TIE In The Sky

Fictional / Real-World Background

To replace Republic- and early Galactic Empire-era starfighters, the Imperial Navy ordered the new TIE starfighters from Sienar Fleet Systems. The mass-production TIE/Ln fighter took its designation from the Twin Ion Engine propulsion employed by the craft. The engine utilised microparticle accelerators to agitate ionised gases to relativistic velocities. The engine also featured ion stream deflector manifolds for pinpoint maneuvering accuracy. The stream of particles gave the engines a distinct 'howl' which became one of the hallmarks of the TIE series of starfighters. However in order to reduce the mass  and energy consumption, hyperdrive system, shielding and life-support systems were removed from the design, making the craft more vulnerable to even micrometeorite strikes. 

While a good space superiority fighter, the TIE/Ln's performance fell in planetary atmosphere. The Imperial Navy then decided to build a small number of experimental fighters derived from the basic TIE design. These were known as the TIE/sk x1 air superority fighter or TIE/sk atmospheric fighter or simply as TIE Striker. The craft is a more streamlined version of the TIE Fighter and was specialised for in-atmosphere missions. Due to it's speciality, it was one of the rarest version of the TIE. The Striker feature horizontal and pointed wings designed for atmospheric combat. The wing also helped improve the TIE/sk's VTOL performance. Additional speed can be gained by curling down the wing which is also the craft's attack mode. The TIE Striker is armed with two pairs of Sienar L-s9.3 laser cannons and a pair of H-s1 heavy laser cannons which can take out enemy starfighters or medium transports with just a few shots. An unknown number of VL61-79 proton bombs are dispensed through a  chute underneath the fuselage for ground support missions and is effective against vehicles while also dealing heavy damage over a fairly large area. 

Although intended to be an atmospheric fighter, the TIE Striker can still be used in space, accompanying the standard TIE Fighters. It is also useful to transfer personnel and supplies from orbit to planetary surface due to its larger pod/fuselage. By the time the Galactic Civil War erupted, the TIE/sk was used to defend important Imperial bases, most notably the Imperial security complex on Scarif. TIE Strikers remain in use throughout the conflict. The Imperial Admiralty however frowned upon the TIE/sk, seeing it as a result of indecision and wasteful expenditure such as atmospheric streamlining, pressurised life support and ground support weaponry. Its pilots however were anamoured by such novelty.

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The TIE Striker was a new design developed for 'Rogue One : A Star Wars Story', the first of 'anthology' series of Star Wars movies as the movie has scenes of in-atmosphere dogfighting at the planet Scarif.

The Kit

Following the release of Rogue One : A Star Wars Story, Bandai came up with the then-latest member of the TIE family in 2017. Size-wise, it was roughly a bit longer than the Rebel Y-Wing Fighter. The well-engraved parts are spread among five sprues including two in Bandai's distinctive multi-coloured sprue - one sprue in grey and black and the other in grey, black and green. Also included are the frames-only canopies and viewscreen. As with previous kits, the TIE Striker kit can be build-up without cement. The wing panel, like on the TIE Fighter kit, is trapped between the outer frames. A display stand is included by I'm not sure whether it's stable enough for this kit. A cut-out of an Imperial TIE Fighter pilot is also included  Markings are of the usual stickers and waterslide variety and there is also the usual 'laser bolts', 

Construction

As usual with flying things, even fictional ones, construction started at the cockpit. The interior was painted FS36375 Light Ghost Grey although I didn't bother with washes as the interior would be nearly invisible with the roof in place. Stickers were used for interior detailing. The hand-less pilot was also unpainted although decals were used for the Imperial insignia on the helmet. The cockpit interior halves were then mated together. This was followed by assembling the fuselage proper. The snap-tight construction means that there was actually no need to dab cement on the joints but a bit was needed on the forward portion to seal a slight gap. The TIE Striker is a two-seat craft although Bandai didn't bother with the rear cockpit as nothing could be seen anyway through the clear openings in the canopy. Some smaller parts were attached (and cemented, just in case) and the fuselage was set aside. The wing assembly is left off until after painting. I however forgot to paint the area under the rear canopy black. While not really visible from the outside, the empty interior is quite plain to see under a strong light source!

Painting and Decalling

Using my previous builds of Imperial TIE Fighters as a guide, the TIE Striker was Tamiya TS-32 Haze Gray. Unlike other Imperial TIE designs, the viewscreen frames and some small parts of the fuselage were painted Flat Black. The wing solar panels were painted Vallejo Anthracite Grey. The display stand was unpainted. Some small decals were then applied.

Finishing
The I started with the wing assembly. Nothing to shout here with the wings themselves as they fit very well. It was however quite a tight fit for the completed wing assembly to fit into its slot on the fuselage. The model was then given a wash. By this time, I am quite confident that the model can receive the enamel wash treatment and stuff from AK Interactive was used. The model then received a final coat of semi-gloss clear paint. It was then mounted on the display base. And talk about the latter, while it was basically the same as others in the series, it was just flat, plain plastic. Bandai however instructed the modeler to place the plinth in the opposite direction to ensure balance.

