Speeder Bike & Trooper

[Andy Moore]

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

[FZ6]

That looks stunning and reminds me I have an AMT kit to finish off.......

Look forward to seeing how you get on with it

[Caerbannog]

Looks to be a big improvement over the AMT kit I once build. Very nice.

Rene

[k5054nz]

I want one. Thanks heaps for sharing!

[Deadman Disciple]

I have so gotta get me one of these, the detail looks crisp.

[Madmonk]

All I can say is that the kit is even better in the flesh, or should that be plastic!!

Cheers,

Warren

[iwishicouldfinishmodels]

Looks really nice, will you be painting the parts then constructing it or will it be painted like any other model?

[Andy Moore]

Looks really nice, will you be painting the parts then constructing it or will it be painted like any other model?

Funnily enough, I was going through the box this afternoon and asking myself the same question.

At the moment, I think I'm going to paint the parts before assembly, or at least as sub-assemblies as the fact that it's snap-fix means it's relatively easy to put it together after painting.

I'm not sure how I'm going to depict it either. I'd originally intended to have it stationary with the troooper standing next to it, but now I think I'll go with it in flight.

I'd also considered doing a Hoth one in white but I think I'll be doing it as it was in the film now. I've been collecting and drying-out fronds of bracken to use as ferns for the base and I'll probably support the speeder on a clear acrylic rod. Hopefully I'll get a bit done on it soon.

Andy

[Andy Moore]

Well, clearly the stars must be in alignment, as I've actually managed to stick six... no, no wait... seven pieces of the speeder together. At this lightning rate, I should have it finished by October at the latest... October 2018 admittedly, but it's a start.

First up we've got the forks. These are essentially one piece, but the bottom rear of each tube is a separate piece with a resulting seam that will need filling and sanding. Not sure what colour to do these bits yet. They're a kind of burnished black metal on the real thing but I don't want to use metallics as they'd look wrong. I'll probably do them in a very, very dark grey, then rub them over with a bit of graphite powder, although it probably doesn't matter that much as the weathering will cover any subtleties in the finish.

Next up we've got the upper fairing. This is made up from four parts; the front control section, the rear seat and the two indented sections that clip, either side, between the two main parts.

The join on these is cleverly placed along a panel line so there's no clean up to do. I did run a little Tamiya extra thin along the joins, but it's really not necessary. The engineering really is pretty unbelievable on these things.

I'm currently mulling over paint choices for the fairing. It's looking like Tam XF-68 NATO Brown or Tam XF-79 Linoleum Deck Brown. The NATO brown's close but maybe a bit too red, the Linoleum is less saturated, which I prefer. I might just do a 50/50 mix of the two.

The reason this, and the Vorne, have been a bit slow going is down to having these two on the go

The in-box review for the Whippet is here and the build review for the Krupp, here. Bit of a plug, I know, but I didn't want you all to think I was just being lazy

More soon

Andy

[Col.]

Ooh I want one of these!

[langy]

looking good so far Andy,

i've already used you AT-ST build as a guide for mine, ..(just waiting on the base to dry)

also ordered one of these . so i'll be watching closely.

top work indeed fella

[Andy Moore]

OK, got a little more done today.

I was looking at the bed roll/pack that's strapped to the back of the bike. The kit part is quite nice but a bit too even. The folds at each end are identical and it generally looks a bit too plain, so I decided to sculpt a new one.

I normally use green stuff for this kind of thing, but it can be hard to get it thin enough to look like fabric, so while I was working on the Vorne, I tried some Asculpt which was a lot softer and easier to roll out but not as elastic as the green stuff and had a tendency to tear when folded.

So, for this I've tried mixing the Asculpt 50/50 with green stuff and it seems to work well. It's softer than green stuff on its own but elastic enough to pull and stretch without tearing.

I rolled it out on a piece of glass, let it harden up for a few minutes, then started to roll it. (sorry for the crappy photos, my Canon was elsewhere and I had to use my mobile)

Once I'd gotten it something like, I pushed it onto the rear of the fairing and started to fine tune the folds.

At this point, I thought it looked a bit thin so, as I'd got some putty left over, I rolled up another piece and added that to the top of the first. The string's just to hold them in place and add a compression line for the straps which I'll add later.

At this point I'm not 100% sure that I'll use it. I have a tendency to spend too long tweaking the folds and creases and as a result it looks a bit over-worked. I'll see what it's like when the straps are on and it's painted but I can always use the kit part which isn't too bad really.

Andy

[iwishicouldfinishmodels]

I think the kit part looks more bag-like... not to sure about the putty one, looks a little simple?

I mean this is Star Wars not the World Wars...

Though technically Star Wars took place long before any of the world wars

[Andy Moore]

The kit part's pretty much the same; a rolled up blanket.

The Scout Troopers were supposed to operate independently for days at a time. There's probably a pouch for rations rolled up with it too. A lot of Star Wars has a distinctly WWII feel despite the futuristic setting.

It's quite hard to find clear shots of the rear of the original prop but there's one here of Luke's speeder from the Star Wars exhibit, off Flickr (credit to Toromodel)

And this is Sideshow's version on their sixth scale speeder

Having said that, I'm still not entirely happy with the way I've done it. I may try redoing it with tissue paper or even thin fabric.

