Reddit reviews Bandai Hobby Star Wars 1/72 Tie Fighter Building Kit, Multi-Colored, 8", Model Number: BAN194870

If you really wanna get it good looking I'd recommend getting an airbrush to paint it. Cans are fine but you'll never get the right colors going that way. It's possible to just use a regular brush but it'll also come out extremely thick and unsatisfactory compared to an airbrush. Its a small investment (about $150 for a nice airbrush and another $100 for a small compressor if you don't already have one. Get one with a tank if you can) but if you do even a couple of models with it you'll never want to use a regular brush to paint an entire model again.

First off the model as it comes is way too blue, I'd recommend painting it based off the newer bandai model's box art as it looks fantastic which you can see here: TIE Advanced.

For the paint itself my personal favorite is the Tamiya line of acrylics. They are the best looking and most professional out of all the acrylics I've seen. They come in nice bottles that are great too. This is of course the best for airbrushing as thats what I would do but if you do end up going the brush route a better paint would probably be Vallejo as they are more suited towards that.

I'd honestly forgo the primer and simply do a full flat black base coat to get that blue off of the solar pannels then mask those up and do the main body. According to the supplied sheet for the bandai model the main body is 70% neutral grey and 30% white with a pinch of blue grey. For the darker parts around the ship its a 100% neutral grey. You'd use that in areas like the recesses on the wing roots, the window's frame and a few other places.

After that its really up to you how much extra detail you wanna add. You can do some dark washes to get those nice shadows, maybe add some metallic scratches and what not. Theres no limit with these sort of things.

Also as a last note if you wanna get into some more of these model's I would highly HIGHLY recommend the entire line of 1/72 ships by bandai. They are all snap together and have more detail then you would believe for their price as well as coming slightly colored so you can fit it all together and still admire it even before painting. I have the TIE Fighter and plan on getting the TIE Interceptor and TIE Advanced. They are the perfect size for putting on display (or playing with haha) and even scale correctly with other real world planes in 1/72 scale.

For anyone curious this was made using the following Bandai model kit:
https://www.amazon.com/Bandai-Hobby-Star-Fighter-Building/dp/B00RYSAWVS/ref=pd_bxgy_21_2?_encoding=UTF8&pd_rd_i=B00RYSAWVS&pd_rd_r=CW3TNAZAYSSZ32NWPAWT&pd_rd_w=jTSHm&pd_rd_wg=2b9BI&psc=1&refRID=CW3TNAZAYSSZ32NWPAWT

This Slave I?

and this TIE Fighter?

Maybe one of each? That's about $60 in kits instead of just $30+ for Slave 1.

Aww, thanks for the gold.

If you mess up....well, yes, but it's not an easy process.

1. If you're using Tamiya paint, this is the simplest one to fix. It strips with rubbing alcohol, which also doubles as paint thinner if you don't want to shell out for the proprietary version (you probably should consider that).
   
   
2. Model Master Acrylic: you'd need Simple Green cleanser for that, and it would take soaking for at minimum several hours.
   
   
3. Other paint systems: Simple green should work for a fair number of these, not sure of it's effectiveness against enamel.
   
   
4. Spray cans: I don't know what they strip with, but you can assume that if you spray it, it will be very difficult to remove.
   
   
5. Nuclear option removal: spray on oven cleaner is really noxious stuff, so is brake fluid, both are known to strip off most paints. The former involves spraying the model with it and letting it sit in a bag for a few hours.
   
   
6. In most cases, assuming the paint isn't too thick, you can paint over it; where it becomes a problem is if the paint is full of brush strokes and the like and you'll either have to sand that out or you'll have to strip and redo.
   
   Note that stripping off the paint if you mess up WILL destroy and remove any sticks or decals you already placed on the model. That should be fairly obvious, but just in case.
   
   Fragility of the plastic should not be a concern here. The way Bandai's kits are designed it's hard to disassemble them once you already have assembled them. It's possible, but it takes a lot of prying, poking, and potentially damaging the model, but usually in a way that's repairable. Note that clear plastic used for the windows is much more brittle than non-clear plastic (apparently how it's made to be clear has a lot to do with this) so be careful with those parts.
   
   In your case, for the snowspeeder, I'd use either the decals or the stickers, then just apply what are referred to these days as "pinwashes"; dark colored paint that goes into the nooks and crannies of the model to accentuate panel lines and details.
   
   See e.g.: http://www.scalemodelguide.com/painting-weathering/weathering/paint-washes/
   
   I use watercolors, but most modelmakers use oil paints and turpenoid. Note that there are some rumors going around that Bandai's plastics don't hold up well to oil paint.
   
   In some cases, some people use pencils or ink. In most cases, pencils are only good if the effect you're going for is metallic (chipped paint, etc) because it has an obvious shine to it that isn't a "panel line" on the vehicle.
   
   In your case, I would recommend a different course of action:
   
   Buy a Bandai TIE Fighter. It's a relatively easy kit to build.
   
   https://www.amazon.com/Bandai-Hobby-Star-Fighter-Building/dp/B00RYSAWVS.
   
   See all those nooks and crannies? That model is designed that you can leave it unpainted, but if you drop a pinwash into the nooks and crannies, it brings out the details.
   
   Another good choice might be Poe's X-wing, because it's Black and orange, meaning it's a comparatively non-complex paint job. But I recommend the TIE.
   
   Commercial products are available for doing the washes that make the details pop:
   
   Normally, I don't recommend these because I roll my own, but in your case, it's somewhat easier just to recommend a product that is ready to go than it is to really go through the walkthrough:
   http://www.tamiya.com/english/products/87131_133panel_accent/index.htm
   
   That is a wash that can be painted into panel lines to accent shadows, line separations, etc. It's prepacked and ready to use. Similar products are offered by AK, Wilder Modelling Products, Vallejo, Mig, and probably a few I'm forgetting. I don't use any of them, but keep a supply of oil and water colors.
   
   For the Tamiya product, you will need model enamel thinner to remove the excess, either that or you'll have to use a very fine brush and be absolutely precise.
   
   See video for further details (pay attention to the use of panel line washes).
   
   https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FXerpuOthXk (No, I am not him; there's a rule in this sub about promoting one's own videos. However, he's a good source).
   
   If you move on to gluable models, you'll also need this: https://www.amazon.com/Tamiya-87038-Extra-Thin-Cement/dp/B000BMYWYC
   
   Going rate is 5 dollars at hobby shop or less, so you might want to stop in one instead of buying it online and paying shipping.
   
   

Hi there. Here’s a link to Amazon for this product: Bandai Hobby BAN194870 1/72 Tie Fighter Star Wars, Multi-Colored, 8 Inches https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B00RYSAWVS/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_i_bjG0Cb48QMEN3