The Imperial Shipyards
Imperial Review => Star Wars Model Kits => Topic started by: JDeck on September 20, 2015, 08:07:19 AM
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Introduction
I decided to go ahead and do reviews on these Bandai Star Wars kits. I won't go through the actual build, just the overall review. Highlighting the pros and cons of the kit and how it stacks up to other manufacturers. If you've never put a model kit together these kits are very simple. These kits are designed for children, I think everyone on here is smart enough to build these. They require a slim amount of patience and common sense. No glue and no paint required. The kits are very well thought out and the parts fit extremely well, if they don't fit right you either have it backwards or you need to trim the sprue remnants. I've put together every kit so far and not once has there ever been a single flaw in the plastic, instructions or decals. The instructions are very well illustrated, but all the writing is in Japanese. All the figures are fully articulated and all use similar joints, so if you can build one you can build them all. Please enjoy!
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1/12 Scout Trooper
The first kit I'll highlight is the Bandai Scout trooper and Speederbike. First off is the Scout trooper. It was a simple build similar to the other figure kits, it took me about 2 hours to complete. Overall the final product is very nice, I like the clean shiny crisp individually molded armor pieces, as opposed to the Black Series Scout that has dull weathered armor molded on to the figure. The range of motion out performs the Black Series by a wide margin. The pouches on the Bandai kit are articulated so they can lay flat or move up to accommodate his legs while mounted on the speeder. I like Bandai's helmet sculpt much better than TBS, the black series goggles seem way too big to me. The Bandai scout like all the other Bandai figures has the nice smokey translucent lenses, that looks much better than painted vinyl.
The Black series does have one advantage the under armor of the scout is very nicely detailed as for the Bandai kit its just plain with a few little straps and so forth.
Overall its a very tough call, I think its just a matter of preference. I'll go with the Bandai kit just because of the clean armor vs. the weathered. As well as the more accurate helmet sculpt. And the soft vinyl plastic of the Black Series causes him to be bowl legged out of the package. I think the Bandai scout looks better standing and the Hasbro works best when mounted.
If you want a definitive Scout/speeder the SH Figuarts version will be available early next year with a cost between $140-$200. This Bandai kit is about $40-$45. And the Black series varies between $20-35.
The pictures show the comparison between the Black Series (Left) and the Bandai (Right). I haven't put the decals on yet, I'm still waiting for the decal prep that I ordered, but final pics will be up ASAP. The Bandai kit comes with the scout pistol and different interchangeable hands. R&L for gripping the bike handles R hand for shooting the pistol and R&L in a relaxed position.
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Nice, looking forward to seeing more of these kits reviewed. Off to share.
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Nice, looking forward to seeing more of these kits reviewed. Off to share.
Thanks for the exposure. I'll review the speeder bike tonight, I just need to take comparison pictures. Unfortunately I'll have to photograph it without decals because I plan to paint it later, then add decals.
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1/12 Speeder Bike. (cont.)
In this segment I'll review the Speeder bike that comes with the Scout (above). This wasn't a hard vehicle to build, it was actually quite fun, no repetition. Usually these kits have certain parts that repeat themselves, for example the X-wing you have to build four wings. With this build that is not the case. It took exactly 1.5 hours to build, so between the scout and the speeder about 3.5 hours of build time.
I'll start the review with my only grievance. The rear "flaps" or whatever they're called. The kit comes with two options open or closed. The thing is, its either open or closed, all the way, to me they should be partially open or closed. That's me being nit picky. The Black series has adjustable flaps but the material they're made from is very soft, almost soft goods soft.
The front forks are very rigid and nicely detailed on the Bandai kit. The control panel has finely detailed levers that can be manipulated forward or backwards. The engine details are very nicely sculpted with individual pipes and tubes. The handle bars are really cool, the brakes and levers can be manipulated back and forth. The kit comes with this display piece of a forest floor and the bike connects to the side of a tree trunk, which is pretty cool.
The display needs paint and plants or something to make it look better. In my opinion the Speeder needs to be painted just like all the Bandai vehicles, to get rid of that plastic sheen. So I'll do that before I add the decals.
All things being said my next speeder bike will be another Bandai kit. The details of the bike are very nice, and the figure is just plain better in my opinion. The jury is still out whether I'll buy the SH Figuarts Speeder/scout when it releases, but honestly this kit is good enough for me. I can buy almost five of these for the price of the figuarts speeder.
I was in a hurry so I didn't take the best of pictures I need to play with the figure to get him mounted better. But you get the idea.
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I'm posting this so I can add more pics in the future of the kit with decals. Next review will be 1/12 Darth Vader.
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Great review mate I can't wait to get my hands on a few of the Bandai Scout/speeder kits.
Ron
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I am liking these reviews!
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I am liking these reviews!
Thank you Tamer, I do my best. I'm trying not to bash Hasbro too much, but Bandai is just taking Star Wars to the next level. Between these kits and their SH Figuarts line they're creating awesome product.
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Great review mate I can't wait to get my hands on a few of the Bandai Scout/speeder kits.
Ron
I can't wait to see what you will do with them! Its just a good platform you don't have to change much and a good paint job will do wonders for it.
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Thanks for reviewing this. Based on your description, I'd go with the Bandai hands down. I can always weather a figure.
Keep the reviews coming, please.
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Thanks for reviewing this. Based on your description, I'd go with the Bandai hands down. I can always weather a figure.
Keep the reviews coming, please.
Thanks, bud. I'll have more pictures soon I just ran out of time last night. It really is worth the extra 10 bucks to get the kit vs. the Hasbro version. I'll have more reviews soon.
