by Jordan Marliave

This is the FineMolds Snowspeeder kit, built almost straight from the box. This kit arrived shortly before the "Just Glue It" contest was announced and I decided that rather than spend hours correcting minor inaccuracies on a kit of a vehicle that doesn't actually exist, I'd rather get in the spirit of the contest and hand-wave the inaccuracies by saying it's a different production block of T-47 and model a Rebel Sandspeeder in service on an arid planet (or in an arid region, to avoid the single-environment planets sci-fi trope). Since the Essential Guide to Vehicles and Vessels states that desert T-47s were fitted with sand filters (deciding what a GFFA sand filter would look like required a little imagineering) and an improved radar array for navigating through sandstorms, I decided to include these mods in the build.

Modifications included a droptank sway brace from a Hobby Boss P-39 Airacobra for the pilot's ponytail (I wanted to convey the impression of a female pilot, but the ponytail is nearly invisbile once she's seated), the alternate exhausts from an Academy P-39 for the "sand filter field generator arrays" and the alternate headrest from an AMT Eta-2 Jedi Starfighter for the new radar array. I also attempted to file off the insulating plates on the radiator (a Hoth mod according the Incredible Cross-Sections), with mixed success.

Markings are overall Polly-Scale U.S. Desert Storm Sand with JBOT kill markings, JT Graphics Rebel insignias and arrow marking on the nose, and a few kit markings. I attempted to give it a suitably weatherbeaten Rebel Alliance look with multiple touchups to the paint, washes of scale black and graphite rubs.

Image: Crew

Image: Rear view

Image: Top

Image: Bottom