Bandai Red Squadron X-Wing Fighter

Robert W Martel
I bought this at Hobby Lobby the other day. $26.xx OTD. I really would like the Poe's ship w/BB8, but this one also also has the 1/144th scale, so that one will be great for my grandson. We can do them together!
It has super nice detail,,,, and also comes with both nice decal sheet & a sticker sheet, and the sticker sheet is also very nice.
Cant go wrong with a 2fer !!

Spanjaard
be careful with weathering, bandai plastic can be quite "sensitive" to thinners....

Robert W Martel
Thanks for the warning Spanjaard! I'll try to remember to try on a piece of scrap sprue. I've been using just odorless terpentine. Is there something different you'd recommend?
Weathering is not something I'm very good at, at this point anyway, so we'll see. Anyway, I'll be saving this one till my grandson gets a little older so we can build them together!

Spanjaard
If you use a primer, turpentine may be safe. I only had trouble on the base of the lasers, where the primer may have not reached every hole. Bandai unprotected plastic can fall apart with solvents like turpentine. Lately I am trying with flory model washes , basically water and clay, pretty harmless to plastic

Markus Kutsch The Plastic Bench
Go,go ,go.....I canT smell the glue! 🙂

wilky
You should have bought it on May the fourth.

Robert W Martel
Thanks for that Spanjaard. WOW. Who'd have thought? Not me! I do have some Vallejo acrylic washes. They work ok as long as I clear first and do a bit at a time. It just dries too fast.
Markus,,, you're a funny guy! lol You should be smelling paint though !!
Wilky ,,, ???? What's May the 4th?? let me guess. Something to do with when the movie released???

wilky
No, you Wally. May the fourth is international Star Wars day because it sounds like "may the force" ie:- may the force be with you

Robert W Martel
AAAHHHH, I must be getting OLD lol !!

wilky
That's alright, we're all doing that.

Robert W Martel
LOL Right !!
So,,,,, now after looking I see that see that Poe's fighter IS different than this one, so guess what?
I have to get the one w/BB8 !!

wilky
Oh no, what a pity. That you have to buy another kit

Robert W Martel
HA HA !! LOL Oh My !!

Spanjaard
there are paint retarders, but not sure if you can use them with washes....

Robert W Martel
Spanjaard, We'll just have to see. The pieces are relatively small, so maybe it won't be an issue.

Spanjaard
it is a fun kit to build to be honest. could be more enjoyable if the instructions were not in Japanese, but it only affects when you have options, and not much more.

Robert W Martel
OH, I didn't even notice that !

Spanjaard
be careful with dry fitting, there are multiple cases that pieces "click" together... sometimes, not easy to take them apart..... you can assembly the kit without glue, if you want to.

Robert W Martel
Didn't realize that either! lol

Danumurthi Mahendra
didnt know they had a 2-in-1 kit!

Robert W Martel
Hi Danumurthi,
Yea, that's the cool part! I'll build the big one and my grandson can build the small one. It can be a good project to do together. I liked that, that's why I bought it. Otherwise I would have just bought Poe's Fighter, which I did anyway. lol Cheers !!

Clifford Keesler
Cool kits. I use pastel washes, after applying a gloss coat. Then I use pastel chalk for streaking , gun and exhaust stains etc, after applying a flat or satin coat. I do not apply anything over the pastel chalk as it seems to make it disappear. LOL.

Robert W Martel
OK, Interesting Clifford. Thnx

Clifford Keesler
You just paint the wash on, let it dry then remove it using a piece of moistened paper towel. You can leave or remove as much as you want. It gets into the panel lines, rivets etc. If you are not happy with the results, you just wash it off and start again. I buy hard pastel chal at Michael's Hobby Lobby or Walmart. You just scrape it off with the back of an X-acto knife and add water. When you are finished, seal it with a clear coat, either gloss, satin or flat.

Robert W Martel
Ah Ha ! That may be better than using the acrylic washes I been using. 'Cause once it dries it wont come off ! Great idea !! I'll have to pick some up. Thanks Clifford !

Clifford Keesler
You are welcome Sir. You can adjust how dark it is by the amount of powder you add. I have also found that water color paints in the tubes, work well also, just mix with water, apply and let dry about 15-30 minutes then remove the same way you do the pastel wahes. I just use my tounge to moisten a piece of paper towel and remove the wash. I used an oil wash on the belly of my Canberra. I just mixed some oil paint and white mineral spirits, and brushed it on, let it dry for 30 min. and wiped it off with a dry paper towel, no thinner. Worked well. I saw a couple of guys on you tube using it, so thought I would give it a try.