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1/144 Millennium Falcon
0/ I haven't been paying attention to this feed like I ought to, my apologies. Been busy with my own customs. Lately the Bandai models I've built have been kitbash customs, so it wouldn't be a real fair assessment. I figure I will review the Bandai 1/144 Millennium Falcon, from The Force Awakens. I'm not going to make a custom, but I will have to paint it.
The Bandai TFA Falcon costs about $55. USD Its 1/144 scale, with 904 parts, that's impressive. Compared to the new Revell 1/72 scale Falcon with the same amount of parts at about $275 USD, but the Revell is the ANH version, still, I couldn't believe it. I'm partial to Bandai kits personally.the box itself is huge , compared to the other kits. The parts are super detailed like the other kits, it reminds me of the Y-Wing, with all the tiny individual parts. The Falcon has tons of little greebles that are very accurately replicated. The kit comes with the Jakku desert stand, to be displayed in-fight.
You have many options with this kit. It can be displayed in-flight, with a clear blue effect on the engine. Or you can display it landed with 5 landing feet, and a hatch that can be opened. You also have the choice of the "glass" canopy or just the frame. I like having just the frame, looks much better. BUT in TFA the "glass" is clearly visible, with a sandy film. So im not sure what I'll do. It comes with Han, Chewy, Rey, Fin and BB-8 figures. I really like how the instruction booklet opens like a book instead of a map type, makes it much easier. Again it comes with sticker and waterslide decals, but I'll end up painting most of the details.
I can't wait to dig into this kit, it looks completely awesome. Even at 1/144 scale it doesn't seem too small, to me its the perfect size. There's no way I'm paying $275 for a 1/72 Revell even if its the 3 footer ANH style. The amount of details amazes me. I love the top and bottom turrets, very detailed and cool looking. I'll give a more details as I'm building, I also will have to paint as I go, so it won't be a straight out of the box build. I just hope my painting skills can do justice to this awesome kit. 0/
I'm having trouble loading attachments again. I'll have pics up ASAP. Baah not sure what's up with this, but I'm working on it.
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I've gotten 90% of the build done, in just a few hours. I gotta say this is an awesome kit! Tons of detail, accurate dimensions, everything you could want in a TFA Falcon.
As I was building it, I couldn't put it down. Just a real fun kit.
Throughout the build I noticed some parts that just kept falling off. Mainly the engine screens. Evidently your supposed to be able to take them off, to represent some scenes where the Falcon was damaged. But I'm just going to glue them down. Same with a few other parts. I left some preassembled parts off, so I can paint them separately. I pre-painted some parts, like the cockpit and the service hole things on the top and bottom. Of course I haven't applied the decals yet either, that will come later. When you attach the top and bottom halves, you really need to give it good pressure. When it snaps right it'll sound like you just broke it. I added the feet/landing gear, so I can make a Jakku junkyard diorama. It has these tiny little pipes just like the Y-wing, be VERY CAREFUL cutting them. I always use an exacto knife, but ideally you need a set of good sprue cutters. I know they're expensive, but it beats ruining an awesome kit. The instructions have a variation, evidently you can buy an LED lighting kit, separately. Everything is in Japanese, but if you use common sense its easy to figure out. It ain't rocket surgery.
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Nice review. Looks like a great kit. I have got to get on owning a few of these Bandai kits myself.
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I'm going to pretty much wrap up this review, and continue posting my progress in my models/miscellaneous feed. Since the rest of the build will be custom paint, and diorama.
I built the Falcon with the optional open hatch/boarding door. It looks absolutely awesome! If you put a light inside or something it would look sweet. I put on some of my preassembled parts to show how it looks complete. I love all the little greebles and details this thing has, and its only 1/144 scale. The length comes out to about 7 inches more or less, so its substantial, but not huge. Overall I really like this kit. My favorite Bandai kit yet. The only drawback I can see is, I really wanted it to have the parabolic radar dish. Its the same 5 footer design as the TESB & ROTJ Falcon, although I think some of the greebles are unique to TFA, but it would have worked. You might be able to find a remanufactured FineMolds radar dish, somewhere. You could even take the dish off, for a battle of Endor look. But that's the only complaint, I have. Once its painted/weathered and the decals placed it'll be one tough Falcon.
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I am really liking your kit reviews. I so have to pick up some.
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I am really liking your kit reviews. I so have to pick up some.
Thanks Tamer! I try to be thorough enough to where there aren't any surprises. These kits are highly addictive. I would start off with the Stormtrooper and TIE fighter. They don't have any special variations, just a straight build. It'll allow you to get used to the Japanese instructions. The instructions are VERY well illustrated, almost dummy proof. There's certain cues they give in the instructions for certain parts. Like arrows and numbers, that tell you how the parts fit and in what order. You have to figure it out. When you do, its sort of like cracking a code. The first kit I built was the C-3PO, I got a little confused on the arm variations. The great thing is, if you make a mistake, like if you put something on backwards, you can take it apart again.
The Bandai kits and even SH.Figuarts don't have the scalpers markup like Hasbro does. On Amazon you can get the older kits, like Stormtrooper , Vader, TIE fighter, for less than retail value. Less than $20, thats a deal. That's one reason I just deal with Bandai, for the most part.
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I got my Bandai Star Destroyer today! I gotta tell you the details are really sharp, i mean really sharp. I cant even capture the detail on camera, but believe me, this little kit is jammed pack with detail. It comes in a fairly small box, with four sprues for the kit plus one sprue for the stand. The instructions are written on the underside of the lid. The instructions are in English, which is great, but strange, since all the other kits are all written in Japanese. Obviously no decals. You really don't need to paint it, but I might shoot it with some Tamiya British Light Grey. Since it is the Star Destroyer Avenger it should have a slightly bluish tint. It arrived sooner than expected. I ordered it from Hobby_Japan on eBay for a fair price. I can't wait to put it together.
