Imperial TIE Interceptor

from "Star Wars - Episode VI: Return of the Jedi" (1983)

Scale: 1/51
Initial Release: 1983
Medium: Styrene
Kit Rarity: 3

About the Design

The TIE Interceptor was the third TIE variation to be featured in a “Star Wars” feature film.  (The other two were Darth Vader’s TIE Advanced in the original “Star Wars,” and the TIE Bomber in “The Empire Strikes Back.”)  The design was sleeker and even more angular than the original flat-paneled TIE and featured four wing-mounted blasters instead of the two cockpit-mounted guns on the original fighter design.

About the Kit

Although small in scale, MPC's 1/51 scale TIE Interceptor, released in 1983, was actually a well-designed little kit and makes for a fine display piece. Ironically, it was released more than a full decade before a model of the original “Star Wars” TIE finally managed to hit the shelves. A “Gold Edition” version was released several years later, and subsequent releases occurred in 2002 and finally again in 2005.

This model was built from an original 1983 issue.