Rebel Alliance B-Wing Starfighter

Bandai's 1/72 B-Wing completed in a small variation of the ILM studio model paint scheme. Much like my A-Wing, I wanted this one to be unique while still looking like something that could have taken part in the Battle of Endor at the end of Return of the Jedi rather than painstakingly try to replicate the studio model.



I took a different approach to building this as I had previously completed several Bandai Star Wars kits and expected excellent quality parts fit, which turned out correct with a couple of exceptions - I prepainted the main colours and most of the markings on the sprues and then assembled it.



I also used a different painting technique. I primed using Mr. Surfacer White 1500, then washed using Tamiya Panel Line Accent Grey enamel wash, finally a couple of very thin coats of dilluted Tamiya acryllic XF-2 Flat White. The teal colored sections went through a similar process, masked off, primed using Mr. Surfacer Grey 1500, washed using Tamiya Panel Line Accent Dark Grey enamel wash, a couple of thin coats of Mr. Hobby RLM78 Light Blue.



I did not like the yellowish squadron marking decals so I used them as templates to cutout masks and painted the markings using a custom 3:1 mix of Model Master actyllic International Orange and Cadmium Yellow. I decided to add two diagonal stripes on the bottom wing section as the individual marking of "my" B-Wing. The cockpit interior was painted using AGAMA Medium Grey and Dark Grey acryllics, drybrushed with light grey and washed with Tamiya Panel Line Accent Dark Grey. I then picked off individual displays and knobs with white base, followed by transparent red, yellow and green. Sadly, I wasn't able to get good photos to showcase it.



As befits a Star Wars build, I added a lot of paint chipping, although I tried to keep it more subdued than on my X-Wings as the B-Wing entered combat after the "dark days" of the early Rebellion when any flying piece of junk was used..



Unike my typical build, this one was spared of any mishaps and misfortunes so not really that much to talk about. The greatest challenge for me was the sheer size of this, as I hadn't painted a large model in a long while. Overall, another excellent Bandai model that was very fun to assemble.