X-Wing Build Journal No. 15: Issues 49-52

What’s Inside

The laser cannon is completely assembled, and work begins on the fourth & final wing. I couldn’t be more excited to finally move on to working with other parts of the X-Wing! Also, 3-D printed parts have been discovered.

3-D Engine Parts

If you’ve been following this Build Journal, then you’ll know my disdain for the detailed engine and laser cannon parts that no one will ever see (yet, I’m paying for). Luckily, there are replacement parts available on the Falcon 3D Parts website that have removable sections.

Since this post, more parts have been added!

They look great, but the price on the engine bay is way too high ($75!). Still, they are an option for those of you who are willing to spend the extra cash.

Beginning the Fourth Wing

I’m now just barely past the halfway point in this 100-issue subscription. It seems a bit underwhelming seeing that I only have 3 wings and a nose/cockpit skeleton to show for all of my time and effort. But, I know that the final model will look great now that I’ve been painting it.

For the wing, the standard greeblies are placed on both the inside and the outside. I could probably leave some of these off and no one would ever know.

Assembling the Laser Cannon

As usual, I wrap the fiber optic with a piece of 8.5″-long foil tape to block the light. The exposed end gets sprayed with gray primer, because the foil tape adds too much girth to fit all of the way into the laser cannon.

The laser cannon housing gets masked with tape and primed as well to help block the light from the powerful LED.

The laser cannon interior is assembled, tested, and placed into the housing along with the fiber optic.

Now, for some cosmetic changes. I fill the seams of the housing and laser cannon tip with PlasticWeld epoxy putty, wait a few hours for it to harden, and finally sand the areas smooth with my homemade mini power sander.

Finally, the laser cannon pieces are all assembled. This is the last time that I will have to work on a laser cannon . . . I hope. I’ve been looking ahead in the build, and there is a point in the future where the long ends of the laser cannons are removed.

What!? I don’t want to have to perform surgery on perfectly good cannons. It’s too early to tell, but the removal may simply be to help reduce the chance of any damage while the wings are integrated into the X-Wing body. From what I’ve seen so far, this isn’t absolutely necessary. I’ll stay on this to see if the laser cannon removals are mandatory.

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