Mandalorian Razor Crest - Revell - Complete - for now…
Starting off on the wrong foot, typical Revell build quality with unsightly seams that need to be fixed…. ?
I’m puzzled as to why Revell would opt to print their name on an outward facing part. I can understand this if it were on a part nobody would see, but this just reinforces my opinion that Revell doesn’t understand the average modeler..
Easily scraped off and sanded out, but that’s a few minutes out of your life you aren’t gettin
To light up the engines, you will need to cut out the square areas around the exhaust.
I used a pin-vise to poke a hole through the center, then used a small dremmel drill to enlarge it. Once enlarged, I carved out the rest and applied Tamiya thin cement to smoothen it out.
The end result - not the prettiest, but passable for me.
The interior of the kit gets top marks from me. Revell did their homework on this and deserves praise for getting this part right. I opted to black base the interior so that I could get the natural shadows from the numerous struts and bulkhead equipment.
Not much to see here - just masking and painting
Same applied to the bay’s ceiling
You can see the first Boeing-grade QA fail on this picture. I had to sand out the glue spill and re-paint this area
Breaking up the monotony of NATO black - but nobody is really going to see this! ?
Interior wall panels complete. I’d like to thank many of you mates who posted their step-by-step armor build, as I used your techniques for the interior of this kit.
Seats painted, but the rear seats look too plain - will add some scratch printed seat belts and padding to them later.
Used grey panel lining to bring out some details
Working on the cockpit
Bay ceiling complete
Cockpit done with the modified rear seats to make it look more “realistic”
Lower bay floor was painted silver, hair-sprayed, given the dark blue coloring before being chipped to show wear
Test fitting the ramp area highlighted the need for some cleanup in this area to make sure it goes down properly
Same with the ramps
The cockpit frame had some flash - so watch out for this…
Adding Micro LEDs in the bay where the lights were meant to be was impossible - as there was no space for it, so I drilled holes at the top of the ceiling to glue in some KED lamps. In hind-sight, I could have used SMD LEDs, so lesson learned…
Cargo bay completed
I used three micro LEDs for the panels, + 3 on the door. In hindsight, I should have also used fiber optics to make the cockpit pop a bit more, so lesson #2
Micro LEDs are great! But the wires are so thin, cutting them down to size and stripping them became a challenge
Cockpit lighting laid down and tested - so the cargo bay is now fitted into the fuselage
Dry fitting the top of the fuselage with the lower half showed a significant bump towards the cockpit area, making for a poor fit. I may have screwed something up, so I won’t put this on Revell.
I had to sand off chunks of the interior to finally get it to settle
Lots and lot of sanding
Fitting the cargo bay LEDs and testing. I did a LOT of testing to make sure I avoided shorting any of the lights out.
The 9V battery was later replaced with a rechargeable 9V battery.
The 9V battery was later replaced with a rechargeable 9V battery.
Two flickering LEDs were fitted into each engine. One directly on the rear panel, and the other inside to light up the rest of the engine. Interior was painted silver to maximize the light going through the rear. Note to self - use a clear plastic cut out next time to diffuse it better like AMT.
Engine nozzles heat stained
Buttoning it all up
Printing to check for any Boeing-level QA fails
Since the RazorCrest saw a bit of repairs, some random panels were painted Duraluminum
Burnt metal was also applied to the underside areas where the atmospheric re-entry would have had the most effect.
First comes Titanium
Diluted Polished aluminum was applied to the center of the panels - to give it a worn look. Light burnt metal was also applied on the panel lines. It’s not going to pop out at you - especially on the photos, but it breaks up the monotonous sea of Titanium well enough.
Metal stressing applied to the underside
Let me introduce you to the metallics used for this session. No, I was not sponsored by AK Xtreme metals
Second Epic Boeing fail came with the struts. The kit is heavy enough as it is, but the added battery caused one of the struts to deform. CA glue had to be applied to the right strut to strengthen it.
Attaching the landing gears was…. Tedious. In the end, I had to glue them in, and then hang the RazorCrest by the engine nacelles to give the glue time to set overnight. The landing ramps were also fiddly and the connections had to be sanded down to fit properly.
Boeing fail number four - I broke the rear ramp. I had to drill and CA glue some posts to re-attach them properly. OK, maybe not Boeing-level fail, but close enough.
Another Boeing-level QA fail was the panel line seam I had failed to notice on one of the nacelles. This area had to be sanded back, filled and then repainted
OK - looking good. Next step is weathering.
I don’t plan on using weathering oils too much - preferring to use the stressed metallic effects instead. I’m putting this RazorCrest in the condition it was after it was put back together after it had been stripped in season 1. ?
I don’t plan on using weathering oils too much - preferring to use the stressed metallic effects instead. I’m putting this RazorCrest in the condition it was after it was put back together after it had been stripped in season 1. ?
One curved canopy had rough spots on both ends - though a very simple problem to fix, it’s nonetheless disappointing to see such a basic lapse in QA in any kit manufacturer…
The final clear coat seals the kit up. Unless I catch any more Boeing-level fails in this build, I’m calling this puppy done…
…for now.
…for now.
I applied atmospheric streaks, as well as vertical streaks from light weathering. I didn’t want to go overboard on the weathering on this build - assuming that the Mandalorian would put this beauty through the wash from time to time. ?
