The fact that Bandai models come unpainted and unweathered makes this one perfect to make a clean enforcer droid for my Empire display. I can't wait to see the Scarif Trooper, my understanding is that it comes with alternate parts to obtain different rank variations.
"Don't give this model kit a blaster." Lol! That was hilarious! I actually prefer the Black Series K-2 better, but I love how this model has interchangeable fingers. I wish they were more articulated but it's fine becauseit would be hard to make that happen. No worries about the lack of decals, paint ir stickers. I understand. Besides, putting the decals, paint or stickers on all 3 figures at once like an assembly line is actually a smart idea.
Yeah, this is a unique situation where more than one model hit at the same time, gotta consolidate some time and resources. Otherwise I'll never get them all done, heh.
The Fwoosh I have an idea to help make K2SO's eyes "pop" a little better for you. You could try painting the sockets with the BRIGHTEST silver model paint you can find. (there are many different silvers) and then fill the sockets with a clear resin or clear drying cyanoacrylate glue. (basically super glue or crazy glue) You may want to test the glue on an old photo, picture in a magazine, or newspaper with small print to see just how CLEAR the glue dries. Some cyanoacrylate glues dry foggy or yellowish but some dry CRYSTAL CLEAR! I wish I could tell you exactly which brands of paint and glue to use but I cant remember. I just know this method works well to make car and truck model headlights really "POP" ! I mostly build armor models, figures and dioramas, but I used the method I described, many years ago and it worked BEAUTIFULLY! I think it would be a great solution for your K2SO's eyes. Good luck should you try it and Happy Modeling!
Yeah I don't own any Bandai Star Wars kits, BUT I own several Gundam kits- same principles apply, and I'm not an expert either, but I didn't spent a penny on a tool kit- just grabbed a slightly rusted old pair of side cutters and a steel file from my father's old toolbox. Then I stole some facial tweezers from my sister's care set, and voila! All you need for basic construction- side cutters for cutting parts, tweezers for applying stickers, and a file for helping remove those nub/gate marks. However, I normally avoid using the file, as it can scratch the plastic if used at an odd angle. For smoothing nub marks, I just run my fingernail along the cut gate with some pressure, and it basically "files" itself! Also, I use clear nail polish (cheap; $3 at Target) over decals so they look acceptable (in most cases), as I suck at using waterslides.
Ooooo, I love the clear nail polish idea. It also levels the edges a little bit too, yeah? So they aren't so blatantly a sticker? I suck at waterslides too but they just look too good.
The Fwoosh yeah depending on the number of coats you apply, clear nail polish can really enhance the look my making a level surface with a glossy finish, indeed hiding most of the "cheap" look of the stickers. The included brush in each bottle is great for application in itself, although one must be decisive in their strokes, as waiting too long to finish a coat can leave visible lines across the coat. Luckily, if the polish is thin enough in viscosity, it will usually fix itself, with gravity smoothing any edges or lines over time.
Now you can imagine how little Anakin felt while building C-3PO. Must have been a bitch. Very happy with the SH version so far and he came with a stand which is a bonus even though he can stand without one. Swan dives from the top shelf covered.
Swan dives are the worst. It wasn't until today that I realize that if they can make this droid, with his spindly arms and legs, they NEED to do an IG-88. And yeah, I'm not strong in the force, not enough to build a droid with no snags. Snags make me feel the Dark Side though. Why did I skip that step!!!! ::redeyes::
I would love to see them out do the Black Series IG-88. We definitely need more droids. I really hope I get to see a C-3PO/R2-D2 release this year. A protocol droid head is not good enough.
Looking forward to the Bandai k-2SO in my collection, hope you show this bad droid with the decal or stickers and will be waiting for your next review Robo.Was surprised by wife when she bought me the 20 inch K-2SO, stands nicely with my death trooper.
