Estes Maxi Brute X-Wing Fighter

[James Duffy]

While the sticker paper would have worked fine, the matte vinyl that arrived today was juuusst a bit thicker, and should yield a better result.

As before, the vinyl was run through the laser printer, then the individual bits were cut with a fresh blade. A template was taped onto the turbines to guide placement.



Here's the vinyl in place on all four turbines. Next step will be to add some additional styrene details.



More later,
James

 

[James Duffy]

Basic construction of the turbines are now complete, and the assemblies are ready for primer and paint. All of the fiddly greeblie bits were fashioned from styrene sheet and shapes, and were applied with Tamiya thin plastic cement. My trusty old NorthWest Short Line razor chopper was dusted off to help make sure that the parts were consistent in size. I really like this tool, and find it immensely helpful for scratchbuilding.



Here's a lineup of the parts on the turbines, as well as a closeup of a single assembly. The stock Maxi Brute kit uses three parts for each assembly. Each of our turbines consist of 26 separate parts.



Just for fun I plopped a turbine on a wing for a fit check.



Fun fact: the base part used for the turbine assembly on the original ILM studio models is one half of the third stage from an Airfix 1/144 Saturn V kit. The first stage of that same kit also provides the base structure for the engines on the Y-Wing Fighter.



More later,
James

 

[James Duffy]

Today's update is a great deal of fun, but completely unrelated to the model's ability to fly as it is a display-only enhancement.

Perhaps you will recall earlier posts in this thread where mention was made of the use of existing model kits to add detail to the filming miniatures quickly and at low cost. One of the most readily identifiable instances of this is on the rear bulkhead of the model, where parts from several kits are used, most notably from a 1/72 scale Sherman tank model produced by Hasegawa. I actually sought out one of these on eBay, and it arrived yesterday.



Much of this detail is reproduced pretty faithfully on the original Maxi Brute rear bulkhead part, where the top hull of the Sherman tank is readily apparent.



What is missing is the middle bit, where the 24mm motor mount currently resides. The plan is to make a simple insert that will fill that void during display. That's where the Hasegawa Sherman kit comes into play.

Let's take a look at the rear bulkhead of a filming miniature, where we can see that the ILM model makers used another part from the Sherman kit, the lower portion of the gun turret. Here's the best view of that component I can find, built as a Red One replica by a very gifted modeler, Jason Eaton. (Google him at your own risk; you'll be gone for hours!)



We are going to do what the ILM artists did, starting with the Hasegawa part.



First step is to clean up the ejection marks on the interior of the turret part, a step that I realized was completely unnecessary after I decided to add an .020" styrene cover plate.





That was then greebled up with styrene shapes and the gun support part from the kit. ("Greebled up" is a perfectly cromulent phrase.)



The completed assembly was then attached to a mount insert cobbled together from BT20 and some 2050 centering rings. That allows the bulkhead to be inserted for display, and removed for flight.



Note the little hole that allows the engine hook to peek through. If my count is correct there are 27 separate parts in this assembly.

Bottom line: this stuff is fun, relaxing, and a whole lot easier than it might appear.

More later,
James

 

[Daddyisabar]

The Force is strong with this one.

 

[James Duffy]

We need to plan ahead on our painting sequence, and a significant step will be the canopy color. While we could save this for one of the final steps, it will be far easier to paint these surfaces black now, mask them off, and then complete the painting of everything else. We can use the same approach for the simulated proton torpedo ports.

Shapes are cut, fitted, trimmed, shaped, and refitted multiple times for each of the canopy sections. This is a 45 year old kit, not a state-of-the-art Tamigawa prototype created from digital models sent to a CNC mold cutter. Rather, our blow mold was created by a guy in Penrose with a slide rule. There is nothing on this model that is symmetrical, and each individual widow pattern must be shaped individually. The main window section isn't even symmetrical!



