MPC Darth Vader's TIE kits; old versus new!

Comparing MPC's newest release of their Darth Vader kit to one of the vintage releases! Not too many improvements, and I omitted certain parts (like the wing panels and the upper hull) because there are no differences between old and new releases. This was a pretty good kit to start with, save for the goofy as f*** Darth Vader pilot, but I was able to build a pretty nifty kit back in the day. I am looking forward to building both of these, but I am definitely making a humorous addition to the vintage kit! 😁

1. The main hull (dark grey is the new release, light grey is one of the vintage kits);

The retooled lower hull (left) omits the bottom panel (it is now on a separate tree, and is tooled to be more accurate) and the holes for the "landing gear" and original display stand are now gone.

2. The clear parts (the tree on the left is from the new re-release);

The parts tree on the left is the newly tooled version. The new pieces fit better, and excludes the display stand (the included dome base is better anways) and they include clear parts for the laser cannons!

3. Trees w/cockpit and wing panel parts;

The two pieces in the upper left are slightly retooled to be closer in accuracy to the filming miniature (see comparison pics below the light grey tree pic). Notice that the landing gear parts are still included. Other than those two parts, no noticeable difference in the rest of the tree.

4. Trees with pilot and other parts;

The newer Vader figure and bottom panel parts take the place of the goofy old figure from the original kit (see tree below). The top hatch also has improved fit and detail. The new bottom panel has the hole to accept the rod from the new dome base. There is a part to plug that hole if the modeller chooses another display option. Love the options!

The old figure looks like he's on the can grunting out a growler! 😂

Pretty much the same classic kit, but with much needed improvements! The new pilot, though kind of lame (he has no gloves for his fists! 😕), certainly beats the hell out of the original (seriously, he looks like he's on the can! 😅)! The revised parts for the TIE outside wing panels look better, and I love the improvements made to the lower hull! Definitely worth picking up the new version!

 

~Sean Kneeland, aka Zakuformer 

AMT's Refit Enterprise; "Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country" version, part 2

So, I didn't get her done by the end of February. I know, big shock, right? 😅

Rest assured, I have been working on her! I had a few points that needed more correction and I am so glad I addressed them before putting her all together! But mostly I've been sanding parts. There are so many parts to sand and putty and sand and putty... 😵

1. Here are the updated rec room windows!

These look so much better now! Still needs a bit more refinement but for the most part these are done!

2. Added a receptacle for the Round2 Dome base! Much, MUCH better than the original kit base! Also put in a bit of sheet styrene to cover the original hole from the original display base!

Aluminum tubing cut and fit, and secured with epoxy putty.

I purposely left the "strongbacks" off in order to eventually add some kind of tubing for a better display stand. Looks like my foresight was correct on this one, as I had made that decision many, many years ago!

Outside of the secondary hull, aluminum tubing cut and fit, and secured with epoxy putty. Also filled in the hole for the original display stand with thick sheet styrene that was cut and sanded to fit. Putty will be applied to any resulting gaps, but that tubing is in there to stay!

3. Added metal rods to the warp nacelle pylons! These were easy to install as these were from the version made for ease of wiring for lighting! These are simply held into place with some epoxy putty!

 

Thin steel rods were added through the channels that were there for lighting purposes. Since I am not lighting this one, no problem with doing that here!

The rods were secured at the top and bottom of the pylons with epoxy putty. This should reduce the chance of nacelle sag once they are added.

4. Added a "seat" for the saucer section to connect to the neck; this was made by sitting the saucer on the neck and packing in some epoxy putty, I used Parafilm M to "mask" the saucer. Still needs some sanding to shape and refine it further, but I love how the saucer just "sits" on it now!

The original putty before sanding

After some sanding to get it to it's correct shape

Everything coming together nicely!

5. Putting in the battle damaged hole through the saucer section! The hole in the bottom of the saucer was easy; the one in the top will be much more difficult! The hole on top will be completely cut out, and a new part inserted that will feature some inner detailing. It was apparent from watching the film that the torpedo blasting through from underneath did way more exit damage, kind of like how bullets tend to do more damage on their way out of a target!

 

The biggest bit of battle damage on the ship in the film was from a photon torpedo going through the saucer section. I simply drilled out a small hole and "chewed up" a bit of the hull plating around it with a hobby knife.

The damage to the upper saucer will take a bit more time and some imagination. I drew out the area I want to remove. I will replace it with battle damaged interiors that I can simply insert and glue into the hole. I expect this will take me some time. The other battle damaged points on the ship will be mostly painted on. I still have a couple of other points that may require some physical damage points, but those will not be as intensive as what I've got in mind for this one!

 

Addendum: I was able to add phasers and running light posts!!! It's amazing what one can do with a pair of good cutters and some Evergreen styrene bits! 😊

Added panels for the phaser turrets and light beacon!

This set of phaser banks is probably supposed to be located a bit more forward, but I really want to "disguise" the hole I covered up to be the area for this phaser bank and lower light beacon!

Disc cut with my Dispaie cutters and glued into place. This will be sanded down a bit and the rear light beacon post added.

The port gangway hatch, which is only represented on the molded kit as a circle with a line through it, was added courtesy of two sheets of thin styrene with a line cut through the center of the bottom sheet and added a top layer to that.

Added the post for the light beacon that sits on top of the rear of the bridge module.

Added the four phaser turrets and the light beacon post to the bottom of the secondary hull. I still have some more sanding to do, and then will add the emitter points to each phaser.

Beacon post installed!

Beacon post and phaser turrets added!

I'm going to try and have her done for a model show later this month. If not, I'll at least have an interesting work-in-progress for that show! 😁

 

~Sean Kneeland, aka Zakuformer