Painting The Bandai A-Wing Starfighter from Bandai is one of the simplest paint jobs you can do.
Most model kits require a process of test fitting, seam filling, and generally need a bit of a back and forth approach to the base painting. Even for kits from high quality manufacturers, the process is the same. Rarely can anyone paint a kit before assembly.
But Bandai’s Star Wars A-Wing Fighter is a wonderful exception.
Part of it is due to the great engineering that goes into the Bandai kits. The tolerances for the fit of the parts is super tight. They just slide into place perfectly.
What makes this particular model shine though is the way it is all planned out. Any seams are either covered by other parts, or are presented as panel lines. The tight fit simply makes the joins disappear.
Painting The Bandai A-Wing Starfighter – Matching The Color
The darker red color on the A-Wing Fighter is fairly distinctive. I didn’t find a color right out of the bottle to match it, so I took a fairly simply approach.
I started with Tamiya’s Flat Red, putting a good amount in a spare bottle. I then began adding Tamiya Hull Red, a drop at a time, into the mix. I’d occasionally use a toothpick to dab some on the inside of the upper fuselage piece. After a few tries, the color matched the plastic almost perfectly.
The model was primed in gray, and a few panels were masked over. Bandai supplies decals for these, but I preferred the painted look. I used my own mix of “Spaceship White”, a mix of 4 parts Tamiya flat white, 1 part Sky Gray, and 1 part Deck Tan. I like this color for most white spaceships because it looks white, but there is still some “visual room” for pure white highlights.
The best part is that I was able to fully paint the model before assembling it!
If you can get your hands on one of the Bandai A-Wing fighters, you’ll enjoy it. It is a great kit for any modeler.
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