The Fwoosh the decals look sharp, but they are a challenge. the collar on neck, front chest piece, back details and thighs look great. The shoulder decals look good, but mine came out a little cloudy. But overall, I love this kit now that I detailed it out. I'm happy I waited for kit over black series.
so I was just playing around posing the hasbro k2-so and discovered something interesting as far as ab crunch articulation... you know how bend back has more range than forward? well if you rotate his torso and turn his legs and adjust his hips you can totally fake a better ab crunch. so much so that he can look through his legs... trust me its not turning water into wine or even better beer but if you give it a shot you'll be pleasantly surprised.
I use the same toolkit, but after about a year of near-constant Gundaming the side-cutters went dull on me and I had to buy new ones. Those tweezers are a life saver with stickers though.
Yeah, I figure I'll take these side cutters as far as they will go and then switch to the Gundam Planets. Hopefully I don't cause any bodily harm, heh.
I always appreciate the time and detail that you put into your reviews. I'm not sure you are aware of these products but I wanted to suggest to you to look into getting "Micro Sol" & "Micro Set" from Microscale. Those products will really help with applying waterslide decals. Anyway, thanks again for posting this video...looks like a great kit!
I use both of those when I'm applying waterslides, my problem comes along when I get impatient or frustrated when I can't line something up right, haha. I'm my own worst enemy. I'm glad you dig the reviews!
I usually buy all the model kits but I am happy with my black series k-2S0 so I might save this for a rainy day, also I wold recommend Micro Set and Micro Sol decal solution for decals I use them for the 1:35 ww2 model kits that I upload on my channel :)
Yup, I have the Micro Sol and Set, and they work wonderfully. I just have a hard time getting the lines to line up with the sculpt 90% of the time. I'm probably doing something wrong though, I have the general idea and can do it but haven't done it enough to know better, you know what I mean?
Apparently the figuarts rogue one figures are perfect and spot on scale-wise, especially with K-2SO, he even has die-cast. Great review though as always :)
I've seen comparisons of the Shoretrooper and the Black Series, it makes the SHF head look small even though the body is about the same size. I may end up with them someday, haha.
Great review robo, loved k2 in the film. I think people paint the backs of clear parts (like the eyes) silver to catch more light....I haven't built a model in probably 20 years but I think that's what some folks do. Ring around the shoulder...then I start thinking ring around the collar like the old wisk laundry soap commercials
Oh man, if anything even resembles a commercial from the 70s or 80s it's stuck in my head for days. Or a song. My brain just can't help blurting out the next line. Drives the wife nuts but it was a fun game back when I worked in the metal shop, passed the time.
The Fwoosh hahaha! Yes! People are always surprised at how much of my brain power is wasted by remembering so many jingles and sitcom opening songs from the 70's 80's 👍🏻
The Fwoosh oh man, I loved night court! Now the theme is stuck in my head.....that's some good sax! Always loved Bull. You know what show I hated? Dear john, as soon as the the first words of the song would start I'd run to the tv to change the channel, those were the days.....figures are way better now though haha
It looks good! Decals look like a pain to put on. I think I'll stick with the Disney store die cast K2. Not much articulation but the die cast on this droid makes up for it.
Nice review, as always Robo! I just got the scarif shoretrooper kit the other day. Haven't started it but I'm pretty disappointed that it's just tons of stickers/waterslides and they're just flat colors instead of looking kind of scuffed and scratched, so using them would make his armor look "new". There's also lots of little ridges and crevices the stickers/waterslides would have to sink into or lay over and it wouldn't really work too well so I'm probably going to go the painting route or just build the grunt since there's minimal stickers/waterslides and just grab the figuarts sergeant and the black series commander or wait for the Mafex version. Not too impressed with the model kit K-2SO model kit either, I think the black series and figuarts are a bit better with that, but I think they really knocked the Death Trooper out of the park, it's definitely the best looking 1/12 scale death trooper so far, imo, just like the model kit stormtrooper/sandtrooper.
Haven't heard anything about a new Vader from Bandai. I think if they did though it would still have the same height issues, they seem to be stuck on making taller characters shorter.
"I've been looking forward to this (build/review video!) for a long time" - Dooku. Looks pretty neat, waiting on that Shore Trooper before I decide which one to get ;) As I can only get one, because money limitations
These aren't really that hard when it comes down to it, I just get impatient and try to rush through which usually results in me skipping a part. That REALLY sucks, haha.
