Star Wars A-Wing Kit Masters 1/24th Scale

Page Number
And Now...
The Engine Lump...
And I Got Some Removal To Do.
Welcome back to the hellhole gang, how goes it people ?

Right then, moving this...thing...along we get to the main engine part.
Now there be only one, the trick being to cast two of from the one mould...yeah...right.
I know what ya thinkin', "What's wrong with that idea?"

Well nothing really but i want just a smidgen of surface detail, an access panel or two and i want a mirror image for the otherside so...
A wee bit of reworking and anyways, since i'm going to be offering lighting as standard, little bit of work to do.

So then, first to remove the unwanted material.
So out with me 1" auger bit and off we go...well sort of...here is said engine lump...



Now the bit was removing stuff at a fair rate so all good there...well right up untill the bit started bouncing up and down...no i'm not kidding.
So casting my peepers inside i found this...

After a poke about with a toothpick, the dark stuff turned out to be clear rubber sealant...a lot of it.







So i got in there with a pair of needle nose pliers, got a grip and gave a pull...





And i was left with a fairly substatial hole.

I thought the flat of that part felt oddly spongy.

Now most folks know me and i'm not one to complain much but this kind of amaturish hack job done on the cheap really annoys me.
And this stuff was made by a supposed 'pattern maker'
I have not the slightest clue where the person concerned did his pattern and tool making apprenticeship (if at all) but it was no bloody place i'm aware of for crying out loud !!

Rant over, onward !

So the next little deal was to make a dish for a light reflector, que one plastic dome and some heated plasticard...

Just a wee slice down and trim up, carefully shove into position and run some epoxy round the back.
A dab or four of putty on the inside and sand the living daylights out of to make smooth.

Back filled the large hole with some resin so packed out and solid...this time...Cleared up a few surface defects and made smooth.
A goodly blast of primer and we have...



Now this will be moulded and two cast off to make the engines proper and fit them out to accept LEDs.

So then, one last thing, i do like the Revell Tomcat engine ring so duly robbed one from the kit.
Cut off the rear pipe bit, sanded the living manure out of it and we ended up with...

Nice.
Drilled out the center and it sits in the engine rear like so.



Aye, that'll about do it methinks.
So on the subject of lighting, had an idea...i get that now and again you know...
So decided as a 'use or loose' thing to throw in i'd include two of these run up on dry rubdown decal paper.



The idea is simple, these will be on 5thou clear sheet, just cutout and install.
Here's one 'as is' in a rough setup without and with a light at the back.



Same again but with the engine piece in.



Well kinda different but i'll leave it to the builder as to wether they wanna use them or not.

Well last but by no means least, here's a few pics sent to me by someone who bought one of the original run of kits cast Stateside i do belive.
Just thought you may like to see what was originally put out...

At a cost of $200 per kit.



















I can't swear to it but i don't think the cost included the elastic band...
No, before you ask, my kits are not going to be that expensive and i am not talking $199.99 either so be patient, all will be revealed soon enough me modeling mates!

And that's it for this wee update such as it is, more to come i assure you.
Go easy you merry lot!

Page Number