Star Wars: Episode 1

Times Visited

When I saw this new movie that I have been awaiting for the last 16 years, I was completely blown away. As soon as I got out of the theater I went to the store and picked up all the new models I could find. Needless to say, there were very little to choose from... 3 in all and I got all three. This model took me a little time and alot of research. First off, I jumped into the model head first excited with only the box to go by but after doing my research I decided to display my droids in all their modes of operation. As you can see from my before and after photo, it looks alot better then before.

Before Modifications	After Modifications

Note that I decided to paint the lettering on the display stand silver. Want to talk about something difficult to do! But, even though this model was a snap together and came with only 16 pieces I was more pleased with this one then the other because it required much more detailed painting. Now, after seeing the movie 6 times I got an excellent idea. Even though these things are small decided to cut 2 of these fighters apart to display the 3 modes of the droid. There is Flight mode where the wings are shut together creating one solid wing on both sides.

Flight Mode

Then there is attack mode where the wings open up in flight to expose the guns and prepare it for battle.

Attack Mode

And last but not least, there is Walking mode where the droid is at rest between battles, chilling in the hanger bays, waiting for orders.

Walking Mode

The walker was pretty easy, just using a Dremel cutting disk, I sawed the wings in two equal pieces. Then cut the "head" section out of the top piece half and a small section out of the bottom half. I followed the plate panel lines and also cut "L" shaped pieces just until I could bend them down about 10 to 15 degrees. Cutting out a notch on both wing halves where in the wings and body where suppose to fit, and then super glued the wings into the "walking" position shown above. For the neck, I took a piece of sprue and squared it off. Then gouged out a couple of areas on both sides of the squared off sprue to simulate the "girder" feel to it. Then using some putty, I filled in the bottom of the head and sanded it smooth. I finally glued it all together and viola. A Walking Droid!

Now, before I did any research all I had to go by was the box, which to my opinion wasn't very good at displaying the details. As you can see here in the next few pics the paint job I did prior to my research, the paint job was pretty messed up.

I decided on a dark tan color with rust panels and dry brushing of silver to give them a used look. I also used a blotting of silver along all the panel lines. Not alot but just a little to bring out the rustic feel of the craft.

This kit came with 3 droid fighters, all 3 fighters were "snap together" which meant no glue. Each fighter only had 3 pieces to "snap" together which I think made it easier to put back together if it ever fell off your shelf! The painting made this model lots of fun!

For the front "sensor" grid, I painted this with a gloss red with 4 dots of gloss yellow in both sensor areas to give the sensors more of a realistic look. All in all I'm pleased with this model and think that anyone should have fun painting this one.