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  #1  
Old 11-17-2019, 10:03 AM
Noobaru Noobaru is offline
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X-Wing Starfighter 1:35

Hi guys!

I decided to document my build in order to motivate myself to actually complete one for the first time since I never did that before.

The model that will be presented here is an x-wing starfighter in a roughly 1:35 scale. I got the free files years ago from a website called PaperGrade by Zen, but sadly it is not online anymore. The model was designed by Mr. Tetsuji Morita. There are a lot of free models out there, but I was looking specifically for one with almost no textures, because I want to do the painting and weathering myself. Not sure yet how will that work on paper, but I am willing to try it out.

The model doesn't have many parts. There are actually 14 pages, but most of them are duplicated since an x-wing is kind of symmetrical and the parts are really big. Originally, the parts were grey, but I filled in the white color in GIMP, so I would preserve the color on my printer. Because of that, there are only outlines with panel lines on the parts. Also, please note, there are multiple "ghost" lines on the parts, which are luckily less visible and that is because my printer has a problem with "ghosting" prints. It is however still useful for only printing lines of the parts. Oh and also printing on "cardstock" since I used a 200 gsm paper, which so far I think it is the perfect one.

After the cutting and gluing part will be done, I will detail it with additional scratchbuilt parts (panels and other details) and give it a gray primer coating (from spray can). I don't have an airbrush yet, because I don't know if this hobby will stick (pun intended ). I will paint it with brushes, but I think it will turn out okay since I have developed a nice technique of applying several coats with diluted paints. Therefore it doesn't leave any brush strokes and look really clean. At least on other materials... I hope I won't destroy the model. Will test it out before that though. I intend to paint it with acrylics.

So, for the first step, I have cut out the pods (if that is how they are called) and glued them together. Oh and I almost forgot about the tools and techniques used. I score all of the folds since I hope the paint will cover the scores and it will look really nice. I am using a standard x-acto hobby knife. For the gluing part, I am using a standard PVA glue (wood/white glue). I really love that glue.

OK, let that be enough for the first post. I don't know though, how you guys post pictures here. I will upload all photos to Imgur and then drop a direct link here. If there is better alternative, please let me know.

Also, please let me know if you have any suggestions/advice since I am still quite new to this hobby. I have done some plastic modeling before though. All criticism is 100% welcome since it will help me build better models in the future.

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  #2  
Old 11-17-2019, 07:17 PM
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southwestforests southwestforests is offline
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Hey there! Fancy meeting you here.

Here's that painted Bristol 188 I was telling about over at Starship Modeler, Bristol t188

Might be a useful material here, Painting
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Old 11-17-2019, 08:44 PM
Noobaru Noobaru is offline
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Hey, man. Thanks. Will have a look tomorrow!
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Old 11-18-2019, 10:46 AM
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jaffro jaffro is offline
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Looking forward to watching this come together, good luck with it.

Before buying an airbrush, I painted all my models with spraycans, starting with a grey primer, just try not to lay it on too thick and you should be fine. You don't want to get the parts too wet with the paint as they can get a bit soft and warp etc, paper is a lot less forgiving than plastic. Once you have a good coat of primer on there and have allowed it to dry, you can get away with a lot more.

Nowadays, I paint all my models with acrylics using an airbrush. Your thinned paint idea sounds interesting but again, try not to get the parts too wet.
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Old 11-21-2019, 05:03 AM
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imcold imcold is offline
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I recommend you to paint the surface with a layer of nitrocellulose lacquer to seal the paper surface first, before applying the acrylic color or primer. It'll make the surface waterproof and it will take the diluted acrylic well.

By the way, I built an X-wing with (I believe) this same model as a basis, so if you want some inspiration, here's the old thread of mine X-wing (picture links expired over time, but they are still on photobucket https://s266.photobucket.com/user/im.../X-wing?page=1)


The image is fine, though you may use a smaller size version, this article explains how: https://thomas.vanhoutte.be/miniblog...umbnail-trick/


Good luck!
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Old 11-21-2019, 06:48 AM
JohnGay JohnGay is offline
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After I re-scaled UHU02's Millennium Falcon Cockpit to fit the Kenner 1:18 Action Figures (THEY ARE NOT DOLLS) I am still wondering if I should try a 1:18 scale X-Wing?
According to DeAgostini, it's about 20" long, 25.6" Wingspan and just over 7" tall.
That MIGHT be within the size limit my wife may tolerate. More challenging, finding a detailed enough model that could scale up without looking too cartoonish.
And managing to print the pieces. Although I do have an 11" X 17" Colour Laser printer.
Of course, right now that project is currently behind my Stick-N-Tissue Hindenburg. But I love thinking about the next project.

Cheers,

John Gay
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Old 11-21-2019, 07:56 AM
bigpetr bigpetr is offline
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Hi Noobaru,

I am looking forward to your build.

Advice from my experience of building X-wing is to reinforce the parts where you can, especialy the wings to prevent them from saging. To reinforce the shell of the hull can be also useful - you do not have to worry about accidentaly denting the shel if you need to hold the model during the build.

Also plan ahead on how you will display the finished model. I did not. So I had to stresfuly reinforce the model when almost finished to use the stand I want.
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Old 11-21-2019, 09:02 PM
Noobaru Noobaru is offline
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So here is the wing update. I have scribed (if that is how it's called) the panel lines (which are not yet visible) for which I took my Revell model as a reference. I then cut out two shapes for panels that are submerged. I know they are deeper, but I don't want to complicate things too much for the first model. Then I strengthened the wing with four vertical stripes of the same paper to support it (forgot to take a picture, will show later on). I think that will be sufficient, it feels firm in the hand. I have to do 3 more of them, will update when I do.



Now to the replies to your comments:


@jaffro
Thanks, I will need it! I was also thinking about spray can, but I don't want to buy the whole can just for 1 or 2 stripes for red color in this case. But, I could actually do a base color on top of a primer with a spray can. Will think about it.

@imcold
The lacquer is an interesting idea. Do you spray it on? Thanks for your thread, will look into it! I also used the smaller image and I think the images should load faster for all of us now!

@JohnGay
I'm not experienced enough to answer that for you, man. Maybe someone else here can?

@bigpetr
Hey man, thanks for stopping by. I took your advice and strengthened the wings! Yes, I was thinking about having it on a stand (if the model will be presentable enough) so I will have to think about reinforcing the bottom of the model where the part of the stand would go in.
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Old 11-22-2019, 03:12 AM
bigpetr bigpetr is offline
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I reinforced the hull for my stand like this:



I used metal tube to stick my stand into, just to be sure. My model is quite heavy.
I also reinforced the hull with heavy cardstock in places where I hold it on the photo above. It was the only places where I can safely hold it firmly without risking damage to the hull by the pressure of the fingers.

Here you can see the working stand I quickly slaped together (under the model). It was wery usefull for ataching the wings and as a rest for the model before I did final stand.


I would also recomend to think about how to strenghten the wing opening mechanism, especialy its atachements to the wings itself. It is possible weak spot. If the wing breaks, it will surely breaks here.
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Old 11-22-2019, 06:25 AM
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imcold imcold is offline
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Noobaru, I brush it on. It's quite thick so you may have to thin it a bit to get it more to your liking. It can be sprayed on with an airbrush and a lot of thinning, but it's only worth it if you have a really delicate model that could get damaged by brushing.


It can be used as a top/finishing coat over printed paper models, if a gloss finish is desired - that's what I mostly used it for.
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