Bandai 1:144 TIE Advanced X-1 & TIE Fighter
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And that's a wrap for the Bandai 1:144 Scale TIE Advanced X-1 and TIE Fighter escort... Given (in film at least) that the TIE Advanced X-1 only appeared in Star Wars: Episode IV - A New Hope, I attempted to replicate the light-grey colour scheme from this film. Subsequent films took on a darker almost blue-grey colour for TIE Fighters and variants.
The Good:
- Like every other Bandai Star Wars kit I've assembled, they are high quality moulds with excellent fit
- These are easy little side projects that I like to either work on while waiting on the mailman or while materials set/dry on works-in-progress, because they can be brought to a satisfying finish relatively quickly without causing a population explosion in the spread of unfinished projects
The Bad:
- Not 100% happy with the paint job here
- New-Years-Day-Hungover PR should've airbrushed the black wing panels and then masked off until the rest of the model was painted. Had alot of issues with paint consistency, which still wasn't correcting after three coats and subsequent touch-ups! In the end I simply couldn't be arsed trying to mask off the wing struts and airbrushing
- Given the smaller scale, I should've just been more patient with a thinner broad-wash or relied on more precise pin-lining to accentuate recessed details instead of going full-dark and relying on dry brushing to highlight the raised areas. This created a dusty, chalky-looking finish but fortunately the final clear coat has somewhat mitigated
- Might reattempt with a full-replacement kit in the future
The Ugly:
- Tools to progress to painting Panther G won't arrive until after the work week starts... I have another four kits I could start, but I should probably behave and actually do those summer holiday jobs I told myself (and the wife) that I'd do... [Future me confirms that past me did no such thing and started an Airfix 1:72 Tiger I]
