New Bandai Star Destroyer

Bandai Models of Japan, since acquiring their license to produce Star Wars model kits, have put forth some of the finest Star Wars kits ever produced.

I have all of their current Star Wars kits, as well as a couple of their suitcase-sized 1/60 Perfect Grade Gundam kits, and two of their excellent 1/850 Scale Star Trek kits which include complex pre-painted aztec color schemes and full lighting effects out of the box.

Their kits are easily on par with the company that sets the standard by which all others are judged-Tamiya. To say a company produces a "Tamiya Quality" kit is the highest compliment a manufacturer can receive. Bandai kits are Tamiya Quality.

Today, my friend who owns our local hobby shop confirmed to me that Bandai is indeed producing the model that was their centerpiece at the 2014 Tokyo Model Show- The 1/1700 Scale Imperial Star Destroyer with full fiber-optic lighting package, detailed hangar bay, and adjustable display stand.

At over 3.5 feet overall length, and with a parts count purported to approach 1000, this may be the largest mass-produced Star Wars model kit ever produced. Needless to say, this will be a must-have kit for many, including myself. Release is scheduled for the 3rd quarter of 2015, and MSRP is estimated to be around $400.00 USD.

And how does it look? I think the pics say it all. Enjoy-

 

Size matters not...

 

Boy does that bring back memories! I remember that commercial.

I already had the Kenner Death Star Playset from a Christmas before, then on another glorious Christmas morning I got the Kenner Falcon and the 33 1/3 LP Record of the Star Wars Soundtrack. Yeah baby!

That afternoon my dad had gone and set up the Death Star and put the music on the turntable. I'd do strafing runs with the Falcon while he returned fire with that blue exploding cannon on the top level of the DS, voicing all the appropriate sound effects along the way. Great fun. I still have the old Falcon and DS.

I tried flying the bigger Hasbro Falcon around back when I got it a couple of years ago, and nearly gave myself a hernia!

 

I talked to my hobby shop guy the other day and there's still no solid info on the release date for the big Star Destroyer.

A Falcon in 1/48 scale would be great. I'd buy two! The Fantasy Flight Games Imperial Assault miniature figures are 1/48 scale. Lots of display and diorama possibilities there.

 

Yeah, I was reading a report on the Shizuoka show on the Tamiya Japan site. Nothing terribly exciting was announced.

One of my other modeling interests is large scale armor. Trumpeter is supposed to be coming out with a 1/16 scale M1-A1 Abrams with full engine and interior, and I was hoping to see some shots of test sprues or a pre-production prototype, but there's nothing ready to be seen yet. I was a gunner on an M1-A1 when I was in the Army, and I've been wanting to build an accurate big scale replica of my tank for a long time now.

In regards to the Imperial Assault game miniatures, there's a thread here discussing the game and figures-

http://thecantina.starwars7news.com/index.php?threads/star-wars-imperial-assault-board-game.1182/

Here's a link to the FFG website-

https://www.fantasyflightgames.com/en/news/2014/8/15/imperial-assault/

Most of the figures can be purchased separately in small expansion packs for the game, so if you want them strictly for modeling purposes, you don't have to buy the actual base game, which is rather pricey, to get them. They are molded in hard grey or tan styrene plastic and take regular modeling paint like Tamiya acrylic beautifully. And, they are nicely sculpted and detailed.

Although there is no "official" labeling or statement that I could find saying what scale the figures are, I did a bunch of measurments and scale calculations using the Imperial Assault figures I have, and I made visual comparisons to other existing figure lines which are sold as 1/48 scale, and everything checks out right on the money. They are indeed accurate 1/48 scale.

Here's a small sampling of what is available-

 

I started a general model building thread a while back for both SW and non-SW models. I've been hoping others would post pics of their builds, but I'm the only person to do so so far. There are some pics there of a couple of my 1/16-1/15 scale builds, and some 1/35 stuff as well-

http://thecantina.starwars7news.com/index.php?threads/any-model-builders-out-there.732/

I build a lot of 1/35 stuff still, mostly because there are simply more 1/35 kits available than there are 1/16. I have the Trumpeter 1/16 King Tiger, and it's quite accurate. I didn't find much that needed to be changed, but there is plenty you can add, like fuel/hydraulic lines and various wires and other fittings. It's an amazing kit.

A great place to start if you want to get into 1/16 armor, is one of Trumpeter's T-34 kits. They can be had for around $150.00, which is a real bargain considering they come with working link by link tracks, photo-etch, a full interior, and functional suspension. The quality and engineering is very close to Tamiya quality. The engine alone is made up of over 50 parts. It was a fun build!

My latest project is the Tamiya 1/16 Flakpanzer Gephard. I have both 1/16 Leopards, so the Gephard completes the trio. I'm also building the updated Tamiya 1/35 Italian Semovente and Carro Armato kits. My local HS had a bunch of kits on the clearance shelf, and I scored both kits for $40.

A 1/48 Y-Wing would be awesome. I have the Finemolds 1/72 version. Finemolds kits are very nicely done, but I do like the Bandai stuff better. Bandai kits are far better engineered, and come with some really neat accessories and figures.

Do you have any projects on the workbench right now?