Conclusion

As with just about other Bandai's Star Wars model kits, the TIE Striker is a snap to build (pun, more or less, intended). There were not many parts and painting was straightforward (just two colours effectively) and not much weathering. Again, like building other TIE Fighters, you can even skip painting the interior as the cockpit is a virtual black hole and can hardly be seen from the outside especially if the clear plastic viewport and top hatch were used (the frame-only equivalent actually makes it easier to peer inside!).

Blade Runner

Fictional / Behind-The-Scenes Background

The B-Wing, or to give its full designation, the Slayn & Korpil A/SF-01 B-Wing assault starfighter began as as a development of Prototype B6 or 'Blade Wing', a craft designed by Quarrie, a Mon Calamari engineer at planet Shantipole as a part of Project Shantipole. It was centred around delivering large amounts of firepower within a thin, narrow and agile profile. Several of its features such as S-foils and gyro-stabilised cockpit originated from Clone War-era starships such as the V-19 Torrent starfighter and the T-6 shuttle. The prototype was used by a Rebel crew of Hera Syndulla and Sabine Wren to break the blockade of planet Ibaar, destroying one of the blockading Arquitens-class command cruiser, Quarrie awarded the B6 and his expertise to the Rebel Alliance to improve the craft while Wren volunteered to redesign the Blade Wing's weapons and targeting systems.

As an assault starfighter, the B-Wing was relatively poor space close-combat fighter as it was primarily designed as a blockade buster to destroy or disable capital ships. The craft is basically a flying wing with a cylindrical cockpit at one end, a weapons pod on the opposite end and an engine cluster in between. Two S-foils mounted on the engine cluster can be extended in attack configuration. The heavy armaments package comprised of two Gyrhil 72 twin blasters at the cockpit module, a cluster of an Armek SW-7a ion cannon, a Gyrhil R-9X laser cannon and a Krupx MG9 proton torpedo launcher at the weapons pod plus another proton torpedo launcher at the engine cluster and an ion cannon at each end of the S-foils. The unique gyroscopic cockpit control system keep the cockpit module horizontal no matter how the rest of the craft was positioned. Avionics package was on par with small capital ships and advanced targeting systems allow the crew of B-Wings to co-ordinate their attacks together.

Impressed with the debut performance of the Blade Wing, Senator Bail Organa arranged to have a starship manufacturer to further develop the craft. Slayn & Korpil, based at the Roche Asteroid Field and owned and operated by renowned Verpine shipwrights agreed to build them for the Rebellion. However despite the prototype being described by it's creator as 'agile' and 'fast', the production B-Wings were the complete opposite, despite eliminating the defensive gunner's position and its associated system and the composite-beam laser. It was slower and more ponderous than other starfighters of the Alliance and the Imperial Navy. It was also tricky to control and the advanced gyro-stabilised cockpit can only be mastered by the most skilled pilots. Intended to replace the venerable Y-Wings, its weaknesses meant that the Y-Wings soldiered on until the Battle of Jakku. Nevertheless, with good space superiority fighter escort, the B-Wing proved to be an excellent assault starfighter and bomber and can even be quite a handful in ship-to-ship combat.

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The B-Wing was designed by Joe Johnston and Bill George for Return Of The Jedi. The B-Wing got its name after the production crew labelled two new Rebel starfighter designs as 'A fighter' and 'B fighter'.  The name 'Blade Wing' was introduced in the Expanded Universe (now known as 'Legends') and was canonized in the Star Wars Rebels animated series. The Legends continuity have the B-Wing designed by the Rebel Alliance (led by Admiral Gail Ackbar) following the Battle of Yavin and therefore was only 'available' during the Battle of Endor and therefore did not take part in the Battle of Yavin. However, the new Star Wars canon have the B-Wing designed and operated before Yavin and therefore leaving plot holes in the continuity. The Star Wars Rebels series explained this apparent discrepancy by having that the B-Wings (and A-Wings) were the main fighters used by the Phoenix Squadron in Rebels while General Jan Dodonna's cell, based at Yavin were primarily equipped with X- and Y-Wings and only during the Battle Of Endor that the entire Rebel Alliance comes together and therefore the presence of all the fighters in ROTJ.

The B-Wing model, with its unusually thin shape was hard to film for blue-screen photography as it tended to blend with the star field and as a consequence some planned sequences featuring the B-Wing were cut from the original release of Return Of The Jedi.

