My X-Wing build

[joewhite]

I could have sworn I started a thread of my build here but I guess not. So, you can catch up here if you like....My X-Wing Build at The RPF

Basically, I started with the V3 and the intention of making hollow wings for it. I tried as much as possible not to directly copy Mike's kit and actually only lightly referenced them after my own research and measurements from the ref I had.

I think I did ok and came up with some cutting templates. I put that project on hold for a year or so and was finally able to track down a butt-load of rare kits...a few of them needed on thie X. So, armed with the actual kit part dimensions, I set out on accurizing my templates. Unfortunately, I learned that I had to completely start over. As we all know....the kit parts don't lie! This also mean't that I could not use my wings on the V3 due to shrinkage of the kit. My wings would be too large. So, I went with the Frank Pyro body.

Now, I'm finished with a new set of templates. My first cut should be in my hands by Friday. I'm confident that they are as accurate as possible...according to the ref... and are made to match the Hero wings.

Never mind some of the minor discrepancies in my 3D screenshots...lol! I fixed them. The last two pics are art board mock-ups bumped up against the Frank pyro.

Joe

[JAWS]

Very nice.
Will be watching progress on this Joe.

[darkimmitator]

Great stuff . Will be following this as well .

[Stefan Hacker]

Sweet! Looking forward to see more.

[joewhite]

I picked up the single wing parts from the cutter today. Things looked good. There were some tiny discrepancies but nothing major. I put together most of the parts really quick. I still need to putty the seams, scuff the surface and primer. The most important part is that the dimensions stayed true for the most part. The laser took a very tiny slice off the edges...not much, something in the thousandths of an inch.

You can see the engine box assembled in the 2nd and 3rd pic. The 4th shows the Saturn can inserts. And the final pic are most of the parts loosely assembled. I wanted to make sure the Sealab and Harrier parts which make up the engine cans met up properly. They did. I am super stoked!

Joe

[wizardofthenorth]

This is great, TY. A virtual step by step.

[Wombat]

Looking good there Joe and it's great to see things are going together as you planned.

I take it this first wing was so you could see how you dimensions were and now you'll go with what you worked out for others or are you doing one at a time?

[Stefan Hacker]

Very nice work so far Joe! Love it!

[joewhite]

Thanks so much, guys!

Phil, yeah, this is the test wing for my build. However, I would actually love to offer sets to those interested! I can't imagine enough people would need sets of hollow wings to get a run going but I could be wrong. I will work out a few kinks with this first set.

Joe

[Stefan Hacker]

Hey Joe would be nice if you could put the original wing of the kit next to your wing patterns for comparison. Did you change the size? I also have a V3 waiting for me.

[joewhite]

Here's some more progress on my armature.

Joe

[Wombat]

Your drawings look fantastic there you talanted bastard you..LOL Got some ability there Joe, nice work!

As for hollow wings selling well, you never know. If i was trying to build a hero version of the X then i would be down for a set. Looks great what you have there already and look forward to watching your build progress.

[Tsophika]

You gonna model the hull too, Joe? Get that sucker printed?

[joewhite]

Phil,
Dude, thanks for the kind words! LOL! I'll keep an eye out if anyone needs wings.

Craig,
Man, that would be awesome. Unfortunately, I don't know if I could sit in front of the monitor for that long to model the hull! LOL! My friend has been asking me to send him some files for the 3D printer....hmmmmm.....hehe!

[dbhs]

That looks great. I've been doing a little acrylic laser cutting. One thing I found is that adding the scribe lines on by using the laser to etch the acrylic worked really well. But the scribe lines in the acrylic made it weak and with just a little pressure the acrylic would snap on these lines.

[joewhite]

These lines were cut about 50% of the way through, a little too deep I thought. But the panels hold up well and are quite strong.

Joe

[Wombat]

That sounds a little deep to me as well and agree with Doug that scribe lines on acylic do seem to make it a lot weaker along those lines which just means some careful handling is required.

[joewhite]

(09-28-2013, 12:01 PM)Tsophika Wrote: You gonna model the hull too, Joe? Get that sucker printed?

I took your advice on modeling the hull, Craig! It's mostly to confirm that my armature will fit the Pyro. It looks like my homework has been paying off. In an open s-foil position, the L-bars rest at an acceptable angle compared to the hull.

Also, since it only makes sense to make everything symmetrical, it may or may not look off to our SS eyes. LOL! Some of the planes had to be corrected to make logical sense and coincide correctly with the sorrounding panels. It goes against my somewhat anal retentive nature in regards to model making but I'd probably spend the next two years trying to incorporate every little flaw. F that! I'm happy imagining that this is the way ILM would have built these models if they had all this fancy software and 3D gadgetry.

Joe