Jay

Thanks guys, I have a 31" Force Awakens Trooper to do as well, that one is going to be weathered and complete with the blood smear on the face. Oh and the 18" R2 which is on the bench next.

Beautiful! Really is a big beast. Can't wait to start mine when it eventually turns up from Tony. Just to add it turned up today, a stunning kit, great box adorned with fantastic images and is a lot bigger than I imagined.

I had a parcel that was listed as In Clearance for 5 days before I had a delivery from PF. I thought I was going to get the ransom note as there was no tracking notice once it was received this end but they just turned up with the package, beaten but delivered.

Revell will always release a kit that they believe will generate the most returns. A new large scale Hornet should be a good seller for them with their pricing strategy, not many 'casual' modellers are going to shell out £90 for the other offerings. Tamiya have always managed to sell large scale kits for £140+ because the modeller that buys them knows the quality will be good and is willing to buy maybe 1-2 kits a year. The flip side of that price is I don't see Tamiya releasing some nice shiny new tool kit every year? With regards to Revell being 'sheep like' I would have thought that releasing kits like a 1/72 shuttle, a large bucket excavator, an oil rig, the space station would surely mean that they are hardly following everyone else? Granted they may be old tooling but what about the 1/24 Routemaster/ Black Cab? if that isn't a niche market I don't know what is.

Nice work, that leg mod certainly improves the stance, subtle weathering as well.

Looking great, really like the battery idea. Still awaiting mine from Tony, should be this week.

Hi all, After a modelling break of almost 8 years I've finally completed something!!. The Jakks Pacific 'Big Figs' stand at 31" tall and are a great base for some 'treatment'. After getting hold of a old school Stormtrooper for £30 I set about turning it into a Sandtrooper. Firstly I had to sort out the knee plate and the belly armour as these are different on the sandtrooper. The next stage was to make the shoulder pauldron using a full size template and re-sizing it to just under half scale. The pouches were made from the material of an old handbag and some very thick card. The cheek markings had to be re-done using clear decal paper and the printer. The backpack was a bit of a challenge as the normal parts used in the original cannot be found in the size needed. I used drinking straws for the frame and some lightweight food containers in place of the seed trays, technically the bottom tray isn't correct but I had to make sure it could sit right once in place and wasn't too heavy. The 'bee stinger' was fashioned from a shampoo bottle and the rest of the bits were made from empty containers and bit 'n' bobs scavenged from the greeblies bin. I decided that the weathering was going to be on the heavy side as the black pauldron denotes an enlisted trooper who would be given plenty to do and it makes them look meaner! The first stage involved giving the figure a complete covering with burnt umber acrylic and then rubbing almost the whole lot back off with some paper towel. The final stage was to use Mig pigments to give the figure a dusty look which helped to tone down the shine a little. Finally the gun received some treatment to make it look a little more realistic but I stopped short of adding a clear eye piece to the sight as the gun is molded to the hand and isn't that easy to work with. Hope you like.

Hendie, the delux version is a 1/72 scale the one Kallisti is building is a 1/48 scale!! ( 22 inches long and 1/2 scale of the original studio version)

Just ordered mine. Had the Dinky version as a kid and have always wanted a 'large' scale kit, I cant wait! Will watch with interest.

Stunning!!! The 'cardboard' steel plate is something else, I would put your builds up there with the very best.

Great finish, I have 5 of these 'Big Figs' stashed in the bedroom at the mo, the wife is very unimpressed! The 2 troopers are going to get a complete makeover- one from the new film (Finns trooper) and the other 'original' is going to be turned into a Sandtrooper. Cody is going to get the same treatment as you have done. I plan on leaving Vader and Kylo as they are but then again...... for the price they are a bargain. Oh and they have just released the Master Chief from Halo, it is going to be a challenge sneaking that into the house.

This has to be one of your best truck builds so far, the weathering is spot on and I've yet to see a better painted 5th wheel and chassis. LOVE it.

Received mine a couple of days ago and I must say I'm really impressed with the quality, nice crisp molding coupled with a very nice amount of detail. I will however wait for the aforementioned rotor fold as the width is definitely going to cause problems with display!

You could always get the Zero paints set from Hiroboy, ready thinned and perfectly matched.

Cheers guys, Time for a tigermeet search wish me luck!! Jay.