A long time ago in a childhood
getting further and further away, I built an MPC X-Wing
Fighter kit. It wasn't a brilliant kit and I didn't do
a brilliant job on it, but as I was only a lad of 12,
freshly reeling from the cinematic delights of George
Lucas' tour de force and a good ten years away from getting
corrupted by the evils of IPMS and *ahem* serious
modelling, I thought it was the greatest thing since Brown
Sugar Cinnamon Pop Tarts hit the market. Not quite as
tasty perhaps, but great nonetheless.
Fortunately for us now
jaded 40+ types who are still somewhat in awe of Mr. Lucas'
tales of light sabres and dustbin-shaped droids (without
being bastardised by c/g spaceships and giant talking
slugs thank you very much George), we no longer have to
settle for the horrors of the MPC Star Wars kits. The
finely moulded folks at FineMolds (I make no apologies
for mixing US and "correct" spellings here)
have released superb kits in my favourite scale, starting
with this X-Wing in 2005. I hesitate to use the word "scale"
in relation to a model of something that doesn't exist
of course, but this is science fiction so let's go with
it.
I did nothing extraordinary
with this, it's about as "out of the box" as
my builds get, though I did break a couple of my own rules.
Yes I know, modelling shouldn't have rules, but there
are some things that I just wouldn't normally do with
an airplane or armour model for instance and I'm quite
happy to maintain that philosophy in those genres. Two
things that usually go straight in the parts box - or
the bin, depending on their quality - are stands and horrible
little men. In sci-fi though I figure I can relax a bit
and utilise those parts. Sometimes.
So there he is, poor old
Biggs, who managed to make it all the way to the final
attack on the Death Star before being blasted into smithereens
by Luke's dad. Thanks pop. Of course we didn't know he
was Skywalker kin at that point, just that he was a nasty
guy who had a penchant for heavy breathing and dressing
in black leather. Sort of like one of George Michael's
bathroom buddies, but taller....
I figured (no pun intended)
that if I was going to be a rebel and use the stand and
the 'orrible little men I may as well go all the way and
try to do a decent job on them. Well I did say try....
To quote the little green muppet from the next film: "Do
or do not, there is no try". I'll leave it up to
you to decide if I "did or did not"....
The Star Wars logo on the stand was done in Flat Aluminum
Bare Metal Foil by the way.
Back
to Sci-Fi/Real Space Main
Construction