The Kit

The Star Wars geek in me had a 'whoopee' moment when I read that Bandai have released a 1/72 kit of the B-Wing. The craft occupies a soft spot in my brain, having piloted it my youth playing LucasArts' X-Wing simulation game (and also fighting against it in 'TIE Fighter' where that gyrostabilised cockpit played a bit of mind trick while chasing it). I wasted no time in heading towards the local hobby shop and there it was, on the shelf. I did not hesitate to part with RM! The parts are spread among eight sprues with Sprue A moulded in Bandai's signature multi-colour parts, this time including clear parts for the canopy. The display stand is clear plastic plus the tinted clear plastic for the laser bolts (I strongly believe that Bandai should have included electric blue-tinted plastic to simulate ion blasts). Initial browsing of the instruction sheet shows that the model is poseable either in a 'vertical' or horizontal' mode and the smaller wings can be posed open or closed. Markings as usual came either as stickers or waterslide decals. As with their other Star Wars kits, the B-Wing feature finely engraved and well-executed raised details.

Construction

Basically, construction can be divided into four sub-units : cockpit module, engine, main wing and secondary wing. And, as usual, construction started at the cockpit module. Also, as usual, the pilot's office was painted first. There are decals for some of the cockpit instruments but I prefer to paint them this time. The blaster cluster at the nose were also pre-painted at this time. Some dry brushing was done on the raised details inside the cockpit. The pilot figure and the canopy were however left off at this time. There was some gap at the rear of the module (perhaps due to the multi-part nature?) but it was nothing serious and can be easily overcome with a small amount of putty. The completed cockpit module was then placed in between Parts C2 and C5 which form the main component of the engine module. The cockpit remain moveable although quite tight due to friction between the module and the adjacent areas in front and the rear of the erm, 'throat'. Maybe I should've sanded it down.

The engine module include a clear part to be inserted inside the main 'bay'. Apart from adding strength and allowing the fitment points for the exhaust cones, it also functions as light conduit should you decide to add LED lighting for the engines. The secondary wings (which look like reversed and enhanced F-16, F-18 or F-5 wings) were next. No problems were encountered while joining the wing parts together but I do ran into a bit of a problem when trying to join the wings to the main body. Clear parts FB1-10 and -11 were used to join the wings and allow movement. This meant that the wings need to be aligned correctly when inserting the clear parts into the slots. This was to be quite difficult because of the very tight fit. I pulled the clear parts out and using a new blade, scraped lightly the grooves inside them. Afterwards, it was a bit more easier to push them into the slots. Oh, take note that the notched tab on Part FB1-10 and -11 is meant to be outward so that Part C4 can fit over them.

Finally the main wing (which looks like a wing from an F-14 or an F-111 kit). A word of advice first - if you want it easier to paint the junctions of the secondary wing, cut off the bottom of the large tab, leaving the semi-circles at the top so that the main wing can be assembled separately and inserted later. Anyway, I kept following the instructions to the letter and the main wing was completed and fixed to the main body. The main gun cluster was painted and assembled but it, along with the fairing and the light blue-moulded end of the main wing were left off at this time. The guns at the tip of the secondary wings were also left off to ease painting. Oh by the way, the fairing had a very tight fit and resulted in gaps towards the front of it. Again, putty was needed here.

Painting and Decalling

For painting, I resorted to the same colour used in my Y-Wing that is white with a bit of light grey (FS 36495) added although the ratio of the light grey is a bit less than the one used for the Y-Wing. The grey parts were painted a 70/30 mix of Tamiya XF63 German Grey and XF18 Medium Blue (effectively making it Panzer Grey). The blue parts were painted XF23 Light Blue. Unlike the previous starfighter builds, the B-Wing has quite a number of decals to be applied. This, intriguingly include a USAF-style shield-type unit badge and a number of stencils. While most of the latter are illegible, a few are quite big enough to read. I didn't due to failing eyesight and not having a magnifier at hand. They do look like Roman alphabet though. Anyway, all went in without any trouble except for a three-part roundel. You need to cut off the carrier film for that particular decals as much as possible to ensure a better fit over the raised details. I also elected to paint the decals near the wingtips of the secondary wings. 

Finishing

The pilot figure, which was done during the kit painting process, was placed inside the cockpit. His flight suit was painted German Red Brown as I think it closely matched the suggested paint mix. The skin tone is XF-57 Buff (as he is a Sullustan, not a Human, mind). Although I managed it during the Y-Wing build, I chose not to use enamel-based wash for this kit. Instead, I use water-color based sludge wash technique on all engraved panels and some of the raised details. Enamel-based AK Interactive stuff was however applied on areas not adjacent to connecting panels to avoid it leaking into bare plastic. And just to test my AK Weathering Pencil, I applied the Gun Metal pencil on the muzzles of the laser and ion cannons. The main cannon cluster was then attached to the main wing (again without the need for cement) and followed by the ion cannons at the end of the secondary wing. Bandai provided a different style of display stand for the B-Wing although the 'regular'-style stand is available separately. The clear sprue for the stand however include a number of items but there are no indications on how to use them and I just use the recommended stand. To conserve space in my display cabinet, the B-Wing was put in a vertical position.

