This is the long discontinued SMT Probe Droid in 1/6th scale which I picked up on eBay for a princely sum, but I just had to have it!. This is only my second 'large' project in as many years. I'm more of a prop/ replica/model collector than a kit builder, but I enjoy the odd build-up when time permits.

The build-up took approximately 26 hours over one sleepless weekend. I have a simple maxim when building - establish and maintain momentum! Being an obsessive, I just can't put anything down. So 26 hrs it was. During the build, I found I had to scratch-build a manipulator arm that was unfortunately missing. Frustrating initially, but rising to the challenge proved a lot of fun. From a few hunks of plastic and hardwood found in my DIY tool box, came an arm which fitted in extremely well with the other pre-molded parts (it's the one on the right in the full pic). Thanks go to Alfred Wong for the encouragement!

The kit isn't difficult to make at all as it's very well molded in resin. I spent just less than an hour on cleanup. Parts fit was excellent with no need for putty at all anywhere. My only major gripe would be the lenses which were quite badly pitted in places. A couple of coats of gloss black soon had them shining however. Two old telephones unfortunately lost their lives as they were torn asunder in search of 'greeblies' to enhance the underside of the droid.

As you can see, I added a small red LED to the kit just for kicks. Powered by a 9v battery, it should give a few months life at least each time it's replaced. I also substituted the supplied brass rods on the actuators for aluminium ones in order to be more realistic where the hydraulics were concerned. The antennae were also painted silver.

Undercoat: Satin Black automotive spray paint. Top coat: Tank Grey, Humbrol Modellers spray paint. Weathering: Light grey enamel. (The reason I used enamel paint was so I could 'smudge it around' while it was still drying - it worked quite well) I'm aware the colour is supposed to be an olive drab but from most if not all the reference pics I've seen. Mid/Dark Grey is used all the time - and besides, it's how I remember the Probe Droid from ESB anyway!

A few decals here and there, cut from various stickers I'd collected over time, were applied. I feel the kit would suffer if too much detailing was added and it benefits from spartan appearance. After all, a probe droid is a purely functional piece of hardware.

Image: Underside enhancements

Image: Manipulator arm

Image: The scratched manipulator arm before paintng