Defender Of The Empire

Fictional / Behind-The-Scenes Background

With the transition from the Galactic Republic to the Galactic Empire, the Republic Navy's older starfighters such as the Eta-2 Actis class interceptor and the Alpha-3 Nimbus (V-Wing) fighter began to be phased out of service. To replace them, the Imperial Navy ordered the new TIE starfighters from Sienar Fleet Systems. The design of the TIE starfighters however bear strong relationships with the earlier fighters (designed by Kuat Systems Engineering) as Sienar had acquired designers, engineers and key assets from their competitor. The mass-production TIE/Ln fighter was derived from the original T.I.E design, which 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. .

The TIE fighter sported different power generators for engines and weapons, removing the need to balance between engine and cannon power. The lack of shielding, life support and hyperdrive, although a liability, conferred extra maneuverability due to lower mass. The wings are actually a collection twelve solar panels that collected sonar energy and directed it towards the fighter's systems. Flight controls were considered intuitive and easy to master. However, with the lack of deflector shields, the TIE series are pretty easy to destroy and the craft and its pilot are considered to be expendable. Their pilots were instructed to ignore their own well-being in order to achieve their objectives. But with the Imperial navy's vast size, mass-production of the craft and ready supply of pilots, the matter is not of concern to them. The TIEs were designed to attack in large numbers. So many were build and used that they became the symbol of the Empire's military might.

The TIE Fighter is armed with a pair of relatively powerful Sienar L-s1 laser cannons which can take out enemy starfighters or medium transports with just a few shots. No missile launchers were carried although it can be refitted as such. Due to the lack of life support equipment, pilots have to wear fully sealed flight suit. In combat, without any shielding, they have to rely upon the maneuverability of their craft to avoid catastrophic battle damage. The Empire viewed the TIE fighters as expendable, together with their pilots and the latter were expected to consider themselves as such, in accordance with their ideological training. Meanwhile, the absence of hyperdrive unit means TIEs are fully dependent upon carrier ships, be it a modified bulk carrier or a Star Destroyer.

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Originally starting as a part of three sketches drawn by George Lucas the other two being the X-Wing and the Death Star) and shown to Ralph McQuarrie, the TIE fighter was created by Industrial Light & Magic's Colin Cantwell for Episode IV : A New Hope while the distinctive sound was created by Ben Burtt by mixing the sound of an elephant call with a car driving on wet road. Grey was used as the primary colour of the TIEs as the original maroon was found to blend too quickly into the star field background when moving away from the camera. The TIE Fighter models used in A New Hope was painted light grey while those in the next two movies were blue-grey in colour. Although the acronym 'TIE' went back as far as Lucas' first draft, he originally didn't seem to have anything in mind (an ILM employee supposedly suggested that it simply referred to the bow tie-like shape). Eventually Joe Johnston suggested the 'Twin Ion Engine'. 

The Kit

Bandai's Imperial TIE Fighter is another member of Bandai's release of Star Wars kits from the end of 2015 (and now including all the canon TIEs so far, except for the TIE Bomber). As was its brethren, the kit is basically of the easy assembly type and like its mates, do not be put off by the snap-tite method of assembly as it is very well detailed. Breakdown of the parts are basically similar with the First Order TIE Fighter although the wings' outer frame was separate from the spars and hub. Unlike the Bandai Star Wars kits I have built before, the TIE Fighter kit didn't have Bandai's trademark multi-coloured mouldings on a single sprue (the monocolour of the TIE preclude it, I think). Two figures were included; the one in the piloting position is as stiff-looking as others in the series. The display base is there but now featuring a landscape of the Death Star. The double-hinged display stand is also more curvier than the other kits I have made. As before, the assembly and paint guides were entirely in Japanese with generic colour call-outs.

Construction

As usual with flying things, even fictional ones, construction started at the cockpit. The lazy bug strike again so I decided not to paint the interior and just applying dark wash to pop up the details. To further save some time, stickers instead of decals were used for the uh, 'decorations' inside the cockpit. The hand-less pilot was also unpainted although decals were used for the Imperial insignia on the helmet. The cockpit shell halves were then mated together. The snap-tight construction means that there was actually no need to dab cement on the joints but a bit was needed here to seal a slight gap. The cockpit assembly was then trapped between the fuselage halves. The male and female coupling on the parts were too tight (stop giggling back there!) and caused a sizeable gap. I cut down the male part down and afterwards the parts fit like a glove! As with Bandai's other Star Wars kits, two style of cockpit transparencies were provided and I used the clear plastic ones. The smaller parts were attached (and cemented, just in case) and it was set aside.

By the way, it was widely known that the modelmakers of the original studio models made use of off-the-shelf components from toys and scale models in building their models. Scale model manufacturers like Bandai and Fine Molds before have replicated this for their Star Wars kits. In the TIE kit, the most noticeable were wheels (recognizable as a Ferrari I guess) at the hub of the wing and a tiny one half of a Sherman VVSS suspension unit at the rear of the fuselage!

Painting and Decalling

I decided not to use the colour callouts in the instructions and browsed for alternatives. As mentioned before, the TIEs in A New Hope were painted light grey but were changed to blue-grey for the following two movies. I elected to have my TIE in the latter colour and used Tamiya TS-32 Haze Gray after reading the general view of other builders. Some trimmings on the fuselage were painted XF-54 Dark Sea Grey while the viewscreen frames was painted Vallejo 71.097 Medium Gunship Grey. The wings were painted Tamiya XF-69 NATO Black. As I don't have any shade of orange in my stock, I simply mix Flat Red and Flat Yellow to paint the cannon muzzles. Since the trimmings were painted, none of the decals nor the rest of the stickers were used for the model. The display stand was painted XF-85 Rubber Black while the display base was painted Tamiya AS-26 Light Ghost Grey.

Finishing

The model first received a pin wash. Although covered in acrylic and lacquer paints, I was still hesitant to use enamel-based weathering / finishing products on the model having heard the horror stories of disintegrating Bandai plastics when exposed to enamel products. So I just I use dark grey acrylic wash. The display base however remain as it is. When its time to place the model on the display mount, I belatedly realize that I have cemented Part B4 into place! So the mounting plinth has to be superglued directly to the bottom of the model. This also require the removal of the original stub on the pedestal and sanding details off the spot where contact were made. This also means that the model is displayed in 'straight and level' attitude.

Conclusion
The Bandai TIE Fighter is a snap to build (pun intended). There were not many parts, paint was straightforward (just three colours effectively) and being fighters of the spit-and-polish military means not much weathering. If you're really lazy, 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!).