Lol Piers, good idea! I repainted his pants last night. Actually having him broke in half makes it easier since I didn't have to mask his upper half! 

Over Thanksgiving I had few days off so I decided to build the "1/550" Bandai ATM6 that I picked up from the Hobby Lobby a few weeks back for about 6 bucks. 

It's pretty much known that these Bandai kits have great fit, are clean, and engineered well.  So I won't mention it again. 

4 small sprues

I decided to prime while parts were still on sprues.  Never done that before. 

My most recent attempt at preshading.  Previous attempts resulted in going too heavy with the final color and totally concealing the preshading. 

After assembly

This shot was taken while adding a lightened mix of the final color. This step was a lot of fun.

And completed 

I used light India ink wash and added a few highlights before applying tamiya clear+flat base. 

The cockpit glass (canopy?, windshield?, eyes?) for lack of a better term, was first painted white, then red, then areas of red+white mix.  My intention was to convey a bit of a glow. 

I learned a lot on this quick little build.  These kits really are awesome.  Hoping Santa brings more of them. 

Atm6 looks like K-2's best friend 

T e d

Oh wow Bandai packed a lot of detail in there for such a small kit! The pre-shading came out great, the differences in shade do make the walker look much bigger than it is- super job! 

K2SO looks like he's saying 'it followed me home, may I keep it?' 

Great work Ted,

Loads of detail on the tiny kit - I have made the llittle box Millenium Falcon.

Great result, all you need now is a leash for walkies...

I have done the blackbasing on the A-wing as a bit of an experiment, see how it goes.

Piers: That looks cool. Curious to see how it comes out. 

Freezing rain today, I want to come visit you guys in Australia till at least April or so... 

Thanks for the kind words guys.   

I've been on the fence whether to buy the A Wing or the Snowspeeder. Looking forward to seeing your version of the A wing.    Looking good so far.  

I'm also looking forward to seeing the a Han Solo figure.  

One week till the new movie!  I took vacation time and have my seat reserved! 

T e d

Ted: I've got the A-Wing and it's a really sharp little kit. The Snowspeeder looks good too though. 

I did get a bunch of work done on Han last night. Not sure I'll hit the finish date though. Still his pants are pretty much done and I worked on his vest/waistcoat and the base. Still need to do some fine-tuning on his hands, paint his belt and holster and blaster. Sorry, will try to get some photos up this weekend. 

Weird thing is I'm not caring much about the next movie but 'The Mandalorian' look really interesting. I'm thinking about waiting till it's done and getting a subscription to Disney streaming and just watch the whole thing. 

Very nice job on that Ted, thank you for posting that. I will get it on the front page.

Ted4321

Thanks for the kind words guys.   

I've been on the fence whether to buy the A Wing or the Snowspeeder. Looking forward to seeing your version of the A wing.    Looking good so far.  

I'm also looking forward to seeing the a Han Solo figure.  

One week till the new movie!  I took vacation time and have my seat reserved! 

T e d

 

Both are nice kits.

Started the snowspeeder a couple of days ago, it needs primer then on to painting.

Sad news though, the carpet monster ate a part. Can't find it anywhere. 

Couple of photos of the parts, need to take photos of the built up kit.

More to come!

German, Piers, look forward to seing more of those builds as they come together. Hopefully i'll get some pics of my STAP in in a day or so.

GA: Looks very cool! And I know what you mean, I can't build anything without losing at least one part.

I did get a decent amount done on Han this weekend. Will I get done in time? I still dunno...

Here Han is in the Star Wars/Ghostbuster cross-over... 'HE SLIMED ME!!!'

For the base I wanted some contrast with his black boots. So I tried to create a rusty worn metal deck. Not sure how well it came out. And yeah I know despite the 'Falcon' being called a rust-bucket I don't think she had any rusty decks- still I thought I'd try it.

The blaster is odd. In some respects it very accurate with the movie prop- in others it's not. I didn't feel like trying to modify it. So I'm just going to try to detail the thing as I put more work into it.

Gamera,

Han is coming together.  Looks good so far.  I like his boots! 

T e d

Thanks Ted. I wish I were moving a little faster. I did the Correllian blood stripes painted on his pants. I need to get off the computer and get the holster painted...

Aaagh, the Deadline approaches!!!  Okay, so after a year of dilly-dallying, I'm desperately trying to finish something before that dumpster fire of a movie opens tomorrow.

I saw a Youtube video where a guy completely assembled a Bandai Blockade Runner, then painted it.  It was inspiring and gave me a boot in the heinie to get going.  I can't see how he got paint between the engines, so I brush painted flat black on the engines as well as other deeply recessed areas prior to assembly.

