AMT/ERTL Darth Vader Tie Fighter build.

The masking to some time. I love Tamiya masking tape. It works so well. I used whatever I had laying around for the large areas.  

Here is the main assembly all gaps and seems filled. Panel lines rescribed and all painted up in light grey.  I chose this as my first model back because I thought it would be quick and easy. I have been fighting this on the whole way. :)

Light grey all finished.  Started on a 1:1000 polar lights tos enterprise. You can see it’s saucer section sitting in the back. 

The panels came out great!  I know it’s just black and grey but the combination just looks really cool to me. 

I now have to decide if I am going to make it pristine Or weather it some. The studio model was very clean looking. That makes sense to me.  I would think that Vader’s special ride would be kept like a show car or else people would be choked. :)

i think I may just give it a good dark wash to bring out the panel lines and detail and call it a day. maybe leave it just a little dirty from the wash to give it a slightly used look but not so much weathered. 

djqsrv

 I would think that Vader’s special ride would be kept like a show car or else people would be choked. :)

I'm pretty sure there was an entire "Legion" dedicated to washing his Tye fighter.... and that's all they did !

Other than a "light" wash to bring out the panel line's ,I dont think there's much in space that would "dirty up " a spacecraft.

Better view of the recessed area and the work that was required 

This was the first time for me with this tamiya white tape for curved masking.  It’s kind of like pinstriping tape.  It was just the thing needed to go around the raised detail on the hatch cover  

More maskng in preparation for the dark grey spots  

Dark grey accents finished off.  Just a tiny bit of bleed where I didn’t burnish the tape down good enough.  Fixed up with a small brush  

next up will be to seal everything up with a coat of future so I can start the washes  

 Lord Vader will be pleased.

This kit actually dates back to 1977 or 1978 and the original movie, long before there were other episodes. 

littletimmy

 

 

djqsrv

 I would think that Vader’s special ride would be kept like a show car or else people would be choked. :)

 

 

I'm pretty sure there was an entire "Legion" dedicated to washing his Tye fighter.... and that's all they did !

Other than a "light" wash to bring out the panel line's ,I dont think there's much in space that would "dirty up " a spacecraft.

 

i think you have the right idea. A detail wash and leave it clean. 

stikpusher

 Lord Vader will be pleased.

 

This kit actually dates back to 1977 or 1978 and the original movie, long before there were other episodes. 

 

its the molds from the old MPC kit. I made one back in the late 70’s. I’m doing a bit better with this one. :) 

I was originally going to fill these seems but I found some pictures of the studio model and it looks like there is a break there on it so I left it as is. 

i also found that when the ILM model shop was making the tie bomber for empire they used the wings from this kit as a starting point. here are a few pics of the studio model of Vader’s tie and the wing of the tie bomber. You can clearly see that it’s from this kit. They left the gap to. So if it works for ILM it works for me. :)

Its pretty cool how different the color looks depending on how they light the model.

djqsrv

 

 

stikpusher

 Lord Vader will be pleased.

 

This kit actually dates back to 1977 or 1978 and the original movie, long before there were other episodes. 

 

 

 

 

 

its the molds from the old MPC kit. I made one back in the late 70’s. I’m doing a bit better with this one. :) 

 

 

Same here, when it was first released. .. I finally pitched my original on my last move 5 years ago. I’d like to build another... as an adult...

Im enjoying seeing what you’re doing here. Interesting about the TIE bomber sharing the wings... I always wanted one of those and no kit was released back then.

Subtle detailing but it makes a pretty big difference 

Looking good. I have one of these kits in my basement. It is unbuilt and sealed. Maybe I will get around to building it. For now, I will enjoy watching yours go together.

Keep it up!

Well my first big mistake. And it was completely avoidable. it has been a very long time sense I last sprayed future. I guess I was feeling pretty good about my airbrush skills. I was doing so good with the Tamiya acrylics. I should have test sprayed some future on a scrap piece just to get the feel of how it goes on but I didn’t. i Really oversprayed the back flat part of the main fuselage. The future started to pool up pretty good. I forgot how runny this stuff goes on. I have the model propped up with that part as flat as I can get it. My hope is that it self levels as it dries and I don’t get any runs. 

Fingers crosses. 

Thats looking nice, i hope that future sorts itself out. When i have had it pool, i found dipping a bit of tissue it wicks a lot of it away, might be a bit late for that though.

