Bandai Star Wars Trench Run

 

Smooth-On Mold Star 30 (platinum silicone rubber) and Smooth-Cast 310 (bright white, ultra low viscosity liquid plastic) used in replicating tiles. 

Example of Lego dam and one of the 1/72 Bandai tiles. 

Smooth-Cast 310 starting to cure after about 25 minutes. This is the longest cure time 2-part plastic that Smooth-On makes. Total cure time is 3-4 hours. 

Moulds made from the Mold Star 30 rubber. All mix ratios are 1:1 by volume and both mould and resin are self-degassing. 

Next few pics are examples of the replicated tiles. 

 

 

 

 

This is the only tile not from Bandai. I had to create this one from styrene to complete the 5 tile set. 

One of 2 boxes of replicated tiles. 130 finished tiles later...phew! 

The base and backwall for the diorama. The material resembles foamcore, but has a denser middle and styrene plastic for the outer surfaces. Very rigid and even more so when it gets attached to 1" PVC tubing. 

I needed a cheaper alternative than epoxy to glue the tiles down. This presented itself at my DIY store. 

This is a bunch of quarter sections I am making tests on. The middle one is stuck down to the heavy-duty foamcore I am using with PL9000 construction adhesive. The gray one is Tamiya primer, the middle is a Krylon brand tan, and the third is flat white. 

After 2 weeks of waiting for my 1" PVC fittings shipment, it finally landed. This is the end result. I am ready to screw the foamcore down. 

Had to get a .75"x.75" acrylic rod to place in the joint. Since the tiles have depth to them, I need a little space to keep them from causing problems. 

Some of the many bits & pieces used in the acrylic joint. 

Everything in place with the joints filled. You may notice this is less tiles than what I intended to use. I ran out of resin! 

Close up of the left side. 

Close up of the right side. 

Looking down the tunnel. 

Close up looking down the tunnel! Should be painted by on the weekend. 

Black undercoating is going on. This will hide the white tubing base. 

Preliminary gray on. Next up will be some lighter and darker gray to break up the monotony. 

Just have to add a little Tamiya "Smoke" to the mix! 

I sprayed different grays to eliminate the blah look of just one overall colour. 

Starting to put some paint on. 

One section of wings. All the sections where decals were to be used have been masked and painted. 

The other section of wings. 

Some more painted items. 

Wings together and lower body assembled. I have weathered the X-wings, but not the body yet. 

X-wing all together with a few exceptions...weathering on the body will begin soon. 

Close-up of Luke from the front. 

Close-up of Luke from the side. I really like the fact that Bandai puts little Rebel decals on the sheet for the helmet! 

X-wing completed...have to start the Imperial craft now. They should go faster...not a lot of weathering to do with them. 

 

 

 

 

Completed Trench Run! Woohoo...I made it just in time...mall set-up is 10:00am on January 10! 

Rear end of X-wing showing engine glow. 

Head on of Imperial craft. 

Top down view of the Imperials. They blend in with the background, but that was intentional. 

Another view of the run. 

One of the Tie Fighters. Sorry I didn't document the builds of them, but I was more worried about just finishing.