by Ro Annis

This model was constructed as a replica of the Y-wing miniatures used in the filming of the original Star Wars movie.

Two Bass wood planks were overlapped to create the basic internal structure. Two tapped and threaded Aluminum inserts were pressed into the armature in order to allow the model to be mounted on a stand.

The wooden armature was then clad with sheet styrene. The nose cone was created by carving a wooden master and vac-forming sheet styrene over this pattern. A cockpit tub was created, the two halves of the nose cone were mated together, the seam was puttied and panel lines were scribed on the surface. The engine nacelles are 1/144 Airfix Saturn rocket boosters with plastic L'eggs pantyhose containers cut to size and glued on the front. The support pylons are Plastruct shape and the disc vectrals are built up from various bits of plastic stock and pirated model parts. The main fuselage and engine pylons were covered with scrap parts, mainly from Tamiya formula race cars, AMT big rigs and various bits from Lindberg, Monogram and Airfix kits. The power conduits were made from different sizes of rod stock which was bent over a candle, cut to size and glued in place.

I was unable to discern the origin of many key detail parts, so I created masters of these parts and cast them in resin. An example of one of these parts would be the four intake-like doo-hickeys that surround the front of the engine nacelles.

The pilot is a 1/20 scale Tamiya Formula One driver. Interior cockpit detail was left sparse. The R2D2 Droid body was created from plastic rod. Styrene details and electrical tape were used on the pattern to create a rubber mold so resin copies could be made. The canopy was left unglazed, like the original miniature (all the models did not have clear plastic in their canopies, because it created unwanted light spill during matting). The original filming model's pilot and Droid were a bit crude, so I jazzed mine up a bit to make a better looking model.

The model was finished with Flo-Quil enamels from their Railroad line of colors (I believe this is what ILM used on their miniatures at that time). The yellow ID flash was masked and sprayed on the nose cone. Various panels were called out using grays and greens. The model was then heavily weathered using diluted blacks and grays. Finally, the surface of the model was distressed by scraping it with various tools and then it was heavily scoured with steel wool to give it a nice patina. A wash was then dropped in and wiped off to accentuate the panel lines. Finally the model was coated with satin clear coat to protect to finish and liven it up a little.

Image: Right side view

Image: Detail

Image: Underneath

Image: With Captain Cardboard X-Wing for scale comparison