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First Order Heavy Assault Walker 1:164 Revell You might have heard of a series of films called Star Wars, and if you haven’t, why haven’t you used your internet connected device to get someone to retrieve you from under the wardrobe? The second film in the Sequel Trilogy as the three new films have become known introduced a host of new vehicles and ships, one of which was the Heavy Assault Walker with a designation AT-M6, and the nickname Gorilla Walker amongst the fandom due to its resemblance to the silverback gorilla in some ways. It is a gargantuan lumbering behemoth, dwarfing the previous AT-AT walkers by some significant margin, and is fitted with a massive forward firing cannon and heavy frontal armour, perhaps from lessons learned on Hoth? The Kit This is another of Revell’s rather good Build & Play range, and due to its size it has a fairly high part count for the range, at 46. It’s fairly close to 1:144 so wouldn’t look ridiculous next to a 1:144 AT-AT, but as our only other option for a model (note that this is a toy once complete), is a box scale offering from Bandai, it’s probably your best bet at the moment as a child AND as a modeller. It arrives in a standard B&P end-opening box with the large parts suspended within the clear packaging and the smaller parts in a number of clear bags hidden inside. It is moulded in dark grey styrene with only the cannon tip in a clear red styrene that is pre-assembled on the electronics module that fits within the body. Construction begins with the head and its lower half is detailed with a cockpit that also has two cannons moulded into its lower and has the neck detail moulded in top and bottom. The top of the head clips into the bottom and is joined by more cannons on each side above the dropped cheek armour. The lower hull is fitted with a rear bulkhead and is complete by its missing side and a smaller front bulkhead, then is topped off with one side of the upper armoured body The back-mounted large canisters halves are clipped together and inserted into the first side, then held in place by the opposite hull plate. At this stage your walker is legless, and these are the subject of the majority of the rest of the build. The front legs are highly armoured and have different feet than the rear legs, which resemble the legs of the ageing AT-ATs on a larger scale. The rear legs are made from the feet up, with the lower leg halves clamping around the foot’s pivot-point, then having the upper leg parts added that are held in place by the pivot pins at the knees and at the “hip” joints with the hull. Repeat this again, then move onto the front legs. These have a large flat foot that resembles the gorilla’s hands curled under to walk, and these too are clamped in place by the heavy lower front legs. Again the knees and hips are joined by pins that are pushed into place, and the penultimate job is to push the ball at the base of the neck into the socket in the lower front of the hull. The pre-assembled cannon unit is finally slotted into the recess in the hull over the head, and is operated by pushing down on the switch that activates the LED behind the clear red cannon tip and plays one of two samples, the first of which is the heavy clanking noise of the walker... walking, and a fusillade of cannon and blaster fire for the second sample. Both of these are well represented and seem to be direct copies from the film. Conclusion This is intended to be a toy that gets a pounding from a child of 6 or over, so it’s made of stronger plastic than your average model for longevity. It does have a good level of detail though, and at 1:164 scale it’s close(ish) enough to the kits from Bandai to mesh with their range. If you decide to give it to a child they’ll be very happy with it (if they like Star Wars), and if you build it as a model, there’s plenty of scope for repainting it and adding some additional details. Highly recommended. Revell model kits are available from all good toy and model retailers. For further information visit or 4

I've had a couple of Bandai's Vehicle Model kits sitting around half finished for much of this year (a state that's been all too common with several of my builds in 2018). I'm currently trying (probably in vain) to get several projects wrapped up before the end of the year and, as these didn't require all that much work, they were the first to get finished. A-Wing Vehicle Model 010 Up first is the little 1/144 A-Wing, finished in the red/white movie scheme. The weathering on this is a little rougher than I'd like, but it is what it is, and at least I've got it done. You do get a pair of these in the box and the second one is built but not painted yet. I've modified the guns, rear fins and engine nozzles slightly, and it'll be finished in a non-movie scheme that's yet to be determined. AT-M6 Vehicle Model 012 The second completed build is the First Order Walker from TLJ. It scales out roughly at 1/550, so it doesn't really fit in with any of the other Bandai releases which is a shame (or not, if you don't like the subject). There's not a lot you can do with something that's entirely grey, especially at this scale, but I've tried to vary the tone a bit and pick out some of the panels. The finish isn't entirely accurate (the grey should be quite a bit darker), but it turned out reasonably well. Thanks for looking Andy