Tom Roylance
Tampa, Florida
Using a set from Modelwerks, Tom converted Bandai’s 1/72 scale TIE fighter to the TIE/rb or “Brute” seen in Solo: A Star Wars Story. After painting the cockpit panels to simulate an overhead light source, he added a brace to secure the Bandai cockpit within the new body. “After the conversion halves were glued in place, the access hatch didn’t sit right,” he says. He cast a duplicate of the fragile hatch, sanded it to shape, and glued it in place. “I also decided to replace the supplied upper viewports with my own,” he says. “The new piece was fabricated from styrene and cast in clear resin.” He replaced the heavy blasters with brass tube. Over a base coat of Archive X Stormy Sea Blue, Tom modulated the finish with lighter and darker blues, then weathered with sponge chipping, pinwashes, artist-oil filters, and Ammo by Mig Jimenez Shaders.