Conclusion

Another fine kit from Bandai and I was not disappointed. The kit feature fine detail and a hassle-free construction. I think the area which need a little bit of effort is concerned with the connection of the secondary wings with the fuselage and the fairing of the main gun cluster. And by the way, you can customize and/or weather it the way you like it as (1) it was a sci-fi model and (2) it did not enjoy much screen time so NOBODY can say that your model is 'wrong'!   

 

"Watch Out For Those Towers!"

Fictional / Real-World Background

Koensayr Manufacturing BTL series of starfighters, better known as the 'Y-Wing' can trace its origins to the early Clone Wars era. The Galactic Republic commissioned the type as a combination of fighter and long-range bomber to supplement the V-19 Torrent and Delta-7 starfighters. Acquired by Jedi Knight Anakin Skywalker in an unsanctioned mission to retrieve the still-prototype craft, the BTL-B was used in an attack on General Grievous' flagship, the Malevolence. The success of the attack by the Shadow Squadron prompted Koensayr to develop other variants of the craft, including BTL-S3 and BTL-A4. The original BTL-B established the shape of the series with two large ion jet engines with their characteristic nacelles. The engines were carried by a cross wing which connected to the cockpit module on a central spar. The BTLs have a tendency to run hot which necessitated a complex cooling system throughout the craft.

Although production has started, the end of the Clone Wars and the rise of the Galactic Empire stopped any further production as the new Imperial Navy shifted towards capital ship-based  space superiority doctrine. As Koensayr lost their government contracts, the surplus stock of BTLs were sold to local planetary defence units although Imperial intervention caused many units remain unsold, being repossessed or sent to the salvage yard. As the BTL-B models were scrapped first, this made the -A4 version being the most numerous of the fighter. These idle craft became the focus of the nascent Rebellion in order to arm themselves. BTL-A4s were either purchased, or most of the time, stolen from military surplus dealers and scrapyards. Soon, the so-called Y-Wing fighter became the most common craft in the Rebel arsenal.

As mentioned before, the BTL-A4 is the single-seat version of the BTL-B with the second crewmember replaced with an astromech droid. For power, the craft had a Novaldex power generator and Thiodyne 03-R cryogenic power cells. Two Koensayr R200 ion jet engines were attached to either side of a central spar. At the front end of each engine nacelles were domes which contain  Fabritech  ANx-y long-range sensor arrays, PA-9r long-range phased tachyon detection array and PG-7u short-range primary threat analysis grid. Hyperspace capacity was provided by a R300-H hyperdrive mounted at the rear of the spar.  Armament comprised of a pair of forward-mounted Taim & Bak IX4 laser cannons, a pair of Arakyd Flex Tube proton torpedo launchers (with a payload of 8 Krupx GR7 proton torpedoes, or concussion missiles, ion torpedoes or proton bombs) and a pair of  turret-mounted ArMek SW-4 or SW-5 ion cannons (as the BTL-A4 is a single seat craft, the cannon was usually fixed to fire forward or towards the rear). While factory-fresh Y-Wings featured armour plating around the engines the central spar, Rebel technicians stripped them off to ease maintenance.

As the Alliance's workhorse starfighter, the Y-Wing was involved in numerous minor and major engagements during the Galactic Civil War including the Battle of Scarif, Battle of Yavin, Battle of Endor and Battle of Jakku.

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The Y-Wing design is based on a concept art by Ralph MacQuarrie. As with the X-Wing design, the attack fighter was given the name 'Y-Wing' due to its resemblance to the capital letter Y when viewed from above. The fighter's rough appearance was the vision of Joe Johnston who envisioned that the factory-spec fighters were chopped and stripped like a hot rod by Rebel technicians.

The Kit

Bandai has been busy releasing kits of the Star Wars franchise vehicles and characters since acquiring the Star Wars licence from Disney.While I was quite skeptical before, all of the feelings were unfounded after building a number of their kits. The Y-Wing was released in 2015 and it featured all the hallmark of Bandai, including the multi-coloured sprue. The kit, as with most other Bandai Star Wars (or any other kit produced by them) is snap-fit but without the problems of old-style models of the same style of assembly. The raised details look very good and would benefit from washing process. As before, there are two types of canopies - one frames only without the glazing while the other is moulded in clear plastic. The latter can also be posed open. There were three pilot figures - one standing, the other two seated (one in the flight suit featured in Episode IV, the other in a suit featured in Episode VI). Two droids, an R2 and an R4 unit were also included. Markings were provided in decal and sticker form.

