Bandai 1:144 Death Star Turret

"But what about that tower"? - Wedge Antillies

 I got this turret as compensation for building the Bandai 1:72 A-wing for my brother. This Death Star Turret comes with the A-wing kit as an added bonus. It's 1:144th scale, and is a really nice addition for have. Personally I wish that I had a few more of these, it's a really great kit and adds a bit more to the scene.

This is a really simple kit, not much to it. And everything is on one sprue. The Laser Guns will hold the colored blaster beams, but this isn't mentioned in the instructions. On a side note these should be Green as they are Imperial.

I used Army Painter "Brush on Primer" This provided great coverage, and helped add some of the different shades of grey I needed for the panels.

Next was to add different Grey's to random panels. I began with Tamiya XF-24 Dark Grey

I wanted to add a bit of color to they grey structure to help it be less drab. I used XF-68 Nato Brown, and XF-84 Dark Iron. I tried to keep these colors very random and limited. As too much and it quickly becomes distracting.

Masking was very easy. I placed Tamiya tape on the surface, and then traced around the panel. Taking a sharp hobby knife I easily cut around each panel.

The overall color was Vallejo Mecha Color White Grey (69.002) These are airbrush ready paints. And if you need a basic white grey sci-fi color this is a good one to have in a hurry.

Tamiya XF-77 IJN Grey, was lightly painted on the tips of the barrels to simulate burnt areas.

With the maskings removed and painting completed I was now able to begin weathering this model. First I would add a few layer of Future. This will help protect the existing paint, and make weathering much easier.

I used various artist oils and cleaned them with Mineral Spirits. I wanted to create some streaking effects going down the turret. I dabbed a bit of Burnt Umber on the underside of some of the raised squares. And with a damp brush, I pulled the pant downwards. I also applied random streaks of black in the middle sections just to help dirty things more.

One thing I did not expect, on the few squares that I left as the primer, once the Mineral Spirits were added the primer was instantly removed. This did not affect any of the other acrylics, only the primer. I was really surprised by this effect, so I'll pay attention to this in the future.

I really enjoyed this mini kit, if I can call it that. This is a simple and sweet kit, and I had a lot of fun adding a few extra details to it. The details on it are great and I love seeing this next to my 1:144 X-wing.