T.I.E. X-1

[Splashcoat]

Here are a few pictures of my build-up of MPC’s 1/32 scale TIE X-1 Advanced Fighter (a.k.a. Darth Vader’s TIE Fighter). Much has already been written about this kit’s notorious fit problems so I won’t go into detail regarding that area. I eliminated many of the gaps resulting from poor alignment/warping of the hull halves with heavy clamping during initial glue-up and used filler on the rest of the gaps. I also needed to fill in a chunk which had been broken off of the upper edge of one of the solar panels; I simply glued in a piece of thin styrene and sanded it to blend in with the surrounding plastic.









I built the kit mostly out of the box; I just filled in the holes used to locate the conjectural landing gear and replaced the troll-like Darth Vader figure with a seat from a Jeep Cherokee kit dressed-up with bits of plastic and a few greebles from the parts box. I also scribed panel lines around the front and sides of the cockpit ball as these are totally absent from the kit molding yet clearly visible in photos of the studio model.





To make attachment of the solar panels a bit easier, I drilled a small hole through the panel an into the wing support pylon underneath. After applying glue I drove a small self-tapping screw through this hole to keep the solar panels in alignment until the glue set.





The finished product:

[Old_Tonto]

Very cool.

It looks pretty big!

[shangos70]

I agree its a pig of a kit, took me a good few rounds of sanding and filling to get things to look something like. Well done with the extra detailing, I just did mine oob.

Mine is a the link below.

http://uamf.org.uk/viewtopic.php?f=20&t=1671;

[MarkyM607]

That figure looks more like Darth Fisherman than Darth Vader!!!. Cracking result though, nice one.

[general rocket]

You've done a good job there.

[Dirkpitt289]

Bravo, Well done

[Chris]

Stay on the leader!

Looks very cool.

[ShaunW]

Whenever a manufacturer claims on the box that their product is an easy to build kit you can bet your life that it won't be You've done an excellent job and that is a great looking model.

[IvanV22]

Really Great work, I like it!!