Robert W Martel
Clifford
You know, now that you mention it I have read about both of those and have been meaning to try them. Like you say if you don't like the results it washes right off !! I wish I had used them on a few that I "messed" up. lol.
I have tried the oil based wash on a few things lately. it does flow a lot better than the acrylic stuff. I like the acrylic for small things BECAUSE it dries fast. But for bigger things it just dries TOO fast, and it sorta comes off,,,,, sort of !! depending on what's underneath.
I'm gonna have to get some pastels & water colors !!! Seems I looked at some water color tubes @ HL a while back and it was ungodly $$$$ for a tiny little tube. But I suppose a little goes a long way.

Clifford Keesler
I bought mine at Walmart. If you go to the art dept, you will find them and oil's. I buy the pastels at Michael's as I can get a box with a wider variety of colors. But you can get them at Walmart also. I buy a lot of the acrylic art paints at Michael's and Walmart also. I thin them with alcohol, and custom mix a lot of my own colors. I just read in an article on you tube, that windshield washer cleaner fluid makes an excellent airbrush cleaner, I tried it and it works great. So now I have a gallon jug of airbrush cleaner for 2.00.

Robert W Martel
Right !!
I'm basically doing the same Clifford. Model Master paints are $4 for 1/2oz !! I cant afford to spent that kind of $$ just to practice with,,,, maybe when I get better at it ! lol
I've been mixing Craft Paint w/acrylic poly (craft) varnish (about 5 to 1). Matte, Satin, Gloss,,, depending on what it's doing. Thinned w/IPA & water and a bit of retarder. It sticks better, it's way tougher, it goes way farther. If I want an even better mix I'll throw in some MM too.
I've been mixing Vallejo poly primer 50/50 w/my craft mix, then thin it almost in half!!, and it works just fine, and if you let it dry for a few days it's sandable! Get 4 times as much paint for a couple $$ more.
Good paint is just too damn $$$$ !! At the stage I'm at I'm not ready to spend the big bucks for high dollar paint. And, HL just doesn't have the best selection of MM or Vallejo colors,,, but the craft paint aisle is awesome,,, so many colors!!
I' bought some Testors Pearls when Micheals has a 50-60% coupons, then the price isn't bad. Also bought some Pearl Powders @ HL. Mix a bit in w/Pledge and gives a nice pearl topcoat, used it on the aqua 57 Chevy and then another coat of clear,,, looks great!! Or even mix it in the paint.
Yes, I've been using Dollar Tree window cleaner for a while now $1 for 1/2 gallon,, it works great for cleaning the AB and general cleanup. If I need something stronger I buy the large bottles of IPA at WallyWorld pretty cheap, it will clean up dried acrylic plenty good. I usually give my AB a final rinse with it.
It all just takes some experimenting and practice, but worth it, imho !
We absolutely need so save $$$ wherever we can. The kits cost enough these days!! OUCH !!

Clifford Keesler
I know what you mean. I want to try the new Extreme Metal acrylic paints, by AK interactive, but at 10.00 a bottle I doubt it. LOL.

Robert W Martel
That's pretty pricey, must be a way to conjure up something close enough to substitute !

Clifford Keesler
There is Vallejo's metal paints are cheaper, and the good old MM metal paints are only 2.59 a bottle from scalehobbyist.

Robert W Martel
Yea, I buy from scalehobbyist also. That's where I started buying the Vallejo paints & primer. They do have a better price, but you have to buy more than one to make it worth the $9 shipping. I bought quite a few kits from them in the beginning and a LOT of Vallejo paints, not matter how much you buy shipping is only $9. I took advantage of that when I was getting started.
Still a better deal than most !!

Clifford Keesler
I know, I buy most of my kits and paint from them. I still use Spruebrothers for all my photo etch, and squadron for most of my resin. I just ordered 3 P-47D Thunderbolts from Walmart, at 11.00 each. 1/48.

Robert W Martel
$11 is a good price !! These Days !!

Clifford Keesler
I know, I could not pass them up. The kit comes with markings for 3 different aircraft, so now I can build all 3.

Robert W Martel
COOL !!