Recommendations for Snowspeeder model kits

BTTFSpencer

BTTFSpencer

Sr Member
Hi fellow interested fans of Empire. :)

I created this thread to ask those of you in the know, which your favourite, perhaps most accurate kit of the Snow Speeder is? Personally this is my 2nd favourite vehicle, to the original Falcon. I could use a little change of subject matter and I think a little Snow Speeder build could be just the thing.
 
Bandai makes a 1/48th snowspeeder that is absolutely awesome, has accurate details and is engineered to be put together without any glue. I would definitely go for that one, its a great little kit.
 
Yeah, for commercial kits, Bandai 1/48 is my favorite, followed by the Fine Molds 1/48

The Bandai and Fine Molds each have options for displaying flaps up/down, cockpit up.down etc.., but Bandai's being snap, are easily swapped out once completed, while Fine Molds your pretty much stuck gluing them in one configuration.

Both have a glass/no glass cockpit configuration depending on your preference.

Bandai's has a tow cable and laser bolts effect that can easily be put on or removed whenever you want as well

There are a couple larger kits, the Revell 1/32 ish one (not to be confused with the smaller 1/53 ish "pocket" version) and the old MPC/AMT 1/22 ish one but. Neither are as detailed or accurate as the Bandai kit though

There is also a very good 1/72 version from RetroSF (aka RetroKit )

Here is the Fine Molds on the left compared to the Bandai kit on the right



The Bandai by itself


 
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My vote is for the Bandai kit. I loved this kit so much that the second I finished it, I immediately bought another. The engineering is incredible and it was super fun to build and paint.

IMG_0200.JPGIMG_0203.JPGIMG_0205.jpg
 
Bandai has a single 1/48 kit and a 1/48 + 1/144 combo. It looks like they come with different decals. If you want 1/48, the decals you prefer may be something to consider.

Sent from my Nexus 10 using Tapatalk
 
Bandai



Or you could always grab one of the Hasbro Snowspeeders from the Vintage Collection if you're looking for something bigger, that doesn't look terrible hanging on a wall.
 
I would agree with Bandai being #1 and FM a fairly close #2, but the snowspeeder is one of the few kits where I'm quite satisfied with the original MPC/AMT kit. It's a great example of where if the ship in the films looked exactly like the MPC kit, I would absolutely happy with it. (If the MF or X-wing looked exactly like the MPC kits--ugh, I'd hate them.) It just feels like the shape and dimensions are there, but they got a little creative with some of the details. Now, the pilot figures is another issue. The proportions are just so far from a human being, and the uniforms aren't even based on a rebel pilot as near as I can remember. However, this is a result of the overall dimension issue of the "real" thing. A correctly designed and scaled ship doesn't fit human beings inside. If you are going to have authentically proportioned figures, they either have to be undersized or you have to make the ship overall larger than the scale would dictate. As I recall, FM took one of those routes and Bandai took the other. So when you're talking about accuracy for each of those two kits, this needs to be taken into account. For all the bogus issues of the MPC pilots, MPC did, at least, try to make pilots that were the right size.
Cheers,
Mike Todd
 
ggriffaw said:
Bandai has a single 1/48 kit and a 1/48 + 1/144 combo. It looks like they come with different decals. If you want 1/48, the decals you prefer may be something to consider.

Sent from my Nexus 10 using Tapatalk
Click to expand...


Basically if you want the decal markings for Luke's Grey speeder you need the single 1/48 th kit. Although apart from the grey markings and fine red striping the decals are pretty much interchangeable.