BTW, MSRP is $6 American, so don't get scammed.
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I finished the Star Destroyer. It took me 10 minutes or so. Real simple build, no trick parts, everything fits. There are a few very small gaps, which is no big deal. The length is about 4" width is 1.5". Its a really neat kit. Just like all Bandai Star Wars It didn't disappoint. These small kits, named the concept series, so far are very good, same detail as the big kits just smaller and cheaper. According to the box the paint recommendation is 75% white 25% gull grey.
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I couldn't find Hobby Japan, but I did find this link:
eBay Star Destroyer Search (http://rover.ebay.com/rover/1/711-53200-19255-0/1?ff3=4&pub=5575055288&toolid=10001&campid=5337377665&customid=&mpre=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.ebay.com%2Fsch%2Fi.html%3F_nkw%3DBandai%2BStar%2BDestroyer%26_in_kw%3D1%26_ex_kw%3D%26_sacat%3D0%26_udlo%3D%26_udhi%3D%26_ftrt%3D901%26_ftrv%3D1%26_sabdlo%3D%26_sabdhi%3D%26_samilow%3D%26_samihi%3D%26_sadis%3D15%26_stpos%3D26726%26_sargn%3D-1%2526saslc%253D1%26_salic%3D1%26_fss%3D1%26_fsradio%3D%2526LH_SpecificSeller%253D1%26_saslop%3D1%26_sasl%3DHobby_Japan%26_sop%3D12%26_dmd%3D1%26_ipg%3D200)
If you want to pm me a link or post it here I can get that set up too. It looks great, gonna have to have one of those, off to share on the front page.
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I couldn't find Hobby Japan, but I did find this link:
eBay Star Destroyer Search (http://rover.ebay.com/rover/1/711-53200-19255-0/1?ff3=4&pub=5575055288&toolid=10001&campid=5337377665&customid=&mpre=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.ebay.com%2Fsch%2Fi.html%3F_nkw%3DBandai%2BStar%2BDestroyer%26_in_kw%3D1%26_ex_kw%3D%26_sacat%3D0%26_udlo%3D%26_udhi%3D%26_ftrt%3D901%26_ftrv%3D1%26_sabdlo%3D%26_sabdhi%3D%26_samilow%3D%26_samihi%3D%26_sadis%3D15%26_stpos%3D26726%26_sargn%3D-1%2526saslc%253D1%26_salic%3D1%26_fss%3D1%26_fsradio%3D%2526LH_SpecificSeller%253D1%26_saslop%3D1%26_sasl%3DHobby_Japan%26_sop%3D12%26_dmd%3D1%26_ipg%3D200)
If you want to pm me a link or post it here I can get that set up too. It looks great, gonna have to have one of those, off to share on the front page.
Yeah your right he sold out. And there aren't many left from other sellers. Geez these things sold like crazy. Looks like seller: sfhm1122 has the best deal, $8.09+$3.00 s+h. I haven't bought from them, so I can't vouch for them. But I would go for it. They're still $14+free s+h on amazon, that's not a terrible deal, but not ideal. The x-wing is on Amazon Prime for $12. Hobby_Japan still has the x-wing, I ordered three with combined shipping.
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Thanks mate that was a great review, I was deciding if I should get this kit or not but now I will cheers buddy.
Ron
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Can you get me a link for hobby japan? I will add them to our favorite eBay Sellers so I can check em from time to time.
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Thanks mate that was a great review, I was deciding if I should get this kit or not but now I will cheers buddy.
Ron
Thanks bud.
I painted mine up a bit, nothing fancy. But if you give it a couple thin coats those small seam lines disappear. That was my only moan about the kit, once its painted, it's perfect.
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I can't wait to get mine. JDeck your reviews have definitely pushed me to pick up Bandai. They are really great kits I do agree.
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I can't wait to get mine. JDeck your reviews have definitely pushed me to pick up Bandai. They are really great kits I do agree.
Thanks Tamer. Your lucky to get one, this morning I thought about ordering a couple more, and he was sold out. I'm sure he'll re supply, as fast as they're selling. That's one huge reason I'm into Bandai, is they produce mass quantities of these kits. I got fed up with Walmart not having product, I don't even go to the Star Wars isle anymore. Bandai kits usually stay at MSRP, from respectable sellers, because of the amount produced. So they aren't "collectable", for those looking for a financial investment. I just think they're the coolest star wars kits ever, and they're enjoyable to build, without breaking the bank. That's what its all about, for me.
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Amen.
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I got my Bandai 1/144 X-wings today. I opened the mailbox and one side of the box was crushed, I was worried. However after opening, the individual boxes were undamaged. So hats off to Hobby_Japan.
The pieces are very nicely detailed. Much like the 1/72 version but half the size and fewer parts. It has the sticker decals, no waterslide. The markings are for Luke's Red5, I would love for a manufacturer to make decals for x-wings other than Red5, but that's a Pipedream. It only has the R2 unit head, no R5 like the 1/72 version, no BFD, at this scale it doesn't matter a whole lot. The cockpit canopy is solid one piece, not hollow. No landing gear, but the wings can be moved to attack position, or cruising. Again directions are on the underside of the lid, in English. So cool kit, especially for less than $6.00
So I'll build one of these bad boys up and see how it looks. Stay tuned.
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Alrighty. I assembled the "non scale" (1/144) X-wing today. I'm telling you this is the x-wing I've been waiting for. Its small, and inexpensive. I could build an entire squadron of these without breaking the bank. They're twice as big as the x-wing miniatures, half the size of the 1/72, at a fraction of the cost. The level of detail is comparable to the 1/72. However it has no landing gear or cockpit interior. The level of quality is consistent with the other Bandai kits.
