[Chrisisall]

Finished my old MPC Falcon face lift, and decided to order a 1:144 Falcon to do the ESB/ROTJ version, then went nuts & ordered the same scale Bandai Tie fighter & Vader fighter, then bought the X-Wing kit from my not-so-local hobby store.
I'm not used to working in this small scale, so my question is: regular Testor's enamel is quite thick, thinning it is easy, but painting the red markings on an X-Wing this small will bleed under any tape I put down... should I just go barbarian & use a fine point Sharpie? Ideas?
Damn, I didn't break the laser cannons taking them off the sprues- that's a good omen right there, eh?

 

[Trekkriffic]

I’m surprised you would get tape bleed using Tamiya tape, even painting stripes on something this small. Anyway, I would shy away from marking pens especially if you’re applying a clear coat afterwards; the ink can run and get messy. Personally I would use decals. Do you have any leftover red decal material from old kits you could trim to make the stripes and markings? If you don’t have red decals you could paint the stripes and markings on clear or white decal paper using red paint; I’ve painted on decal paper using Testors enamels to good effect. you just need to wait a day to let the paint get good and dry before you soak them. So those are my thoughts. YMMV of course.
Alternatively, you could create the markings in the correct scale in your computer and print them but that’s too new school for me.

 

[Chrisisall]

I’m surprised you would get tape bleed using Tamiya tape

My bad- I was using automotive pinstriping tape. I just ordered the real thing in 1mm width, thanks.
Annnnnd... look what I just got in today's post!
Biggest problem I'll have here is turning Rey into Han, and Finn into Chewie, then deciding which side & well pipes were added that don't belong an a ESB/ROTJ era Falcon (not such a problem).
What will be a challenge is fixing the lower access wells next to the new landing gear boxes. They're the only thing on the kit that's really wrong IMHO. Not by all that much, but enough to need attention (& give me a few little headaches as well).

 

[Chrisisall]

Decisions decisions...

 

[Chrisisall]

Landing gear wells are not accurate width/length... whatever, I was doing in-flight anyway. I can fudge it or re-scribe it a bit.
Since I've determined the general look of this kit is of the 5 footer, I'll be be 'adjusting' the lower access pits to those

of the 5 footer. This calls for some surgery... I'll also have to move the 'guts' of the pits in more towards the center. Luckily, this will be the only major accurization I'll need to do.

 

[FlyingBrickyard]

... will bleed under any tape I put down...

A trick that can be used to really make sure you have no visible bleedthrough is to mask with the tape, then apply a clearcoat, and then paint with the color you actually want.

If there is any bleeding, it should be done by the clearcoat, which will seal up the edges in the process.

 

[Chrisisall]

I cut into the inner panels just a bit, then made templates for the new panel area to make the pits smaller & the correct shapes.

 

[Chrisisall]

Small replacement pieces going a little less frustratingly than I'd expected.

 

[Zarniwoop]

I'm not used to working in this small scale, so my question is: regular Testor's enamel is quite thick, thinning it is easy, but painting the red markings on an X-Wing this small will bleed under any tape I put down... should I just go barbarian & use a fine point Sharpie? Ideas?
Damn, I didn't break the laser cannons taking them off the sprues- that's a good omen right there, eh?

I built this same x-wing and broke 1 canon :-( and really stuffed the masking on the red stripes. In hindsight i should have used the decals. See my thread for how bad my stripes ended up looking. Adding dirt and a thick wash tended to fix my mistakes.

 

[Chrisisall]

The pieces are glued in, when dry I take care of the final tiny cuts & some minor scribing.
also, looks like I won't have to move the 'guts' very much at all, just take out some piping.

 

[Chrisisall]

Here's the pit walls mainly finished, and the guts trimmed to fit & stripped of some excess piping.

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[Chrisisall]

The hardest work is behind me, the rest is just fun.
I didn't realize this kit came with Chewie, cool. The next biggest figure will be Han, the next 3PO, and the smallest Leia. Also gonna sand down that ring on the dish center thingie.

 

[Chrisisall]

Took a few greebles off, added some on. Not a big deal, but I'll notice it.

 

[Chrisisall]

Oh my, the piping just off the mandible wells...

 

[Chrisisall]

This is a complicated kit when one only gets to work on it an hour here & there. I've messed with the greebles on the cockpit tunnel 4 times now... gotta paint the cockpit & gunner stations before final assembly. And, place more greebles on the docking rings... AND the hull damage... but oh man, this kit is so well engineered...

 

[Chrisisall]

Just searching through the instructions looking for where part A29 goes... did I miss something? Then I realized it's that dumb little droid from the recent trilogy, LOL. The rectangular radar dish parts are also included...

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[Chrisisall]

Tweaking & adding stuff. In progress... yeah more work on an imperfect model to produce a nice representation...

 

[Chrisisall]

Today was physical damage (It'll look more terrible after painting).

 

[StarCruiser]

I noted the band-aid that proves beyond doubt that you are a modeler!

 

[Chrisisall]

I noted the band-aid that proves beyond doubt that you are a modeler!

LOL, yeah, there is a price to be paid for this satisfaction, eh? Unexpectedly easy to slice through sprue with the cockpit. No blood got on it though, whew.