by rubbing it away with your fingertips.

Boom, chipped paint, done easy! I could not be more pleased.

I'l be using this trick a great deal on this project.

FYI, there's a variant of this called "salt masking," where a surface sprayed with a base color coat is wetted with water, then randomly sprinkled with table salt. After everything crusts up the overcoat color is sprayed, allowed to dry, and the salt brushed off. I've not done that particular variant so proceed at your own risk.

More later,
James

 

[neil_w]

First, here's the liquid masking film that I use, from the Vallejo paint line. You can find it at hobby shops for a few bucks, and I note that Hobby Lobby now carries some Vallejo products. (Beware the crazy expensive offerings on Amazon, where third-part sellers offer it at a hugely marked-up price.)

Have you found a good mail-order source for Vallejo?

 

[James Duffy]

Have you found a good mail-order source for Vallejo?

Sorry, no. I've only ever used a limited number of Vallejo paint colors to fill in some of the gaps in the Tamiya range, and I've been able to get them at my local hobby shop.

James

 

[Mugs914]

Have you ever tried the hairspray technique or chipping fluid?

 

[James Duffy]

Have you ever tried the hairspray technique or chipping fluid?

Never tried the hairspray technique, but it sounds very similar to the water and salt trick.

I was unaware of the chipping fluid until you tipped me off, but it is intriguing! I may need to get a bottle and give it a shot. I found a pretty cool video highlighting the stuff:



James

 

[GlenP]

...Boom, chipped paint, done easy! I could not be more pleased...I'l be using this trick a great deal on this project....

Very cool. You could even layer that technique with different colors and patterns, or even a decal underneath the chip layer, to show some interesting history of the spare parts from another squadron salvaged for this X-wing... maybe put your own "Easter Egg" under a paint chip layer. Just an idea, nothing specific in mind, but maybe you can take that concept and run with it, if you haven't already planned along those lines.

 

[Nytrunner]

Wow, closes thing I've seen is dabbing the fresh layer of paint with a plastic bag for a randomized kind of look

 

[James Duffy]

You could even layer that technique with different colors and patterns, or even a decal underneath the chip layer, to show some interesting history of the spare parts from another squadron salvaged for this X-wing...

Already ahead of you! I've decided that this particular wing was salvaged from an X-Wing dubbed Black 3. The backstory tells that this wing required extensive repairs before it was repurposed for this fighter flown by Saw Gererra's splinter Rebel extremists.

Here's an early repair, in a slightly lighter grey that has been chipped over time.

The Black 3 fin flash is being added here. Note the extensive use of the light green, a color I have unilaterally decided is the Galactic equivalent of zinc chromate. Since the green represents recent, fresh repairs it avoids the chipping treatment.

The "black" that I'm using here is actually a very, very dark green. Eventually the model will be painted with a black splinter camo pattern, so we're trying to vary shades as much as possible to preserve contrast later in the project.

The light green color being used here is a Tamiya acrylic called "Sky" (XF-21). What sky this represents I have no idea. Chernobyl, perhaps?

Here's the completed fin flash, with a fresh green repair panel running over the top of part of the marking. (I mistakenly placed the three hash marks at the wrong end of the marking. Remember what I said earlier about having a low tolerance for SW accuracy dweebs? Sue me.)

Note that most of the large primer green panel will eventually be covered by the wing saddle.

Here's a view of the inner surface, which now features a green replacement panel along with an older chipped repair.

Note that I've also painted the wing well details with a contrasting grey. I've decided that this color is too dark, so it will get repainted with a toned down shade.

More later,
James

 

[Cape Byron]

Mind. Blown.

As promised, officially learning heaps.

 

[James Duffy]

A few more panels have been painted grey, and the wing well details have been lightened a touch. That's probably enough painting for this single wing panel, so let's see how this part integrates with an as-yet-unpainted wing saddle part from the Maxi Brute kit.

Remember, there's no weathering that has yet occurred, with the exception of the chipped paint. Also, the splinter pattern has yet to be applied.

At this point I am confident that this approach will work, so we can start committing the irreplaceable parts from the kit. I'l go away now and build three more wing panels, and start working on wing saddle detail. In particular, the interior of each saddle on the Estes kit is devoid of detail and the underside of a bare BT-60 would look terrible, so I'll need to start thinking about how to solve that problem.

More (much) later,
James

 

[James Duffy]

One minor update today...

The outside surface of the wing saddle parts on the studio scale models had an area onto which a section of styrene sheet inscribed with HO scale bricks was applied. It's a great example of the production designers and artists using whatever was at hand in order to produce good looking filming miniatures quickly and at relatively low cost. The actual styrene used 45 years ago was produced by a model train company called Holgate & Reynolds, and appeared in their catalog as part #HO-101. Today, small reproductions of that brick material sell on eBay.

We're not that obsessive so we're going to substitute a modern equivalent, a styrene sheet molded with 1/8" tile squares (Evergreen part #4503). Conveniently, the area on the Estes model where the sections need to be applied has been scribed with the appropriate location for our new part, making it easy to steal dimensions for a pattern drawing. Using this pattern we can cut four pieces we can apply to the Estes wing saddle parts.

The tile part is easily affixed to the wing saddle with thin plastic cement, right on top of the scribed lines.


More later,
James

P.S. A pdf of the pattern for this step is attached below.

 

[James Duffy]

A great deal of progress has been made on the inner wing/root/pivot details. A set of masters has been assembled out of styrene bits that will cover up the unsightly side of the wing saddle parts, a bit called the "b side" of a molded part. Here's an annotated version of a photo shared earlier in this thread, updated to show the location of the parts we'll be creating. As you can see the open voids don't look real at all, and the underside of the BT-60 tube that represents the turbine engine will be visible. We need to obscure that ugly little fact.