I still have the first one of these i built, must have been back in the 80's. I do have another as i would like to do a better job of it, and i agree about keeping it clean.

This kit has been re-released a number of times over the years which might explain any molding issues depending on which boxing you have.

Nice build, the TIE was the best of the MPC kits from the original movie. I built one around Christmas 1977 or early 78 when it first came out. I built all of them, C3PO, R2-D2, X-Wing, Vader's TIE, and the Falcon. Still have a lighted MPC Falcon in the basement.

Never did the C3P0 but I did all the others. I recently picked up the Bandai x-wing and wow modern kits are pretty amazing compared to the old ones. 

I am looking forward to building the x-wing but it does not have the nostalgia factor that this old tie mold does. I may have to look around for one of the old mpc molds falcon. I think doing one of those would really take me back. :)

anyway. The old saying “better to be lucky then good” comes to mind with my future over spray. It leveled out quite nicely with no runs!  I had to fight every urge to wipe it off or try to wick it up. i Am glad I did as I’m sure I just would have done damage. I’m going to give it another day to fully cure and start with the wash. 

For my final clear coat I was thinking Tamiya x-35 semi gloss clear. what do you all think?  semi gloss or should I just do Xf-86 flat clear?  I think flat would be more prop/movie accurate but I kind of like the idea of a little tiny bit of shine for sitting on a shelf. 

Ether way I have never sprayed Tamiya acrylic clears. I would have used testers dull coat or gloss coat it the past. 

For the Tamiya clears should I thin with x-20a or Tamiya lacquer thinner?  I have thinned with both in the past but just looking to see if anyone would recommend one over the other for clears. Tamiya websight says either can be used. im Thinking lacquer. 

Oh yes, the Fine Molds and Bandai Star Wars kits are awesome. The best thing about them is that they are standard and constant scale; i.e. 1/144, 1/72, and 1/48 whereas MPC and later AMT/Ertl and Revell kits were box scale. I can display my Bandai AT-ST with my Fine Molds snowspeeder.

decided to use an artist oil wash for ease of clean up. Before and after shot. I’m trying to decide if it’s good as is or should I clean it up a little more?  I want it to look like a vehicle that is used and well cared for but not beat like the rebel stuff. 

Well I had to take a few days away from the bench. Got really frustrated as I made a few more stupid mistakes. I did an oil wash on the main fuselage that came out pretty nice. the details came out pretty good and it did not look super weathered. Exactly the look I wanted, used but in good clean condition. In doing my wash cleanup I pulled all the wash out of some panel lines. Instead of making some more wash I decided to try out these gundam panel line markers I have had kicking around. I read that lots of people love them for panel lining. I ran it down a few lines and was amazed at how easy it was to get a nice dark panel line. In my over exuberance I lined the whole top of the fighter. That’s when it all came together. The lines were WAY to dark. It made it look very cartoonish. Probably fine on gundams but not here. So no problem right? A little thinner on a q-tip and I’ll lighten those lines up in no time. Enamel thinner, o.m.s, even lighter fluid would not take the marker off. Looked up on the old interweb how to remove gundam marker and of course isopropyl alcohol is what I find. Great, my clear coat is future. I.A. Cuts future and pretty much all acrylics. dont know what I was thinking but I decided that the future was fully cured it should withstand a slightly damp q-tip of I.A.  Nope! The first lightest touch went right through and even started to break down the color coat. Live and learn I guess. 

After a break I ran my scribe along all the panel lines to make sure the extra paint wouldn’t erase them. Then I started all over. Re primed, color coat, future and finally the wash. So after that I was able to finally get the major parts together in preparation for its final top coat. 

So after some frustrations I am pretty happy with the way it looks.  sure it’s not my best work but I feel it’s not to bad for my first attempt back in the hobby. im going to hit it with some Tamiya semi clear today and that should finish this one off  

Very nicely done, really like the finish. Nice to see one of tehse again, might have to pull mine out for the next Star Wars GB.

Nice finish! Now you just need a couple of standard TIEs for wingmen.

Thanks guys. It was a fun build overall. Even the problems were good in a way. It made me remember that almost anything can be fixed. Now to finish of this tos enterprise so I can start a p51d mustang that I have had almost as long as the tie fighter.