![\""Build](\"https:\/\/www.disneyexperience.com\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/12\/xwbj26_01.jpg\")
<\/a><\/p>\nI began with the rear fuselage. Since it doesn’t get completed this month, it doesn’t need to be painted, and I can set it aside.<\/p>\n After washing and drying the parts thoroughly, they are masked and primed.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n After priming, I decided to do something different: I took the whole operation outdoors, into the garage. Normally, I paint indoors, in a small room with proper ventilation, fans, etcetera. But, that creates a lot of “dust” that settles onto everything. This time, I felt like getting some fresh air and having a much larger working area.<\/p>\n The whole experience was very nice & much more relaxing, and it didn’t take much effort to haul all of my parts & supplies from upstairs (and back when I was finished). I could also make as much of a mess as I liked, which was a bonus.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n After applying the base color, I added what few colors were needed on the panels. I did miss one panel, so I will have to go back and color that in at a later date.<\/p>\n I tried to use epoxy to glue the magnets into their plastic holders, but the surfaces were both so smooth that the magnets just popped right out. Instead, I switched to my trusty Loctite<\/em> Super Glue<\/a>, holding the pieces together with clothes pins.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Then, I popped the magnets into their holders within the torpedo bay. The holders were pretty snug, so no glue was needed.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n The torpedo bay popped into place easily, being held by the magnets as well as lightly snapping into place.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Moving on, the side cockpit panels were placed . . .<\/p>\n <\/p>\n . . . followed by two large panels on the underside of the fuselage.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n The side fuselage panels were a pain to get into place as some of the pins were too stubborn to go into their assigned holes.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n The most trouble that I had was with the rear frame that capped all of the fuselage panels into place. They needed to be corralled, and one panel always seemed to pop loose before I could secure the frame with screws. Grrr!<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Fitting the top of the fuselage, I needed to sand away some paint and plastic for a nice fit.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Test fitting R2-D2, I discovered that the top fuselage panel has to be removed in order for the figure to fit inside.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Lastly, I glued the canopy struts into the cockpit.<\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\nRear Fuselage Details<\/h2>\n
<\/a><\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\nPainting<\/h2>\n
<\/a><\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\nAttaching the Panels<\/h2>\n
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