My Take on Red Squadron X-Wings from ANH using BANDAI's 1/72 Models

[Analyzer]

I thought the only one with Engine Can differences was Red 3 but we can just put the wings upside down on the Bandai Kit to match

For Red 4 I did not worry about it, but Red 3 I did modify the Bandai to try to match it better. You have to swap the lower wing can for the upper one which involves a little bit of chopping out the snap fit stuff for it to work

There seemed to be subtle differences on almost all of the X-Wings in some manner
Some of it comes down to which ones came from pyro shells and which ones were "hero" ones like Red 5 or Red 2/Blue 1 etc...
Some of it differences in raised rectangles/squarish strip and chip details added etc...
The engines cans on Red 4 for example lack that long rectangular strip on the left engine that is present on Red 5 (which the Bandai represents) for example

notice the orientation of these panels on the right engine is flipped so that the wide part is facing forward above, but backward down below on the ILM model

That would require some major surgery to the Bandai to flip that orientation

Bottom is the same way

but the Bandai kit details are different

 

[DevilYan]

Oh wow, I caught the differences in Red 3 but never in Red 4, they're so subtle but there.

Yeah, I'm not going to cut the stripe or the middle of the Engine Can to flip it, I will surely ruin it, but I guess I could paint the Cockpit Hatch and the Yellow Engine Strap to a Sand Color instead of their current Yellow, so it's more accurate, also now that I look more at it even the Lasers details are supposed to be Sand Color and not Yellow.

 

[DevilYan]

I walked back the Yellow on Red 4 and just went with the Sand color that should have been from the beginning and it just looks so much better:



I also finally inverted the Stripes on Red 5's Lasers, so now they're finally accurate:

 

[DevilYan]

Biggs Darklighter's Red 4 (Fourth Bird!)

What a long journey, I almost messed it up as this one has so many details and differences, I was already aware of the inversion of the wings to make the Engine Cans accurate, but this one has a smaller Engine Exhaust and the Red Insignia is longer than on the other X-Wings, took me about 26 hours as I had to carve the piece that holds the Wings in position that goes inside the Canopy:

1.- As usual, I started by priming and painting the parts, this time around there were so many different details that I had to make sure I masked the right ones (remember the wings in this one are inverted) but also not to mess with the colors, so I labeled the colors I needed to paint something I had;t done before and I think will start doing from now on as part of the process:



2.- Then as it's becoming a compulsion jeje, the second I had most of the part painted I had to assemble it to see how it looked, even though I would have to disassemble it to do the details and some weathering after, I used all the same colors I have been using so far except the Light Blue, for which I made a mixed of Vallejo Model Air French Blue 71.088 and White 71.001. For the Cockpit and the Hatch, I just used Vallejo Model Air Medium Gray 71.114 I initially tried to use a mix, but it turned out to be very similar to the Blueish Grey from Red 5's Hatch:



3.- And then the Weathering and the Droid and the Laser Stripes and Wash, you can see here that the Cockpit and Hatch changed color and now look more accurate:



Final Result

I don't think there are artistic liberties in this one is just as close as I think it gets to the references, maybe only the dark Red from the lower left canopy just behind the torpedo launcher and the triangle on the nose, which are not referenced in any color palette but I noticed they were a dark red and not any grey:



Bonus

Pic of all 4 Birds already assembled together :

P.S: Ooops

My bad, just noticed I forgot Paneling jaja, but the post is already made, so I'll update later.

Do you guys think I should revisit Red 6 to make it more accurate? and how do you think it's going so far in terms of quality and accuracy, besides what Analyzer has already mentioned from Red 4?

 

[Analyzer]

Fantastic looking set

I like the new muted yellow better on Red 4. Nothing was necessarily "wrong" with it as it was before since people can really paint/interpret whatever they like, but the muted tone does better match the look of the filming model

Red 6 is a tough one to make accurate since there is so little good detailed reference for it and some angles there seems to be none at all (at least publicly)

Just looking at it here, I cannot spot any obvious inaccuracy with Red 6. the one thing I know that is easy to miss is that the red stripes red is not the same red as the other markings in the body. those seem to be more "hull red" but as far as I can tell you got that correct

 

[Analyzer]

but now you have me thinking about Red 6

I took a lot of liberties myself and used Oz's map as my main guide, but have been rethinking it myself

Not that I am saying you have to change anything with what you have done, and personally I would be totally satisfied with what you have, so this is more for "academic" reasons if you really feel the need to try to get as close as possible...