Construction

As usual with things that fly models, be it real or fictional, construction started at the pilot's 'office'. Although already moulded in black plastic, I painted it Vallejo Anthracite Gray as it looks more in-scale. The instrument and side panels can be painted as there are raised details. Alternatively, stickers or waterslide decals can be used after removing the said details. Too lazy to either paint or sand, I just apply the decals on the raised details. They however respond quite well to decal softening solution and that about covers it. The cannon barrels and the inside face of the coaming covering the barrel root were also painted before assembly. It should also be noted that the yellow trim seen on these ships in the movie was painted-on markings. Bandai however supplied them as a separate plastic piece, resulting in unnecessary panel line around it. The rear panel of the cockpit module include the rear cockpit transparency. This however is of the glazing-less type - fine if you want to use the frames-only canopy.

Construction then moved to the main fuselage. The moulding for this area is very nice and captures that rough, expeditionary feel of the original studio models. Also as a note of interest, the rear panel of the rear fuselage is a miniature of a Panther engine deck as used on the original studio model.The parts fit nicely with certain smaller parts need to be fitted to a larger part before being attached to the main body. Some parts didn't have positive 'snap-fitness' so I cemented them. The body of the astromech droid was painted but I didn't add any detail painting on it as it would be invisible inside the droid socket. I also didn't add most of the pipings seen on the surface of the rear fuselage as I think it would be better for me to add them after the fuselage has been painted.Also, due to some mis-handlings, the rail guards at the rear fuselage were bent. Anyway, just some gentle coaxing straightened them back.

Next up are the engine nacelles. Again the black-moulded parts were painted beforehand, this time with Burnt Iron. The nacelles are of multi-part assembly and some study of the assembly guide is needed to avoid mistakes. I painted the strip behind the sensor domes USAF Blue Grey (FS 32537) before adding the long, thin booms. As adding the thrust vanes at the end of the boom involved some fiddly handling, they were cemented (the glue, apart from securing the vane to the boom, also allow some friction allowing easier handling, at least to me!). Parts A5, A10 and B23 which are the landing gear doors, were also cemented as they did not securely fit into their slots plus I usually have my Star Wars models in flying pose. A piece of clear acetate was cut to shape and stuck to rear cockpit glazing while the central section of the canopy had the tab (to allow  it to be posed open) was cut. With that, the model is off to the paint shop.    . 

Painting and Decalling

Bandai's painting instructions are pretty generic and did not specify any particular brand. Browsing the internet, I came to the conclusion that USAF Light Gray (FS 36495) is the best colour. I used Vallejo 71.276 but added some variations. The exposed fuselage and the engine were painted 'neat' while the forward compartment and the sensor domes have the light gray added with white. I then checked with my Star Wars reference books on the colours of the pipings. The Star Wars Archive shows that the models used in filming have the same colour as the fuselage while the drawings in Star Wars Vehicles show them to be of a different colour. Diverging from erm, 'Canon' into 'Legends' the pipings were painted differently - some FS 36495, while others in Gunze Iron 2 and a mix of Gunze Brass and Silver.  The canopy frames were painted the Tamiya mix for US  BLUe Gray but somehow they were too dark for my liking - I lightened it up further with more Flat White. The few decals present were then applied as per the usual method. I intended the Y-Wing to be a rather generic Gold Squadron craft that took part in the Battles of Yavin and Scarif as depicted in the movies. So, the rather distinctive 'burn marks' were not added, just some 'carbon deposits' using Tamiya Weathering Master 'Soot'..

Finishing

I started by adding the engine nacelles to the rear fuselage. Again, no gluing is necessary here. Afterwards, the pipings for the rear fuselage were added. They mostly went in without problem but some locating holes were apparently too small requiring a bit of surgery either to the hole or the rod. There are quite a lot of them and I took several sessions to finish them ( I am a bit slower of late!). The work went slower when one of them broke and had to be repaired. The pilot figure was painted and then placed inside the cockpit. Since it was added after the cockpit had been completed, it was nearly impossible to fit his legs and so the legs were amputated at shin level. It also needed to be cemented to the seat as there are no tab-and-locating hole as with other the other kits. The canopy was put in place and I found that there is a gap between the rearmost canopy panel and the rear transparency. The model then received a wash with heavier application being done on the rear fuselage and the engine modules.  For the astromech droid, I  chose the R5 to add a bit more splash of colour. The whole model was then sprayed with Mr. Hobby Topcoat Flat Clear to finish. 

Conclusion

The geek in me continue to be awed by the range of Star Wars kits from Bandai. The details are well done while the construction is quite a snap (pun intended). My only comment with the kit was the rather disappointing fit of the pipings but the again, it might be just me. Anyway, building it was a breeze and allowed me to have a peace of mind before heading back into building another 500+ parts kit . Oh I forgot to mention about the turbolaser turret included in the A-Wing kit. It remain unbuild as I intended to display it together with the Y-Wing and an upcoming T-65 X-Wing fighter.  

