Hi. I have bought a few Star Wars kits from Bandaï and I want to know if I should paint them or not paint them at all because they seems to look great without paint.
Thanks!
That depend on you. I know many of them were engineered to be painted before construction. If you want to enter them in contests, painting would be necessary. If you’ve never painted model kits before, painting a very nice Bandai Star Wars kit could “ruin” it if you do a bad job.
But if you’ve painted kits before, it should be a simple task. I know many of the Revell kits come pre-painted, but I want to paint the unpainted plastic parts.
I have never painted a scale model before 
Grab something cheap to practice on. While many modelers can paint awesomely by hand, without practice it can look like gobs of paint collecting in the wrong spots with an uneven finish. Air brushes are not for beginners and can be very expensive just to get set up.
Spray cans are another tricky avenue that are a little cheaper, but again takes practice. Go and find some happy meal toys to practice on. Some of the old star wars vehicles that you can get for a dollar from a thrift store. Or check eBay for some of the Revell easy kits to practice on.
Thanks Rob for your help.
Man, I really hate it that these Bandai kits are mostly pre-painted and snap together. It would have been great to get regular glue together, molded in one colour kits for the new Star Wars films.
That’s why I sing the praises of the Fine Molds kits. I got their X-wing, both TIEs, Vader’s TIE, both Slave 1 kits (Jengo and Boba Fett’s with frozen Hans Solo white metal part), Y-wing and snow speeder. Oh yeah, who can forget Obi Wan’s Jedi fighter with hyper drive ring?
I picked up my first two Bandai SW kits as early Christmas presents to myself. And frankly, they may be snap kits but they’re in an entirely different universe from those simple toy-like snap kits I remember from the '80s. They’re just as good if not better than anything else I’ve seen. I don’t own any of the FineMolds SW kits to compare them to but from the reviews I’ve seen the Bandai ones are no worse.
I wouldn’t let the fact they’re snap stop you from buying them. Check out the reviews, there’s plenty of them online.
And yeah, you don’t have to paint them but they’ll look much better if you do. Unpainted plastic always has that sheen to it that screams ‘I’m plastic!’
I must say i have been very disapointed with the kits that have comeout since Disney took over, though i guess i shouldn’t be surprised. Though i do think those bandai kits could be built up nicely, i would much rather see tradional modelskits and toys done seperatly, not the 2 for ones we seem to have. And the number of companies producing the kits has gone way down. We certainly don’t have the selection we used to have.
Thanks guys. I will paint them even if I never painted a scale model before.
I’m seen really bad reviews of the U-Wing and AT-ATC but there’s not made by Bandai are they? The only Bandai kits I’ve bought are the A and X-Wing and they’re pretty nice kits.
Hellwarrior: Please post them when you’re done, I’d love to see how they come out.
Those kits are Revell i think and more of there toy range.
Those two kits are made by Revell and are like the Force Awakens kits (Falcon, new X-Wing, new TIE, black X-wing), designed to be played with by the kids like toys. Push button lights up the kit and makes noise. I bought the Falcon, black X-Wing and TIE for my son and got the regular X-wing and TIE for myself when Kmart went out of business in my town.
They are simple kits that are better than the old snap tite kits by MPC (A-wing, B-wing, Y-wing, TIE interceptor) from Return of the Jedi. I am working on the MPC A-wing but I think I may abandon any thoughts of “doing it right” and just assemble it sort of out of box.
EDIT: I just bought the Rogue One Revell snap U-Wing fighter. It is an unusual fighter and looks to be well designed. I found it in the clearance aisle at my local Target for $14.01 (odd price there). I will post photos of it when completed. I’ll let you know how good or bad it is. I do not have any references to compare the kit to though.
Thanks guys, I was thinking they were from Revell and pretty toylike.
Hellwarrior, take care when painting the Bandai kits. Here is what I have heard:
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Take care if you are painting and then assembling. The parts fit is very snug and paint in the join areas can cause the parts not to fit correctly.
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It is better to use acrylic paint as some enamel brands (I do not know which ones) have been known to eat the plastic, especially the softer plastic used as joints for moving parts. Definitely do not use a lacquer.
As for quality and accuracy, Bandai is supposed to be top of the line. Even though they are a snap kit, do not mistake them for a build and play type that Revell makes. Molding is fine and crisp, instructions can be confusing for a first timer, but once you figure out the sequence it is easy enough. Take care to notice the little arrows they indicate which way a part faces.
Revell ’ s new kits are okay, but are no where near the molding quality of bandai. I just completed the lvl 2 force awakens tie fighter (not the build and play, no lights and sound) and while it is a decent kit the molding detail was soft and the parts break down caused some big seems.
Finemolds kits are great if you are wanting glue and paint kits, which, who doesn’t? Unfortunately no longer being made unless Revell decides to Re kit some of the 1/72 kits like they did the 1/48 ones.
-Stephen
Thanks NucMedTech 