Huzzah!

I finished it!  I finally finished my X-Wing.  It was a long and sometimes frustrating journey, but ultimately fulfilling.  I look at this model and I see lesson after lesson.  They say learning new things keeps the mind supple and young.  Well, my mind must have regressed to that of a teenager with the amount I learned on this project.

I just took some cell phone pictures until I get some time to take a few better ones.  I hope this thing will fit into my Foldio.  It’s going to be nip and tuck.  I may not want to take better pictures though.  This model is best enjoyed from a distance.  When you look closer, all of those “lessons” become far more apparent.

I am happy with the results of my first scale model since I was around 15.  I look forward to doing my next one, which will be the Tie Advanced.  However, I have to finish the Judicator first.

New Tools

I got a couple of new hobby tools this past week.  The F-clamps were under half price at Canadian Tire which meant they were only about $10.  I think I can use those a lot in my scale modeling.   You  may wonder how a blusher brush could be a hobby tool.  Well, I leaned in the past month or so that during a long cold winter with the furnace on all of the time, there is a lot of dust.  If you don’t clean that dust off of your models before painting, you get crud in your paint job or clear coat.  Yes, this fool let that happen.  The blusher brush is a super soft brush that I’ll use to dust my models after they have been sitting before I do any painting from now on.  At around $6 at Wal-Mart, it’s a lot cheaper than a brush produced by a hobby company.

Just so you know, I’m still working on the X-wing and I’m hoping to have a post later in the week.

Pin Wash

I have continued work on the X-Wing this week.  I’m actually very impressed with myself.  I spent many hours on Luke’s chariot in my evenings.  As part of the whole trying new things theme I have going on with this build I decided to try a method of weathering called a pin wash.  This technique involves using an oil wash to fill the recessed panel lines by pressing a small brush to them and allowing capillary action to draw the wash into the grooves.  The brush leaves a small dot of the wash on the panel line.  After the wash has dried, a cotton swab dipped in mineral spirits is rubbed over the surface reactivating the oil paint.  The paint in the dot can now be manipulated to make greasy or dirty looking streaks across the surface. 

I tried pin washing out with limited success.  Part of my problem, I believe, is that my gloss coat was not smooth enough and thus gave the wash too much “bite” so it was hard to move around or even get out.  However, the results look passable and not too bad for a first try.  I’m going to try and add a bit more weathering with some powders and see if that gets it closer to where I want it.

I’m not far from being done.  A little more weathering, a clear coat, R2-D2’s head, the display stand and then final assembly.  I’m really looking forward to putting this thing on my shelf.

I can Play

You will notice the absence of “well” in the title.  Regardless, I finally made it out to the club for a game last Friday.  It had been months since I had been out.  I decided in the new year I would be a better nerd and make it out to the club more regularly.  I got a game in against Tyler who had brought his Circle army.  We played a Steamroller 2014 scenario, but I can’t remember which one. 

To make a long story short, I lost on scenario.  I still had lots of army left and could have given him a run if it hadn’t been for those damn control points!  I realized some of my mistakes, which didn’t make the loss any easier to swallow.  I misdeployed and couldn’t get my force to where it needed to go in time.  I was also not aggressive enough; a common failing of mine.  Finally, I rolled pretty crappy. 

I did have a good time and managed to knock some of the rust off.

Recharge

I’m back in the Frozen North again after a week hiatus on the south coast.  It was nice to able to run outside and just wear a light jacket for a while.  We even got some sunny skies in a region renowned for it’s rain during the winter.  We had a busy social schedule while down there visiting Jen’s family and friends, but it was still energizing.  But with beautiful vistas full of mountains to contemplate each day, it was hard to feel hard done by.

The warm weather is now long gone (it is currently –30C (-22F) outside).  The good news is that I haven’t reverted to video games and useless web surfing.  I have spent a couple of solid days at the hobby table.  I finished applying the decals to my X-Wing.  That turned out to be a long and painful experience.  The problem stemmed from my lack of skill and the steep learning curve as well as the quality of the decals.  The decals are very thick, so they don’t wrap over or around details.  They were tough to work with.   There was also the sheer number of decals.  R2-D2’s head had 5 decals all by itself and it is about the size of the end of your pinky finger.  But, I persevered and finished.

 

Now, I am about to put another coat of gloss varnish on the model and try my hand at weathering.  Like everything else on this project, it will be a learning experience and likely not turn out quite the way I had planned.  I’m trying to stay positive and see the journey as important as the destination.

By the way, a couple of parcels showed up on my doorstep just before we left for holidays.  It looks like I’m set for a while.