Killer Of The Executor

Fictional / Real-World Background

The RZ-1 A-Wing Interceptor was manufactured by Kuat Systems Engineering, based on the R-22 interceptor, which in turn was inspired by the Delta-7 Aethersprite light interceptor. Although the R-22 passed maneuverability and speed tests, the Galactic Empire, which suceeded the Galactic Republic did not approve of its mass production. However, the monarch of Tammuz-an purchased a number of the R-22 prototypes for planetary defence. Because of its resemblance to a Tammuz-an ceremonial weapon, it was dubbed 'Spearhead'. Around  10 years after the end of the Clone Wars, several cells of what would become the Alliance to Restore The Republic managed to acquire  a number of Spearheads. A network of mechanics called Underground Engineers work on these highly customizable fighters. The frame of the R-22 was retained but the weapons were updated, new technology was installed and a pair of Novaldex J-77 engines replaced the original powerplants. The resulting craft was dubbed the RZ-1 'A-Wing' interceptor.

Because of the nature the Rebel Alliance operates, they have to use any readily available materials from the Alliance's Ordnance and Supply Command in order to build the new fighter. The earliest batch of RZ-1s was hand-built and sometimes using second-hand equipment. Not only this slowed down the rate of production; together with its complicated systems and general lack of quality control, it also aggrieved maintenance. The A-Wing was basically a cockpit attached to two engines.Its Novaldex J-77 Event Horizon engines were one of the most powerful engines available. The twin stabilizer wings require careful controls, else it could make a small turn ending as a massive spinout. Armament comprised of two Borstel RG-9 laser cannons and two Dymek HM-6 concussion missile launchers (6 missiles per launcher). The laser cannons can be rotated 60 up and down and can even be made to make a full 360-degree rotation. However the craft lack an astromech droid to manage the systems so the feature was rarely used, if ever.

A fast and powerful strike fighter, the wedge-shaped, 9.6 meter-long fighter came equipped with a hyperdrive. It was ideal for missions that require speed such as hit-and-run raids, surgical strikes on capital ships and intelligence gathering. Essentially a flying cockpit, the A-Wing require precision manipulation of the control surfaces without assistance from an astromech droid. Therefore only the best pilots could pilot an A-Wing without losing control. A capable pilot could emerge from hyperspace, engage the fighter's powerful sensor suite, streak around the objective and vanish back into hyperspace before the enemy can get its fighters aloft.The jammer however not powerful enough to fool larger vessels' systems and instead it became a homing beacon for the larger vessels' targeting systems. The wedge-shaped nose, apart from housing primary sensors, also acted as heat shield for atmospheric entry. It can be also used as a ram in a desperate, last-ditch effort to destroy enemy targets.

The A-Wing's finest hour came during the Battle of Endor. Grouped under Green Squadron, the A-Wings took part in the attack on the second Death Star. Two of the fighters followed General carlrissian into the incomplete battle station but broke off to draw away TIEs from the Millenium Falcon. One of the A-Wings, piloted by Arvel Crynyd (Green Leader) crashed into the bridge of the Super Star Destroyer Executor, which leads to the latter's destruction. The A-Wing proved to be aresilient design, and in its RZ-2 variant, is used by the Resistance in its struggle against the First Order, 30 years after the Battle of Endor.

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Created as 'A-Fighter' by Ralph MacQuarrie for Star Wars Episode VI : Return Of The Jedi, the new fighter originally has blue trimmings but was changed to red after considering the limits of contemporary blue-screen technology. The original Legends backstrory has them designed by General jan Dodonna and Walex Blissex in the aftermath of the Battle of yavin. The backstory was ret-conned following the release of the Star Wars Rebels TV series which explained the existence (prior to Endor) of the A-Wing as being one of the fighter types (the other being the B-Wing) used solely by the Phoenix Squadron of the Rebel Alliance while the Rebel cell under general Dodonna operates X-Wings and Y-Wings. Only during the Battle of Endor that these cells operate together, showing all types of fighters on-screen.

The Kit

Bandai hit the ground running when they were granted the licence to produce Star Wars model kits. The A-Wing was released in 2016 and featured all the hallmarks of the brand. The parts are spread among five sprues with Sprue A featuring multicoloured plastics well-known to Gundam (and now Star Wars) builders. Sprue B contains the main fuselage parts, The Black Sprue C has the cockpit parts (and also a mysterious flat pilot figure). Sprue D contains parts for the display stand, and intersetingly, a Death Star turbolaser turret tower while Sprue D has the 'laser beams'. The breakdown of the parts and by colour means that the model can be build without painting. This however only applies if you want to build Green leader's A-Wing and other references are needed if you want to build generic or other A-Wings  Rounding up the package are the usual choice of stickers or waterslide decals for markings.

