I am a nerd who lives in Japan. I enjoy plastic models, science fiction, retro video games, and classic anime.
Bandai Star Wars 1:1000 Blockade Runner Vehicle Model unboxing photoset November 30th, 2018
Here it is, the highly anticipated Corellilan Corvette, aka “Blockade Runner,” in 1:1000 scale by Bandai! Between this and the 1:72 B-Wing,
Bandai really made me happy this year in terms of Star Wars kits this
year. The detail on this kit is exquisite, and considering that it is in
1:1000 scale, nobody should complain about any inconsistent box
scale. Stickers are provided instead of decals, but it should be possible to use these stickers as painting masks instead.
Here’s the ship’s bridge.
Some of the escape pods have been jettisoned.
It’s possible to run SMDs into these engines to light them up. the December 2018 issue of Model Graphix magazine shows how.
All-Japan Model Hobby Show Japan 2018: Bandai Star Wars (part 2) October 2nd, 2018
Here’s the new ROTJ version Darth Vader. This time he comes with his Anakin Skywalker face, an optional amputated hand, and an optional chest console. I rather prefer the 3D one rather than the flat.
I guess they are showing a flexible cape vs. a plastic cape here.
I’m excited about the new 1:350 Vehicle Model ESB version Falcon. You can see it here on the left while the old ANH version is on the right.
There’s a mirror underneath so that you can see that it comes with five landing gears instead of three. Honestly, that is the most obvious difference between the 5 footer and the 3 footer that I can spot right away.
Premium Bandai will sell the 1:12 scale black stormtrooper as well as a new 1:6 scale one. I guess I’m really not excited about this because I can’t even remember what this guy is from.
All-Japan Model Hobby Show Japan 2018: Bandai Star Wars (part 1) September 28th, 2018
This year’s event offered no 1:72 kit surprises. (I was secretly hoping we’d see a TIE Bomber by the end of the year, but that doesn’t look like it is going to happen.) Mr. Nagasawa was there to discuss these kits. On display are the current 1:72 scale kits.
However, there were a few minor, pleasant surprises. First let’s look at what we already know is coming.
Here’s the 1:1000 Vehicle Model Blockade Runner, aka the Corellian Corvette. This is due in November and I plan to buy plenty of these for myself and for friends.It will be released by itself as well as in a set with the 1:350 Falcon.
Droid proposals were on display! And to the right you will see a new 1:350 Vehicle Model Millennium Falcon from Empire Strikes Back. A mirror was placed underneath it to show people that it has five landing gear bays, true to form. Nice. Now if they’d only release a 1:144 version…
But anyhow, DROIDS, DROIDS, DROIDS!
Here is R4-I9 which will be released in November. To its right are R2-Q5 and R5-J2. They’re still proposals and do not have a release date set.
Here’s the lot of other proposals. Let’s look at each one.
R2-KT was created as a dedication to Katie Johnson, a little girl who was diagnosed with an inoperable brain tumor. I have this droid as an action figure. This is the sort of thing no parent would ever expect to happen to their child, and this droid is a memorial of a father’s love for his daughter.
This is R2-A5. Remember this one? I don’t.
R2-Q2 is an astromech from A New Hope, seen on Leia’s Tantive IV. This guy was one of the astromechs rounded up by stormtroopers when they captured the ship.
This is R5-A2, also from ANH, seen in Mos Eisley on Tattooine.
R2-M5 is from the prequels, I was told.
R4-M9 was also rounded up on the Tantive IV.
R2-B1 is also a prequel droid, I’m told. Wasn’t he blasted while trying to repair Amidala’s Naboo ship’s shield generator?
I’m definitely going to get this guy.
I am very excited to seeing these droids being made, however I was very disappointed to hear that the plan is to have these droids come only with stickers. I told Mr. Nagasawa that those stickers are no good for weathering. I also suggested that they make R5-K6, which was Red Leader’s red, black, and white R5 astromech.
