Okay this could turn into a long blog and I apologize ahead of time. My good friend DJMaul from these blogs is a collector much like a lot of us are and he frequents some cool places on his job routes.

He stopped into a comic shop and found some fantastic finds of the vintage Star Wars era going back to the 70s and 80s. He then shot me a message and a phone call and asked if I would be interested in buying any of this stuff they had. He of course explained the prices and what shape they were in and honestly not in the best shape but for $5 each really how can one go wrong at all.

These are what he found for me (which I am very grateful for by the way) ...

First are the before photos of the classic 1978 X-wing Starfighter.
X-Wing Before Photo 1

X-Wing Before Photo 2

Then we have the classic 1978 TIE Fighter with ejecting wing panels.

As you can see these were actually REVOLTING wing panels.

TIE FIGHTER before photo 1

The first thing to do was to organize and clean these up.

What I did was I peeled every panel sticker off of the TIE fighter as they were all loose pretty much. I then took the best 3 and scanned them so I could make more panels for the ones that were missing. I printed them out and bypassed the software that comes with printers as they always use a "basic setup for dummies" approach. I used the Windows printer and scanner wizard as to get the exact size of the stuff being scanned and to have printed out exactly the correct size as well.

I then took them and used a clear lacquer to act as a primer as it was a flat lacquer, a satin finish. I then used a gloss spray paint over that to match the original stickers. I got them very very close as you can see in the last pictures at the bottom here. In fact in the pictures I doubt you can spot them. The only way to tell for sure is to look at the light reflecting off of them and even then it is tough.

I used clear laquer on some printed panels and clear packing tape on others. It really depended on what the graphic was. The gold stripe on the X-wing and the red markings were better suited for the clear tape while the TIE Panels seemed to come out better using the clear spray paint. A matter of taste really I suppose.

For the X-wing I also removed the only sticker on it, the RED 3 markings (Blast it Bigg's, where are you? Help my keester out with this lolz) .... and I scanned it. It had creases in it and aged looking stuff. I chose to leave it rather than photoshop any imperfections out of it so I scanned it and then flipped it horizontally to make the missing RED 3 markings for the other wing. In doing so I could not get them to match colorwise with the printed compared to the original so what i did was I decided to use TWO print out graphics so they would match. I repaired one of them so it did not look like a flip of the other.

To me leaving them looking like they are old was my main goal. I did NOT want a perfect restoration. After all these came out when I was 10 years old and after 30 years I too have scars, nothing to be ahsamed about there for the toys.

I then used a clear packing tape to laminate a gloss look to them using a nickle to smooth out the tape so it was very transparent and doesn't look like tape.

Originally I was going to use a two way sticky tape so I could make my own stickers but decided in using a glue stick made for photo albums or crafts. It is a very high quality glue that is water based, easy to cover the backs of the paper pieces I made and also easy to move around once applied so I could adjust them properly.

In the case of the X-wing I just found a photo online of the TESB X-wing and sampled the gold stripe color using photoshop so I could get an accurate gold stripe printed out. I sampled the RED 3 original sticker from the scan to make the red stripes on the side of the X-wing.

So that is that .... before I did all this I took both of them apart and tried to fix the electronics. The TIE fighter's red LED light worked! But the noise maker did not, I thought it had an alarm clock buzzer but it is just a small electric motor found in three million electronic devices from handheld tape recorders to other toys. Even modern toys still use these more or less. Replacing it should be very easy to do.

The X-wing had a small clear plastic snapper type deal where it replicates like when you were a kid and put playing cards in your spokes to make noise. That was the X-wing noise maker, same small electronic motor with a geared wheel that spins and the clear ticker just snaps away while it rotates. The motor in the X-wing worked fine, the LED did not so I need to buy a red LED light at Radio Shack for a buck that is the same size.

So one motor and one red LED light and we are stylin'.

I may even take the red LED out of the TIE and put it in the X-wing and then buy a green LED for the TIE fighter. WHY NOT! That would make me happier I think.

As stated this was not a complete restoration to look mint. In my mind this was to make them look like they are somewhat in good shape and give them some pride. using today's technology it was pretty simple to do.

Glue, clear packing tape, a nickle, a printer, photo scanner and some TLC. I cleaned each one after taking them apart using rubbing alcohol being sure to test a small patch that would not be noticable if it ruined it which would be on the inside of the vehicles to see if the plastic used then would actually be damaged by rubbing alcohol. The results were awesome and it really cleaned well using a toothbrush to scrub with.

So here are the final results of my little project as well as a link to my friend DJMaul's blog about his restoration project with a darth Vader Tie Fighter he found in need of repiar.

Thank you DJMaul once again for this great find for only $5 apiece.

i am now willing to buy some vintage "junk" of other sorts people never buy because they are either dirty or have the stickers missing and give them a go of it as a project like this which can be found here

The photos now are of the finished project. i hope this inspires you to not pass on that awful looking X-wing at a yard sale if it has all of its parts because you really can make something look good again.

TIE FIGHTER AFTER PHOTO 1


TIE FIGHTER AFTER PHOTO 2


TIE FIGHTER AFTER PHOTO 3

TIE FIGHTER AFTER PHOTO 4


X-WING AFTER PHOTO 1


X-WING AFTER PHOTO 2


X-WING AFTER PHOTO 3


X-WING AFTER PHOTO 4


X-WING AFTER PHOTO 5

So that is that .... now when you see something that makes you say "What a piece of junk!" take a second look because you may actually have a fantastic bargain and a fun project to do on a cold winter's night.

Until the next blog entry this is your host saying goodnight ...

"Point your saber to the sky ... Star Wars 'til you die".