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K-2SO Security Droid


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This time last year I started off a year of droid builds with BB-8, so I thought I'd get my first build of the year going in a similar way, this time with the unquestionable star of Rogue One; K-2SO

 

Before I cut any plastic, I'll show a quick run through of the sprues, which won't take long as there's only two (okay, three if you count the base). You don't get the usual large sprue of vinyl joints either, just six small ball joints, as K2's limbs don't really suit that type of connection.

 

First up sprue A.

The multi-coloured one for this kit, with black for the body parts, gunmetal grey for the joints, Light grey for the shoulders and clear for the eyes and the round pins that are used to reinforce the elbows and knees

 

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Sprue B.

All black, with the legs, head, hands and other smaller parts

 

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The standard figure base. You also get an optional support rod (the long piece on the left side of sprue A), one end of which clips into the base, and the other into a hole in his back

 

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The small set of vinyl joints for the hips, shoulders, neck and waist

 

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Some close-up shots:

 

Chest and back panels

 

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Hips

 

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Legs

 

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Head dome

This is a nice one piece slide moulding. There's a seam across the top that will need cleaning up, but it's nothing major. A quick swipe with a sanding stick will deal with it.

 

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Eyes

 

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Hands

No finger articulation, as Bandai sometimes do with their Gundam kits, but that would have probably made them over scale anyway. These look fine to me

 

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Shoulders

These are fully engraved, so you won't have to use the decals, which is just as well as the decals are the usual Bandai type with dotty, half-tone printing

 

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Elbow and Knee joints

These have some nice tooth detail on the insides. On the 'real' droid the joints are fully open through the centre, but Bandai have included some clear inserts to strengthen the joint. I'll be leaving these out if possible, but I'll probably have to glue the limbs in one position

 

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Standard decal/sticker choice

 

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Regular Bandai instruction booklet

 

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more soon

 

Andy

 

 

 

Edited by AndyRM101
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This chap was excellent in the film, look forward to this :)

 

Quick question though, does he have a weapon? In some of the shots of this kit he has a handgun similar to the film but doesn't seem to be parts for one in the sprue shots?

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1 hour ago, Misrule said:

Quick question though, does he have a weapon? In some of the shots of this kit he has a handgun similar to the film but doesn't seem to be parts for one in the sprue shots?

 

No, unfortunately not. I think the Death Trooper and Scarif Trooper come with extra weapons, so it might be possible to use them. K2 comes with alternate hands in a closed fist shape that look like they may be able to hold a weapon, but I can't tell without having one to check.

 

Andy

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My daughter pinched my kit after seeing the film, her build was OOB and it is up to the usual Bandia standard.

 

Not that it will bother you Andy but the grey/yellow decals were a pig, she eventually scraped them.

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Also looking forward to this one. I wonder if Andy will go for any alternative colour scheme on this one ? :-)

 

Looks like the gluing of limbs is probably a must as he seems a bit top heavy and probably hard to balance on soft joints. I was thinking a diorama with him at the console with a Stormtrooper coming at him would be an awesome scene, but pretty detailed to do though from scratch. (and you'd need a gun).....anyway am sure whatever Andy does will look great, it always does :-)

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Thanks guys

 

On 07/01/2017 at 23:48, Madmonk said:

Not that it will bother you Andy but the grey/yellow decals were a pig, she eventually scraped them

 

I'll be avoiding all the decals except for the Imperial logos for the arms. Still not sure why bandai can't do a better job with them, but I guess they have to save money somewhere to keep these things cheap

 

13 hours ago, Portaler said:

Looks like the gluing of limbs is probably a must as he seems a bit top heavy and probably hard to balance on soft joints

 

From what I've seen of other K2 builds, the limbs are pretty good at supporting the figure if the little clear inserts are added. I want to leave them out to give it the proper look, so gluing probably will be inevitable

 

7 hours ago, Bigdave22014 said:

Why can't other manufacturers do things to Bandai's standard?

 

I ask myself that all the time

 

4 hours ago, The Chief Smeg said:

That refined voice that hints at a previous life - surely this is another member of your 'The Canting Crew' I'm guessing the Gonk was foul ole Ron (shuffling gait) so Nigel would be gaspode

 

This one will stay as the real K2, but if when I get another one, who knows?