For an old model kit, the proportions are pretty good. I really like the detail on this model, however the rear engines lack detail. There is thruster can directly behind the cockpit, two large ones in the middle of the back of the plane, but the four thrusters (two on each side) have zero detail at all. Comparing to the pictures of the upcoming Hasegawa kit, these thrusters are set inside of the rear of the plane and do not protrude much. I needed to come up with some replacements.
Kotobokiya makes these supplemental parts in their Modeling Support Goods series. I found ones that were perfect size. This is the Vernier Nozzle set III. Unfortunately, each of these sets only had three in the size I wanted, so I had to buy two more of these sets in order to get a total of eight, four per ship. Since I live in Japan, these do not cost much for me, so it’s all good.
So I set about drilling these out. Once I got a good hole drilled out, I used my rotary tool to get all the rest out and make it look good.
Here is a before and after shot. On the left you will see how the kit comes, and on the right you will see the Kotobukiya verniers in place.They look cool! Fitting into the hole they look set into the engines instead of protruding outside far.
The problem with adding these new thrusters is that the joint where the wing fits into the fuselage will interfere with these thrusters since they are set into the back. In this picture I’m pointing with a skewer to the part I will need to cut out.
However, before I do that, I’ll leave those alone since they provide something for my alligator clips grab onto. After I paint the fuselage, I will do the necessary surgery to remove that. I’ll be making a video of this for my YouTube channel. Stay tuned.
Bandai Star Wars Vehicle Model 1:44 Gold Squadron Y-Wings September 16th, 2018
Here are Gold Leader, Gold 2 (aka Gold 5), and Gold 3. Lost primary, lost conscience. They came from behind!
I painted all of these with Mr. Color 338 Light Gray (FS36495) as this is the color indicated by the Fine Molds painting guide (it also calls for the Millennium Falcon and the TIE Fighter to be painted as such as well).
The underside of Gold 3 requires some Tamiya XF-18 Medium Blue, which I hand-painted.
Each of the Y-Wings has different colorings. For Gold 5
I painted the pipes with Mr. Hobby Aqueous H-34 Cream Yellow. I’m rather fond of the yellow piping on this one and I’m proud that I managed to hand-paint this detail without messing up.
I used optivisors and my Army Painter: The Psycho paint brush to paint the tiny details on the astromechs. Gold Leader’s R2 unit was easy since it’s just plain silver. All I had to do was paint the black eye lens. Gold 5 has a white R2 with orange red detail, and Gold 3 has a white one with blue trim. The rest of the coloring for the Y-Wings was handled with decals.
I
purchased pre-weathered decals for these from Nicholas Sagan from eBay.
The decals were way too soft at first and kept curling up , so I
sprayed them a few times with Testors Decal Bonder to make them a bit
firmer.
The bases have custom decals I printed up on white Fine Molds decal paper. Cutting them out left white borders around them since the decal paper is unfortunately a bit thick as compared to their clear decal paper, so I used a black felt pen to draw over this flaw before sealing the bases with a clear coat. This was a fun project.
Aoshima 1:24 Honda Beat plastic model photoset September 12th, 2018
This is a shelf queen that I finally finished. I started this back in 2016, put it away for a long while, and then started back on it last autumn. I had some setbacks, which discouraged me and caused me to give up on this kit for a long while. Unfortunately, the windshield frame broke while I was going through the painting process. I actually have a spare car body, but I’d already attached the spoiler and side mirrors. So, I just fell forward. I also had a problem with painting the flat black trim. I thought I could use Mr. Hobby Acrysion paint for it, but it really slipped too much on the glossy surface and dried with cracks. I had to wet sand it down and then re-paint those parts with flat black enamel paint instead. Finally I’m done with this model. My final product has its flaws, but I’m happy with it. I enjoyed painting the tail lights with clear orange and clear red.This kit comes with two choices of wheels. I painted mine with Mr. Color Super Metallic Titanium.
Aoshima 1:24 Toyota ‘86 pre-painted model photo set September 11, 2018
I began this model over two years ago, doing a video series on my YouTube channel aimed at modeling newbies to try to encourage them to try new types of models other than Gundams and such. Then I got sort of burned out with Aoshima models for a while and this project fell by the wayside.