It looks TERRIBLE, but I kept the paint thinned and was just going for a "good enough" coverage.  BTW, I like to use the paint from the Testors paint pen with their airbrush thinner when doing stuff like this, as it gets better results than with the bottle paint with regular thinner.  I noticed I had no cracking or splitting of the plastic, something that has haunted many Bandai builds.

And since I had the paint pallet out I did the ISD as well.

I dug out an old rattle can of Tamiya flat black and ran outside at 2:00 am to finish applying the base coat.

Will I finish?  Probably not.  I do have a monthly "model night" this weekend with some friends, so I can do more demanding work then.

I also got this from a friend.

Anyway, to all the guys who have finished their kits, congratulations job well done!  And for the ones trying to meet the deadline good luck, and may the Force be with you.

That looks interesting G, interested in seeing how things go with the black primer. 

I'm not hitting the deadline here. I painted Han's webbing leather brown and then went to paint the holster and put my hand in the wet paint and got it all over his pants and boots. It was still wet so it washed off but I laid the figure down and decided I'd wait till he was good and dry before I attempt to do any more work on him instead of rushing things.  

Some great work there guys, keep it coming.

Just in case i don't get on tomorrow, i am having trouble signing in from work, not FSM's issue, and have been busy in the evening. The GB closes at the close of play tomorrow (Thurs) but once again, if your names on the list, please feel free to keep posting. I will be plugging away at the STAP, still not got any pics yet. Really trying to get my Tiger done.

Ok this is cutting it really close.   I want to change my entry to this:  1/144 Ban Dai Tie fighter and Darth Vaders fighter.  forgot I finished these the middle of last month.

Then I can at say I finished this GB.

John

John: Those look cool! I'd like to add a few more starfighters to the stash so I'm interested in seeing how they go. The Bandai ones I've seen people build over on the SF forum really look good! 

I'll keep hacking away on Han. I should have him done by the end of the year in any case. 

Gamera

John: Those look cool! I'd like to add a few more starfighters to the stash so I'm interested in seeing how they go. The Bandai ones I've seen people build over on the SF forum really look good! 

 

I'll keep hacking away on Han. I should have him done by the end of the year in any case. 

 

eventually they'll be in a trench diorama

John

falconmod

Ok this is cutting it really close.   I want to change my entry to this:  1/144 Ban Dai Tie fighter and Darth Vaders fighter.  forgot I finished these the middle of last month.

Then I can at say I finished this GB.

John

 

John, yep, thats fine. I'll sort the roster out ove rthw weekend.

Piers: That looks good! Is that a worn green panel you're adding on the starboard wing? I like the way it looks! 

Actually Han's gun was based off a broomhandle Mauser. It's just the kit gun has an added brace and a few extra knobs on there. Not sure why they molded it that way. I did look around in case he did use different blasters in the three movies but I didn't see anything that looked much like the kit part. 

The real prop: 

The kit part, notice extra brace on the gunsight and a few extra knobs on there. I thought maybe they were casting stubs and thought about cutting them off but I don't want to be too rash:

Thanks Cliff,

Getting closer now, glossed up ready to do the panel lines:

There was a programme on the BBC the other day all about the making of the original movie and they were talking to the British guy who was responsable for many props including the weapons. Its just so British how these things were cobbled together. He even had one of his original light sabers that he had made for Luke, they cost about £12 to make.

Just got back from watching Ep IX and really enjoyed it. For me the best of this trilogy and really cleared things up.

And now the A wing is complete!

The construction was very easy as is common with the Bandai kits from what we have all seen. So I had fun with the painting to get to the finished product.

Again Bish, thanks for running a very entertaining and enthusiastic group build. Now I can head off to see the movie...

Thats a stunning loking build Piers, reall nicely done. Loks great with the turret. Got you on the front page. Thank you for taking part.

Piers: The A-Wing looks awesome! Love the in-flight shots!!!

Bish: Glad to hear you enjoyed the movie!

Piers, your A-Wing is awesome. Dynamic presentation and just the right mount of weathering. Wish was on my shelf! John, great job on those TIEs, and Gamera, finish Han lol!

Thanks for hosting the GB, Bish. I hope to finish the Bandai SD and garage kit Nebulon after the holidays, so probably way after GB deadline, unfortunately.

Saw RoS last night, and although it was enjoyable, I thought the story had a lot of problems. 

Hope everyone is well.

PB

Thanks PB and don't worry, you won't be alone. I still have to get some pics up of my STAP and get some more done on it.