Bandai 1/72 First Order TIE Fighter - Sabine Wren Edition

[aur0ra145]

Howdy all,

After a hiatus I'm back to modelling. I'm going to try doing Sabine Wren's TIE Fighter. I have a First Order TIE, so that will serve as the basis for the project.

For those unfamiliar, Sabine Wren is a Mandalorian in the TV show Star Wars Rebels.

[BigWall]

Nice! That's quite the paint job!

[RangerNeil]

Another interesting and unique one to look forwards too..

[bfrd]

That looks awesome!

[Twokidsnosleep]

How cool is that

[DBMiller]

Nice colors! Good luck with it!

[Tomcat64]

I've never seen that colour scheme but really impressed that your going from the paint-free Buzz Lightyear to this in a single bound

Looking forward to seeing it all develop

[aur0ra145]

Things are rolling along with the TIE Fighter. Put together the cockpit. I just left it in black primer as it seemed fitting.

I also used the peel and stick decals for the cockpit (let's be real, I don't think anyone will be taking a close up look of the cockpit.) I finished it all off with some dry brushing of Valejo Metal Color Steel.



Next step was masking. I plugged the cockpit viewport and put some tape on the inside of the boarding hatch. For the chckered parts of the paint job I masked off. The plan is, for them to stay black and I will make a square stamp. I'm planning on using the end of a tooth pick for it. I'll be able to dab it in the paint, dry it off (think like drybrushing) and then just do the checker pattern.





As for the overall color. I painted the heat sinks in XF-85 Rubber Black. The rest of the TIE is painted in a 1:1 mix of XF-2 White and XF-82 Ocean Gray 2 (RAF). Then I mixed the paint and thinner about 1:1. The color is about right. In the show it's a bit lighter gray than what I'm used to seeing in the movie. If this was a normal TIE, I would be happy with the color



Here is an example of an Episode IV TIE Fighter. I did this one for the 2017 Summer Sci-Fi Build. It's XF-85 on the heat sinks and straight XF-83 for the gray parts.



I did find some more source photos for the Sabine Wren version. I'm not really sure of the origin of the images; but, it's something to go off of.

Due to the fact that the Sabine version is cartoonized, I'll treat it more as an inspiration than a guide to be followed 100%. For the yellow and orange parts I plan on spraying yellow first, then mask on top of it, and the spray the orange. (my personal rule is to always spray going lightest to darkest color.)





Edit update: I actually used XF-82 and XF-2 in the mix. I've updated the post to reflect this revelation.

[Twokidsnosleep]

I was going to say exactly that: lightest first, mask, next darker, mask, darkest
It is going to look fabulous

[aur0ra145]

Waiting for the paint to cure I decided to upgrade my bench with some new alligator clip sticks. Should be a help with larger builds that have more individual parts to be painted.

I'm still looking for options for over paint brush storage/organization and Ultimate sanding stick storage. Currently I'm using some cups/mugs and IKEA storage basket things. Any pointers for organization would be appreciated.

[aur0ra145]

Finally got around to masking off the heat sinks. Took me a while to convince myself which way was which on them. I'm 60% sure I'm right. Only real thing that worried me with these is the possibility of capillary action on the heat sink texture. According to the show, Sabine basically painted the TIE with spray paint. So, to be authentic, it's okay if there are little smudges, and mess ups here and there.

Also painted the eyeball. Found a little bit that didn't get gray in the original coat. I'm not worried though, I can just free hand something there during the assembly and final painting process.

Almost forgot, they yellow bits are Tamiya X-8 Gloss Yellow.

[Bdiddy]

Nice! Loving the progress, can’t wait to see the finished product

[aur0ra145]

Got the masking done for the orange layer. Wife is doing a spin class on her spin bike in the garage (it's the virtual ride along one that comes withe Peleton), so I have to wait for painting.

Masking went well. I sort of used the template I posted earlier as inspiration. Some of the designs were just too fine for me to do via masking. Some of the really small stuff I'll just hand paint and see how it looks.

The Phoenix Squadron logo on the bottom I just free handed with some masking tape.

One tip, I used the straight edge of my scale ruler to cut straight lines in the masking tape. Worked really well!

[digger303]

Like the progress and looking forward to seeing it come together.

[aur0ra145]

Painted up the heat sinks and eyeball. I'm digging the sunburst effect on the eyeball. Fingers crossed all the masking held up well!

[DBMiller]

All that masking!

[RangerNeil]

Looking very good indeed. I have to admire your patience with the masking!

[aur0ra145]

Looking very good indeed. I have to admire your patience with the masking!

Yes, I've surprised myself. I really didn't mind masking for this kit. Usually I despise masking. To the point that if I'm building an aircraft model and I am unable to buy pre-cut canopy masks; I won't build the kit.

Which is sad, because I love airplanes. But, since returning to the hobby this past January (work made me not model for about a year) I haven't completed a single airplane. Maybe I'll start on a chill airplane tonight while the paint dries on this one.

[Bdiddy]

That’s some serious masking mate ahaha, I don’t know if I’d have your patience. Looking great

[aur0ra145]

Howdy all!

Got to remove the masks tonight. I'm really please with how it all turned out. I still have a fair amount of hand painting to do (and the checkerboard pattern.) But, the major painting phases seem to be over.



Phoenix Squad emblem. Goes on the bottom hatch.











The heat sinks came out really well too. I was worred about capillary action, and there was basically none.

[Twokidsnosleep]

Oh that is just superb
You are knocking this one out of the park

[Bdiddy]

woah that paint job is freakin awesome, looking stunning!

[aur0ra145]

Well. The stamp method for checkering didn't pass my testing. Soo..... I had to do some more masking. Cut out a ton of tiny squares and put them on the TIE. I then dry brushed some gloss white. Ended up looking pretty good. Also did some accents in line green.

[Stokesy44]

Wow, just wow!

Beautiful masking and painting work mate. Stunning.

[Tomcat64]

That's superb masking & paintwork - absolutely superb!!

[RangerNeil]

WOW!!! That is a truly impressive degree of paint work. Well done.

[Panzón]

Wow! A lot of meticulous masking! That's a beautiful paint job

[barryf1fan]

When you first posted the "cartoon" pic in the first post, I thought, "how the heck. . . ???"
I love watching you guys that are truly talented post up your works of art. Lovin' this build!

[Twokidsnosleep]

When you first posted the "cartoon" pic in the first post, I thought, "how the heck. . . ???"
I love watching you guys that are truly talented post up your works of art. Lovin' this build!

He's going to be due some of those BIG dancing bananas when this is finished
Just blowing me away with the paint work

[aur0ra145]

Howdy all!

After a busy week of work and waiting for the stand to dry, I'm calling this one finished.

I'll dig out the light box tomorrow for some proper pictures. For now, here are a couple quick shots.

Thanks for all the comments and support on this build. It's been quite fun!

[krusty69]

way to push the envelope. it's fantastic when we pull something off.

[Hawkmoon]

Nicely done and looks good to me

[aur0ra145]

All done! The reveal thread is up!



Looks good in the display case too!

[Panzón]

Looks great!

[RangerNeil]

That is truly an amazing paint job. Congratulations!