Construction

As usual with things that fly (be it real-world or fiction), work started at the cockpit. And as per my usual style too, the parts were painted while still on the sprue and Vallejo Air Anthracite Grey was used. Details representing dials on the side panels were painted Flat White. The main 'instrument panel' was finished using the waterslide decal. The pilot figure was left off at this moment. Moving on to the fuselage, I found that you have to place B16, B17, C13 and C14 to the corresponding site opposite of the ones shown in the instructions, otherwise the upper half won't fit into the lower half of the fuselage. The cokpit module was then inserted (yes, no need gluing, the pegs fit snugly into place). Thge rest of the fuselage parts were then fitted,a gain without cement and without any problems. The sole exception was the wedge-shaped nose, as there is quite a bit of a gap between it and the fuselage. The canopy was also left off at this time.

The engine nacelles were next and take note that the tails are canted inwards and so it the arts are not interchangeable. But before doing anything else, the clear 'thruster port' inside the nacelle was painted Clear Yellow (the instructions say nothing about painting this particular part, mind). As for the rear fuselage panel, I cemented the four small nozzles in place as I feel that push-fit is not sturdy enough to handle the stresses of full flight maneuvers in combat (ahem). The nacelle-rear panel combination was then fitted to the fuselage just to see how it looks and was then removed to facilitate painting. The parts for closed landing gear doors were used as I do not intend to display the A-Wing on the ground, although the opened doors and the gears themselves get a place in my spares box. The cannons were assembled but set aside at this time. The model was then set aside for painting.

Painting And Decalling

As mentioned before, the very breakdown of the parts allow the model to be finished unpainted and (basically) still looks the part. Anyway, the white areas were painted Vallejo Gloss White which tone was 'warmed' up by adding a bit of Desert Tan. The red parts were painted Vallejo German Red Brown Primer which I think is spot on.The grey patches on the fuselage can be replicated using the provided decals (or alternatively, the stickers) but I chose to paint them.The darker patches were painted Tamiya XF-83 Medium Sea Grey while the lighter ones were painted XF-19 Sky Grey. Although originally leaving it in the main fuselage colour, the missile troughs were then painted XF-1 Flat Black. The main body of the cannons were also painted Flat Black with the barrels painted white. The muzzles have the same colour as the main trim of the fuselage. Again, decals and stickers were provided but I chose to paint the parts. The few decals were then placed on the models as per the usual routine.

Finishing

The model was first given a wash using stuff from AK Interactive. Excess fluid was removed by wiping it off in the direction of the 'airflow'. I originally wanted to add a bit more weathering effects (like panel fading and discolorisation) but decided that what I have is enough. The engine-nacelle assembly was then pushed into place and as tested before, did not need cement to make it stay in place. The now-painted pilot figure is placed into the cockpit and the canopy installed. There are two types of canopy that be used. Again, to ease painting, i used the one with the separate front frame. Both styles have separate rear frame and this latter item is quite a tight fit to get it into place. The model was then placed upon the provided display stand. I however did not use the Death Star turbolaser tower. That item is placed into storage and hopefully used in a future Y-Wing or X-Wing build. The whole assembly was then given a final spray of Flat Clear. 

Conclusion

The A-Wing is a neat little model. It actually builds up very quickly, in fact in effect, the basic assembly took only around an hour (although in practice, it was spread over a few days, in order to paint certain parts early on, waiting for the paint to dry, you know the drill). For a 1/72 scale kit, the detail is very nice and I obviously look forward to more Star Wars kits from Bandai (so many models, so little time! Excuses...excuses!)

'Boss' Fighter

Fictional / Behind-The-Scenes Background

In designing the TIE series of starfighters, Rath Sienar of Sienar Fleet Systems drew heavily from the designs of Kuat Systems Engineering, specifically the V-Wing and Eta-2 interceptor. While the main run of the TIE series feature no hyperdrive and deflector shields, experimental versions using technology from earlier craft such as Sienar's own Scimitar Star Courier were built. The first, dubbed TIE Advanced v1 featured basic shields and like the Scimitar, the S-foils could fold in around the cockpit when not in flight, conserving hangar space. This was followed by the x1 which became Darth Vader's personal starfighter. The x1 featured high-performance solar cells in the more angular wing than the v1. Lord Vader also specified a personalised cockpit to accommodate his armoured suit.

Like the regular TIE Fighters, a Sienar Fleet Systems I-s3a solar ionization reactor and paired P-s5.6 twin ion engines powered the x1. The spaceframe is entirely new with elongated rear deck and reinforced durasteel-alloy hull. The bent-wing solar array wings makes for increased surface area for more power and at the same time reducing the craft's profile. Although power was increased, the net effect was not much due to added mass and the fact that some of the generated power was needed to power the shield generators. Weaponry is the usual two L-s9.3 laser cannons. Provision was also made for a cluster missile launcher. The targeting system is more sophisticated than the regular TIE Fighters. However, the system require frequent adjustment in combat for best performance. A modest class 4 hyperdrive was fitted.

