Topic: Bandai Star Wars model kit review.

[JDeck]

                           Introduction

    I decided to go ahead and do reviews on these Bandai Star Wars kits. I won't go through the actual build, just the overall review. Highlighting the pros and cons of the kit and how it stacks up to other manufacturers. If you've never put a model kit together these kits are very simple. These kits are designed for children, I think everyone on here is smart enough to build these. They require a slim amount of patience and common sense.  No glue and no paint required. The kits are very well thought out and the parts fit extremely well, if they don't fit right you either have it backwards or you need to trim the sprue remnants. I've put together every kit so far and not once has there ever been a single flaw in the plastic, instructions or decals. The instructions are very well illustrated, but all the writing is in Japanese. All the figures are fully articulated and all use similar joints, so if you can build one you can build them all. Please enjoy!

[JDeck]

                       
                       1/12 Scout Trooper


  The first kit I'll highlight is the Bandai Scout trooper and Speederbike.  First off is the Scout trooper. It was a simple build similar to the other figure kits, it took me about 2 hours to complete. Overall the final product is very nice, I like the clean shiny crisp individually molded armor pieces, as opposed to the Black Series Scout that has dull weathered armor molded on to the figure. The range of motion out performs the Black Series by a wide margin. The pouches on the Bandai kit are articulated so they can lay flat or move up to accommodate his legs while mounted on the speeder. I like Bandai's helmet sculpt much better than TBS, the black series goggles seem way too big to me. The Bandai scout like all the other Bandai figures has the nice smokey translucent lenses, that looks much better than painted vinyl.
      The Black series does have one advantage the under armor of the scout is very nicely detailed as for the Bandai kit its just plain with a few little straps and so forth.
         Overall its a very tough call, I think its just a matter of preference. I'll go with the Bandai kit just because of the clean armor vs. the weathered. As well as the more accurate helmet sculpt. And the soft vinyl plastic of the Black Series causes him to be bowl legged out of the package. I think the Bandai scout looks better standing and the Hasbro works best when mounted.
        If you want a definitive Scout/speeder the SH Figuarts version will be available early next year with a cost between $140-$200. This Bandai kit is about $40-$45. And the Black series varies between $20-35.
          The pictures show the comparison between the Black Series (Left) and the Bandai (Right). I haven't put the decals on yet, I'm still waiting for the decal prep that I ordered, but final pics will be up ASAP. The Bandai kit comes with the scout pistol and different interchangeable hands. R&L for gripping the bike handles R hand for shooting the pistol and R&L in a relaxed position.
       

[Tamer]

Nice, looking forward to seeing more of these kits reviewed. Off to share.

[JDeck]

Nice, looking forward to seeing more of these kits reviewed. Off to share.

Thanks for the exposure. I'll review the speeder bike tonight, I just need to take comparison pictures. Unfortunately I'll have to photograph it without decals because I plan to paint it later, then add decals.

[JDeck]

                         1/12 Speeder Bike. (cont.)



      In this segment I'll review the Speeder bike that comes with the Scout (above). This wasn't a hard vehicle to build, it was actually quite fun, no repetition. Usually these kits have certain parts that repeat themselves, for example the X-wing you have to build four wings. With this build that is not the case. It took exactly 1.5 hours to build, so between the scout and the speeder about 3.5 hours of build time.
      I'll start the review with my only grievance. The rear "flaps" or whatever they're called. The kit comes with two options open or closed. The thing is, its either open or closed, all the way, to me they should be partially open or closed. That's me being nit picky. The Black series has adjustable flaps but the material they're made from is very soft, almost soft goods soft.
       The front forks are very rigid and nicely detailed on the Bandai kit. The control panel has finely detailed levers that can be manipulated forward or backwards. The engine details are very nicely sculpted with individual pipes and tubes. The handle bars are really cool, the brakes and levers can be manipulated back and forth. The kit comes with this display piece of a forest floor and the bike connects to the side of a tree trunk, which is pretty cool.
     The display needs paint and plants or something to make it look better. In my opinion the Speeder needs to be painted just like all the Bandai vehicles, to get rid of that plastic sheen. So I'll do that before I add the decals.
        All things being said my next speeder bike will be another Bandai kit. The details of the bike are very nice, and the figure is just plain better in my opinion. The jury is still out whether I'll buy the SH Figuarts Speeder/scout when it releases, but honestly this kit is good enough for me. I can buy almost five of these for the price of the figuarts speeder.
    I was in a hurry so I didn't take the best of pictures I need to play with the figure to get him mounted better. But you get the idea.

