McRobo Creations Sail Barge
http://mcrobocreations.wixsite.com/forsalehttps://www.facebook.com/mcrobocreations/After staring covetously at the McRobo Creations website for the better part of a year, I finally bit the bullet and purchased (commissioned?) the unproduced-by-Hasbro Jabba's Sail Barge. I'm very happy I did so.
Time from deposit payment to shipping was 60 days, and I received the barge on Halloween. Given the level of detailing, and the individual, handmade character of the item, I found turnaround time to be exceptionally fast. The barge arrived partially disassembled for shipping, carefully wrapped in plastic to prevent shifting of parts, and well-cushioned with a generous helping of packing peanuts. I did have some very minor shipping damage to the trim, but as the primary construction is ABS (i.e. polystyrene), this was readily addressed with a few dabs of Tenex liquid model glue with no lasting cosmetic effects.
Initial assembly took perhaps 20 minutes, mostly in figuring out the deck assembly. My upper deck is a bit of a snug fit, but as a result is rock solid when assembled. Interestingly, in many places McRobo has used custom built friction fitting to hold elements of construction firmly but removably--for example, the masts, LED internal lights, grating, and engine assembly. I'm very impressed with the level of precision required.
My favorite two features are the opening, Dremel-slotted shutters and the cloth-covered sails. The shutters alone must have taken an incredible amount of tedious labor! When the internal lights are off, ambient light filtering through the shutters produces a very movie-realistic effect, and from the outside, I feel they dramatically improve the look. The sails are very slick, with adjustable mast height, plastic endoskeleton, and well-fit cloth wrap. Primary construction and detailing, again, is heavy-duty ABS and is very sturdy; while I wouldn't let my children play with this unsupervised, it would take some effort to do significant damage, and I'm sure this will stand up to years of display use. Paint appears to be well-bonded, and I haven't seen evidence of paint scrapes yet with gentle use.
McRobo Creations finds a sweet spot in balancing price point, turnaround time, accuracy, durability, and playability. Depending on your target price point, he offers a range of optional added features. Though not inexpensive, given the amount of time he puts into these creations, his prices are quite reasonable. It's worth checking out his other work as well. He recently posted pictures of a Sith Infiltrator that are incredible! Count me as thoroughly pleased with this purchase.
