Eta-2 Actis Interceptors

This is what I'm aiming to replicate with the two kits. Anakin and Obi-Wan flying in formation in their respective Eta-2 Actis Interceptors. 

IDEAS: Anakin's Interceptor. Nice image found on the net to give me some ideas for painting and weathering.  

IDEAS: Obi-wan's Interceptor. Nice image found on the net to give me some ideas for painting and weathering. 

5 Sprues, 4 grey plastic and one clear for the canopy parts. The only difference between the two kits is the Figure (this one shows Obi-Wan) but otherwise identical. Same for the decal sheet, minor differences in the droid colours and the small stripes for the back of the wings. 

To replicate the formation flying I'm planning to use a wooden base (15cm diameter) and two brass rods which I've already bent to copy the bank they are in. Plan is to mount each rod near the edge of the base to mount the ships in formation.  

Wing assemblies glued but some nasty seams to take care of.  

Filled (Tamiya Standard Putty), Sanded and Primed (Mig One Shot Grey). Much better! 

Outsides painted Aluminium & Satin Clearcoat. Cockpit details and figure hand-painted and ready for assembly. Notice I've drilled a hole in the bottom of the cockpit ready for the brass rod stand. 

Anakin all assembled. 

Both cockpit assemblies done. 

Anakin's subassemblies, put off to one side now as they're already in their base colour so ready for masking and painting the yellow bits. I've lightly hand-painted the guns on the wings with metallic black. 

Droids! Glossed and ready for decals. 

Droid decals done! Not the best fit but look OK from a distance 

Obi-Wan's interceptor gets a coat of Chipping Medium (airbrushed 50/50 mix with Vallejo airbrush thinner) then base coat of White Grey, ready for the first round of chipping. I 've masked the "slot" where the S-Foils would fold into as it looks like that is grey in the first reference photo. 

Wings and S-Foils chipped back to metal colour. Guns painted metallic black. 

S-Foils masked & painted my go-to "Obi-Wan Red" which looks more purple to me and this colour matches well to my eye. Extra small chipping on the red. 

S-Foils coolant panels hand painted Black-Grey. 

Top of the wings and cockpit pod painted red with chipping. 

Masking the undersides of the wings is a bit of a chore...... 

But gives good results once the masking is removed. 

Made a start with the yellow on Anakin's wings and s-foils. The red on the cockpit pod is correct, I originally painted it yellow as per the box art but the colour callout sheet has that as the same red as Obi-Wan's so I overpainted it red. 

I wasn't keen on the decals so hand painted the OCF symbol on the wings in Gold and Red. 

Rest of the decals applied (there weren't many) and glossed ready for oils. 

Engines painted Gunmetal (Vallejo 71.072), Glossed and washed with Tamiya Smoke (X-19) then final gloss coat. 

Anakin's interceptor painted, decals applied & glossed. 

Oils time! Applied a coat of Abteilung 502 Starship Filth (It really has the best name) all over the part. 

Then wiped off with a piece of old T-Shirt to filter, panel line and leave subtle streaks (wipe the oils off in the direction of travel). 

S-Foils before and after to show the effect nicely. 

Oils all done and now I need to leave it a week to dry. Notice there's no droid domes, they are staying clean and glossed to contrast and won't go in until after the interceptors are completed and matt coated. 

Oils dry and all parts matt coated. 

Base drilled and sprayed with Black primer (Mig One Shot) 

Final construction and spatters added with wash flicked from the brush with a cocktail stick 

Complete! That's what I was aiming for 😄 Had some issues with the masking on the canopies. There was so much paint on top of the masking that it didn't want to peel off. It's a bit messy but OK.
I'll get the plain background out later and take some finished shots.