Each of these patterns is placed on a strip of Tamiya tape, then carefully cut to shape. Each cut mask can then be placed on the model. Tamiya TS-14 Black lacquer was used, and allowed to cure for a full five days before the masking was applied. The plastic mask patterns can be stored for a future X-Wing project (I have one more kit on the shelf.)



This masking will stay in place almost until the very end of the project.

We also had the opportunity to spray the primed turbine assemblies and rear display cap with Tamiya AS-20 US Navy Insignia White.





More later,
James

 

[ljwilley]

That is AWESOME!!

 

[Daddyisabar]

How did the old dudes survive with their slide rules and asymmetrical blow molding?

 

[Raythain]

How did the old dudes survive with their slide rules and asymmetrical blow molding?

Presumably, they survived crookedly.

 

[Daddyisabar]

Presumably, they survived crookedly.

By hook or by crook! The only way to get Star Wars toys for a year after the movie came out. I bought mine at the Penrose Colorado HQ back in the day when they had tours and a gift shop. X Wing and R2D2! All the souvenirs I needed on that trip.

 

[BABAR]

Presumably, they survived crookedly.

The may have been uncromulent by today’s standards.

 

[James Duffy]

We're rapidly approaching the point where we start will making this thing look like an actual X-Wing fighter. The fuselage, which we scribed and detailed two years ago, has been sprayed with Tamiya L Grey Primer, and sanded with 1000 grit sanding film.



Next, we can start preshading the panel lines. Tamiya XF-69 NATO Black acrylic was used for this step, applied with a Paasche SI single action airbrush.



After the acrylic settles down for a few hours a base coat of Tamiya AS-20 Insignia White spray lacquer is applied. The photo does a poor job of showing the subtle preshading peeking through the white, but rest assured that it is there.



We'll start spraying the details on both the airframe and turbines soon, and may repaint the wings. I'm mulling that decision now.

More later,
James

 

[James Duffy]

A significant shift in plans is underway, as I've decided not to do a "Rogue One" inspired X-Wing. The lack of references clashed too greatly with my underlying scale tendencies. Also, I've come across a wonderful cache of high-resolution photographs of the Red 1 hero model that have left me floored. Trust me, the slide show associated with this auction listing is incredible. Here's a link:

https://entertainment.ha.com/itm/mo...7278-89464.s?ic4=GalleryView-Thumbnail-071515
This is one of the filming miniatures used for the production of Episode IV, and was thought to be lost. It came from the collection of an artist and modelmaker named Greg Jein, perhaps best known for his work on "Close Encounters of the Third Kind" and the "Star Trek" movie series. How it came to be in his possession is apparently unknown. There's a estimate of $400K on this lot, but considering that a much cruder X-wing pyro model was sold for over $2M a couple of years ago, the sky is the limit on this auction. My guess is that someone named Musk or Bezos will quietly bid through a surrogate and the model will disappear forever.

So, my model will be based on these photos of Red 1, and I've grabbed a bunch of screenshots from the website. There's another Maxi Brute X-Wing kit in my personal stash, and if I ever get an itch to revisit the "Rogue One" example I can use that as a starting point, and I can ruse the molds and jigs from this project.

The assembled wings have already been repainted with a base coat of Tamiya AS-20 US Navy Insignia White.



Work on the wingtip laser cannons has also been taking place in the background, and I should be able to share an update on that in the coming days. As an FYI, work on this has been slow due to an armor project, of all things. My brother served on an M3 Bradley in the first Gulf War, and I've always wanted to make a model of that beastie for him. I finally finished that project up yesterday.


More later,
James

 

[James Duffy]

The remaining paper tubes for the laser cannon bodies have been hit with multiple coats of Rustoleum grey automotive primer and sanded, and we can start working on detailing them. Our first step is to draw up a panel map (attached below), then print that onto adhesive vinyl stock. The panels can then be cut out.



A pair of lengthwise reference lines are drawn on the cannon tubes, and the main panel details are applied along these reference lines.



