Here are some finished images of my recently completed YT-1300 conversion and repaint. Before this i have concentrated mostly on magnetising models and a few small paint corrections here and there. My hobby background is mostly GW, so i have a lot of paint etc for that side of the hobby, so i wanted to get to work on some proper conversions/repaints and this YT is my first big project. I will post some info as to how i went about it later. My inspiration came from many site online, particularly Hobbybeforeidie. Hope you like it

Now i need to get it onto the tabletop! Problem is i can only use it in lists with boosted engines...

So after reading;

http://hobbybeforeidie.blogspot.com/2013/06/x-wing-millennium-falcon-conversion.html

and googling for all the yt-1300 conversion/repaint posts/images online i was sufficiently inspired to take the scalpel to my millennium falcon. One of the key materials i used (and had to order various bits of before kicking off the build) was;

http://www.plastruct.com/

which i ordered from Antics in the UK. I ordered different sheets/tubing/struts etc. I have enough now for 10 more conversions, but it was worth the investment as this stuff is great quality and easy to work with.

The first step was to remove the cabin and corridor. This i did by repeatedly scoring the line where it meets the hull. Be aware that the hull is approx 2 mm thick and cutting required a lot of work and pressure. I wanted to achieve a slightly different look to the above article with the cabin being higher up to give a better view over the front prongs. It also gives a kind seated lion/sphinx look, particularly with the changes i later made to the rear of the model. I simply filed flat the upper surface on the central profusion and attached the original corridor and then cabin. The radar dish seemed out of place now so i removed it and its mount. There were now some flat areas so i added detail with plastruct tubing. I then added some bars across the hole where the original corridor was to hold the new hull.

Next i decided to add some new engines. Here i was very much inspired by Robert Sakaluk;

http://www.themetalbikini.com/2014/03/tmbcom-and-miniature-market-painting.html

So i got the scalpel out again and hacked off the rear qtr circle of the hull. I also filled in the hole where the corridor used to be. I did this exactly as on hobbybeforeidie. I put two layers, cutting the top layer into panels. I didn't work out a good way to make the little notches until later, so this part is unfortunately with straight edged panels. Little squares/rectangles blended it nicely into the hull.

at the same time i added some more piping, Then i used the rods/piping from plastruct inserting different widths inside one another to create engine exhaust nozzles;

i then put a blob of greenstuff ontop of the engines and squashed the original exhaust part back onto the model trying to get the lines level. This left the central part of the hull somewhat higher than the rest of the model. TBH i'd rather than difference was less, and if i did it again here i would squash it down further, so that the engines touches the upper & bottom hull parts. Prior to closing it all up i sprayed the interior black so as to avoid doing this later when i would'nt have access.

Next i built up the hull round the exhaust housing. Similar to the earlier hull work, but now i added the notches to the panels. Little squares and tubing added to the detailing.

I painted all the panels with a 1:2 mix of citadel base dheneb stone and astrononicum grey which i read somewhere was a good match to the original hull. I then went back and used codex and fortress greys to change some of the new and some of the old panels to blend it all in.Then i added some washes, black and brown from citadel.

The blue was done using several thin coats of regal blue building up to a mix of ultramarine and enchanted blues.

some red and gold gave spot colours as you can see in the original post. I drybrushed the engine nozzles from red to yellow to white. Then i painted the small air-lock windows as if they were gemstones in green. I sprayed the whole model with matt varnish. This was really to protect the model. I found that the paint adherence was poor and easy to scratch. I then used citadel gloss varnish to re-shine the cockpit/windows/engines. And that was that!

This is awesome. An good alternative way of a more extensive mod, like Rob Jedi's Armored Hull one, but with less scratch building involved.

Hey, this is a great conversion, well done.

...Though...every time I see someone take a YT and put the cockpit in the middle like (a few times now) that, I can't help but read it as '***** ship'

Bravo. I like the way you built your engines using the tubing.

I'm impressed you did all your panelling as glued on panels including the filed in notches not an easy way to do it. Must have been a pain to keep the panels straight and evenly spaced. Scribing is much easier but to try and put in those notches involves sorta hacking them in with a knife tip.

Thanks for the comments, and a big thanks to Rob for noticing my efforts

I am really kicking myself now that i never found your excellent post here on how you built your ship! i found the winning prize images, but i could have saved myself a lot of effort and head scratching if i found that first! Will have to give that Tamiya scribing tool a go. I usually default to what i know and thats why i built the panels up as i did, more in line with some other 40k things i have attempted.

Beautiful ship, like a lot the paint job. congrats.

Nice work, and a great conversion. I personally dont care for the center mount cockpit, but it is popular, I wanna do one with a port side cockpit.

Also, I think you could run this without the engine boost, this is a normal possibility for the YT class of ships.

Once again, great work...

From a technical stand point you have done a good job on the conversion and paint job. I particularly like the engines. That I personally think the raised back is a bit ugly is moot, can't account for everyone's taste after all. Could almost say I don't like the big booty.

Awesome work Borgut!

Looks the absolute business - The engine block in particular is a pro piece of modding... Looks like it could smash the Kessel Run without even breaking a sweat!

Ace job on the paintwork as well. Excellent work

Oh, the envy I feel right now... fantastic work!

Congratulations! Very nice Job!

VERY NICE work, thanks for sharing it with us!