Build time was approximately 15-20 minuets. Again no trick parts everything fits like its supposed to. The details are great, proportions are correct. All around good kit.
I didn't add the decals, because I'm building a custom non red squadron X-wing. Personally I'd like to see an x-wing other than one from red squadron. One squadron in the entire rebel fleet is unbelievable.
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Great review. Off to share.
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Another great review mate and I have the Star Destroyer and X-wing on their way and can't wait to build them.
Ron
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Awe yeeah. I got my A-wings today, I wasn't expecting them for another week or two. Pretty rad kit. I might start building tomorrow, the first one I'll build straight out the box. The second I'll make a custom phoenix squadron A-wing.
I put the DS turret together. It's cast in grey plastic with just a hand full of parts. I really don't know what scale it is. I know its not 1/72. None the less its really cool. The details are crisp, and accurate. The guns elevate 90°, the turret traverses 360°. I'll find something cool to do with this turret. It definitely needs paint, black canons white tower, with weathering. With some plastic surgery you could make the tower shorter. Even though its out of scale, it still looks great along with the 1/72 fighters. Of course its pretty neat just by itself.
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I still can't figure out the scale of this turret. From the photos I have they're different sizes. One photo the top turret appears to be 10 feet tall. In 1/72 scale that would be 1.66 inches tall. The model top turret is 0.5 inches tall. So that would be closer to 1/240 scale, if .5=120 then 1=240. I compared the 1/72 figure to the turret, the figure is 3 times too big for the turret. notice the ladder rungs on the side of the turret, its a dead giveaway. if the rungs are spaced 12" apart, and there are 6 rungs going 2/3 roughly up the turret, that tells you the turret is approximately 10 feet tall. I think it would be perfect for the FFG X-WING miniatures (1/270), possibly the 1/144, but that's a stretch. Even if the turret was 8ft tall it would still be 1/192. Its cool they included this in the kit though, real nice addition. I like it a lot.
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The turrets looks amazing and they look like the are 1/350 scale. How big is the 1/144 scale X-wing next to it.
Ron
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That turret looks great. Off to share.
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That turret looks great. Off to share.
Thanks Tamer. I'll build the A-wing today sometime.
The turrets looks amazing and they look like the are 1/350 scale. How big is the 1/144 scale X-wing next to it.
Ron
On the Bandai website they claim the X-wing is 86mm, but I measured 80mm. I'll try to dig up the 1/270 x-wing miniature I have somewhere, to see how it looks.
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Alright. I finished building the 1/72 Bandai A-wing. I love this kit, having built several of the AMT-MPC A-wing kits, this puts them to complete shame. The parts seemed to fit very smoothly, even more so than the other Bandai kits. They're making the directions in English now, I've been so used to going by the pictures I didn't notice the English text at first. the details are just incredible. I was hoping for a lighting kit for this, but that's not the case. However with a little engineering it would be easy enough to light, you'd have to use a small coin battery, and drill a few holes while your building the kit. There were a lot of tiny decals, I never knew the A-wing had so many little marks on it. I used Microflat on the decals, bandai decals just don't like to stick for some reason. It needs some black/white washes, but I wanted to show you it's true form. Altogether I like this kit, I highly recommend it for anyone.
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Yeah the 1/144 scale is to big, I think it's 1/350 scale if not I have no idea.
Ron.
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Looks good to me. Thanks for the review. Off to share.
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Looks good to me. Thanks for the review. Off to share.
Thanks Tamer. Looks like my next review will be the 1/72 TFA Resistance T-70 X-wing (Blue). Its been out for quite a while, but I just now got one. Looks pretty cool. I didn't get into the TFA kits, except for the Falcon, cause, its the Millennium Falcon. I thought it would be cool to have the X-wing evolutionary chain from ARC-170 (Revell), T-65 and T-70.
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I got my Bandai 1/72 TIE Interceptor yesterday. Its pretty cool. The one thing I was wondering about was the wing construction. The TIE fighter had wings you had to assemble, and the TIE X1 had prefabricated wings. This kit has the unassembled wings, which is great if you want to repaint. The color is accurate in that it's slightly more bluish than the other TIE fighters, like in ROTJ. This kit has 3 window options clear, grey and black. Other than that, and the wings its the same as the TIE fighter. It comes with the typical sitting pilot. I still don't know why these new kits come with a 2D silhouette figure, it used to come with standing and sitting figures. They're skimping out on me here. At least the instructions are in English, which comes in handy sometimes. Cool kit I may put it together tomorrow. I still have the Clone Trooper I haven't built yet. I may not pre-order bandai kits anymore by the time I got this, I could have bought one on Amazon prime cheaper with free shipping. Unless I'm getting multiple kits.
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Nice Review. I think the SDestroyer was the last one I picked up. I need to go see if there are any new ones I want to pick up. Off to share.
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I finally bought the Bandai 1/144 AT-AT. I've been waiting for this since that one video of the motorized version of this AT-AT. Back in 2014.
I'm not sure of the parts count, but I estimate it to be about 134, about the same as the 1/144 TFA Falcon. The parts are mostly cast in a light grey plastic. The little drivers are also in the light plastic. Not sure why they didn't cast it with the white parts. The kit also comes with a white snowy display base. There are also clear red parts for the view port and laser effects.
The instructions are in both English and Japanese. I noticed they are now being distributed in the U.S, by Bluefin. However they do not distribute the figure kits, only the vehicles. The kit only comes with a few small decals 2 for the Pilot's helmets, and 3 small silhouettes for the view port.