The x1 was used by Vader in the attack on the Phoenix Cell of the Rebel Alliance, resulting in the destruction their flagship. the Phoenix Home. During the Battle of Yavin, Vader piloted the x1 and succeeded in destroying a number of attacking X- and Y-Wings before being knocked out of battle following collision with a panicked wingman when the Millenium Falcon intervened. Vader's x1 spun out of control following the collision, allowing him to escape the destruction of the Death Star. Even so, the blast damaged the x1 and vader was only able to return to Coruscant following a rescue by Ciena Ree and Berisse Sai.

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The TIE Fighters of the Star Wars Universe originated as part of sketches shown by George Lucas to concept artist Ralph McQuarrie in order to give the latter a feel for the project. The first model was built by model maker Colin Cantwell  and was then modified and detailed by Joe Johnston. For filming, only one TIE Fighter cockpit was made and was used for all interior shots of the TIE Fighters, including Vader's. However, George Lucas later decided to have Vader's TIE distinct from the the other TIEs. As principal photography has already been concluded, Vader's ship should not stray too far from the basic design and Joe Johnston has to work one in a hurry. He turned to an unused (at that time) design dubbed 'TIE boarding craft' (which later materialised in The Empire Strikes Back as TIE Bomber). Modifying the design, he came up with with what was described as 'a next year's model TIE Fighter...one of gothic evil, as if the Empire fully intended for this to be terrifying psychological weapon'. The design was brought to life by model maker Steve Gawley.

The Kit

While the Star Wars Universe portrayed the x1 as a more advanced and complex version of the TIE series, Bandai's kit, released in 2014, is a bit more simple than the same company's TIE Fighter kit. The x1 kit comprised of parts spread among five sprues. Unlike the TIE Fighter kit, the black solar panels were moulded integrally with the wing frame (and causing extra masking job later on). Sprue A2 (cockpit interior) is the same with the one in the TIE Fighter. Two Vader figures were included - one seated, (again, no hands) and the other standing. A Death Star display base, but with different details was included. Markings are of the usual stickers and waterslide variety and there is also the usual 'laser bolts'.

Construction

The cockpit interior of Vader's TIE Fighter is the same with the one in the TIE Fighter kit, although to avoid the Dark Lord's displeasure and hence being Force-choked, the interior was painted, using Tamiya XF-19. Also, like TIE Fighter, stickers were used for the interior detailing. The front fuselage was then closed up and unlike the TIE Fighter, the fuselage halves fit perfectly from the start. Also of note, the tiny one-half of a Sherman VVSS is also present on the model. The cockpit front viewscreen was left off for painting while the cockpit frontal area was painted Medium Gunship Grey. The rear fuselage consists of two large halves with a few smaller pieces amd they snapped into place with just the smaller pieces being glued, just in case. The inside surface of the wings were then snapped into their places on the fuselage, instead of the main wing structure., to ease masking a bit. I also make sure I leave out Part A2-22 (or at least no glue it into place) so that the slot for the display stand won't be obscured.

Painting and Decaling

As stated elsewhere, the studio models for A New Hope was apparently painted Light Grey (or something similar). However, a number of sci-fi modellers mention that the TIEs in  A New Hope are actually the same colour as those in Empire and ROTJ and that includes Vader's TIE Advanced. So without further question, the model was painted Haze Grey using Tamiya TS-32 while the solar arrays were painted XF-69 NATO Black. A  few small panels and the viewscreen panel frames were painted Vallejo Air 71.097 Medium Gunship Grey. The cannon muzzles were painted a mix of X-7 Red and XF-3 Flat Yellow (since I don't have any orange paint!). As with the TIE (or for that matter, the entire Bandai Star Wars flying craft kits I have to date), the stand was painted black. As for the display base, it was painted Tamiya AS-28 Medium Grey while the stand was painted X-18 Semi-Gloss Black.

Finishing

The model first received a pin wash. And like the earlier of my Bandai kits, I was still hesitant to use enamel-based weathering / finishing products on the Tie Advanced. So I just I use dark grey acrylic wash. The display base remain plain and did not receive any wash. The build was finished when the model received a coat of semi-gloss clear paint. Unlike my TIE Fighter build, the hole underneath the cockpit remain accessible and the model was easily mounted on its display base. Although the mounting allows some'action' pose, I simply place the Dark Lord's fighter in a straight and level pose...just like it does in the Death Star trench. Oh, as before, the 'laser beams' were not used and discarded.

Conclusion

If my previous build of a Bandai Star Wars kit is a joy, this one is even more so due to its even more simple engineering. I heartily recommend the TIE Advanced to all levels of modelers especially novices as it is so easy to construct and display. And yes, I found that there are aftermarket PE set available for this kit for those who think that the level of detail is not good enough (or savour the work of attaching tiny brass parts onto small kit parts). But for the rest of us,OOB, the kit is very good and makes a fine addition to a Star Wars model kit collection.