Star Wars - Snow Speeder

This is the AMT/ETRL snow speeder model photographed and scanned, then touched up with Adobe Photo-Shop and finally super imposed over an icy picture. The lens flair was added using Photo-shop.

The original background shows two brave skiers watching an avalanche which was perfect for a crash site. I suppose two storm troopers would have looked better. You will also notice the pilot and co-pilot are not in their usual orange uniforms, I don't think you could hide from imperial storm troopers in the snow dressed like a tangerine !

This is the original photo. As you can see the colour balance was way too yellow and I also added some weathering and some smoke from the exhausts. I also cloned some of the snow and lapped it around the edge of the vehicle to make it look buried.

All the brake flaps move on this model and the harpoon gun rotates although I have not done anything to the bottom because you never see under there anyway.

Star Wars - Naboo Starfighter

Star Wars Naboo Starfighter

A few years ago I got the Naboo Starfighter Die cast kit made by AMT/ETRL. The first thing I noticed about the model was the weight of the box and its contents. I have only ever used injection molded kits which are feather light in comparison. The second thing is the price, twice as much as the regular plastic kit of the same subject. The first thing that greets you is the excellent artwork on the cover of the box. This would seem to be a stock picture because it also appears in the book, Star Wars Episode 1, The Visual Dictionary.

The parts inside the box are all well wrapped to protect them from bumps and knocks that may occur in transit. The only problem I had was with the tiny screws, there packet was open and one screw had got lost somewhere along the line. I don't think it would have cost too much to put a couple of spares in the kit, they are very tiny and easily misplaced.

All the die cast parts are pre painted yellow or silver and some of the plastic parts in the kit are painted yellow as well. The only painting and assembly work needed is on the pilot and cockpit and the R2 unit. I detailed and completed the necessary work in no time, then I removed the pre painted plastic parts from the tree they are still attached to. This is a bit of a pain because it leaves a nasty little bump which I had to file down and then find some yellow paint of a similar hue to dab over the blemish. The final stage is just the simple process of screwing all the parts together and plugging the screw holes with the stops provided. And that is it, the job is done. With a normal plastic kit I would be painting and filling for days, but this kit is not intended to be like that. I could always go and buy the plastic kit if I wanted to go down that road.

DLP Guitars - Handmade in Birmingham, England