The addition small details are then added to the dashed locations on the larger panels.



More later,
James

 

[James Duffy]

Next, we'll add some greeblies to the surface of the laser cannon. The largest bit is cut from a length of Evergreen #268 5/167" C-channel stock. A smaller bit of #264 1/8" C-channel stock is applied on top of that with Tamiya thin cement.



This assembly can then be attached to the cannon body with medium CA, and the forward and aft end caps from the original kit can be glued in place with epoxy.




A strip of adhesive vinyl is cut and applied to the forward end of the cannon just aft of the forward cap.



A pair of .040" styrene rods are added.



More later,
James

 

[Mugs914]

Beautiful work as always James!

 

[James Duffy]

We still need some additional details to complete the laser cannon bodies. There is a little greeblie bit that looks to me very much like a single bit taken from a tank tread, which it consistent with the fact that the ILM model makers were especially fond of repurposing parts from armor models. We also need to fashion the mounts for the cannons, a part that the Estes Maxi Brute kit simply ignores, directing the builder to simply glue the assembly to the wing surface. Here's a view from the Red 1 hero model.


A spare tank track segment was found in the spares stash and trimmed down to the central tooth. This isn't a perfect replacement for the filming model part, but will do for our purposes. This is glued to a piece of scrap so that we can pull a silicone mold from the part.

The cannon mount is created from scraps of .020" thick styrene sheet and segments of 1/4" L-stock. This master is also glued to a scrap styrene base for mold production.



MicroMark 1-to-1:Rapid mold material is used to produce the molds.



More later,
James

 

[James Duffy]

The resin parts have been popped out of their molds, and the tank track tooth bit has been installed on each of the cannon bodies. The mounts are so close to the as-filmed elements that I would not be surprised if ILM used this exact same styrene stock and process.



A small rectangular greeblie has also been attached to the opposite side of each cannon. Our next task will be to prime and paint the cannon bodies, after which we'll move on to the business ends of the cannons.



More later,
James

 

[James Duffy]

The turbine extensions have been detailed out and greeblied (another appearance of that absolutely cromulent word). After inserting a pair of 20-50 centering rings into each tube the forward and eft end caps were added. The stock Estes kit adds no detail to these parts, and a single fin is added to each of the assemblies to provide a bit of aerodynamic stability in the yaw axis. Instead of using this stock approach we'll instead make a set of four BT-20 bits, each with a fin, that can be inserted into the aft end of each turbine extension. The centering rings will facilitate that modification, which we'll get to later.

The NCRxE version of this kit did provide a simple vacuform cap that was fitted to the outer surface of each of these extensions, but that approach would 1) require finding and pilfering a very expensive kit, and 2) would give us a substandard result. Instead, we're going to bring our stash of styrene stock to bear on this challenge, using the photos of the Red 1 hero model as references. The first step is to draw up the panel details and print them out on vinyl stock (attachment below). A wrap of vinyl is placed to mimic the circumferential detail.



Next, the funky H-shaped detail is recreated using .040" and .080" half round stock, along with some slivers of 1/8" round stock cut into halves. The underlying tube is primed with Rustoleum auto primer. Tamiya thin plastic cement works great for attaching the styrene details to the primer.



More bits of half round and sheet stock are added, and the vinyl panel details are put into place. Additional bits created with shaped hole punches have also been placed, using the reference photos as a guide.

This is not a perfect duplicate of the filming miniature, but it is pretty darn close, and is good enough for our purposes. This particular component would have been a good candidate for replication with a digital model printed with a resin printer, but my 3D drawing skills are sadly nonexistent.



Here's a shot of the turbine extensions, each rotated 90 degrees so that all sides are visible. If my count is accurate there are 47 separate pieces that make up each assembly. The next step will be to prime the extensions with Tamiya primer, then put an AS-20 Insignia White base lacquer coat over that.

More leter,
James

 

[GuyNoir]

This particular component would have been a good candidate for replication with a digital model printed with a resin printer, but my 3D drawing skills are sadly nonexistent.