the 1/48 and 1/144 combo is based on the orange/red markings for both scales

The 1/144 ESB AT-ST combo kit has markings for Luke's grey speeder
 
Dedalus5550 said:
I would agree with Bandai being #1 and FM a fairly close #2, but the snowspeeder is one of the few kits where I'm quite satisfied with the original MPC/AMT kit. It's a great example of where if the ship in the films looked exactly like the MPC kit, I would absolutely happy with it. (If the MF or X-wing looked exactly like the MPC kits--ugh, I'd hate them.) It just feels like the shape and dimensions are there, but they got a little creative with some of the details. Now, the pilot figures is another issue. The proportions are just so far from a human being, and the uniforms aren't even based on a rebel pilot as near as I can remember. However, this is a result of the overall dimension issue of the "real" thing. A correctly designed and scaled ship doesn't fit human beings inside. If you are going to have authentically proportioned figures, they either have to be undersized or you have to make the ship overall larger than the scale would dictate. As I recall, FM took one of those routes and Bandai took the other. So when you're talking about accuracy for each of those two kits, this needs to be taken into account. For all the bogus issues of the MPC pilots, MPC did, at least, try to make pilots that were the right size.
Cheers,
Mike Todd
Click to expand...

The MPC did have a kind of cool "play" feature with the flaps on the top and the back and the fully hinged cockpit canopy so you can open/close, raise/lower them at will. The flaps were fully moveable and poseable. I spent endless hours as a kid positioning them

It is also a great size for superdetailing if you want

downsides as mentioned are there surface details that are not on any studio models that would need to be removed assuming you want a better replica of the filming model. The cockpit is pretty sparse on details. The pilots suck. The panel lines are raised

Size/shape comparison between Fine Molds 1/48 and the old MPC (please ignore the crappy build and paint job I did back in 1980 )

MPC on the left, Fine Modls 1/48 on the right


 
As a side note, isn't it weird how we all just keep going with "snowspeeder" when they make a specific comment in Empire about how they can't go out in the speeders yet to rescue Luke because they are having trouble adapting them to the cold? :lol
 
Zuiun said:
As a side note, isn't it weird how we all just keep going with "snowspeeder" when they make a specific comment in Empire about how they can't go out in the speeders yet to rescue Luke because they are having trouble adapting them to the cold? :lol
Click to expand...

In the old Star Wars CCG card game, they had a sandspeeder card:


2e1a0d53-519d-455c-aa10-c47e29225636.jpg

SB
 
StevenBills said:
In the old Star Wars CCG card game, they had a sandspeeder card
Click to expand...

The Sandspeeder also finally got recognition as its own Lego set recently: https://i0.wp.com/www.brothers-bric...91B174-96C7-4D31-A899-1BECBE4957FA.jpeg?ssl=1

I like the old Airspeeder canon, where they were originally cargo towing vehicles (hence the tow cable) that the Rebels strapped guns to. The 'grill' on the back was also apparently part of the cold adaptation modifications. I'd love to see someone make a stripped down 'vanilla' Airspeeder build, with the guns and grill removed.
 
Bandai all the way.

Cockpit3.jpgCockpit2.jpgSnowspeeder.jpg

The Hasbro snow speeder from the Vintage collection is also not bad as they give you a choice of movie-accurate forward blasters or projectile-firing blasters. Wouldn't take much to trick out and paint and weather that ship to make it look fantastic. Bottom rear flaps are stationary however. Top flaps work.
 
My Choice would be the 1/18 kit from Nexus Models
_9192014_orig.jpg2402106_orig.jpg_1533258_orig.jpg_1947051_orig.jpg3339030_orig.jpg1119175_orig.jpg3202111_orig.jpg_3538106_orig.jpg_6173991_orig.jpg1936428_orig.jpg5892776_orig.jpg
Nexus Models

Last I heard was that Rodolfo was taking a break from making this kit, but that was like 6 month or so ago.
Ist not a cheap kit, but in my opinion from a quality and size point of view the best out there.
 
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Reading this tread just got me thinking. Why didn't the rebels just send out the X-wings or Y-wings to blast the hell out of the AT-ATs. They were preparing them anyways for the evacuation. Send out two X-wings and finish them off in no time. Then come back to join the evacuation and escort. AT-ATs were so far out that they need binoculars to see them. Must have taken two weeks for the AT-ATs to finally reach the rebel base.... (There must have been a high speed running mode on the AT-ATs that we didn't get to see. Or maybe those big stomping feet turned into wheels)
 
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