 

I've got a bit of work done on the head. I've given most of the bits a base coat of gloss black ready for the metallic coat I'll be using for the paint chips. The parts for his mouth, which will stay in a polished metal finish, have then had a coat of AK Polished Aluminium

 

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There isn't that much chipping on his paint, so I could probably have done it by painting the chips over the base coat, but I've decided to do it with hairspray. I won't be doing it the usual way, rubbing the surface with a wet brush, as the chips will be far too big. I'm just going to use a sharp cocktail stick and keep the chips as small as possible.

I wasn't sure what colour to use for the undercoat, as the chips on his paintwork aren't obviously metallic. I did consider using a pale grey, but I thought the resulting chips might be a little too dull, so I've gone with Alclad aluminium, but I'll tone it down with some matt varnish before I add the top coat

 

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The lower half of the head builds from two side pieces the fit around a central block that holds the vinyl joint for the neck, and also holds the mouth parts. When these bits are together it does have a slightly 'Vader' look with that mouth grill

 

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Because this is built up from two halves, there is a join on the back edge, but the fit is very tight. I ran a bit of glue into the join and it's closed up pretty well. I'll give it a sand, and a smear of Mr Surfacer if needed, but it should look fine in the end

 

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The eyes are made from a single clear insert. Bandai have included silver decals/stickers to add some reflectivity to them, but since the decals would go on the back of the eyes the silver side would be facing into the head. I'm not quite sure what Bandai had in mind there

 

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It wouldn't really work anyway, as only the centre of K2's eyes are lit. The outer rims of the eyes are dark

 

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Fortunately Bandai do seem to have thought of that as they've moulded a small hole in the back of each eye which corresponds to the lit centre. All I really need to do is paint that hole in white, then paint the surrounding rim in a darker colour. You could also use the hole to hold a strand of fibre optic or a small LED

 

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I've just ordered some dark grey paint for the top coat and, while I'm waiting for that to be delivered, I'll get the other body parts together and base coated.

 

Andy 

 

Edited by AndyRM101
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Great to see you tackling another droid.  I'm very interested to see how you do restrained scratches, as I find it hardest to be subtle and understated.  Will you be doing a simple base or something more elaborate?

 

I would love to know how many folks are like me and have picked up these Bandai kits as a result of your super builds.  Keep having fun.

 

Dan

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Great start Andy, I hadn't noticed the recesses in the back of the eyes while Sophie was building hers, will have to play around wit the lighting for this one though not sure how you would get wires through the knee joint, even using 0.22mm enamelled wire!!

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Looking at the magazine photo you supplied. There are certainly the fine silver/grey paint chips you mentioned. But there are also dark grey, almost black looking long scratches all over. They appear slightly darker than the overall body colour.

 

You did say you were going to use a cocktail stick to chip away the paint. It could also work for adding those long scratches too.

 

-matt

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4 hours ago, ScanmanDan said:

I'm very interested to see how you do restrained scratches, as I find it hardest to be subtle and understated.  Will you be doing a simple base or something more elaborate?

 

My plan at the moment for the scratches is to not use any water (or very little). Sometimes, if you've got a layer of hairspray underneath, you can get the top coat to scratch off without using water, if you use something sharp. For the base I'll probably do a small round one with a stoney finish to look like the Jedha landscape.

 

31 minutes ago, Madmonk said:

not sure how you would get wires through the knee joint, even using 0.22mm enamelled wire!!

 

Yes, that would be the problem. I guess you could mount a button battery in the chest, then modify the chest plate to be removable.

 

24 minutes ago, M_Sinclair said:

Looking at the magazine photo you supplied. There are certainly the fine silver/grey paint chips you mentioned. But there are also dark grey, almost black looking long scratches all over. They appear slightly darker than the overall body colour.

 

I'm not really sure what the dark scratches are meant to be. It might be exposed primer, or just something that's scraped across the surface and left a mark. I'm not sure if I'll add them as, even kept small, they might look too prominent. I'll see how it looks when I've done the basic chipping.

 

Andy

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I'd guess that K2 probably has a fine film of grime and dust over him and the dark scratches are where the grime has been scratched to reveal the plain paint scheme underneath. I don't want to say I know that from what my car looks like this time of year, however... :P 

That'd be my guess anyway, especially if he is on a desert world.

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