Given the lovely interior Revell gave us, it was a sin not to display this kit with ramps down
The switch was hidden at the rear of the RazorCrest. The photo doesn’t show it, but the engine light pulses for effect. Unfortunately, I got the color wrong - it should be bright orange
The interior all lit up - unfortunately, my photography equipment can’t capture deeper into the interior
The engine nozzles had to be cut open to allow the lighting through - as per the source materials on the web
Micro-LEDs adorn the front lights
As mentioned before, maybe the cockpit could have been made better with Fiber Optics - but that’s for the next build
Low lighting shot
Interior shot
With a fair bit of elbow grease, the Revell kit can be lit up, but the outer engine ring can’t be cut out like the AMT version - unless you are willing to risk damaging the ability to mount the ring to the engine
A Better low light shot of the interior.
I hid the Micro-USB charging port on the cargo bay’s ceiling - so I can recharge the battery when it runs low.
I have some 1/72 scale aircrew from Hasegawa that I will add to the base diorama - but that is after I recover from the misadventures of soldering. ?
Коментарі
66 15 April, 15:52
CaptGPFTo light up the engines, you will need to drill out the square areas around the exhaust.
15 April, 16:21
CaptGPFHi Michael! I bought the LEDs from Amazon and strung them together on my own. I used a total of 6 parallel circuits with each one drawing about 9V.
I used a rechargeable 9V from Amazon - EBL USB Rechargeable 9V Lithium Batteries - 5400mWh Long Lasting LI-ion Batteries with Micro Charging Cable - and ran a Micro-USB extender to the top of the cargo bay so I can seal the kit, and recharge it later. Having put in close to 40 hours on this kit, I wanted the lighting to last. 😜
15 April, 17:37
CaptGPFThanks Harald, Nark Robin and DerMattes. The oil weathering just dried and I'm closing it up with the final clear coat. Will post the final shots when I can handle it again without leaving and fingerprints! 😜
16 April, 15:10
Gareth LloydLooking really good Capt. 🫡. I had exactly the same issues with the landing gear.... the 'strut' just didn't want to glue and ended up snapping, I pushed a pin up through it to try and strengthen it but it's still really wonky. Tempted to have a go at the AMT kit to see if that's any better?
17 April, 17:08
Gary KitchenLovely stuff. The innards look fantastic with the black basing. Loving the mix of alloys to the exterior and the heat wear on re entry is inspired and something I completely missed that on mine.
17 April, 20:02
Giannis KaltapanidisAlthough not a fan of Sci-Fi, I have to admire your metallics! Great job!
18 April, 10:48
CaptGPFThanks everyone! I learned a LOT from everyone posting their builds on these forums - so I'll be passing the credits to everyone.
@Gareth - from what I can see, the AMT looks lacking on the interior details, but the engines are made to be lit up in flight mode. Didn't see a build with the landing struts.
@Gary - the idea of the re-entry staining came to me when I just happened to see the burnt metallic paint on the rack! I wouldn't have thought of it otherwise. 🤔
@Finn - thank you! But I have a long ways to go to your mad diorama skills!
@Giannis - I had some challenges with the metallics - the Xtreme Titanium looked too "Plastic" to me, so I had to apply a thinned down Polished aluminum to make it shine better.
One thing I forgot to mention is the need to sand down the engine nacelles - some spots were really rough / pebbly - so sanding it down prior to laying down the metallics will save you pain and suffering later 😀
19 April, 17:06
CaptGPFStick a fork in it, this one's done. I'll update this later when I get around to building a base for it with some figures. This was a decent kit, but with a little more thought and effort, Revell could have made this a really cracking kit. I would definitely recommend this kit, but you will need a lot of patience when tackling the landing gears and ramps - on top of the numerous kit defects, but hey, if I can build it, anyone can! 😀
20 April, 06:54
Miguel VaqueroThis is a work of art!! Beautifully built. Really enjoyed the way you explained it
20 April, 19:54
Markus HelmersHow did I miss this one? Gorgeous work, makes me want to build another! Probably going to do the n1 first, though.
22 April, 13:09
Michael RazzWOW Amazing show u have here and that for a revell model!Did you contact the company of Revell that you have one of a kind?
26 April, 17:41
CaptGPFLOL! Thanks Razzie, but I don't think they will appreciate my various Boeing QA failure references! 😜
27 April, 02:28
CaptGPFThanks John's, Robin and Rob (esp the This is the Way!)
I had to ruin a nice F-104 to figure out how to do the metallics just right! 😜
3 May, 20:57
Album info
Star Wars aficionados who want to build this iconic starship have three options - Bandai, Revell or AMT. Unfortunately, Bandai's kit came out as a rather small 1/44 scale kit - and I REALLY wanted something bigger to work on - so it came down to Revell or AMT.
Based on my experience with their other kits, I really don't have that good of an opinion of Revell or AMT, so I am expecting "Imperial Entanglements" with whatever option I go with. For the American readers, this is like a presidential election - which is is the lesser of the two evils? In this case, I went with the first-to-market Revell.
Now that I am weeks away from finishing this kit, here's my two cents on the Revell kit.
1) It is a shockingly good kit - for Revell
2) Revell could have done a lot better - Markus pointed out that the landing struts and ramps are fiddly - yes they are!
3) If you want to light up the engines in flight mode, go AMT - it was meant to be lit up, but that kit lacks the interior details from the YouTube video I saw. Revell is great if you plan on opening it up for viewing - the details are actually very good.
If you want to see a beautiful build of this kit, ChrisT.An has a wonderful photo album. Markus Helmers has one baking in the over as well, so be on the look out for this version.
Now that I've rambled on excessively on this, let's take a look at the challenges of lighting up this Razor Crest.