You should try TinkerCAD. If an old broken down banker can learn it, you should have no problem.

 

[James Duffy]

Our little project has reached a pretty significant inflection point. Assembly of all of the major assemblies have been completed, everything is primed, and everything has been painted with a base coat of Tamiya AS-20 Insignia White lacquer. I think I have about 350 hours in at this point, spread over the past three years.



The next step is to mask and paint individual panels with a variety of acrylics, guided by our references, adding weathering as appropriate. Stay tuned, this should be fun.

James

 

[James Duffy]

Our first few panels have been masked and painted. There's a yellow bit on the belly of the X-Wing below the cockpit that struck me as a good place to start. This particular panel was masked and initially painted with some Tamiya XF-16 Flat Aluminum to add some sparkle, which was then spotted with some Vallejo Liquid Mask.



This stuff first made an appearance several years and a few pages back. The edge of a torn bit of foam rubber is dipped into a tiny puddle of the liquid mask, then randomly and lightly applied to the desired surface.



After it dries for about twenty minutes we can paint over this, allow the paint to dry, then carefully peel up the mask material. The result is a really cool irregular distressed appearance. The overcoat color is a mix of 60% XF-4 Yellow Green with 40% X-8 Lemon Yellow. I really like how the bright silver peeks through, adding to the variety of colors and finishes.



More later,
James

 

[neil_w]

I think I have about 350 hours in at this point, spread over the past three years.

Did a double-take when I read that.

Food for thought: the model makers on those movies had to crank out lots of these in a relatively short period of time. Hard to imagine how insanely skilled those guys are.

 

[James Duffy]

Food for thought: the model makers on those movies had to crank out lots of these in a relatively short period of time. Hard to imagine how insanely skilled those guys are.

Absolutely. In his videos Adam Savage frequently talks about the push to work quickly he faced in the model shop during his time at the ILM model shop. On the other hand, he also talks about major projects where he and a crew were given the luxury of months to finish a project.

It has occurred to me that I have spent more time building this lone model than the entire production duration of any of the SW films.

James

 

[James Duffy]

The canopy of Red 1 is a light blue, greatly distressed, weathered, and filthy. We'll use XF-23 Light Blue acrylic to paint this. A close examination of the photos on the Heritage Auctions site show that the mask lines for the canopy extend well beyond the canopy frame.


I'm using a Tamiya single action airbrush with a very fine point for this step, using a technique I picked up from an outstanding YouTube channel called "Moshiyan's Hobby Scale Model Research." This guy specializes in armor, but there's a great deal to learn from him, in particular how he builds up layers of color in unexpected ways.

In particular, he avoids completely covering the underlying color, allowing bits of the underlying color to show through. The canopy seemed like a great place to give this a shot. This particular approach requires a very fine point airbrush, applying the paint slowly in a random, squiggle-like pattern. Naturally I used this as an excuse to buy a new airbrush, a Tamiya single-action thingie. You can see the squiggles in the shot above.

Eventually the paint builds up to a point where jusssttt a bit of the underlying color peeks through. At this point you can highlight some selected panels with a slightly lighter shade of the color, so I added some X-2 White acrylic to add some variation.

I should also mention that I added some light random liquid mask before I added the color coat, so the chipping is intentional. It will make more sense after we add more weathering in the future.



More later,
James

 

[Tobor]

A significant shift in plans is underway, as I've decided not to do a "Rogue One" inspired X-Wing. The lack of references clashed too greatly with my underlying scale tendencies. Also, I've come across a wonderful cache of high-resolution photographs of the Red 1 hero model that have left me floored. Trust me, the slide show associated with this auction listing is incredible. Here's a link:

https://entertainment.ha.com/itm/mo...7278-89464.s?ic4=GalleryView-Thumbnail-071515
This is one of the filming miniatures used for the production of Episode IV, and was thought to be lost. It came from the collection of an artist and modelmaker named Greg Jein, perhaps best known for his work on "Close Encounters of the Third Kind" and the "Star Trek" movie series. How it came to be in his possession is apparently unknown. There's a estimate of $400K on this lot, but considering that a much cruder X-wing pyro model was sold for over $2M a couple of years ago, the sky is the limit on this auction. My guess is that someone named Musk or Bezos will quietly bid through a surrogate and the model will disappear forever.