I will be building this up in the next couple of days, so stay tuned for the rest of the review.
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I got one a few months back, but haven't taken the time to build it. I will follow this closely. Off to share.
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I got one a few months back, but haven't taken the time to build it. I will follow this closely. Off to share.
Yeah I remember you got one, I was kinda jelly. But you should put it together. I know when you open the box it looks very daunting, but the trick with these kits is to just take it one step at a time, that's it really. Id say 4 hours of build time. As a matter of fact I'm not even going to paint or weather this one. I want to be able to pick it up and play with it without scratching the paint or whatever. This is fully articulated and has several displaying options.
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I started building the AT-AT. It went pretty smoothly, I did make a couple of stupid mistakes, so make sure you follow the instructions carefully. Thankfully with these Bandai kits you can pull something apart if need be. First thing they have you build, is the "head". Pretty smooth going, you can slide the top part of the head to expose the cockpit. The cockpit is very nicly detailed, just needs paint. It doesn't come with a General Veers figure, without him, it seems like something is missing. The main guns can move back and forth independently, which is great. The neck can fold pretty high up, to put the walker in a collapsed position.
Next step are the legs. Initially I thought it would be mind numbing repetative work, but it went quickly. Each leg has about 25-30 parts, and the way the articulation works is really neat. The whole leg is articulated the way it's supposed to be, even the toes move up and down. Each leg has interchangeable inserts, to depict the hydraulics in different positions.
I've pretty much finished the rest, other than a few finishing parts, so stay tuned for the rest of the review.
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Alright, so I finished the build. I estimated a 4 hour build time, but I got it done in about 3 hours, meybe less. The undercarriage is very nicly detailed, it has soft plastic hip joints, so the legs can be removed without damage. The body has 2 panels that are removable with mechanical details underneath. This is the most detailed AT-AT kit I've ever seen. It's the ultimate AT-AT. Yes, it's a little small, at 6.5 inches, but it packs a wallop. What more can I really say, it's a great kit.
I chose not to paint this one. It doesn't really need it. However a black wash would really bring out the detail, and add some realism. The cockpit could use some paint and detailing, as could the underside of the removable panels.
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Another awesome review buddy and I still need to get a few of these for a few endor, Tatooine and Hoth dio's.
Ron
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Nice. I am gonna build mine. Off to share this review. I will get a button made for it for the Imperial Review Archives Section too.
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Another awesome review buddy and I still need to get a few of these for a few endor, Tatooine and Hoth dio's.
Ron
Thanks bud! That's what I like about the land vehicles, you can make different diorama environments.
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Nice. I am gonna build mine. Off to share this review. I will get a button made for it for the Imperial Review Archives Section too.
Thank you Tamer! Another thing to keep in mind with these kits, is to be sure to clean off the sprue remnants, just like any other model. With these the parts fit so snug, you really have to be sure. I just use an exacto knife to carve of the little sprue tags.
I ordered the 1/144 U-wing and TIE striker, also the 1/144 AT-ST and snowspeeder. I should have a review on them next week.
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I think I have those too, but am not sure I need to go see which scales I have.
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I got the Bandai 1/144 U-wing and TIE striker kit. When I first saw this kit, I was really excited, because you got a variety of different vehicles in the same scale, and in the same box. Also if you combined this kit with a few other 1/144 kits, you could build a really cool battle of Scarif diorama. I was mostly excited about the Assault Tanks, Star Wars ground vehicles are few and far between. I can see why they did it this way. 1/72 U-wing would be too big, and 1/144 U-wing by itself wouldnt justify a $20+ price tag, so they sweetened the pot.
The U-wing is the main attraction. The wings fold open and closed. You have an option with the canopy whether to use clear plastic, or just the colored plastic frame. I chose the colored plastic frame on mine. It does come with decals, however I did not apply them, I'm still debating whether or not to custom paint it a different variation, as these decals depict Cassian Andor's U-wing. The kit also comes with a 1/144 Cassian and K2-SO figures in seated position. The kit does come with the landing gear option, but I did not apply it to my model. Not a bad build, no trick parts no hassles.
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Next is the TIE striker. It's pretty much like the 1/144 TIE fighters that are in the "concept line", pretty basic, compared to the 1/72. But it still is nicely detailed. The solar panels are grey, same as the rest of the fighter. The canopy/windshield is solid cast in a dark grey plastic. So you have to do some painting. It does come with a few decals, but you have to paint it anyway, so its kinda pointless. The wings do, fold upward and downward, like it's supposed to. Overall, it's a great model, but painting is required.
And finally the Assault Tanks. They are nicely sculpted and detailed. They are a little bigger than I had imagined. The side guns pivot up and down. Each tank has an option for an open hatch with a commander figure, or a closed hatch. The figure is cast in the black/charcoal plastic the same as the rest of the tank parts. This model needs to be painted as well. Overall I really like it. I would like it more if I didn't have to paint the whole thing, but that's the way it is.
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It's been a bit since I've commented on anything. I love the model commentary and images. Thanks for taking the tie to build and post these. They look great. I particularly like the tanks.
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Yet another great review buddy, I have some of these coming and can't wait to build a Jedha dio with the tank and 1/144 AT-ST that I have. Also just a quick one, is the tank commander full body or just the upper torso?
Ron
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It's been a bit since I've commented on anything. I love the model commentary and images. Thanks for taking the tie to build and post these. They look great. I particularly like the tanks.
Thank you Starchaser. Good to see you back, I hope to see some more customs from you soon as well. I really enjoy building these kits, they are fun to put together. This whole kit took me about an hour, so I'd say it's time well spent. The Assault Tanks are really well detailed, but it's hard to capture without paint to contrast.
