TIE Whisper
Modified some Evergreen C channel by trimming off one arm of the C to make an L
I then chopped off small sections to make fingers which would hook over the rails around the wing panels - I needed 72 of them!
These L pieces were then stuck at equal spaces around each wing, on both sides
I found I didn't like the square ends of the fingers so I added small pieces of Evergreen half-round stock to the end of each finger to round them off.
The arms on the Special Forces TIE (bottom) are shorter than the standard FO TIE (top) to account for the hyperdrive cogs on the SF TIE, but the Whisper needs the normal length arms as it doesn't have the cogs.
So I cut the ends of the SF TIE arms and cut new extensions from a spare FO TIE kit
Here is the SF body with a replacement right arm
And both arms ready for replacement
Interior built and painted
New extended arms glued in place. The separate brace pieces above and below each arm strengthen the joins and make sure everything is positioned correctly
Test fitting the wings - still need to add some extra bits to the wings themselves and waiting for the 3D printed fuselage bits to arrive.
The front red part of the SF TIE is a slightly different shape to the other side but on the Whisper the two sides are symmetrical. Therefore this piece needs modification by thinning the parts shaded in black.
Finished carving and sanding
And attached to the body
A bit of sanding and filling needed on the front insert but now attached. Windshield will still need some modification using the conversion kit parts.
The conversion kit canopy is not glazed (and has different proportions to the standard kit part). Therefore I cut up one of the conversion kit parts (right) and used parts of it to modify a kit part (left). The new canopy will be used as a master to mould new ones.
Made a mould for the new canopy and cast replacements. Here it is cleaned up and glued in place.
The hull extensions supplied with the kit had flat inside surfaces (outside pair) and needed to be trimmed to fit the kit's contours
Hull extensions glued on - bottom view
Hull extensions seen from the front - I also had to notch the top right unit to fit the aerial mount. The extensions still need some filling on the joints to the original hull.
Gaps under the extensions filled with Aves and a coat of interior grey on the transparencies - also used it as a primer to check the filled areas, same as for the interceptor version.
Ball painted and coated with Future, ready for weathering
Used the Micro-Mark Photo-Etch system to make 72+ brackets which will go on the wings. Lots of learnings from making these as its the first time I've done anything like this
Initial bends put into the brackets
In the meantime the ball has also been weathered and varnished - front view
And rear view, showing the reflective jewels put into the engines
Finally getting around to the wing brackets - drilling the holes (used a small steel rule and scriber to mark the locations for 4 1mm holes per bracket)
After a few sessions, all brackets in place. Now need to prime the metal and fill the remaining holes
Comments
17 3 June 2020, 12:31
JDI enjoy your work, it's most unusual. How did you mask the canopy so perfectly?
30 December 2020, 21:23
Uwe KaedingThanks guys. JD - its just practice! I just use normal Tamiya tape, rub it down with a toothpick and then cut into the corners with a new No.11 blade. If you angle the blade right you can just follow the line of the sill.
31 December 2020, 01:12
JDWow, I learned something new! Now it seems obvious, but I could never figure out how to do that! Thanks Uwe!
31 December 2020, 01:43
Uwe KaedingThanks Roman. Finally got back to this one and made a new canopy. This one is glazed and fits better than the conversion kit part.
10 July 2021, 13:29
Uwe KaedingJD - I've been building the interceptor version in parallel but hadn't posted any pictures. I've now added a new album for Kylo's machine
14 July 2021, 03:15
Uwe KaedingSo, after another break this one is moving again - getting the extra brackets onto the wings
9 May 2022, 05:29
Album info
This is a conversion of the Bandai TIE Special Forces fighter into the standard TIE Whisper from The Return of Skywalker (although I'm not sure it got much if any screen time). It needs some minor mods to the wings, some major changes to the wing mounts and some extra 3D printed parts for the fuselage ball.
