I picked up a 1978 boxing of MPC's X-wing fighter from "Star Wars" at a show. The movie was released in 1977, so this is an original release of the kit. And it showed in rough detail and poor decals. The latter were so badly discolored and brittle, I passed on using them and painted all of the markings.
I replaced the poorly molded laser blast tubes on the wingtips with guns scratchbuilt from brass and styrene tube, bits of paperclips, and round chunks cut from scrap sprues.
The proton torpedo tubes on the forward fuselage are shown as mere panel lines. I carved out chutes using a piece of brass tube, then built up the sections with Milliput epoxy putty over styrene sheet.
The inset sections on the inner faces of the strike foils were devoid of detail. I added structural and mechanical features using styrene sheet and I-beam section and wire.
I improved the flat intakes by installing copper-wire mesh and painting it black.
The astromech's head was poorly molded including misaligned raised panel lines. After sanding the dome smooth, I painted it with Alclad II polished aluminum. I used Tamiya tape painted with Testors flat sea blue to replicate the dome's sections. Several coats of Pledge FloorCare Multi-Surface Finish sealed the tape. I punched discs from aluminum tape for the droid's lenses, tinting them with transparent blue, yellow, and red.
The kit's figure looked more like a race car driver with a full helmet than a rebel pilot. I replaced his head with one from another kit adding a helmet and flight suit with two-part epoxy putty. The visor was cut from a discarded fast-food clear cup top and painted with Tamiya clear orange. I painted the pilot with Vallejo acrylics.
I added wiring to the cockpit and seat and grafted joysticks to the pilot’s hands.
Finally, I reinforced the weak join of the engines to the ship with wire connectors.
It was a lot of work, but it brought back a lot of memories of seeing "Star Wars' for the first time.