STAR WARS Merchandise Episode - 2

[Drad]

For anyone who's been picking up the Star Wars 40th Anniversary Black Series figures on the retro Kenner cards.. which protective cases are you using, if any? I have a set of these figures that I intend to put on display on my wall, but I'd like to put them in some clear cases first. Which ones fit these cards? Anybody know?

[sh9000]

[jvmacross]

http://www.cnn.com/travel/article/star-wars-hotel-disney-world/index.html?gallery

[seti88]

Thats what i call a display! http://news.toyark.com/2017/07/20/sdcc-2017-gallery-bandai-dbz-figure-rise-standard-star-wars-261505

[derex3592]

daaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaamn!!!

[Dobber]

Is it just me or does it look like a facehugger from Aliens is on the guys arm in the reflection behind the Falcon? Lol

Chris

[derex3592]

ohhh...i TOTALLY see it now! 

[sh9000]

Black Series Commander Gree sold out at TRU.  Passed on it earlier.

[seti88]

Wow another beautiful display...tag hobby

 

[derex3592]

damn that's cool! 

[Hikuro]

I've been buying up all the small scale vehicle models bandai been pumping out lately. These things are so damn cute though they need some good additional painting done. Absolutely love the X wing I did and plan to do another sometime before the end of summer.

this morning I received my new rogue squad snow speeder kit with the mini speeder addition. Really looking forward to giving it a slick paint job this weekend.

[seti88]

I missed some of the small scale vehicles series bcos i was waiting for hlj to stock em and they didnt! Had to track thru my local, but the falcon was out of stock...

[todd77]

Preorder for the PG 1/72 Millennium Falcon is up on Nippon-Yasan @ 45,400 yen.

[electric indigo]

A whole lot of new Ep.8 stuff announced from Bandai, but the kits are mostly recolors & tiny mods

http://www.taghobby.com/archives/category/9-0/星球大戰-star-wars

Lots of Figuarts, too - the Royal Guards come in different flavors, I like the strong asian design motives.

[Hikuro]

Anyone know if the new Poe black series helmet is being released tonight? I'm going to a 501st event and it was listed as one of the new items but not that if it's coming out on force friday or not. I'd like to get it if the Toys R Us I'm going too will have it.

[sh9000]

They really captured Harrison Ford's enthusiasm.

[captain america]

The Perfect Grade Falcon looks to be out.

 

Also a few sprue shots here:

https://blogs.yahoo.co.jp/iakitoo/GALLERY/show_image.html?id=15546524&no=4&fref=gc

[sh9000]

[Mog]

Make that an X-Wing, instead of the Landspeeder.  And maybe, MAYBE you can justify the price.

[tekering]

On 9/6/2017 at 10:44 PM, captain america said:

The Perfect Grade Falcon looks to be out.

Yeah, and Pinky can't believe how big it is...!

I can't believe the level of accuracy at this scale.

Look at the interior cockpit window detail...!  

Even the damaged sections are sculpted in!

And it comes with photo-etched parts...

...and all the necessary LEDs and wiring...

...and a sixty-page instruction manual.

60 PAGES!

[captain america]

I was already floored when I saw the decal guide: those alone will take days to apply correctly! Now seeing the inside of the canopy frame, the lighting system and the PE parts... I'm glad I ordered moar than one! 

Oh, and Pinky is totally outmatched.

[Chronocidal]

Wow, is there anywhere that can still be bought, or will I be dealing with the typical Bandai planned shortage issues?

Fun as it would be, I think I'm more interested in the new LEGO UCS Falcon anyway, since I can build it more than once.

[ZorClone]

You can still order from Amazon.  I haven't pulled the trigger on it yet but I probably will...pulled it!  I NEED this thing for a cross section diorama I want to make, based on this scene

Figured some EL paper or LED tape could do the trick for the illumination on the capacitors

Edited September 11, 2017 by ZorClone

[Hikuro]

gonna admit, I have this on order for a few weeks now and got no clue how I'm gonna pay for it!

[tekering]

An objective comparison between the 1:72 FineMolds Falcon and the 1:72 Bandai Falcon isn't really possible (seeing as they're based on completely different filming miniatures), but comparing the included figures is perfectly fair... and the difference is startling:

FineMolds figures on the left, cast in grey; Bandai figures on the right, cast in off-white.

Note FineMolds Ep.4 Leia was sculpted in a standing position:

Also note FineMolds included additional display options, such as Ep.5 versions of Han and Leia, a standing Luke figure, and a couple of Stormtroopers as well (none of which are offered in Bandai's kit).

FineMolds was the state-of-the-art twelve years ago, but we seem to have come a long way since then!

Bandai was wise, I think, to focus their efforts on reproducing the studio-scale 1:24 Falcon built in 1976 for Star Wars, rather than the 1:48 Falcon built in 1979 for The Empire Strikes Back; most Millennium Falcon reproductions to date (including the larger Master Replicas and DeAgostini kits) are based on the ESB studio model, so focusing on the original Star Wars version makes their release somewhat unique and different, while keeping the FineMolds kit relevant.

[Chronocidal]

Wait, what, hold the phone.. I can buy this with Amazon money?? 

Cues up a chorus of angels.  I knew my habit of never spending the Amazon gift cards I get around birthdays and Christmas was going to pay off someday.  I had almost $300 in unused gift cards, it brought the total to around $150!  Whoooohooooo!

