# AT-ST 1/48 Bandai



## PixelMagic (Aug 25, 2004)

Got a start on this over the weekend. Chewbacca is painted and the AT-ST midsection and legs are assembled. You have to REALLY pay attention when assembling the legs or you'll do it wrong. Be careful.


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## John P (Sep 1, 1999)

Chewy is being stalked!


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## Richard Baker (Aug 8, 2006)

John P said:


> Chewy is being stalked!


That's his big brother 'Crunchy'

Legs look great- thanks for the heads up on the assembly.
How does the cockpit section look to you?


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## Steve H (Feb 8, 2009)

Yeah, I was looking at the instructions posted at Hobby Search and I was a bit befuddled by the leg construction. It's the first Bandai kit I've seen where the instructions weren't crystal clear and mostly intuitive. (part a-1 fits to b-1 and attaches to part C-1. those kits almost build themselves  ) I'd go slow, real slow during that part of building.


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## PixelMagic (Aug 25, 2004)

Steve H said:


> Yeah, I was looking at the instructions posted at Hobby Search and I was a bit befuddled by the leg construction. It's the first Bandai kit I've seen where the instructions weren't crystal clear and mostly intuitive. (part a-1 fits to b-1 and attaches to part C-1. those kits almost build themselves  ) I'd go slow, real slow during that part of building.


Yep. I attached the foot wrong because there is a tiny peg that must go INSIDE the foot box. I had attached the foot with that peg outside, and so my AT-ST wouldn't stand up properly. I was VERY lucky I was able to pry the foot back open and re-position it properly.


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## Steve H (Feb 8, 2009)

You are strong to be able to pry your foot back open. 

But yeah, that's the kind of thing. I was building a 'real grade' Gundam kit and discovered that the armor over the legs and arms is meant to be left 'loose' because the design cheats, having armor slide and move over a frame as opposed to being solid. It's for more posing ability, to match iconic positions from the cartoon. (there's a LOT of 'stretch' and 'squash' in that old show!) But it ends up with all kinds of gaps and nonsense. So I glued fronts to backs because the Gundam I know from the anime doesn't look like that. I sacrificed about 20% of the ability to pose in favor of being closer to screen accurate. I think it worked out for the best.


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## Xenodyssey (Aug 27, 2008)

I found at first look the plans were a bit confusing but by the time I got my 1st leg done the rest just about made itself. Just needed to adapt to the style of the plans.


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## hal9001 (May 28, 2008)

Thanks for the pics PixleM. I was hoping to see a good pic of the hip/leg joint. Bandai looks like they got it pretty accurate and puts the old *MPC* to shame there. Looks like I can now pitch the old *MPC* kit I started accurizing years ago. Lot of work to be done there.

About how tall would say it is?

Hope you keep the pics coming because I'm jazzed up about this kit and will be watching with interest. I picture a few more kits stacking up on my shelf. LOTS of possibilities!

Thanks again,
Carl-


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## JeffBond (Dec 9, 2013)

Just got mine and it is a BEAUTY, right down to the little blast impact decal for the nose...


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## PixelMagic (Aug 25, 2004)

All three figures now painted.


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## hal9001 (May 28, 2008)

Just got my AT-ST in from Cult and it is _really_ nice. I pulled down the old MPC to do a comparison, but you just can't compare the two. It's like trying to compare apples to oranges! It is for a good laugh though.

I like the engineering too. Having a full interior is nice also. I like the way MPC just made up detail shapes! :lol: I guess the mold maker couldn't find pictures of all the detail so they just...came up with their own. Pretty much like the did on all their SW kits.

Anyway, if you're a SW fan you'll want this one!

Carl-


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## Zombie_61 (Apr 21, 2004)

hal9001 said:


> Just got my AT-ST in from Cult and it is _really_ nice. I pulled down the old MPC to do a comparison, but you just can't compare the two. It's like trying to compare apples to oranges! It is for a good laugh though.
> 
> I like the engineering too. Having a full interior is nice also. I like the way MPC just made up detail shapes! :lol: I guess the mold maker couldn't find pictures of all the detail so they just...came up with their own. Pretty much like the did on all their SW kits...


As I understand it (and I could be completely wrong) the problem(s) with the MPC kits (and later the AMT kits) was that Lucasfilm provided the reference materials for MPC/AMT to develop and produce the kits from, and that reference material wasn't an exact match to the filming models. This is also the reason that the Original Trilogy kits produced by Revell of Germany include many of the same detail errors--they were contractually obligated to develop and produce their kits from the same reference materials. 

Also, the MPC/AMT kits (and probably the Revell of Germany kits as well) were simplified to make it easier for young (i.e., inexperienced) modelers to build them.


