A Tale of Two TIEs

Note: This article was originally written a few months ago but was published prematurely and I had to temporarily take it down. I am now able to post it as the larger of the two kits is now available so please enjoy if you’ve not seen it when it was up before.

A couple of years ago Round 2 LLC’s Jamie Hood asked me to build a to-be-re-popped model kit of the AMT branded TIE fighter kit from Star Wars to be used for promotional materials and the box art. The kit was originally done as an over-boxed set of two by ERTL back around 1997. This was the first time a model kit of the standard TIE fighter (with the flat hexagonal wings) was ever produced. It was the same size as the TIE Interceptor snap-kit made by MPC back in 1983 when Return of the Jedi came out. The kit was actually a set of two fighters displayed over a base representing the Death Star surface. But there was a problem with it. Not a serious one but most fans noticed the proportional inaccuracies of the wings immediately. Sometimes even minor errors can be glaring. They were a little too rectangular, so Round 2 corrected them by tooling new wings for it. Otherwise the kit looked really good. The kit was released as a single model (not over-boxed this time!) with R2s signature dome stand with metal post and swivelling mount.

Shortly after that, Jamie also asked me to build the old TIE Interceptor kit that was to be re-popped, since R2 owns all MPC tooling. I got partway into building it when I realized something… The old 1983 kit was pretty crude even by 1990s standards so I suggested using the wings from the old kit but substitute the fuselage from the standard TIE kit they had just re-popped since they happened to be exactly the same size. The newer kit had a lot more detail and was more accurate too, so all they had to do was have the factory modify the wing mounting points slightly and it would be good to go. So that’s what they did. Here are the two small kits that were the result of these fixes. They wound up being a great improvement over the old kits. Remember you can click on the pictures (or right-click and select open in new tab) for a larger, higher resolution image.

Here are the standard TIE wings comparison. The new version is the dark gray-blue one at right. The cream coloured one at left is the way the wings looked in the 1997 release.

Here are the old snap-together parts from the 1983 release of the Interceptor which was abandoned except for the wings. It was an over-simplified kit made for kids and detail was seriously lacking. Not shown are the really silly, oversized landing gear struts, based on the equally silly and useless ones originally included in the Darth Vader’s TIE kit (which I covered in a previous article), that were for some reason included in the kit. Since those were never canon, the landing gear was abandoned altogether from the new releases. Note that the cockpit “glass” has the frame molded in so it’s really difficult to paint.

Below are the set of fuselage and cockpit parts made for the 1997 Standard TIE kit as more recently released. As you can see, it’s much more detailed and precisely made than the old snap-kit. The cockpit is based on the one that was made for the Vader’s TIE kit. The cockpit glass is separate from the frame so it’s much easier to paint. Or, if you want to replicate the look of the studio models, just leave the clear parts off as I did (the studio models avoided using clear window “glass” as it would have created reflection problems for the optical compositing process).

Here are a couple of pictures of the improved TIE Interceptor built up. It is six inches long. Not quite 100% accurate (correcting ALL errors would have resulted in an entirely new tool) but a vast improvement over all previous offerings. Looks pretty darn good to me. It also has a newly tooled hatch that can cover the mounting hole on the bottom if you choose not to use the stand, a feature not included in the original release.

Leave a comment

A while later, Jamie asked me to do a build-up of their all new larger 1/32 scale and much more accurate model of the Standard TIE which I covered in an earlier article. That’s right. This one:

It stands to reason that a TIE Interceptor would soon follow, as the fuselage could remain the same as were the original studio filming miniatures. All that was needed was to tool up new wings. So Aaron Skinner, who now does model kit development at Round 2, sent me some test shots for my evaluation. Here is the result:

As of this writing on March 4th 2026, the kit has not yet been released but will soon be in production and will likely be available in a few months, likely the spring or summer of 2026, so this is your sneak peek surprise at this brand new model kit which was first unveiled at the New York Toy Fair just last month.

This beauty measures a whopping 15” long, just slightly smaller than “studio scale” and is, like all Round 2’s newly developed kits, by far the best example of the subject you can buy at any price. Enjoy the following pictures of this fabulous model in all its glory.

Special note: I modified the laser guns below the cockpit that come with the kit to resemble the version I liked best since I was building this model for myself. Aaron built the model you will see in publicity material and likely the box art (I lost out on that job). The original TIE miniatures had different guns, some long, some short. The “barrels” on the studio miniatures were actually mechanical draughting pencil ends (the clamp that holds the lead) and some had “bulbs” on the ends, some did not. I like the short barrels without the bulbs myself, and since I wasn’t going to light this one up, I thought it looked better so I machined them down to suit. Also, I made the window frame a lighter gray than it should be. The Interceptor’s window frame should be a very dark gray, almost black, but I didn’t like it being that dark, so I used a colour just a little darker than the one used on the standard TIE. I was building this one for myself, after all.

Share Small Art Works Newsletter

Here are a couple more pictures to drool over.

Here are the two Interceptors together for size comparison.

I hope you enjoyed this little story about how kits evolve and improve when done by the right people. Round 2 has not disappointed. I like to give credit where due, and R2 deserves a lot of credit for their newly tooled projects for the last decade and a half or so. They really do get it right when possible. I hope you have as much fun building these as I have.

If you like to have models but don’t like to build them or don’t have the time, or want something better than a Chinese factory assembly line type that will be the same as everyone else’s, please consider hiring me to build them for you. It’s my full time job to build models just for you or any model kit company who appreciates well thought out builds and photography. Please send an email to “jim@smallartworks.ca” and we can have a conversation.

Don’t forget to visit “www.smallartworks.ca” which has more information and pictures of all kinds of models.

Also, if you’ve not done so yet, please consider subscribing to this Substack site and you can be notified via Email when new projects or news is published.