Yet another great review buddy, I have some of these coming and can't wait to build a Jedha dio with the tank and 1/144 AT-ST that I have. Also just a quick one, is the tank commander full body or just the upper torso?
Ron
Thank you Ron! The Tank Commander is just the upper torso, with a peg that fits in the hole. I have the 1/144 AT-ST coming in today, I'll figure out something to do with all of them. Remember the MPC Battle of Hoth kit I got? Well it comes with a ton of Rebel soldiers, however they are just slightly bigger than 1/144, but its not a big deal. So I might do some kind of battle scene.
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Yet another great review buddy, I have some of these coming and can't wait to build a Jedha dio with the tank and 1/144 AT-ST that I have. Also just a quick one, is the tank commander full body or just the upper torso?
Ron
Thank you Ron! The Tank Commander is just the upper torso, with a peg that fits in the hole. I have the 1/144 AT-ST coming in today, I'll figure out something to do with all of them. Remember the MPC Battle of Hoth kit I got? Well it comes with a ton of Rebel soldiers, however they are just slightly bigger than 1/144, but its not a big deal. So I might do some kind of battle scene.
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Cool cheers mate I have a few 1/144 figures that I can use for the lower half and yeah I remember when you got that and I think they are 1/146 -1/150 scale but hey they will look awesome with the Star Wars kits.
Ron
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Yet another great review buddy, I have some of these coming and can't wait to build a Jedha dio with the tank and 1/144 AT-ST that I have. Also just a quick one, is the tank commander full body or just the upper torso?
Ron
Thank you Ron! The Tank Commander is just the upper torso, with a peg that fits in the hole. I have the 1/144 AT-ST coming in today, I'll figure out something to do with all of them. Remember the MPC Battle of Hoth kit I got? Well it comes with a ton of Rebel soldiers, however they are just slightly bigger than 1/144, but its not a big deal. So I might do some kind of battle scene.
Cool cheers mate I have a few 1/144 figures that I can use for the lower half and yeah I remember when you got that and I think they are 1/146 -1/150 scale but hey they will look awesome with the Star Wars kits.
Ron
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Yeah I think anything within 10% out of scale is fine. I can put the larger pieces in the foreground. I think the Death Star tower cannon, that comes with the A-wing, works pretty well with the 1/144 scale as well. I might do some kind of battle of Scarif non canonical battle scene.
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I got the 1/144 Snowspeeder and AT-ST. This is the set in what I call the concept line. The concept line is really difficult to get in the U.S at a reasonable price. Because they are so inexpensive it is unprofitable for anyone to ship them from Japan. In my world a 33% markup is standard for retailers, this set I paid over 100% markup. Crazy.
On to the review. First the Snowspeeder. It is very nicly done, great details. As far as I know, it is 1/144. It does come with stickers, not water slide decals, like I'd like, but the stickers are still good. The Snowspeeder comes with a standard black stand, with a ball joint.
The AT-ST is very nice as well. It has a ball joint head. The legs do not move at all, so sometimes it's difficult to get it to stand. It does have one sticker, depicting the TESB Hoth variation. Otherwise, it would work great in an Endor dio as well.
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I have the 1/72 A-wing and I'm going to use the tower with the 1/144 Y-wings and can't wait to see the dio WIP pics. I got the 1/144 AT-ST/Snowspeeder as a gift and again Bandai have not disappointed with the details.
Ron
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I have the 1/72 A-wing and I'm going to use the tower with the 1/144 Y-wings and can't wait to see the dio WIP pics. I got the 1/144 AT-ST/Snowspeeder as a gift and again Bandai have not disappointed with the details.
Ron
The Y-wings look great, I haven't gotten one yet. I think I'll order a bunch of those concept line kits at one time direct from Japan. It may take a while in shipping but it beats paying too much. Does Australia get all the Bandai products? We only get the main line vehicles.
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The Y-wings look great, I haven't gotten one yet. I think I'll order a bunch of those concept line kits at one time direct from Japan. It may take a while in shipping but it beats paying too much. Does Australia get all the Bandai products? We only get the main line vehicles.
The Y-wings are great and the details on them is amazing. Some hobby shops do get them in but the mark up the prices so a 1/12 death trooper I can get from Japan would be in Australian dollars $35 plus $8 postage so $43 in total and the hobby shops are selling them anywhere between $55-$65 Australian.
I just buy bulk from TMD in Japan and it is cheaper and I usually get the parcel with 10-12 days.
Ron
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The Y-wings look great, I haven't gotten one yet. I think I'll order a bunch of those concept line kits at one time direct from Japan. It may take a while in shipping but it beats paying too much. Does Australia get all the Bandai products? We only get the main line vehicles.
The Y-wings are great and the details on them is amazing. Some hobby shops do get them in but the mark up the prices so a 1/12 death trooper I can get from Japan would be in Australian dollars $35 plus $8 postage so $43 in total and the hobby shops are selling them anywhere between $55-$65 Australian.
I just buy bulk from TMD in Japan and it is cheaper and I usually get the parcel with 10-12 days.
Ron
I would think it would be much easier to get them seeing Japan is so close. I bought a bunch of those mini kits. 3 TIE packs, 3 Y-wings and the Millennium Falcon. It came out much cheaper, than trying to get them from a domestic seller. But it can take up to 3 weeks to arrive.
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I would think it would be much easier to get them seeing Japan is so close. I bought a bunch of those mini kits. 3 TIE packs, 3 Y-wings and the Millennium Falcon. It came out much cheaper, than trying to get them from a domestic seller. But it can take up to 3 weeks to arrive.
