Radiant Cruiser (Star Wars Episode I)

Resin kit by Randy Cooper

Scale 1/144

Length ~61,5cm

Shortly after his cool Blockade Runner kit, Randy offered this nice kit of the predecessor of that ship,

seen briefly in Episode I and quickly blown up...

In contrary to many other designs of the new films, I like that a lot - probably because it took the

basic shapes of the Blockade Runner and stayed pretty true to the idea.

Like the Tantive kit, this one was engineered very clever, and the engine section was much easier to

put together (just 3 engines instead of 11 - piece of cake)

Since the Blockade Runner was lighted, I decided to put lights in here as well. The cockpit has a LED

directly atop that shines through the grill, plus a couple of fiberoptics. It's not visible in the pics

but looks pretty good when the room is dark. I just hope that none of the LEDs blow, as I have no way

of opening up this section. The engines are done the same way as the Blockade Runner- the caps snap

tight in position and can be easily removed in case the LEDs blow.

Painting was done using the slightly tinted white I use for all the Star Wars models, then a layer of red,

with a variation of reds and oranges for the different panels. I tried to stay true to the studio model as much as possible

After that weathering in different steps - first airbrushed, then dirt with brush/towel, then some rust.

I'm very happy with the result - those two ships complement each other very well