Search the Community

Star Wars Solo – Imperial Patrol Speeder 1:28 Revell Star Wars: Solo is the latest SW universe film tracing the younger years of smuggler Han Solo, and his hi-jinks before he hooked up with Ben Kenobi and Luke on Tatooine, which changed everyone's lives immensely. I've not seen this episode, but at some point Han gets chased by Imperial troops on Speeder bikes, who don't have the benefit of knowing how that turned out for them on Endor, but I can bet it doesn't end well for them. These Patrol Speeders are more of a sit-in than sit-on vehicle, although the controls seem broadly similar to those used by the Scout Troopers in Jedi. Their riders wear a blend of armour that includes accents from the Shore Troopers of Rogue One, and the familiar Stormtroopers from the original trilogy. The Kit Revell have the license for Star Wars model kits in Europe and the West, and it's good to see them back in action after recent problems resulted in a new management as well as ownership of the company. Solo's raft of new ship and vehicle designs have been committed to plastic in the Build & Play range, which my Son is very fond of and he can still be found playing with the originals a couple of years later, with their original batteries still going strong. His eyes lit up when he saw these, so there's little doubt where they'll be going the minute I've finished with them. All three of the kits in the initial launch have standard-sized boxes, with plenty of card inserts packing out the parts to prevent scuffs from rattling around, and parts bagged in small numbers where appropriate. This one has 40 parts split equally between two identical bikes, both of which have sound effect modules with two sounds at their heart. The figures are made from a flexible vinyl, and sit in a notch in the back of the speeder, with feet on open pedals, and hands on control grips, which they don't quite line up with. That probably won't bother the intended audience however, and they're close enough inboard not to notice. Construction is very simple, as the majority of the hull is already assembled around the electronics, with a small button disguised on the top. Two kick-stands are twisted into place, front & rear detail panels are pushed into their slots, and the seat is installed, leaving a small gap behind it, which is filled by the two rear cowling parts that are added next. Each side has two detail panels that allow some of the moulding underneath to show through, and are moulded in a slightly contrasting grey to accent the detail. The foot pedals and controls fit into holes in the sides, and a probe is fixed to the left of the hull in a large hole, which completes the bike. The rider has separate arms that are moulded with the chest and shoulder armour, which pushes into the front of the body, and is topped off by a head part, which makes it ready to play. Repeat that process for the other one, and then pull the little tabs out of the bottom to complete the circuit and set the 3 x LR44 batteries live and able to make sounds when you tap the button – which happens a lot during construction, just so you don't freak out the first time it happens. They're quite loud! The two sounds are startup and drive-away of the bike, plus a fusillade of blaster fire. Conclusion Marvellous! Two bikes to play with, or to chase poor old (mostly) innocent Han in his "Lego speeder" as I've taken to calling it. More on that shortly. Very highly recommended, and lots of fun! Revell model kits are available from all good toy and model retailers. For further information visit or

Speeder Bike and Biker Scout Bandai 1/12 Star Wars build no. 4 for the year, and this one went together as well as all the others from Bandai, although the size and shape of it make it somewhat unwieldy when it's all together. The trooper had to be pinned to the saddle to stop him from sliding around and the whole thing's surprisingly heavy, there's quite a lot of plastic in this. The wip thread is here I'll definitely get another at some point, when Disney sort out the mess they've created, as I'd like to do a Hoth one in white, but for now here's the Endor version. Thanks for looking Andy

Speeder Bike & Scout Trooper Bandai 1/12 I won't be starting this one just yet but I'll post some sprue shots for anyone interested in seeing what's in the box We'll proceed in alphabetical order starting, amazingly enough, with sprue 'A' which contains all the biker scout's white bits There's some nice mouldings on here including the front section of the helmet Chest armour Top of the feet And bottom of the feet The tread detail on the sole is excellent. The moulded text in the middle reads 'INTER'. No idea whether this is accurate to the costume or something Bandai added The white sprue's also got the tinted visor. There's a bit of VERY faint rippling in it but, under normal viewing, you can't see it All the parts have got the usual (for Bandai) plug & socket connections On to sprue 'B1'. The black bits Some nice creasing on the fabric sections but they could probably do with a bit of texture The Biker Scout's pistol (by far my favorite Star Wars blaster) And some disembodied fingers to fire it Which leads us onto sprue 'B2' which has the alternative hands Two pairs - one for the standing pose and one for the riding pose. They look OK if a bit mannequin like. They really could have used a few wrinkles here and there Next up's 'B3' which is an alternative base if you want to display the trooper separately (all the bases from these Bandai kits can be interlocked should you want to display them together) And now, rather oddly, we jump to 'B5'. I've no idea what happened to 'B4' but nothing seems to be missing from the kits so maybe Bandai think the number 4 is unlucky. This is the main display base for the speeder The rather naff looking 'tree stump' acts as a side support for the speeder (with the addition of a clear connector) to give the impression that it's hovering Sprue 'C' - bike bits Two pairs of thruster flaps, one for up, one for down. I haven't fully checked the instructions but it looks like you can't pose them in any position between fully open and fully closed which is a shame although I'm sure they could be modified to do so Control rods The seat's a bit too smooth so, again, a bit of texturing will help The bed roll's nice, with separate ends to give better detail in the folds and, yet again, a bit of texture wouldn't go amiss Sprue 'D' - The brown bits (a bit too brown to my eye, if you were thinking of leaving it unpainted) Good sharp control detail Rear fairing Forward stabilizer fins These are chamfered to give a very thin leading edge Every single Bandai Star Wars kit I've so far built has had split sprue gates. I don't know why this happens and I've not had any damaged parts as a result but it does leave some parts less protected in the box Sprue 'E' - The grey bits (which are more of a gunmetal on the real one) Repulsorlift engine detail Front forks The foot pedals have some very fine ribbing detail More engine detail Final Sprue - The vinyl joints for the trooper As per usual, two sets of markings - stickers and decals And finally, the regular Bandai instructions complete with the bizarre jumps from the main sequence to the black strip at the top and back again Overall, a great kit easily up to the level of Bandai's previous releases I'll start the build as soon as I get a chance (too many other things on right now) Andy