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Yeah getting them from Japan even on ebay is a lot cheaper and getting them domestically but the down fall as you mentioned is the waiting time.
Ron
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There's always a price for convenience, but there is a limit.
I just think it's odd that even though the figure kits are more or less banned for retail here, they are still more readily available than the Hasbro counterparts. But hey I'm not complaining.
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There's always a price for convenience, but there is a limit.
I just think it's odd that even though the figure kits are more or less banned for retail here, they are still more readily available than the Hasbro counterparts. But hey I'm not complaining.
That there is and I know what you mean about the Hasbro availability, there are only a few figures I like to get but other then that Bandai is now my first choice for figures.
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There's always a price for convenience, but there is a limit.
I just think it's odd that even though the figure kits are more or less banned for retail here, they are still more readily available than the Hasbro counterparts. But hey I'm not complaining.
That there is and I know what you mean about the Hasbro availability, there are only a few figures I like to get but other then that Bandai is now my first choice for figures.
Hasbro makes some cool aliens and oddball characters but when it comes to troopers or droids, its not even a contest. Speaking of troopers I've been eyeballing the 1/6 Stormtrooper. It might be worth getting.
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Hasbro makes some cool aliens and oddball characters but when it comes to troopers or droids, its not even a contest. Speaking of troopers I've been eyeballing the 1/6 Stormtrooper. It might be worth getting.
Yeah I got my hands on 2 of the 6" Jawa's and want to get a few 6" Tusken Raiders. Your right there is no competition when it comes to the troopers and I have a 12" Trooper coming which should be here next week and I'll put a review up of him for you.
Ron
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Hasbro makes some cool aliens and oddball characters but when it comes to troopers or droids, its not even a contest. Speaking of troopers I've been eyeballing the 1/6 Stormtrooper. It might be worth getting.
Yeah I got my hands on 2 of the 6" Jawa's and want to get a few 6" Tusken Raiders. Your right there is no competition when it comes to the troopers and I have a 12" Trooper coming which should be here next week and I'll put a review up of him for you.
Ron
Yeah that would be great! I need to get back on track with the figure kits. Someone wants me to build them the General Grievous, so I will get him soon. He releases next week.
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Yeah that would be great! I need to get back on track with the figure kits. Someone wants me to build them the General Grievous, so I will get him soon. He releases next week.
I'm the same with my kits as I have 18 sitting in the cupboard and another 12 coming. You'll have to show us how the Grievous kit looks once painted and built.
Ron
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Yeah that would be great! I need to get back on track with the figure kits. Someone wants me to build them the General Grievous, so I will get him soon. He releases next week.
I'm the same with my kits as I have 18 sitting in the cupboard and another 12 coming. You'll have to show us how the Grievous kit looks once painted and built.
Ron
I got a bunch of kits from when the Bandai kits were officially "Banned". So I bought every kit they made up to that point. Lol.
I might not paint the Grevious usually he just wants them built without paint to display with TBS figures. It all depends what it actually looks like. The promo pics look great, but if its like Fett it'll have to be painted.
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I got a bunch of kits from when the Bandai kits were officially "Banned". So I bought every kit they made up to that point. Lol.
I might not paint the Grevious usually he just wants them built without paint to display with TBS figures. It all depends what it actually looks like. The promo pics look great, but if its like Fett it'll have to be painted.
Yeah I was the same but I went a little nuts when I heard they weren't selling to Australia so I ordered up big time. When I get the new lot I will stop ordering kits until I complete the 30 that I will have.
Grievous doe's look good but I think they weathered him up and painted his internal organs but I think he will still look great unpainted.
Ron
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When they announced the Bandai ban it was like Y2K all over again. Mass panic, and hoarding kits.
30 kits though. Man. It shouldn't take you too long to go through them.
I assume with grievous the eyes are decals, the armor may need to be dulled to get the plastic sheen off. I wonder how they will do his innards. All I could see were wires, and what seems like clear green parts. The cape looks like a combination hard shell top, with soft goods. Better than the articulated cape. I cant wait to get it, just to see how it all comes together.
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Yeah I did go over board a little LOL buy most of those kits were Sandtroopers. I have to agree with the eyes you would think the will decals/stickers and what I have seen of the innards they look pink with the green shield plate over them.
I was thinking the same about the cape by the looks of it but I have no doubt people will make a full cloth for him.
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I got my shipment from Japan a couple of weeks ago. I had forgotten what I ordered. But it was the small kits, like the f-toys ones. The Y-wing, MF, and TIE fighters. So im going to put some together see how they look. Yeah these kits are fun to build. As Barney Fife would say "it's tharapetic". :)
I started on the Y-wing. I love Y-wings, coolest starfighters of all time. It's like a JEEP, with wings. Anyway, it's a really detailed kit. All the greeble work is there, just amazing. It does come with the stickers. I would say it is 1/144 scale, meybe not, but it's good enough for me. Only real problem, are those little circular vent after burner things at the end of the engines. Those do not like to stay in place. Same with the 1/72 version. So I will have to glue them in place.
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Okay, so I built the TIE fighters. It comes with 1 TIE, and 1 Vader's TIE "X1". However in order to utilize it's full potential you need to buy 2 kits. In order to have the second TIE. But, I mean, What is it, 7 bucks? Big deal. Yeah, they are really nice, and I didn't even need the instructions. HOWEVER, it will be a bear to paint the solar panels, I can see it now. Other than that, they are pretty cool. I want just the TIE fighter in a two pack one day, because I'll end up with a bunch of Vader TIEs. You know?
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Very nice. Gotta build my Walker. Off to share the latest.
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Very nice. Gotta build my Walker. Off to share the latest.
