On occasion I'll take a break from warbirds to delve in science fiction subjects. In recent months I've actually gone into the scifi realm more frequently, with a couple of diminuitive Star Wars Bandai kits (Blockade Runner and Super Star Destroyer), and I have two Star Trek kits in my 2023 build stash (Klingon K'Tinga and TOS Enterprise).
I built this one OOB but with one important addition - a lighting kit that I picked up from an eBay seller. The lighting kit is battery operated and turned out to be very easy to work with and install.
The paints I used came from a Vallejo science fiction set, with the primary color being white-grey and USAAF light gray to highlight some of the random panels. The set includes a red, but it looked too red for the A-Wing. These Bandai kits come ready to build, right out of the box and could be built without any paint. The dark red/maroon plastic looked right to my eyes, so I opted to actually not paint the red areas. I painted the pilot with Tamiya colors - flat flesh, IJN Green for the flight suit, with flat black for the boots, gloves, and [I suppose that was] a life support system the Rebel pilots wear on their chests. Can't really see much in the cockpit, but I did paint it in two shades of grey and did some dry-brushing in there.
Weathering was ground-up black pastels applied to a few panels to replicate blast marks (although I'm not sure the A-Wing was built to withstand blasts like that), followed by a Flory wash that really made the details on this kit pop. Sealed it with a flat clear coat.
There is a light in the cockpit at the pilot's feet; it is visible clearly enough but I couldn't get it in the photos. The engine lights are white, but I painted the clear pieces inside the engine nacelles clear yellow, as well as the interior of the open sections of those nacelles. That made a big difference from my initial test without any of the clear yellow paint in there.
This was a fun build. I had it on my workbench for a couple of weeks after I completed a Bf110D-3 before I actually started it. On Friday last week (4/28/23), my wife and I went to see Return of the Jedi for its 40th anniversary re-release. That was a lot of fun, and really sparked me to get out to my workbench for this kit. I completed the majority of it in one day, then on Monday wrapped up all the weathering.