So, my model will be based on these photos of Red 1, and I've grabbed a bunch of screenshots from the website. There's another Maxi Brute X-Wing kit in my personal stash, and if I ever get an itch to revisit the "Rogue One" example I can use that as a starting point, and I can ruse the molds and jigs from this project.

The assembled wings have already been repainted with a base coat of Tamiya AS-20 US Navy Insignia White.

View attachment 603313

Work on the wingtip laser cannons has also been taking place in the background, and I should be able to share an update on that in the coming days. As an FYI, work on this has been slow due to an armor project, of all things. My brother served on an M3 Bradley in the first Gulf War, and I've always wanted to make a model of that beastie for him. I finally finished that project up yesterday.
View attachment 603314

More later,
James

Your M3 looks amazing!!!

Oh and all the work you have posted on these forums just blows my mind. I wish I had a tenth of your patience and attention to detail.

 

[James Duffy]

Our first red side stripe has been masked and painted. First step was to mask the margins of the stripe and add some liquid mask with a bit of torn sponge. (Sorry for the poor quality of this photo.)



A bit of X-7 Red acrylic was spiked with a few drops of XF-69 NATO Black, and multiple light coats were applied with the airbrush.



The masking is removed after the paint has had an opportunity to settle a bit. This is not quite as dark as it appears in this photo, but still a tad darker than I would have preferred. I also erred by not masking and painting both sides at once, as well as the red areas on the nose. This may need to be redone, but I still like the overall vibe.



More later,
James

 

[James Duffy]

More paint updates, including a repaint of the already applied red stripe. I decided that element was simply too dark, so a batch of red with slightly less modulation was mixed up. Critically, enough was prepared to do the wing stripes in a future session. Both sides of the fuselage were masked, along with the nose. Here's a shot after the first very light coat of red has been sprayed. Note that the liquid masking trick shown earlier is being used.



Here's the masked stripe after multiple layers have gone on, as well as a shot of that same side with the masking removed. Note the scars where the liquid mask was applied.



The turbines are receiving their first contrasting color treatments, with Tamiya XF-23 light blue (almost a grey, actually) applied to the forward corrugated panels.



The same color also gets applied to a couple of spots on the bottom aft portion of the fuselage.



Finally, the upper left (port) turbine features a narrow yellow stripe on the aft corrugated panel. Tamiya X-8 Yellow acrylic modulated 50/50 with X-2 White was used for this detail.


More later,
James

 

[James Duffy]

The "flash" markings have been masked and painted onto the wings using our darkened red paint. Rather than mask everything at once this task was broken up into two stages, starting with the L-shaped element.



Here's the interim result with masking removed.



X-Wings are primarily differentiated by the number of tags on the wing flash. In other words, Red 1 shows a single tag on each wing, Red 3 sports three, and so on. This is Red 1 (or Red Leader), so it will get a single tag on each wing, at least to begin with. (Stay tuned for a twist.)



Note that our old paint job peeks out a bit beneath the paint. That's not intentional, but I like the vibe as it matches the heritage of both the in-story background of our cobbled-together rebel X-Wing squadrons, as well as the real-world nature of how the ILM model makers worked.

More later,
James

 

[sriegel]

James

Suptemely impressed with your detailing here! Mine will most definitely be more "launch pad distance" viewable.

Do you know where the Cg is supposed to be on a stock build? I'm pondering a rear eject with E18 or E20 boost and am concerned about shifting the Cg too far back.

Steve

 

[mo2872]

Wow. Just......wow.