Star Wars T-70 X-Wing

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Next, I built the cockpit, that will be openable at the end.





And one pic with the mobo in place.



Then the body got some layers of spray filler.







Now that all small imperfections are visible, I started to apply body filler to those areas.

 

 

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After the spot putty was dry, I wet sanded the entire body and masked all areas to prepare it for priming.



And the primer.



Followed up with a first layer of paint. The color is called German Panzer Grey
After a thin layer of clear coat it really looks nice, and it is not too dark.
So I have enough room for a weathering later.





While the paint and clear coat on the body dried, I started working on the weapon part.



I started also with a layer of primer, and dabbed on some silber paitnt.
After a quick masking, those parts also got some Panzer Grey.







Then, I started with a first quick weathering. Don´t worry, I will add more layers later.
But, I want sp see all parts, before going further.



The front got also some attention already.

 

 

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Next, I added some more color to the exhaust. So it looks like its actually used.







For the wings, I masked all the areas for the next layer of orange color.



If you are interested, its a 50:50 mixture between Beasty Brown and Bloody Red from Vallejo Game Color.





Some more grey details were added. The front part of the turbine was dabbed with silver color to achieve
a more used look.



The body also became a orange and grey layering of color.

 

 

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Time is running out, so here we go with another update.
This time, I finished the BB-8 unit that will sit at the back of the X-Wing.

First, I printed and processed the BB-8



I filled in smaller gaps and coated all with some layers of spray filler. After some wet sanding,
one layer of grey primer followed.





Next, the first layer of color was applied. I sprayed on some white to give the BB-8
a nice uniform look to begin with. Then, I masked some spots for the first highlights.





Orange was dabbed on to give it a more used look and not make it look to perfect.
After the orange dried, I applied the silver parts.







For more depth, I used a very fine brush and colored all small gaps in black.
In addition, some small chipping effects were added. Therefore, I painted some spots black.
Then, silver paint was applied. But make sure to leave a thin rim of black to create a 3 dimensional effect.





Cause the X-Wing will be painted in a used look, and the BB-8 also has traveled to space a lot,
I needed to weather him too. I applied brown and black color on edges to make him look a bit dirty.



Now there were only two parts missing. The lights and the lense. For the lense, I used a left over,
I casted in resin for another project. It was sanded to fit in the BB-8 and hold by friction.
Two blue and one red LED were installed for a little illumination highlight. The entire unit also got a
wash with a mixture of black paint and water to dull down the white surfeces a bit more.
A servo is already included to make the head move to the left and right.

 

 

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To finish the project for the CMWS , I started to add a little bit more details.
I made some inserts for the turbines. And because I needed 4 of them I just thought it would be
a nice idea to try some mold making and casting.

I made a simple one part mold and casted the 4 pieces in Smooth Cast 300.

 

 

After some sanding, I could prime and color the parts.

 

 

 

 

They were glued into the turbine.

 

 

For the inner side of the wings, I also wanted to add details.
First I build something that should look a bit like an engine part.

 

 

Then I printed, cut and casted a lot of small parts for even more details.

 

 

They were partly combined into bigger pieces before adding a couple layers of spray filler.

 

 

 

After a quick wet sanding, all parts were painted.

 

 

And ofc installed. Here you can see a before and after.

 

 

 

I also added some details to the top part of the wing.

 

 

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In some designs, the T-70 X-Wing has another turbine/exhaust part at the back directly in the middle.
So I wanted to resemble this also. And ofc 5 exhausts look better then just 4.

I designed a simple part and 3D printed it. After some sanding you could really see the final form.

 

 

 

I found this small Cooler Master 60mm fan in a random box. I thought why not put it inside the exhaust.
Looks OK so far.

 

 

 

 

Then the part was painted in the same style as the other exhaust parts from the turbines.
Also the fan was glued into place.

 

 

 

at the end I made a first test fit on the main body.

 

 

 

 

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After adding the 5th exhaust, I reworked the other 4 also a little bit.
You might remember, I installed a normal RGB LED strip in each exhaust.
This maybe looks nice, but I dont have much controll over the LEDs.

So, I took some of my left over APA106 LEDs from the WOPR project,
which are indivudual adressable.

I wanted to install 8 LEDs in each exhaust the get a nice and diffused light.
All had to be connected to 104 nF capacitors first.

 

 

 

To make them fit perfectly and ensure an even distribution of light, I printed some spacers
and soldered the LEDs into place.  

 

 

 

 

The animation, I had in mind was something like a starting jet engine.
So maybe some explosions at start and then a fading effect from red to yellow to blue.
This indicates, the turbin will go up in speed. When blue, there will be some white light sparks,
giving the imnpression the engine is actually running. All is done with an Arduino Nano to save space.

Here are some pictures of the transition. More in the making-of video later.

 

 

 

 

I coulndt wait and had to install two wings and see the effect.

 

 

 

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While working on the electric, I soldered another light effect.
The 4 "lasers" should also shoot some light, two at each time.
So the left top and right bottom and vise versa at the same time.
Therefore, I made this simple circuit using two capacitors and two transistors.
You will see it later in the video.

 

 

 

I also reworked the motorization of the BB8 and switched from a servo to a
Arduino controlled stepper motor. Also, more in the video ^^

 

 

Then it was finally time to work on the inside of the X-Wing.
I started in the front section of the main body and applied some carbon vinyl.
Here the water tanks will be placed.

 

 

Ok, I added the water tank and the first fittings right after.

 

 

On the inner wall, I attached an RGB strip and soldered the controller right at the front.

 

 

 

Before working on the cockpit, I needed to spray paint the walls first.

 

 

To keep the design, I also applied some carbon vinyl to the inside. Also this was the time
to put the mobo into place.

 

 

I wanted to make the cockpit look more like an actual space ship cockpit.
So, I first make some empty panels to see my layout. The panel on the middle has a big hole in it.
Here I will make a cover later that can be removed to work on the cables.

 

 

 

After I decided what I wanted to place on the panels, I drilled in all needed holes.
Then LEDs and switches were placed.

 

 

 

The cover for the middle panel also got the typical symbol from the rebellion.  

 

 

 

 

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Next, the panels for the cockpit were put into place.
I added two more switches to the mid section. One is starting the water pump and the other
switches the temperature sensor on and off.

 

 

 

It was already visible in the upper pictures, but before I glued the panels in, I bend some acrylic
tubes for the water cooling and connected the CPU to the loop.

 

 

I think this is my very first mod where the drain valve is actually the lowest spot in the
loop. Its right at the front and easily accessible. It will be covered with the nose part later.
I already made a test, and I get like 99% of the water out of the loop this way.

 

 

The special Titan X GPU will sit in the back. The opening I planned before, was not big enough.
I just grabbed my Proxxon and made it a little bigger.

 

 

 

The edges were covered with aluminum profiles. This also added a bit more stability.

 

 

Luckily, my wife loves painting, so I got some help for the weathering. First all detail lines
were colored in a dark tone, to highlight the separation of the panels.

 

 

Then multiple layers of grey, brown and black color were dabbed on to achieve a used look.  

 

 

Now that the X-Wing is basically done, I needed a place for it. Its really hard to find
suitable tables in the right size and height, so I build my own one as a stand for the mod.
Yes, I build my own table for a case mod ^^

 

 

To hold the weight of the X-Wing, I constructed a large base from multiple layers of ply wood.
At one end, I included a steel pole. The top side will bear a smaller base, that will be directly
attached to the body of the X-Wing with screws.

 

 

 

 

 

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And some final pictures: