Bandai release schedule

[glg20]

AAARRRRRGHHHHHHH! I missed that!

That would have made a difference in choosing which kit to get.

Ah well. I preordered this thing back in February and Amazon canceled my pre-order, thankfully I had another place I plunked down an order and supposedly they are getting them in this week to ship out. We shall see.

Speaking of Amazon - I just got notified that the Super Star Destroyer Vehicle Kit that I was supposed to have delivered by today - has been made unavailable until November sometime and that they may cancel my order if the vendor changes the delivery date again.

I can 100% verify this. I have a friend who regretted not getting the lighting version. I got both and he is yet to receive his. Upon opening my standard version, I discovered that basically the only difference is the runner of clear parts (avoid these anyway), the lighting manual (not necessary) and the actual LED unit itself. Other than that, everything is in there

The diffusers, the stickers for light blocking, heck, even the clear parts you need to light the engines.

A problem I have with the lighting is that you have to take the kit apart to turn it off and on as well as change batteries. I think that if you have even a beginner's knowledge of soldering and can access your own LED supplies, that you could light this kit much better and cheaper than buying the lighting version.

It does look pretty good lighted right out of the box. I just don't want anyone to regret not getting the lighting one. In my opinion, it wasn't worth the extra expense for the lighting unit and the clear parts don't really work anyway.

One last warning: Regardless of which kit you get or whether you use the clear parts or not, you will need to do additional light blocking at the seams. I am working on my second build of this kit and so far, I have had to block many of the seams to avoid a light leak. I am building the standard version and adding my own leds this time and still, you need to light block

At least in Asia, these kits are pretty plentiful. I went to Gundam Base this past weekend and they had at least 20 of the lighted and 20 of the standard version. If you can't get it in America, just wait. Don't pay scalper prices, it will get around the world soon enough.

 

[DoktorDismal]

Perhaps I'm the odd one out here, but I use lacquer primers on my Bandai models all the time without problems. As long as you don’t let lacquer or enamel products pool in the cracks between parts, you should be OK. A light coat of lacquer thinner does no harm at all. I use mostly lacquer paints, so lacquer thinner is a must.
Washes are the main problem. An enamel wash will find its way between the parts and pool, eating away the plastic. For non-Gundam kits, with no moving parts, I seal with a gloss coat before applying a wash. For Gundam kits, I just have to paint and put on washes and let it dry prior to assembly.

 

[INVAR]

My experience was decidedly different. The Tamiya Fine Surface Primer I used on the first Bandai kit I built, caused the plastic engine rods to crack and break on the Y-Wing, which is when I learned that lacquers and enamels are a risk to use on them.

Since then I have used Stynlrez with excellent results on Bandai kits with no worries or risk to the plastic.

 

[tycoon]

I think Bandai should show us what can be done with the clear parts, like a side-by-side comparison of both version. I tend to go with the standard version now since I prefer to do flickering engine lights and external on/off switch.

Lets start a new thread on Bandai Star Destroyer soon....

I can 100% verify this. I have a friend who regretted not getting the lighting version. I got both and he is yet to receive his. Upon opening my standard version, I discovered that basically the only difference is the runner of clear parts (avoid these anyway), the lighting manual (not necessary) and the actual LED unit itself. Other than that, everything is in there

The diffusers, the stickers for light blocking, heck, even the clear parts you need to light the engines.

A problem I have with the lighting is that you have to take the kit apart to turn it off and on as well as change batteries. I think that if you have even a beginner's knowledge of soldering and can access your own LED supplies, that you could light this kit much better and cheaper than buying the lighting version.

It does look pretty good lighted right out of the box. I just don't want anyone to regret not getting the lighting one. In my opinion, it wasn't worth the extra expense for the lighting unit and the clear parts don't really work anyway.

One last warning: Regardless of which kit you get or whether you use the clear parts or not, you will need to do additional light blocking at the seams. I am working on my second build of this kit and so far, I have had to block many of the seams to avoid a light leak. I am building the standard version and adding my own leds this time and still, you need to light block

At least in Asia, these kits are pretty plentiful. I went to Gundam Base this past weekend and they had at least 20 of the lighted and 20 of the standard version. If you can't get it in America, just wait. Don't pay scalper prices, it will get around the world soon enough.

 

[SirSandalot]

Vallejo primer is complete garbage. Avoid at all costs. If you want water based, go with Stynylrez.

Totally agree. Vallejo Primer spray is the worst period primer period ever (nothing but problems in my experience), but "Vallejo Hobby" spray paints are getting nothing but good reviews. We're gonna have to give them a shot!

 

[Robert McLain]

Just a heads up: watch out for warping of the main hull. When I did a test fit of the top and bottom hull pieces with the sidewalls there was an obvious upward bow to the front third of the ship. I had to shave the alignment tabs off the front half of the hull pieces and glue and clamp to get it straight. Might just be my particular kit, but be carefull.

Robert

 

[hugescale]

What's the best black paint for light blocking clear parts?

Black is not a good color to black light. Silver and grey works better.

 

[INVAR]

Just a heads up: watch out for warping of the main hull. When I did a test fit of the top and bottom hull pieces with the sidewalls there was an obvious upward bow to the front third of the ship. I had to shave the alignment tabs off the front half of the hull pieces and glue and clamp to get it straight. Might just be my particular kit, but be carefull.

Robert

I actually saw a couple builds in Japan that showcase that exact problem and I am worried about it.

 

[edge10]

They're not warped, they're just happy to see you.

On a serious note, I wonder if that is why the started putting some of the First Edition hulls on cardboad? Mine did not have that luxury.

 

[Timmythekid]

Oh, I see, you mean the Vallejo spray can. I can't say how good or bad that is. But their airbrushable primer is crap.

Good to know too, as the colour coat will be airbrushed. Cheers!

They're not warped, they're just happy to see you.

On a serious note, I wonder if that is why the started putting some of the First Edition hulls on cardboad? Mine did not have that luxury.

Was wondering that too. Unboxing videos have the limited with cardboard, while mine is packed like the standard.

 

[Analyzer]

Just a heads up: watch out for warping of the main hull. When I did a test fit of the top and bottom hull pieces with the sidewalls there was an obvious upward bow to the front third of the ship. I had to shave the alignment tabs off the front half of the hull pieces and glue and clamp to get it straight. Might just be my particular kit, but be carefull.

Robert

I actually saw a couple builds in Japan that showcase that exact problem and I am worried about it.

View attachment 1056384View attachment 1056385

I saw that build video as well. I though maybe it was a fluke, or that maybe it was caused by not having everything snapped together correctly, but sounds like it is a more widespread issue

 

[Sindariel]

I had this kind of warping issues with my Tie Striker and Resistance X-Wing, too. Nothing new with Bandai, sadly.
Happens when the styrene is too thin and long.

 

[edge10]

I had this kind of warping issues with my Tie Striker and Resistance X-Wing, too. Nothing new with Bandai, sadly.
Happens when the styrene is too thin and long.

Here is the solution: Make bigger kits, 1/48 not 1/72, 1/2500 not 1/5000!

 

[Hunk a Junk]

Oof. That warped bow shot of the ISD makes me physically ill looking at it. Misallignments and wonky proportions are a big deal to me. I can build a perfect Enterprise, but if the nacelles droop even slightly I want to chuck it in the garbage. Glad this was pointed out. Totally fixable, but had I missed it...

 

[edge10]

Oof. That warped bow shot of the ISD makes me physically ill looking at it. Misallignments and wonky proportions are a big deal to me. I can build a perfect Enterprise, but if the nacelles droop even slightly I want to chuck it in the garbage. Glad this was pointed out. Totally fixable, but had I missed it...

But I thought they were warp engines?

 

[Hunk a Junk]

But I thought they were warp engines?

Warp drive, yes. Droop drive, no.

 

[INVAR]

Well, we can just tell ourselves that the Star Destroyer is SMILING... or as edge10 offered: it is just happy to see us.

 

[Richard Baker]

Seems to me Bandai could have added some internal ribbing inside the front sections to help keep it stable and straight

 

[kwisatz]

I think a thin wash with a color slightly darker than the base coat is how I plan to address the panel lines. Too dark and it will look busy. I also plan on picking out the odd panel here and there with a darker shade. Still haven't decided on a base coat yet.

Robert

This is the approach I'll be taking as well. We need a build thread for this kit soon!

 

[SirSandalot]

Given the scale I'm not sure I would recommend a wash right away. Washed panel lines could look too wide in scale. I don't think you would see those lines from a distance, so I'd rather try the black and white prepainting technique before applying a very thinned base color paint, specially in the vertical areas with all that detail. Then, maybe, I'd apply a filter (a very thinned oil wash, spreading it as much as possible). Then, maybe, some pin washing here and there with a color slighty darker than the base coat as you guys said, but also very thinned down.