There really aren't a great deal of references we can draw from to make these parts, so we get to exercise some creative license. I always imagined that this area on the X-Wing would be filled with the machinery that would open and close the S-Foils that change the wing arrangement from the closed landing/cruise configuration to the open attack configuration. A bunch of assorted styrene bits are used to create the illusion. These are the masters for the upper location, with offset large tube details that would nest beside each other in the closed configuration.

The smaller lower parts are the same for each of the four wings, so we only need a single master. This component probably won't even be visible once the model is assembled. The mold box is already in place around the master, along with a shot of the upper root parts ready to have mold goo applied.

Here's the result, just after the molds have been separated from the masters.

With the molds ready we can begin pouring resin. As before, we're backing each part with a piece of 1/2-ounce fiberglass for a bit of strength.

The parts are very thin so it takes over an hour for the resin to cure enough for removal from the molds.

Here's how the parts look once placed in the inner wing roots.

More later,
James

 

[Mugs914]

Looks awesome James, as usual! The fiberglass backing for the thin resin is a great idea.

 

[dpower]

Really enjoying this - I've crashed 2 Maxi-Brute X-Wings, one on its maiden flight just a couple years ago on an F24-4 - it really needed more like a -2 delay. The going price is too high for me now, so I'll just enjoy your build.

 

[NOLA_BAR]

I have a Maxi-Brute and NCR X-Wing just started. I mainly got them because... well X-Wings are cool and I thought my son would would be interested. He could care less, but I’m moving on. It will be slow going.

 

[Mugs914]

BTW James, I agree with your "wish list" for this model 200 percent, I like the same things in my models.

However, you must realize that number six is absolutely unachievable and unrealistic goals can lead to disappointment.

 

[James Duffy]

After pausing to consider my work to this point, I've decided that I really don't care for the flat plate covering the turbine underside visible in the wing saddle root. Featuring the circular nature of the turbine shape would make much more sense, and that's what we can see on the few references available. So, let's try something different.

Way back at the 2000 NARAM in Colorado, John Pursley showed up with a 6'-tall Mercury Redstone model that weighed less than 3 pounds, a feat achieved in part by fashioning the Mercury capsule from lightweight resin and glass construction. You can read about that model on his website here.

John shared that a critical step in this process was pulling the resin parts from their flat molds before the resin completely cured, at a point he called the "green state." The resin part could then be gently rolled into the required cone shape and allowed to finish curing. That's a trick we'll be using here.

First step is to create a flat master for the turbine, again built up from styrene bits. Here's the master with a mold box taped in place.

Mold rubber is mixed and poured into a corner of the mold box, allowing the material to slowly cover the master.

After the mold material cures for four hours, it can slowly be peeled from the master.

A thin layer of resin is poured into the mold, followed by a backing piece of 1/2 ounce fiberglass cloth.

When the resin is about 80-90% cured, it is slowly peeled from the mold and gently curled into a tubular shape. I used a scrap section of BT-60 as a form for this step, taping the edges to hold the part in place.

After the part cures for several hours it can be trimmed, and we can try a test fit against the wing saddle part.

This is much more realistic looking than the flat plate approach! The part will require some minor trimming to refine the fit, but that shouldn't take more than a couple of minutes.

More later,
James

 

[AfterBurners]

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.

View attachment 419893
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

Are these actual size patterns?

 

[James Duffy]

Are these actual size patterns?

Indeed they are, assuming that your printer driver does not attempt to resize them.

James

 

[Johnly]

When you have this project, so you want to tackle a NCR X-Wing kit?
Remember... Idle hands are the tools of the devil.<LOL>

 

[James Duffy]

When you have this project, so you want to tackle a NCR X-Wing kit?<LOL>

Been there, done that. Go reread Post #1 of this thread!

The Estes version of the X-Wing has a more accurate fuselage shape, and (more importantly!) I've never built it before!

James

 

[James Duffy]

Some additional work has been completed on the wing saddle details, using the molds we shared back in post #16. Ideally these parts need to be as thin as possible so I don't have to sand down the back to get them to the appropriate thickness. Instead of pouring the resin into the mold I elected to drop the resin in, one drop at a time. That process worked pretty well, and means that I won't need to spend excessive time sanding down the backs.

I also added the back plates as shown on the patterns back in the previous post, onto which a couple of these resin parts will be mounted.

Let's take a closer look at a couple of fun details on the parts that go on the front of the wing saddles, just under the turbine intakes. I made the masters out of styrene bits, but made every effort to match the shapes on the original filming models. The ILM model builders clearly used a couple of machine gun parts taken from commercial model kits (probably 1/35 scale), as well as something that looks like half of a piston and connecting rod.

I feel certain that someone here can even tell us what type of machine guns upon which these parts were based.

More later,
James

 

[James Duffy]

The wing saddle pieces have been assembled and painted with the basic color coat. Here are a few views of the parts before painting with the resin detail parts attached, along with a few flat styrene bits. The locations of the styrene detail parts were determined by studying the Bandai kit parts waaayyyy too damn long.

I've masked off areas onto which glue will be applied later to attach the turbine and wing components, then applied Tamiya white primer and some holding sticks to ease painting.




Next, the saddles are pre-shaded with Tamiya X-1 acrylic black, applied with an airbrush. No real need to be overly neat for this step.

After the pre-shading dries for a couple of hours we can apply the base color coat, Tamiya AS-20 Insignia White spray lacquer.




Fun fact: the wing saddle contained in the original Maxi Brute and NCR kits was a single component. Here, we've added a total of 23 resin and styrene detail parts.

More later,
James

 

[regent]

what final finish will the wings receive, with the new vs old parts theme? airbrushed flat paint, looks nice,