I would love to find a color version of this angle for Red 6
It is a good ref for hints as to what panels might be colored, but your kind of left having to fill in the blanks with some of the tones

You may already have the ref you need, but these are some of the ones I found very helpful

this is the closest can find

Also notice the greyish overspray on the red canopy on this side. Stands out more in this pic. Or maybe it is the reverse and the red was sprayed over the typical blue grey, but did not cover as well on this side, either way, there seems to be an attempt to mute the red on this side at least

can't tell from your pics but there is that pentagon shape on the underside of the wing

basically similar to the marking you see on the Cylon Raider which is no wonder since some of the same people worked on both

also a big mystery for me, is were this Red 6 came from?

Is it possible the "Red" markings on the canopy were painted over with the grey? I don't think so as there seem to be a lot of other differences
is this just another totally different model that had the stripes repainted to be 6?

it clearly has 6 stripes

 

[DevilYan]

but now you have me thinking about Red 6

I took a lot of liberties myself and used Oz's map as my main guide, but have been rethinking it myself

Not that I am saying you have to change anything with what you have done, and personally I would be totally satisfied with what you have, so this is more for "academic" reasons if you really feel the need to try to get as close as possible...

I would love to find a color version of this angle for Red 6
It is a good ref for hints as to what panels might be colored, but your kind of left having to fill in the blanks with some of the tones

You may already have the ref you need, but these are some of the ones I found very helpful
View attachment 1862111
this is the closest can find

Also notice the greyish overspray on the red canopy on this side. Stands out more in this pic. Or maybe it is the reverse and the red was sprayed over the typical blue grey, but did not cover as well on this side, either way, there seems to be an attempt to mute the red on this side at least

View attachment 1862120
View attachment 1862123
View attachment 1862126
View attachment 1862115
View attachment 1862127
View attachment 1862116

can't tell from your pics but there is that pentagon shape on the underside of the wing
View attachment 1862117
View attachment 1862124
basically similar to the marking you see on the Cylon Raider which is no wonder since some of the same people worked on both
View attachment 1862118

also a big mystery for me, is were this Red 6 came from?

Is it possible the "Red" markings on the canopy were painted over with the grey? I don't think so as there seem to be a lot of other differences
is this just another totally different model that had the stripes repainted to be 6?

View attachment 1862112

it clearly has 6 stripes
View attachment 1862113
View attachment 1862114

Thanks for the information! I would have never caught the Hexagon marking jeje, I think I'll leave my Red 6 the way it is right now.

I'll assemble next, and paint next the RotS Poe's X-Wing, I have a TIE Interceptor and perhaps the Y-Wing, before the next two X-Wings of the Red Squadron as I need to save a little to be able to purchase the next two kits.

Thanks again for your help, hopefully, this thread will help people trying to look for references for the hard ones like Red 4 and Red 6 since you so kindly have shared them in one place

 

[rastanz]

Love the squadron, fantastic job on these! Personally, I wouldn't be fussed over the tiniest of details but if you're going the extra mile to make these more screen accurate then good luck to you.

Awesome post!

 

[Millenniumf]

also a big mystery for me, is were this Red 6 came from?

Is it possible the "Red" markings on the canopy were painted over with the grey? I don't think so as there seem to be a lot of other differences
is this just another totally different model that had the stripes repainted to be 6?

View attachment 1862112

it clearly has 6 stripes
View attachment 1862113
View attachment 1862114

This may be just me, but that looks like an unmodified AMT/Ertl X-wing. The strong double-bend in the bottom half of the fuselage is the big tell for me, but you can also see the extra long tips to the laser cannons, anemic flashback suppressors, R2 unit sitting too tall on the back, and "underbite" on the engine intakes.

 

[Analyzer]

This may be just me, but that looks like an unmodified AMT/Ertl X-wing. The strong double-bend in the bottom half of the fuselage is the big tell for me, but you can also see the extra long tips to the laser cannons, anemic flashback suppressors, R2 unit sitting too tall on the back, and "underbite" on the engine intakes.

Maybe?

what looks like the "double bend" may just be a trick of the light due to dark weathering shadows, but it sure does look like one

I may be wrong, but the canopy looks different than the MPC though. The MPC has a much "flatter" canopy, and the rear window shape, but hard to tell

 

[Analyzer]

also, I apologize if it seems like I have hijacked this thread with the Red 6 discussion, it was not my intent

I have created a thread here to continue the speculation in identifying that X-Wing

What X-Wing is this?

These are screen caps from an ILM documentary called "Light & Magic" Based on stripes, it appears to be a "Red 6" but obviously the rest is painted much different than the infamous Red 6 pyro

www.therpf.com

 

[DevilYan]

I just got my new 2 Kits I might do one this weekend the next one next weekend, Red 2 and Red Leader are coming!

 

[Analyzer]

I just got my new 2 Kits I might do one this weekend the next one next weekend, Red 2 and Red Leader are coming!

Looking forward to it!