Thanks Tamer! Yeah go on build that thing. :) Dew it. EL it's like a puzzle, with detailed instructions.
I got my General Grevious today. My brother has been asking about it. He gave me carte blanche, but I'm just going to paint a few minor parts and slight weather.
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Excellent reviews JD and these little kits are the way to go to large diorama's that is for sure.
Ron
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It's been a long time since I've built any new Bandai kits. Pretty much been busy with TVC and figure customs. I'm moving soon, so I had packed all of my modeling stuff away. I was driving around looking at some new places, and stopped by the model shop. I grabbed the Death Star and Star Destroyer set, also the Tantive IV and Millennium falcon set.
I'll start with the Star Destroyer/ Death Star set. The Star destroyer is the same one that came out a couple of years ago, but you can't have too many. In fact, Bandai is making a Super Star Destroyer / Star Destroyer set, of course they aren't in the same scale. *shrugs* the Star Destroyer is 1/14500 scale, and it's cast in a white plastic
The Death Star is incredibly detailed, and I had forgotten what a joy it is to build some of these kits. The scale is 1/2,700,000, yes 2.7 million-inth. That's tiny, so every crease will be obvious. That's why it's important to make sure everything fits right, and you sand off all the little left over sprue boogers. It's cast in the light- medium grey plastic. I think it needs at least a black wash to bring out the detail, and to add a little darker color. But at this scale, it's easy to over do it. I just was wanting something bigger, like 6" diameter would have been awesome, I'll take what I can get.
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Nice to see you back with a review. I so need to get back into Bandai myself.
Off to share.
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Nice to see you back with a review. I so need to get back into Bandai myself.
Off to share.
Thank you Tamer. I'm not much on the figure kits. Bandai has been making some good ones. They have their own photo real printing on their han and Luke Stormtroopers, and ROTJ Vader. They now have the Droid lineup. But I'm just into the ships really. I need that B-wing.
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JDeck - it's great to see a new post from you. Thanks for sharing these models and providing some commentary. Hope your move goes smoothly.
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JDeck - it's great to see a new post from you. Thanks for sharing these models and providing some commentary. Hope your move goes smoothly.
Thank you Starchaser. It's just been a busy couple of years. Which is good. Moving ain't even the half of it. Hopefully soon I'll be buying a business, I've been in distribution my whole life, but I'm finally going to buy a franchise more or less. So, once I get settled, I can go full swing into more reviews. I want to get that new star destroyer that's coming out. That will be August, that's right when I'll be making big changes, so I might hold off on it. If I buy it and pack it away, the chances of me building it will be greatly diminished.
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JDeck - it's great to see a new post from you. Thanks for sharing these models and providing some commentary. Hope your move goes smoothly.
Thank you Starchaser. It's just been a busy couple of years. Which is good. Moving ain't even the half of it. Hopefully soon I'll be buying a business, I've been in distribution my whole life, but I'm finally going to buy a franchise more or less. So, once I get settled, I can go full swing into more reviews. I want to get that new star destroyer that's coming out. That will be August, that's right when I'll be making big changes, so I might hold off on it. If I buy it and pack it away, the chances of me building it will be greatly diminished.
I get busy!! I certainly hope that the transitions all go well, and look forward to hearing about how it all settled out in the Fall.
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Like I said last week, I got the Millennium Falcon Blockade Runner set as well. I wrote a review on it, but something went wrong, and I lost all I wrote. It's all good, I went ahead and put the stickers on, so I'll start with the Falcon.
The Falcon is a 1/350 ANH style. It's the same kit that came out a couple of years ago. The parts fit well, although there is one part that doesn't sit well, and leaves a slight gap, but it's not terrible. There are about 65 stickers to apply, so it's kind of a literal pain in the neck, but it's worth it. The stickers aren't very sticky, which is good and bad. The good thing it allows you to place the sticker, and move it a bit, however on occasion they start to peel. Some clear coats don't react well with the stickers, mostly aerosols, they sort of melt the stickers. I've tried it before, not pretty, but brush on coats, work well. Overall it's a cool little kit. I might go ahead and get the TESB Falcon.
I'll do a review of the Blockade Runner, once I either paint it, or apply the stickers. I'm not sure yet.
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Nice, both look pretty good to me.
Off to share.
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Nice, both look pretty good to me.
Off to share.
Thank you Tamer. I was hoping to get the Blockade Runner done, but I had a business "emergency", that ended up being a red herring. I think I'll just use the stickers. They can be tricky with curved surfaces, for example, the R5D4, had that red stripe going around it, and it's a bear to get it straight. I imagine it will be the same.
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I have to say with vehicle offerings Bandai is probably the best likeness for the best deal around now.
BTW, totally different topic, I saw the Russian Star Destroyer Model last week. It looked awesome. Almost bought it at $120. It was weird to see the lettering in Russian with the Disney Logo on the box. I will probably regret not getting it down the road.
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I have to say with vehicle offerings Bandai is probably the best likeness for the best deal around now.
BTW, totally different topic, I saw the Russian Star Destroyer Model last week. It looked awesome. Almost bought it at $120. It was weird to see the lettering in Russian with the Disney Logo on the box. I will probably regret not getting it down the road.
The ZVEZDA Star Destroyer is cool, but I'm going to hold out for the Bandai. Same price half the length, and it lights up.
My local model shop had the Russian one, but I passed, because it needs lighting. Something that big would look incomplete without it. And I just don't have desire to run hundred of fiber optics and LEDs. The Bandai has a pre designed lighting kit, that I suppose is easier. The Russian box is cool, I predict once the Bandai SD releases the ZVEZDA will drop in price, if there are any left. The one at my shop is gone now.