Post by mylittleponfarr on Feb 13, 2015 2:41:33 GMT
I recently posted a couple of pictures of this model in the "what I bought this week thread", but I now finally have a bit of time to go a little more in-depth on Bandai's first foray into the world of Star Wars, and one of the first times that Johnny Foreigner has been allowed to make official Star Wars figures. How did they do?
Well, pretty bloody good, to be honest!
First up, this is not your standard off-the-peg figure. Being a model kit, it needs to be fully assembled- but really- don't let that worry you. The kit snaps together with no glue or paint required, and the only tools you'll really need are a set of modelling side-cutters (to cut the parts from the plastic runner) and a hobby knife with a sharp blade (to clean up any little plastic nubs left over once you've cut the parts out). The kit takes roughly around two hours to build. Upon opening the glossy box, you will find four plastic runners (or sprues) each marked with a letter. One black runner for the black bodysuit parts, one white runner for the armour (it's worth noting that this runner already has a beautiful smooth white gloss coat already applied), one runner for the figure stand, and one runner with soft plastic parts (Polycaps) for the figure's joints.
There is also two sets of decals- one is the old Airfix waterslide style, and the other set is just plain peel-off stickers, so you can choose the best option for your level of skill. The instructions are in Japanese, but you'll see that they're really easy to follow (Cut part "3" from runner "A", and so on). It really is easy to do- Bandai have been making awesome snap fit kits for 30 years now under the Gundam name, so this kit has all the experience and quality you would expect from one of the world's best model companies.
The parts are assembled seperately, one step at a time- Head, body, crotch, legs and arms, and finally spare hands & weapons. These then just pop securely together into place. The soft polycaps in the joints means the figure holds it's poses incredibly well, and you even get the option as to whether the gun holster is slung to the left or right- extra pieces are included specifically for this.
Once again, it is worth noting that the above parts do not need any paint to them. What you see in the pictures are just the bare plastic, with the exception of a couple of stickers on the helmet (I drew in the blue stripes on the sides of the helmet with a Gundam marker, but everything else is straight from the box). See those little dots in the chest piece? They are cut out from the white armour piece, and filled in by a black piece underneath. The parts were all crisp & sharp, with no cleaning up required, and everything fits together perfectly with no gaps, filling or sanding.
When fully assembled, the Stormtrooper is a beautiful piece.
Well, pretty bloody good, to be honest!
There is also two sets of decals- one is the old Airfix waterslide style, and the other set is just plain peel-off stickers, so you can choose the best option for your level of skill. The instructions are in Japanese, but you'll see that they're really easy to follow (Cut part "3" from runner "A", and so on). It really is easy to do- Bandai have been making awesome snap fit kits for 30 years now under the Gundam name, so this kit has all the experience and quality you would expect from one of the world's best model companies.
The parts are assembled seperately, one step at a time- Head, body, crotch, legs and arms, and finally spare hands & weapons. These then just pop securely together into place. The soft polycaps in the joints means the figure holds it's poses incredibly well, and you even get the option as to whether the gun holster is slung to the left or right- extra pieces are included specifically for this.
Once again, it is worth noting that the above parts do not need any paint to them. What you see in the pictures are just the bare plastic, with the exception of a couple of stickers on the helmet (I drew in the blue stripes on the sides of the helmet with a Gundam marker, but everything else is straight from the box). See those little dots in the chest piece? They are cut out from the white armour piece, and filled in by a black piece underneath. The parts were all crisp & sharp, with no cleaning up required, and everything fits together perfectly with no gaps, filling or sanding.
When fully assembled, the Stormtrooper is a beautiful piece.
The figure has great articulation that almost perfectly emulates a natural joint in armour. You have double joints in the neck and knees, and a fantastic joint in the elbow where a part of the wrist armour slides up and down to give a better range of movement without compromising the look of the figure. There is a decent ab crunch and waist swivel (both on ball joints), and some great shoulder and hip joints that can swivel not only forward and backward, but also up and down. The spare hands slot in and out with ease, and the hands for holding the three weapons use a feature that is directly from the HG range of Gundam figures- the hand splits in two, and the gun is secures between the parts to hold it firmly. The stand is simple, but effective, and also holds the figure discreetly via one foot.
-And, yes, he can pull off the Saturday Night Fever pose:
-And, yes, he can pull off the Saturday Night Fever pose:
All in all, this is a great figure to have on display, and dare I say- The best iteration of the Stormtrooper armour in figure form. As a bonus, it's in the same scale as Hasbro's Black Series figures. To prove my point, here's a comparison picture (swiped from The Fwoosh's excellent review of the model) Bandai on the left (around £16 delivered from Japan), Hasbro on the right (£20 from the UK)
All-In-All, the Bandai figure is more accurate to the original design, has a better finish, comes with an extra weapon, and is cheaper. If you have any love for the original trilogy Stormtrooper, this is a must-buy item. Well done Bandai. I've already preordered my R2-D2 & R5-D4 droid twin pack!