Still, I'm astounded that Amazon is carrying this one, and it's direct from Bandai, not some Japanese third-party seller.  Did they lift the embargo for this particular kit, since it's so far out of range of what Revell is offering?

Far as mold quality though.. so, Fine Molds makes decent kits, but I've recognized the "mushy" look of their molds going back to their 1/48 X-Wing.  They don't make very sharp details, and some of their design decisions were a bit off.  They still make a nice kit, but Bandai's precision just blows them (along with nearly every other model manufacturer) out of the water.

Edit: Browsing Amazon, it looks like they're officially carrying the Bandai kits now, offering Prime shipping on all of them.  My previous orders were always through third-parties, with widely varying shipping estimates and costs.  Looks like it's time to bulk up my squadrons of fighters, and collect a few more Death Star surface panels.  

Edited September 12, 2017 by Chronocidal

[ZorClone]

You can't get the panels separately can you?

@tekering How much painting do you think this kit will require?  Are the pieces molded in their correct colors?  Maybe just an oil wash, weathering, and a dull coat?  I'm fairly new to model painting and I'm trying to get ahead of what I'm going to need for this beast.. any advice you might have will be great.

[Black Valkyrie]

Bandai 1/72 Poe's boosted X-Wing.

[Chronocidal]

57 minutes ago, ZorClone said:

You can't get the panels separately can you?

Don't believe so, but I have seen them reproduced in various ways.  If Bandai offered up a pack of assorted plates, I'd be happy to buy a couple (dozen).

Realistically speaking though, the panels aren't necessarily 1/72 scale.  Those panel designs were used all over the physical Death Star filming surfaces, and I don't think there was any specific scale to them.  The filming miniatures weren't generally filmed at the same time, and would be composited later (which is why older copies of the movies will have visible copy/paste regions showing around ships in space), and ships and details could grow or shrink to fit the frame.

The biggest scale snafu is really the A-Wing kit, and its included turbolaser turret.  If you want a proper frame of reference, look very very closely at the top of the turret, and you'll find that the upper rear deck panel for the X-Wing was also used as greeblies on the turret.  For the turret to actually be in scale with the 1/72 fighters, the actual rotating portion at the top would need to be closer to the size of an entire baseplate. 

Really, the baseplates and turrets are probably a much closer scale match to the micro-scaled fighters you can get now, but I do not know how many of those there are available.

I'd expect the PG Falcon to need a ton of painting and detailing to look correct though.  Certain parts might be molded in color, but a massive amount of the ship's detailing is purely weathering applications.

Edited September 12, 2017 by Chronocidal

[ZorClone]

Then I'll have my work cut out for me, lol.  I don't even really no where to begin, sadly.  I'm so out of touch with modeling I don't know what the recommended brands are or what product to use to achieve certain desired results, etc.

[tekering]

5 hours ago, ZorClone said:

You can't get the panels separately can you?

As always, Bandai's instruction booklet includes an order form for replacement sprues, with specific prices; so you can get parts separately, if that's what you meant.

6 hours ago, ZorClone said:

How much painting do you think this kit will require?  Are the pieces molded in their correct colors?  Maybe just an oil wash, weathering, and a dull coat?  I'm fairly new to model painting and I'm trying to get ahead of what I'm going to need for this beast.. any advice you might have will be great.

The figures will require painting, but virtually every marking on the ship is represented by a waterslide decal:

A dullcoat sealant and weathering should be sufficient to complete the look.

2 hours ago, ZorClone said:

I'm so out of touch with modeling I don't know what the recommended brands are or what product to use to achieve certain desired results, etc.

Bandai's model kits are designed to be built without requiring paint or glue, but it's always recommended... and YouTube is full of great modeling tutorials if you need assistance.

[ZorClone]

Re: the panels, I was talking merely about those Death Star bases

I think my plan was to use those water slides for the really tiny and interior details but wondering if it would be better to actually paint and weather those larger exterior panels..  what do you plan to do?  I've seen some pretty neat "paint chipping" techniques on YouTube.

Edited September 13, 2017 by ZorClone

[Chronocidal]

Actually, provided you could get proper support from Bandai to order them, the Death Star stand bases are pretty much their own sprue, so it would be really simple to order a bunch of those, and just have a ton of leftover stand pedestals that can be used for other projects.

Just in a general sense though, I don't think anything in Star Wars really needs decals.  There are a few panel markings and things that look enough like stencils that you might need one or two on smaller kits, and some things that would just be a pain to paint, like the barber-pole stripes on some X-Wing gun barrels.  Cockpit details can be useful too, though I tend to prefer raised details.

Other than those sorts of things, I think it's worth putting the time in to mask off and paint the big blocks of color that most Star Wars ships use for markings.  The Bandai kits even have most of the colored portions molded separately, so unless you're going for a custom paint pattern, you can just put the kits together after they're painted.

Some "weathered" decals can look okay, but I think they stand out a little too much against a painted weathered surface, and getting them to blend in might be more work than just painting and weathering everything yourself.

 

[ZorClone]

Interesting... I'll have to check on getting those sprues then.

Btw, this site I saw mentioned over at The Fwoosh has the Falcon up for preorder with a deposit but at a cheaper price than anywhere else I've seen, $340 USD + $12 shipping

[Graham]

Did I dream it, or was there an announcement earlier in the year that Bandai was going to make die-cast Star Wars vehicle toys?