That first video proved to be rather popular however, and over the next two years I received many comments from people asking me if there was going to be a followup video. So, this summer I made finishing this car model a priority.
It’s not like a Bandai kit where it comes injected in multi-colored plastic. These pre-painted model kits by Aoshima are actually painted onto the runners. Maybe they use some sort of static electricity to do the precise painting? Anyhow since it is pre-painted, obviously the builder can save a lot of time when building this kit. I applied the decals directly to the car’s body, and gently painted some Tamiya Clear onto their surface to seal them in. For the decals on the windshield, I applied them first and then sprayed the clear parts with Mr. Hobby Topcoat to seal them in.
The only difficulty I had was getting the pre-painted car body pieces to glue together. Since they had that thick clear coat protecting the plastic, I had to use CA glue to get them to stick together. This also made a mess and got onto the beautiful pearlescent body’s finish. Unlike regular modeling glue, which can be quickly wiped away, I had to wet sand these areas lightly to remove the glue and then I used Tamiya Polishing Compound, first Fine and then Finish. I could restore the shine that way. I did, however get sloppy with the back part of the car, so there are a few areas where I over-sanded in that area.
Bandai 1:72 Star Wars B-Wing plastic model unboxing photoset August 27th, 2018
While a San Diego Comic Con Limited Edition version of the B-Wing was released for North America in late July, the standard version was released here in Japan on August 24th. Here are the sprues to this new, fantastic model, starting with the A runner. Note that I’d already removed some of the parts from the runners, so I placed them back where their spot was for the pictures.
Here are some close-ups of this runner.
The seat.
Your choice of clear canopy or open canopy.
This part is the rear of the command module.
The intakes or whatever this is supposed to be.
Nice detailing for inside the cockpit and for the front. Next is the B runner and some close-ups.
Here is the C runner.
This part here is supposed to be the proton torpedo launcher. These two protrusions are actually lights on the filming model. Dorobou Hige’s blog shows that he has gone ahead and lit this part.This will be featured in October’s Model Graphix Magazine, which should be on shelves now. I’ll look for it the next time I make it to the book store.
Here is the Sullustan pilot.
You get two D runners.
Here is the clear runner. It comes with a display stand as well as a light pipe for lighting the four engines with a single yellow Bandai LED unit.
Standard lasers runner. Whoopie.
Here are the decals. Very nice.
Now if you want to light the engines, you will need this yellow LED unit (sold separately). The SDCC LE version comes with this already. The B-Wings in ROTJ had orange thrusters though, so I think I may paint the LED with some Tamiya Clear Red.
Here is the light pipe part glowing nicely with the LED.
MPC Empire Strikes Back Hoth Rebel Base build update August 20th, 2018
I’ve made progress on the Millennium Falcon that comes with this. I’ve been uploading videos of this project on my YouTube channel, and the last time I posted a photo set update here on Tumblr was last year. The Falcon is looking significantly better. This Falcon is pretty well-detailed, save for the ridonk top turret and the jibungous dish. I pointed out the silly inaccuracies in my previous photoset update. Let me show you what I’ve done with the dish.
I have two of these Falcons. On the right is how the kit comes, and on the left is the one I have modified.
Check out how ginormous the default dish is! I mean, what the heck? It’s jibungous. I used my rotary tool to sand down the outer two rings to make the dish a lot more to-scale with the rest of the Falcon.
I used some battleship parts to rig up a mounting bracket for the dish. I used another battleship part to add the center part of the dish that was lacking.
I’m not killing myself with rebuilding the sidewalls from scratch to be screen accurate. Instead, I am just coming up with my own greeblies. I showed this a bit in my previous Tumblr update. I recently added some copper rods to the sidewalls.
More greeblies on the back. I’m using plastic rods by Wave and plastic sheets by Tamiya. I’ve drilled out the side docking ports. Next I will rebuild those round parts. My friend Gary has helped to sculpt some nice details for that.
