Nashtah Pup Part 1

As I've been working on some pretty tricky sculpts lately, I thought I would share a couple of my little side projects as they're more interesting to the casual observer than me wittering on about how I've managed to perfect some tendons or toenails...

I like to give myself little side projects to break up my larger projects.  They can function as rewards for reaching milestones, but more importantly, they give me time to reflect on a project that I'm knee deep in.

I find that perspective is very important when working solidly on a single project for extended periods.  You can get so wrapped up in small details that you forget to stand back and view your project as everyone else will!

The Pup

Some time ago, I promised myself that I'd convert a Z-95 Headhunter from the X-Wing miniatures game (which is superb fun!) into the Nashtah Pup for my Hound's Tooth ship.  The Pup functions as an escape vehicle when its parent ship (The Hound's Tooth - piloted by good old Bossk) is destroyed in the game.

X-Wing miniatures are 1/270 scale, making conversions challenging but not impossible! 

Although it's effectively just a regular Z-95, I just couldn't resist the urge to repaint it as per the FFG card artwork, but also convert the miniature so that it could fold up its wings and 'dock' with the Hound's Tooth while not in play.

The Plan!

So, the plan was (relatively speaking) simple - rebuild one tiny ship to include hinged wings, add a dock to the back of the Hound's Tooth, then repaint the Nahstah Pup!

I intend to add a small docking plug on the rear platform so that the 'folded' Pup can sit facing the rear of the Hound's Tooth

Stage 1 - breaking a Z-95

I chopped its wings off

I planned the wing build and started preparing the surfaces with a knife and needle file.  I also used a fine sand paper to rough up the areas to be glued as it will aid adhesion later on.

Cutting the extra parts

I cut two semi cylindrical lengths of dowel then used super glue to fix them in place between the engines, giving me a nice flat surface far enough away from the hull to attach the wing hinges

I cut the hinge parts from styrene O-ring and straight circular dowel. It's had to get the cuts perfectly straight as they're so small, so I normally cut more than I need then trim it back.  Note that each square on the cutting matt is only 1cm across..

The hinge sections were so tiny, I had to keep them on a paper clip to stop them from constantly rolling away!  They also look like tiny marshmallows!

I decided to add a little more to the wing step in order to strengthen it.  Again, due to the tiny size, I used more styrene than I needed then cut it down.  My advice is to ensure you trim off the 'wave effect' edges created when cutting such tiny pieces as a variance of 0.5mm seems like nothing until you realise it's half the thickness of the wing...

Putting it back together



And here are the hinges carefully glued in place. It was a genuine nightmare to do this without sticking the hinges in place...





I sandwiched a single 'L' shaped dowel section on each wing, further increasing the vertical surface area where the wings would be joined to the hinges

 Completed Build

Wings deployed

Wings in transition

Wings locked in place for transport!

Folded wings from the side

Top view of the Nashtah Pup with its wings deployed.  Note that they are slightly longer than on a standard Z-95.  I think this just makes it more original though :)

 I'll be sure to post some more images once I've repainted the Pup and made the necessary changes to the Hound's Tooth!

TTFN