Hi, do you know if there will be a ready-built Bandai K-2SO?. I wish there was a figure that captured all the best parts of these various figures but we seem to be in a situation where figures have good points over each other. It's just a shame Bandai figures are so expensive :(
this video taught me, that I dont like figures as much as possible, because I could never do all of this. Buy hasbros black series? Sure. Buy a nicer import from mafex or figuarts? OK. Buy an import thats THAT complex and need to try and translate the japanese only instructions? No...No I dont think so...The limits of my love for Star Wars has been reached. @_@
Haha, I know that going all in is kind of crazy and is expensive, but you gotta give a model kit a try. So fun and when it comes down to it, is actually cheaper than the MAFEX and Figuarts.
It is a real shame figuarts k-wso isnt nowhere near as accurate. It even lacks proper colors in certain spots. Shame, especially considering tis superb articulation.
Also, and I know it takes space up on your computer, but maybe start a second Fwoosh Channel that is uncut, and you could honestly just cut the audio if that's at all possible. Maybe it's just me, but watching the whole process would be interesting. Hell, you could speed it up if you wanted.
That's not a bad idea, I do have my RoboKillah channel that I've never used, may use that for general screwing off and long videos like that. And Bluefin is supposed to be bringing the vehicle models stateside, hopefully the figure models aren't too far behind.
The Fwoosh Still gotta check out your capt Phasma model kit review I've watched most of them so far. I like my Black series K2S0 alot. I thunk it was my favorite figure from the fall line up. Do you have the Cherrut.wave of BS? I'm curious to see those reviews
Nope, not yet, Chirrut and Baze are still big dollar eBay figures, I'm past that phase where I'm going to drop big money on something I'll more than likely see in a store a few weeks later. Just not worth it. Although, I NEED that Chirrut and Baze....
At 1:12 scale, a 6 foot character would be 6 inches. 6 inches is 1:12 scale. I love that scale because it's the easiest to figure. 4 foot would be 4 inches, 5 foot would be 5 inches, etc.
Hi Robo, shoulders and pelvis I used stickers and I had no problems but I will have to paint eyes, aerial, panels due to the decals and stickers are really useless in my opinion.
I was able to grab these from CDJapan, which shipped pretty fast, but they have pulled all of the kits. It is usually cheaper to wait for them to hit Amazon and wait the month shipping.
I've never had a problem with stickers but they look like stickers. The waterslide decals aren't durable unless you seal them, but after that they look fantastic.
I usually use Testors Dullcoat to seal the waterslides if I'm going to be doing some painting over it, or on shiny armor like the Stormtroopers I use some Pledge Floor Wax with Future Shine. It's in the cleaning products, really durable and glossy as you can get it.
that's how Bandai does the hands on their Master Grade Gundam model kits. ball jointed thumb and interchangeable fingers. www.dalong.net/review/mg/m131/p/m131_20.jpg
The Fwoosh also just like with the Deathtrooper model kit you can simply paint the back of that clear part for the eyes silver and it'll light pipe though the clear part making the eyes glow.
Still baffled how Disney threatened Bandai that they can't sell their Star Wars model kits to the US because Revall has the rights here in the US. Shame on you Disney.
I don't know where this news is coming from, but "Threatened"? Disney has rights to entire franchise merchandising. If they wanted to, they can wait till Bandai's licence is expired and revoke their rights completely. They don't have to "threaten" anyone.
That's pretty worrying, and it bit out of order, it's up to the people what they buy, they shouldn't be told or in this case only limited to one company. Also I remember Robo saying that a company in the U.S. got the rights to sell the model kit vehicles.
The way I heard it, the original contract stipulated that the models couldn't be sold outside the overseas market, but it wasn't actually Bandai breaking the rules, it was retailers. It was later enforced. I'm not sure of the whole Revell situation but there was probably a no-compete clause in there since Revell has had licensing a lot longer. But like Kyle said, Bluefin is going to be distributing the vehicles to all countries soon and hopefully the figures won't be far behind.
