Star Wars U Wing part 4

So as predicted in my last post I had to rip my model apart, well not all of it. After gluing the upper and lower sections together I found that the lower front was not centred, 4mm out might as well be 10mm. So I carefully cut it out and made a new one, seen here with the old behind.

The new one is much better.

A rubber mold was made of the engine and many casts poured. I have a bunch of resin to use up so I now have engines for future projects.

 I wasn't happy with the PLA 3D printed afterburner, mostly because I could not glue greebles to it. So I went old school and turned a new one on my lathe from acrylic rod. The end parts are 3D prints that I designed, those will be ok. 

Styrene and acrylic being a similar material makes gluing parts together with the same solvent easy.

The engine mounts and intake vents were also molded and cast.

I had to securely attach the engines, which are a bit heavy, to the mounts. These screws will fit into holes in the now hollow engines (because I drilled them out on a drill press)

You can see the ends of the screws in the engine.

Using some wood blocks, tongue depressors and rubber bands I lined up the two engines with the mount.

Then held in a vice so I could dribble some 5 minute epoxy over the wood screws. This held them in place quite well.

I had to build this jig to ensure the afterburners were perfectly aligned and centred with the engines.

Some greebles were added to finish off the front grill.









As you can see the engines and a few other parts were pre-painted. I used acrylic paints and then a method of wetting a section of the model with odourless paint thinner, then adding small dabs of artists oils and then brushed to blend. A bit tricky to explain but there are some videos online that explain various methods. After that it's a matter of assembly. 

And the finished model.

Star Wars Episode 7 Speeder

As soon as I saw the teaser/trailer I thought building this model would be fun. 
First thing to do was get some screen shots, fortunately some of the views were direct side views which made it easy to get the models dimensions.

This is the model I made...

...using this image for reference...

...and this is how I made it.


I set my scale at 1/18 or the same as the 3 3/4" action figures. 

Some wood blocks were cut and lacquered to give a super smooth surface for vacuum forming. 

After that it was a matter of cutting and assembling. The model is 99% scratch built with only a few model kit parts.

These are the intakes at the front of the Speeder. Just used some tank wheels. You can't really see them unless you look right into the front grill.

I scribed the panel lines and added the rivets, which are made by drilling a small hole and placing a bead from a water filter. The hinges at the back are made from pieces of tank track. The grills are 3D printed.

The controls are from a model helicopter I think.

The engines were made by turning one on my lathe, then I made a mold and cast the other. Then I added the details. The hand controls are scratchbuilt from styrene rod. The seat was carved from a high density foam.

I airbrushed the model using a few reds and rust colours, then an oil wash to give it that grimy look.

Thanks for viewing. 

YT-1000 Test Assembly

Just thought I'd assemble the model to see how it's all coming together. Nothing is glued up, just held together with clear tape. Still lots to do yet.

YT-1000 Part 4 Armor plates

OK, I've been spending some time cutting and fitting armor plates to the upper and lower hulls of the YT-1000 Corellian Freighter. There will be about 120 panels per side, about as many 'patches' and don't ask me how many notches. Each panel is different and individually cut, so it goes to say that this part of the build is somewhat slow and tedious. But one piece at a time and the job will get done.

The upper side is mostly finished.

The under side has a way to go yet, but I'm figuring out the 'patches' and they seem to be looking ok.