Topic: spudafett's new vehicle thread. Tie/d advanced

[spudafett]

My girl friend got me a new copy of star wars: Tie Fighter back for christmas... it was my favorite game growing up, and probably is still the best flight simulator of all, especially of the star wars franchise, in my opinion.

There's a few ships in the game that don't get much attention anywhere else, the missile boat is one of those ships.  

while looking at the ship in the game I realized that the forward section, mainly the cockpit, closely resembled the shape of the lambda shuttle's cockpit... and it just happened that I had a spare action fleet lambda shuttle cockpit from an old hack-up ugly project....

so I got to work:







well, what do you guys think?  I know it's not perfect, and it's not exact... Scratchbuilding has never been my strong suit.  I'm going to try and add more small details and get it to look more like an actual action fleet ship...  but we'll see.  I'm pretty happy with it so far, it looks a lot better than I was expecting.

[Tamer]

Nice, I am really enjoying this build. Makes me want to go get those games and try reloading them on my laptop. Wonder if that would work. Doubt it, but back on the front page.

[hangarbay94]

Spuda, that is absolutely spot on as it is exactly like the X-Wing Alliance version. They very rarely show up, but when they do I tend to high tail it out of the area pronto.

I'm looking forward to seeing the paint app.

[spudafett]

Nice, I am really enjoying this build. Makes me want to go get those games and try reloading them on my laptop. Wonder if that would work. Doubt it, but back on the front page.

the old dos version will run with dosbox on newer computer...  But the version of tie fighter that came out in '95 won't run on dos box.  It was designed to run on windows 95, and will run on windows versions which have backwards compatibility.  If you have a computer still running XP you could get it to run, that's what I've done... I have a desktop set up just to play this!


As for the paintwork on this I am planning on getting out my spray nozzle for the acrylic model paint and coating the entire thing in gray primer, then brushing on some weathering and the fine details.  I am planning on cutting some grooved details into the styrene to get the pannelled appearance that is so classic of the action fleet ships.

Not sure when I'll get this project finished... spring break is over and I'll be back to school and work next week and until the summer I may not get much time in for customs.  I'll come back and update this page when I can with any progress.

[Tamer]

I might have to give one a try as I do have an older computer. I gave it to my daughter but she doesn't use it.

Really enjoying this project Devin.

[StenHunter]

Those are light brite missiles right? = ) Man, this thing looks good! I can't wait to see the finished product.

[spudafett]

Those are light brite missiles right? = ) Man, this thing looks good! I can't wait to see the finished product.

Nope, they are the ends of the large missiles from the gi-joe missile launchers.  They are the "seating" end that clicks the missile into place.  They just happened to be mostly transparent ones.  I have probably at least 30 of these stupid missiles clocking up my parts bin... they were the right size and shape to stand in for the missile tips, so I cut off the rounded ends of the missiles and glued them in place. 

[RebelScum1138]

Nice job. I like the timelapse thing u did there. Very cool. 

[spudafett]

got some painting on the missile boat finished:

[spudafett]

A project nearly 4 years in the making...  I first posted pictures of this y-wing in 2009...

I wanted to make the two seater variant of the y-wing as seen in the holiday special cartoon.  I also wanted to re-create the depicted escape pod feature of the cockpit being able to detach from the fuselage...  Unfortunately the landing gear mechanism in the toy would have to be sacrificed and i couldn't come up with a way to secure the landing gear independently from that system... But, I did work out the two seats finally!

here are preliminary WIP pics from 2009:




But...  I wasn't happy with that work.  So I ripped out the stuff I had put in and found 2 gi-joe vehicle seats and put them in the cockpit instead.  I also cut apart the cockpit and re-built the canopy so the entire thing opens, allowing both figures to be put in and seated easilly. built it all back up and painted it all! 

some WIP shots:




Finished:







I went with the back seat facing backward thinking that was more practical, and it wound up that there was more leg room under there in that orientation.  I had a moment of genius when I figured out the adjustments to the cockpit...   unfortunately cutting it leaves a bit of a gap from the blade...  and I tried a new tool out on it that was a bit cumbersome and unwieldy.

The new tool is basically an exacto knife blad affixed to my soldering iron.  It cuts through plastic like butter, and it's awesome for projects like this!  Unfortunately my soldering iron's handle is far back from the tip, making precision cutting very difficult when you're used to holding it right at the blade (like a normal exacto knife).  Also, don't slip and cut yourself with a PIPING HOT exacto razor blade!  not only will it slice, but burn the hell out of you too....

[Tamer]

Hey, I like it.

I agree with you, wish it had given you a bit cleaner cut, but this configuration just makes so much more sense to me. Reminds me a lot of the snowspeeder set up and you would think would make for better communication in a dogfight or what not.

Back to the front page. I would love to see a picture of this exacto soldering iron combination you are talking about. Sounds like it would be a great tool to have in your kit.

[CamoDeafie]

Hey, I like it.

I agree with you, wish it had given you a bit cleaner cut, but this configuration just makes so much more sense to me. Reminds me a lot of the snowspeeder set up and you would think would make for better communication in a dogfight or what not.

Back to the front page. I would love to see a picture of this exacto soldering iron combination you are talking about. Sounds like it would be a great tool to have in your kit.

Spudafett; I like it too! gives me more ideas for my Y-wing custom...

Tamer; I think this is the type; I used to have the same sort of soldering iron/knife combo..lost the knife portion in storage..might get a new one....

http://www.amazon.com/Xacto-X73780-Precision-Soldering-Knife/dp/B000BRBZUG

[spudafett]

Yup that's basically it, here's the picture of mine that I posted on FB:



Like I put there:  I got mine from Hobby Lobby or michaels, it was a set of two tips that screwed into my existing soldering iron handle

[Tamer]

Thanks for the picture Devin. I got that put on our Facebook page.

[BlackThorne]

Cool mod in the cockpit, but to my eyes the micro machines scratch built ship is even more amazing!