[JDeck]

I'm posting this so I can add more pics in the future of the kit with decals. Next review will be 1/12 Darth Vader.

[hemble]

Great review mate I can't wait to get my hands on a few of the Bandai Scout/speeder kits.

Ron

[Tamer]

I am liking these reviews!

[JDeck]

I am liking these reviews!

   Thank you Tamer, I do my best. I'm trying not to bash Hasbro too much, but Bandai is just taking Star Wars to the next level. Between these kits and their SH Figuarts line they're creating awesome product.

[JDeck]

Great review mate I can't wait to get my hands on a few of the Bandai Scout/speeder kits.

Ron

  I can't wait to see what you will do with them! Its just a good platform you don't have to change much and a good paint job will do wonders for it.

[Sjefke]

Thanks for reviewing this.  Based on your description, I'd go with the Bandai hands down.  I can always weather a figure.

Keep the reviews coming, please.

[JDeck]

Thanks for reviewing this.  Based on your description, I'd go with the Bandai hands down.  I can always weather a figure.

Keep the reviews coming, please.

Thanks, bud. I'll have more pictures soon I just ran out of time last night. It really is worth the extra 10 bucks to get the kit vs. the Hasbro version. I'll have more reviews soon.

[JDeck]

               1/144 Millennium Falcon


   I haven't been  paying attention to this feed like I ought to, my apologies. Been busy with my own customs. Lately the Bandai models I've built have been kitbash customs, so it wouldn't be a real fair assessment. I figure I will review the Bandai 1/144 Millennium Falcon, from The Force Awakens. I'm not going to make a custom, but I will have to paint it.

      The Bandai TFA Falcon costs about $55. USD Its 1/144 scale, with 904 parts, that's impressive. Compared to the new Revell 1/72 scale Falcon with the same amount of parts at about $275 USD, but the Revell is the ANH version, still, I couldn't believe it. I'm partial to Bandai kits personally.the box itself is huge , compared to the other kits. The parts are super detailed like the other kits, it reminds me of the Y-Wing, with all the tiny individual parts. The Falcon has tons of little greebles that are very accurately replicated. The kit  comes with the Jakku desert stand, to be displayed in-fight.
        You have many options with this kit. It can be displayed in-flight, with a clear blue effect on the engine. Or you can display it landed with 5 landing feet, and a hatch that can be opened. You also have the choice of the "glass" canopy or just the frame. I like having just the frame, looks much better. BUT in TFA the "glass" is clearly visible, with a sandy film. So im not sure what I'll do. It comes with Han, Chewy, Rey, Fin and  BB-8 figures. I really like how the instruction booklet opens like a book instead of a map type, makes it much easier.  Again it comes with sticker and waterslide decals, but I'll end up painting most of the details.
        I can't wait to dig into this kit, it looks completely awesome. Even at 1/144 scale it doesn't seem too small, to me its the perfect size. There's no way I'm paying $275 for  a 1/72 Revell even if its the 3 footer ANH style. The amount of details amazes me. I love the top and bottom turrets, very detailed and cool looking. I'll give a more details as I'm building, I also will have to paint as I go, so it won't be a straight out of the box build. I just hope my painting skills can do justice to this awesome kit.   

    I'm having trouble loading attachments again. I'll have pics up ASAP. Baah not sure what's up with this, but I'm working on it.

[JDeck]

  I've gotten 90% of the build done, in just a few hours. I gotta say this is an awesome kit! Tons of detail, accurate dimensions, everything you could want in a TFA Falcon.
 As I was building it, I couldn't put it down. Just a real fun kit.

   Throughout the build I noticed some parts that just kept falling off. Mainly the engine screens. Evidently your supposed to be able to take them off, to represent some scenes where the Falcon was damaged. But I'm just going to glue them down. Same with a few other parts. I left some preassembled parts off, so I can paint them separately. I pre-painted some parts, like the cockpit and the service hole things on the top and bottom. Of course I haven't applied the decals yet either, that will come later. When you attach the top and bottom halves, you really need to give it good pressure. When it snaps right it'll sound like you just broke it. I added the feet/landing gear, so I can make a Jakku junkyard diorama. It has these tiny little pipes just like the Y-wing, be VERY CAREFUL cutting them. I always use an exacto knife, but ideally you need a set of good sprue cutters. I know they're expensive, but it beats ruining an awesome kit. The instructions have a variation, evidently you can buy an LED  lighting kit, separately. Everything is in Japanese, but if you use common sense its easy to figure out. It ain't rocket surgery.

[Tamer]

Nice review. Looks like a great kit. I have got to get on owning a few of these Bandai kits myself.