October 16, 2015

Bandai Model Kit 1/12 scale Star Wars C-3PO

From Wookiepedia :
C-3PO, sometimes spelled See-Threepio and often referred to as Threepio, was a bipedal, humanoid protocol droid designed to interact with organics, programmed primarily for etiquette and protocol. He was fluent in over six million forms of communication, and developed a fussy and worry-prone personality throughout his many decades of operation. After being destroyed and discarded on the planet Tatooine before 32 BBY, C-3PO was rebuilt; his salvaged nature gave him special qualities that distinguished him from similar droid models. Along with his counterpart, the astromech droid R2-D2, C-3PO constantly found himself directly involved in pivotal moments of galactic history, and aided in saving the galaxy on many occasions. C-3PO considered various droids and organics to be friends of his, and was very dedicated to them, as well as to any master that he served.
Originally activated on Affa in 112 BBY, C-3PO had served as a protocol droid to the emissary of the Manakron system. Nearly eighty years later, he was gutted and discarded on the streets of Mos Espa, a city on the Outer Rim world of Tatooine. After being rebuilt by the Human slave Anakin Skywalker, C-3PO served Skywalker and his mother Shmi for over ten years, performing household chores and helping Skywalker earn his freedom by winning a pod race. Skywalker left Tatooine but returned in 22 BBY when his mother passed away, and C-3PO was given to Skywalker, now a Jedi Padawan, by Shmi's stepson Owen Lars. C-3PO, Skywalker, R2-D2, and the Naboo Senator Padmé Amidala immediately became embroiled in the Clone Wars, a galaxy-wide conflict between the Galactic Republic and the Separatist Confederacy of Independent Systems. Skywalker married Amidala and gave C-3PO to her as a wedding gift, and C-3PO faithfully assisted her in her senatorial duties throughout the three-year conflict. The two often entered the front lines of the war, at times fighting alongside Skywalker and R2-D2.


I am a little comprehensive on getting this C-3PO in a model kit form due to it's all chrome nature. Cutting off the parts from the sprue tree will leave an ugly "bite" mark on the part and it stood out like a sore thumb from the otherwise 99.9% chromed surface. But my worries are kinda unfounded. Plastic model kit technology has come a long way. The gate is now designed in a way that it "sits" on top of the part. Still you need to exercise the steadiest of steady hand when nipping them off and secondary cleaning the rough edges prior to assembly.
Accessories wise, this kit gives you all the options. There are mainly :
> a spare pair of articulated elbow arms (but with matt gold rubbery pistons... hate it)
> an extra face part with a dent.
> a pop out eye socket from the good works of Salacious Crumb
> the mandatory figure stand/platform.
I chose to display it with the fixed arm as it looks better with properly chromed pistons. I haven't seen C-3PO does any Kung Fu stance so am fine with a pair of fixed arm for sake of aesthetic.

The build is simple. Most of the time spent are on carefully cutting and cleaning procedures. Fitting of the parts are immaculate and of high standards. No glue requires as with Bandai's other SW kits (that I owned so far ie Stomtrooper, R2-D2/R5-D4).

The wires! Oh the wires! Bandai has does great thinking and going an extra mile to mole yellow and red wires so as to inject additional realism to the figure. Kudos! However I wasn't satisfy still. Out came my stash of Tamiya paint and added some blue grey, light grey, and a wash of flat black. Pretty happy with how it turns out.
I'm basically following to how it was shown in the instruction sheet. No stress nor any additional research there :)

When I got R2-D2 previously, I was hoping for Bandai to release a C-3PO soon so that the pair can reunite. So it wasn't such a difficult decision to buy the kit.
C-3PO is a fantastic kit and I'd recommend it to anybody - especially Star Wars fans. If only it includes light up eyes, that will be the icing on the cake.

Now that Bandai has also released a First Order Stormtrooper kit (which I have already pre-ordered), I won't be surprise a Captain Phasma, with all her chrome silver glory, will be upon us in no time.

No comments: