Star Wars RZ-1 "A-Wing"

[Fargo]

thank you!!!
Imcold, we need to talk

ok, a lot of pics today:

- first couple => how the rudders turned out after a good couple of days "under pressure" and how they look once assembled (just a dry pose, if this expression exists )
- from pic n° 3 to pic n° 8 => rear engine edge ring and how it's assembled; you can notice how it's becoming more circular and regular than before
- from pic n° 9 on => thrusters! yes, now the game gains in difficulty and I'm going to describe as clearer as possible how I manage to build this part. first, all the necessary elements, then the building process. this part gives the engine its thickness and, in my little experience, I understood that trying to bend thick cardboard, specially if you need small cylinders, it's not easy at all and the result is often disappointing. so I tried another way and this is where I got: instead of 1 mm cardboard, I "splitted" the thickness in multiples layers, every section with its increasing diameter. in order not to introduce variations in paper thickness, I got rid of tabs completely, gluing all the paper strips "head-to head" directly with CA-superglue (and here a pair of tweezers are almost indispensable!). once I got two rings, I put the smaller in the larger, because I designed them to be perfectly matching, and thus doubling paper final thickness (0.2 mm x 2 = 0.4 mm). this is the basic method, repeated as many times as needed to get a ring 1 mm thick so, using 0.2 mm paper, 5 of them = 1 mm! another important point is that, while a single ring is irregular because of its thinness, the more they get "layered" the more they get regular and rounded, till getting almost a normal cylinder. again, all the layered rings are NOT glued together! and they no glue because, being so tight, they keep their position. glue will be used only to get rid of the "layered effect", but I'll make dedicated pics for that moment.

[Fargo]

again on thrusters (or exhaust nacelles, I think): here is showed the second part the thruster, made by two rings in 0.5 mm cardboard and another strip rolled and glued head-to-head. I think that this is one of the trickiest parts of the entire model, because you'll need to cut those rings in the most precise way, sanding them if necessary: if a little bigger than how the should be, they won't slide into the external ring (pic n° 5-6) or they'll break the seam (always made with CA). I suggest you to use a circle cutter. in pic n° 7 is the final result if everything has gone fine and, apart from thickness, this piece is the key to have a rounder and circular engine edge.
a step forward: thruster details (the best result is obtained gluing those little strips before putting the entire element inside the external ring). pic n° 11: how this piece should look like. as before, even here no glue is necessary, the ring slides tight inside the engine; BUT before this, we need to build another component (from pic n° 16 on). it's the inner part of the thruster.

[Fargo]

there's not so much to say here: first you put in the engine that sort of "Amish hat" (which totally lacks of details that I'll design soon), then our "complex of rings" and the game is done. in the fourth pic the comparison between an empty engine and a filled one: I think the difference in the border is evident

[Rhaven Blaack]

You are doing an OUTSTANDING job with designing this model.
It is really coming together beautifully.

[vipers7]

excellent pictures of a beautiful designed model!

[imcold]

Fargo, mail sent

[enrico63]

Ciao Filippo,
I'm looking at the photos of your work
Great cleaning performance!!!and great wealth of detail!!
Can we expect a spectacular model!!!!!!!!!!!
What glue do you use??
Bravo, full speed ahead.

[sjsquirrel]

Fargo, the quality of your work is astounding. This thread already ranks among my all time favourites for the quality of the model, the quality of the build, and the narrative. I've already picked up a few good tricks from you.

Eagerly awaiting the next installment.

Steve

[Fargo]

Originally Posted by Rhaven Blaack

You are doing an OUTSTANDING job with designing this model.
It is really coming together beautifully.

Originally Posted by vipers7

excellent pictures of a beautiful designed model!

Originally Posted by enrico63

Ciao Filippo,
I'm looking at the photos of your work
Great cleaning performance!!!and great wealth of detail!!
Can we expect a spectacular model!!!!!!!!!!!
What glue do you use??
Bravo, full speed ahead.

thank you guys!!! your comment are always encouraging
Enrico: white glue (vinavil for us in Italy) + cyanocrylate (Attak, the one with brush dispenser, very useful) + common glue stick (UHU! Pritt is awful...)

Originally Posted by sjsquirrel

Fargo, the quality of your work is astounding. This thread already ranks among my all time favourites for the quality of the model, the quality of the build, and the narrative. I've already picked up a few good tricks from you.

Eagerly awaiting the next installment.

Steve

Hi Steve, thank you! glad you like specially what and how I write about my building impressions, and I hope not to be too "mincing" or tedious (if it's so, please tell me and I'll cut it down a bit ). glad even that you found some of my solutions useful for your works too
sorry, today no updates: I've got something to show you but let me wait till tomorrow... I spent this evening in front of TV for the big match of European Champioship... :( sadly, Spain has been better than us ok, better luck next time!

[Fargo]

hi!
some progress: thrust vector control! it's a bit of complex element this one, mostly for all those tiny strips to glue inside. as usual, I made some sections to be glued together, then it's all a matter of details. the most notable thing here is how to get rid of that "layer effect", caused by the concentric circles (last two pics): superglue is the answer!
the second to last pic shows how the paper looks like just after superglue dranching and a slight sanding (to make it smooth and regular); the very last pic shows how it looks like with a thin layer of grey primer: it seems only one layer of thick curved paper (that dark mark you see in the lower right part of the vector is the edge of one of the four outer stripes). this technique is good for every part of the ship, engine borders included