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## PixelMagic (Aug 25, 2004)

Got the cockpit painted and assembled.


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## Steve H (Feb 8, 2009)

Wow, nice job! That's got a ton more detail than I expected!  It's kind of a shame the pilots are so darn generic looking, especially those arms! The detail is unforgivable! To be fair, I guess, you really can't see much of ANYTHING once it's buttoned up. 

However, it does point out a couple of things that until now were maybe not that obvious. That's a TINY cockpit, the crew is just shoehorned in it seems! And there has to be some kind of monitors in there because the sight line out the viewports is for exactly jack and crap.


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## PixelMagic (Aug 25, 2004)

Construction and painting are finished. Now I gotta put some plant life on the base and weather/battle damage the AT-ST.


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## Xenodyssey (Aug 27, 2008)

I ended up doing a fair amount of rust streaking on mine after doing some screen grabs from RTOJ, And metallic highlights as well. After building the cockpit I wondered about adding some lights, there's enough room at the back for the wiring. The interior is just so gray!


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## PixelMagic (Aug 25, 2004)

First layer of weathering done. My first layer is just general discoloration of the surface. To make the metal look worn and old. Maybe some oil stains and dirt stained up the surface. I'll begin refining tinier and tinier weathering details from here.


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## hal9001 (May 28, 2008)

Was a little worried you weren't going to do weathering. That subject _NEEDS_ weathering! Looking good so far and look forward to more. I was VERY pleased with the kit I got the other day.

:thumbsup::thumbsup::thumbsup::thumbsup:

Carl-


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## PixelMagic (Aug 25, 2004)

hal9001 said:


> Was a little worried you weren't going to do weathering. That subject _NEEDS_ weathering! Looking good so far and look forward to more. I was VERY pleased with the kit I got the other day.
> 
> :thumbsup::thumbsup::thumbsup::thumbsup:
> 
> Carl-


I'm a VFX artist for a living, so I'm gonna weather it, for sure! VFX artist make everything dirty to hide the super cleanness of CG. Heh.


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## Steve H (Feb 8, 2009)

Hey, Pixel, check me. I'm looking at that base and it's very generic looking. You think maybe they designed it so it could be either Endor or Hoth, depending?

And I can't help but wonder what else it's meant to link up with, other than another AT-ST. I assume it's simply a feature from being a 'build on a generic base concept' item but boy, wouldn't it be nice if it slotted up with the Snowspeeder base or something.


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## Zombie_61 (Apr 21, 2004)

Steve H said:


> Hey, Pixel, check me. I'm looking at that base and it's very generic looking. You think maybe they designed it so it could be either Endor or Hoth, depending?


That's what I was thinking as well. Paint it "dirt brown" and add some appropriately-scaled foliage, and it's Endor; paint it white, and it's Hoth.


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## PixelMagic (Aug 25, 2004)

Yep, I think so as well. I'm going to be doing Endor. The AT-STs on Hoth have a slightly different head on them. This is certainly modeled after the ROTJ AT-ST and not the ESB one.

I have just received my miniature ferns I will be placing on the base.

http://marketplace.collector-modelt...Products-95534-O-Gauge--Ferns-1''%9pk-1111188

I have never modeled an Earth-like landscape before, or any landscape for that matter. We'll see how it goes.


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## PixelMagic (Aug 25, 2004)

I think this is about as far as I want to go with weathering. I will do a bit more detail weathering, but this is 90% there I think. I also painted the base in prep for plants/shrubs. The other minor detail work on the AT-ST was painting the hoses black, and also painting the back vents black.


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## Xenodyssey (Aug 27, 2008)

Very finely done weathering. I like your subtle paint chipping as well.


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## PixelMagic (Aug 25, 2004)

And it's done.


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## Steve H (Feb 8, 2009)

That is pretty. Nice, nice job!

I wonder how many are going to go wild with customizing? It sure seems to lend itself to that.


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## PixelMagic (Aug 25, 2004)

And finally for the AT-ST, as with all my models , I do a photo composite of the finished build.


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## edge10 (Oct 19, 2013)

Very cool build! Nice composite too.

Happy Easter to all.


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## Xenodyssey (Aug 27, 2008)

Sweet. Love the ferns on the base. Really set it on the forest floor.


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## harristotle (Aug 7, 2008)

That's awesome, you did an amzing job!


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## notype (Sep 5, 2015)

Truly remarkable. I'm also a cg/vfx guy and I love compositing finished model kit with other backgrounds. Reminds me of golden age of miniature vfx.


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## PixelMagic (Aug 25, 2004)

notype said:


> Truly remarkable. I'm also a cg/vfx guy and I love compositing finished model kit with other backgrounds. Reminds me of golden age of miniature vfx.


Thanks!


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