by Filippo Belletti

I built this kit a long time ago... in 1997. It is the old MPC-ERTL snap kit with raised panel lines. I assumed it to be in 1/48 scale so I replaced the pilot figure with an Hasegawa spare figure, modified to give him a credible Rebel Pilot look. Essentially I removed the oxygen mask and added a plasticard strip to the helmet to recreate the typical rib, as seen in the movies. Then I painted it, including the helmet markings, with a mix of acrylic and enamel paints.

Regarding the spacecraft, first I scribed the panel lines. Then I replaced the gun barrels with plastic rods and added some detail with copper wire.

In order to display the model on a landing pad, I kept the kit landing gear and scratchbuilt the well doors (using 0.5mm thick plasticard), attaching them directly to the gear legs. I did so, in order to keep the legs removable from the hull.

I painted the A-wing by airbrush, using Gunze Sangyo water based colors.

First I sprayed the entire model with several coats of H-325 Light Gull Grey then I painted some panel with the darker H-317 Dark Gull Grey. At this point, inspired by the PC video games of the X-Wing series, I decided to introduce the Rebel Alliance Kalidor insignia in the A-Wing paint scheme. Before to paint the red areas, I printed some Kalidor logos on an adhesive film then I cut them by hand and used them for masking the Grey color.

For the Rebel Alliance Red I used a mix of Gunze H-33 Russet, Tamiya XF-7 Red and some drops of yellow. Once removed the masking, I added some red stencils from my spare decals depot, then I washed the engraved panel lines and added dirt streaks with tempera colors thinned in water. I completed the weathering by shading some panels with pastel powder, and adding paint chipping with a thin brush.

The landing pad is made of a white painted piece of plywood to which I glued a cardboard rectangle. The panel lines are drawn with an ink marker and the yellow stripes are airbrushed with acrylic paint. The weathering effects are done by pastels again. The ground crew figure is out of the box from the same 1/48 Hasegawa figure set of the A-Wing pilot, and the ladder is from an old ESCI 1/48 accessories set.

I applied a plaque with an “historical note”, in Italian language, that says:

The Kalidors painted on this spacecraft commemorate the decoration earned by the pilot after the Battle of Endor when, together with his wingman, he destroyed the shield generators of the Super Star Destroyer Executor, determining the destruction of the ship.

Image: Front/left view

Image: Ground level

Image: Front/right

Image: Cloer look

Image: Left side detail

Image: Nose

Image: Right side detail

Image: Cockpit detail

Image: Other side

Image: Right/rear view

Image: Head-on

Image: Ground guide

Image: Left/rear

Image: Pilot

Image: Top view