TC-14 (MODEL KIT) PROJECT #452 CLASSIFICATION: REPAINT MANUFACTURER: MPC MATERIALS USED: MODEL GLUE, HOBBY KNIFE, PAPER CLIPS, MACHINE SCREWS, ENAMEL/ACRYLIC PAINTS MEDIA APPEARANCE: STAR WARS EPISODE I: THE PHANTOM MENACE "I'm Teecee Fourteen, at your service." Preamble:  I've always been a big fan of TC-14.  She was the first female protocol droid we see in the movies, and there's just something awesome about that sultry, sexy voice coming out of a robot design that I've always seen as male, which has completely forced me to reevaluate how I look at it.  (In retrospect, C-3PO is fairly gender-neutral in appearance, but I've associated this droid design with a male character for so long that it boggles the mind that this is a chick.)  For a while, I had plans to erect this big fan page for TC-14 with screen shots and all sorts of other goodies, but that never panned out.  I even came up with my own really sad action figure of her before they came out with an official version, by slathering a C-3PO toy with silver model paint.  However, that's all in the past, now.  (So is TC-14, come to think of it.  The official party line is that she got blown up along with the rest of the Neimodian control ship, but I choose not to dwell on such things.  I mean, hey, if Boba Fett survived certain death, anybody can.) Anyway, when I was working on my model kit of C-3PO from Attack of the Clones, I started laying down a silver base coat so I could go back later and add the weathering to make it look like his plating was worn down to the bare metal.  It occured to me that if I painted the entire thing silver before I did anything further, I'd have a pretty decent-looking model kit of TC-14, my all-time favorite female robot.  This is kind of a cheatsy project since it's really just another project that just happens to be halfway completed, but I wanted to photograph it anyway.  So, here she is. Construction:  I also made some modifications to the kit before I started painting it, so this is a slightly more accurate version of the kit than what you'd find on the shelf.  (Not that these are actually available on the shelf, since the model kit was originally released in 1977, but you know what I mean.)  Obviously, I made these changes in the interest of making a more accurate C-3PO, but since TC-14 has an identical body design it works really nicely for her, too.  Some of the changes you might have noticed, if you're familiar at all with the model kit, include a modified nose and neck joint, some rebuilt pistons on her neck, the lack of a restraining bolt on her chest, some new wiring in her midsection, and some added machine screws in her hips.  These are faily minor cosmetic changes, of course, but I'm a big fan of the droids from Star Wars and I'm also a stickler for details, so fixing these things results in a more accurate model, and that makes me happy. Comments:  This project no longer exists as such, because I've since finished the paint job and completed my Attack of the Clones version of the C-3PO model kit.  TC-14 will always live on in our hearts, though. This Page Created 7/27/2010 Last Update: 7/27/2010 ©2010 Inspiration Studios TC-14 is the property of Nute Gunray Please make yourself comfortable. My master will kill you shortly.