Andy

[iwishicouldfinishmodels]

fabric would improve the look a lot, especially on a scale model this large

[Andy Moore]

Bit more work done on the speeder.

I've had to modify the engine block to enable me to mount the model on an acrylic rod which will be attached to a wooden base.

There's a small detail part that fits between the engine block halves which has a small hole in it to fit onto a stand that appears to be an accessory piece that's not included in the kit (there's a brief mention of it in the instructions, but it's all in Japanese).

The hole's too small for the acrylic rod I'm using, plus I wanted to set the rod at an angle, so I chopped off the part with the hole then glued some styrene tubing (square in this case) inside the engine block for the rod to sit into.

I'll tidy up the surround to the hole with some plasticard

The acrylic rod (which is essentially invisible in this shot) is a pretty tight fit in the square tube, but if it needs it, I'll pack it out with some tape around the end of the rod.

I've got an oval sycamore base for it all, which I'll tart up with a few ferns and other foresty things

With the stand sorted, I've got the rest of the engine block together. There's a few more hoses to put on but I'll probably paint them separately and add them once the block's been painted. I'm thinking of doing the engine parts in a dark black/grey then giving them a rub over with graphite powder to give them a nice sheen.

The forks and steering vanes are also ready for paint. Again, these will be painted as separate parts then assembled at the end. The vanes are just a push fit onto the forks, so it's a simple enough job to do after painting.

I've made some modifications to the area behind the seat. The stowage brackets should have loops for the straps to attach to but they're not on the kit. I've added these with styrene strip and copper wire

And, since I wasn't happy with the greenstuff stowage roll, I've tried again with some PVA-soaked tissue. still not fully happy but at least this one's got a bit of weave texture in it (doesn't show in the photo very well, but hopefully will do when painted and given a dry brush)

I'll probably paint up this, the greenstuff one and the kit part and see what looks best. I may even try doing another attempt but, then again, I may not as I'm starting to obsess on it to the detriment of the rest of the kit.

Andy

[Grayson]

You never cease to amaze me Andy.

[Andy Moore]

Thanks Grayson

I got the first bit of paint on the speeder today. I'm just working on the forks and forward fins at the moment as a test for the rest of the build.

The forks were primed in black then base coated in Vallejo 70.862 Black Grey, after which I highlighted them here and there with a mid grey. The whole thing then had a wash of Citadel Nuln Oil. The real ones have a metallic sheen to them so I rubbed the edges with graphite powder. It doesn't show up that well in the photos but it looks reasonable in person.

The steering fins are quite scuffed and scratched on most of the film models so I decided to use hairspray to replicate that appearance. They were primed with black again, then based with Alclad Aluminium. After a couple of coats of hairspray, I added the brown with Tamiya XF-79 Linoleum Deck Brown darkened with a bit of NATO Black. I don't normally get along with Tamiya paints for hairspray chipping as they always seem to dry too fast and too hard for it to work well but they seemed to be ok here. That was probably because I was using a scouring pad to replicate the longitudinal scratches on the fins and the roughness helped shift the paint. They'll still need more weathering, but it'll do as a base to work from

I think I'll need to get some work done on the trooper before I do too much more on the speeder as I'll need to fix him in the correct position for the controls and fill the gaps around the articulated joints.

More soon

Andy

[Will Vale]

Looking very nice, the finish lets you have lots of contrast.

For the epoxy sheet, I found Tamiya's epoxy putty (the smooth type - mint green) very good - not very stretchy and easy to roll out thinly so you can fold it, but it doesn't deform too much while you do it.

Will

[Gimme Shelter]

wow - this is a great subject to watch being built - those sprue shots really shame a lot of other manufacturers - these new SW kits certainly look super crisp and of such good quality

good luck with the build - may the force be with you young biker..

[iwishicouldfinishmodels]

I can't wait to see the figure, good luck with painting the white

[Ian Shumsky]

Looks like a great kit! Really enjoyed what you have done with it so far.

[Andy Moore]

Thanks guys

For the epoxy sheet, I found Tamiya's epoxy putty (the smooth type - mint green) very good - not very stretchy and easy to roll out thinly so you can fold it, but it doesn't deform too much while you do it.

Will

Thanks Will, I might give that a try. I thing the main problem with the two I've done is that I've compressed them too much and they're a bit flat

I can't wait to see the figure, good luck with painting the white

As of now, I'm thinking of leaving the white unpainted and just dirtying it up. I'll have to paint the black as the joints will need filling were the articulation points are.

Andy

[iwishicouldfinishmodels]

man, do they do other kits like this? always loved the way Clone and Stormtroopers looked

[Madmonk]

man, do they do other kits like this? always loved the way Clone and Stormtroopers looked

Search on HLJ for Bandai Star Wars, you won't be disappointed!.

https://www.hlj.com/scripts/hljlist?GenreCode2=all&Word=Bandai+Star+Wars&x=0&y=0

The stormtrooper is excellent, but then again I am biased!!

All the kits are as good as the speeder bike.

Cheers,

Warren

Edit: HLJ gave stopped taking pre-orders for both Boba Fett and Slave 1!