Best products from r/SciFiModels
We found 20 comments on r/SciFiModels discussing the most recommended products. We ran sentiment analysis on each of these comments to determine how redditors feel about different products. We found 33 products and ranked them based on the amount of positive reactions they received. Here are the top 20.
1. Bandai Hobby Star Wars 1/72 Tie Interceptor Building Kit
Featured in the Star Wars movie, "Return of the Jedi", the infamous TIE Interceptor has been faithfully recreated in 1/72 as a plastic model kit utilizing Bandai trade mark color injection process.Set includes Dedicated display base x 1 Laser effect part x 2 1/72 scale Pilot (seated) x 1 View port x...
2. Master Airbrush 1/5 HP Compressor with Air Storage Tank Kit Model TC-20T - Professional Single-Piston with Pressure Regulator, Water Trap Filter, Hose - How To Airbrush Guide - Hobby, Cake, Tattoo Art
- High Performance Airbrush Compressor with Tank
- Our Most Popular Airbrush Compressor!
- All Applications-Paint Medias-Levels of Users-FREE HOSE
- Provides "Air-On-Demand" with Constant Pressure and Zero Pulsation
- 1/5 Horsepower this unit delivers more Air Volume (CFM) and Air Pressure (PSI)
Features:
3. Bandai Hobby Star Wars 1/72 Tie Fighter Building Kit, Multi-Colored, 8", Model Number: BAN194870
A highly iconic ship from the Star Wars universe, the TIE Fighter has been faithfully recreated in 1/72 as a plastic model kit utilizing Bandai trade mark color injection processSet includes Dedicated display base that can connect with other display stands to build out battlefields.Laser effect part...
4. Bandai Star Wars TIE - Advanced X1
- Darth Vader's special tie fighter, known as the x1, from the Star Wars universe, features a showcase of Bandai's multi material and color injection technologies
- The different components that make up its wings are molded together, yet are still color separated
- Includes 2 different canopy types, a window version made of clear plastic, and also a frame version that can allow the seated Darth Vader to be seen more clearly
- Includes Death Star panel themed display base that can combine with other display stands from other Star Wars vehicles to build out impressive battlefields
Features:
5. Bandai Hobby MG Sazabi Version Ka Model Kit (1/100 Scale)
Easy to assemble articulated model kit requiring no glueColored plastic, minimal to zero paint requiredRunner x31, instruction manual x1, sticker x3
6. Hasegawa 1/72 The Super Dimension Fortress Macross Series No.26 VF-1S/A Strike/Super Gerwalk Valkyrie
- Body size: total length 135mm, overall width 197mm
- Assembly, painting is required plastic model. Separately, necessary tools, paint and the like.
- high quality plastic
- Colored plastic; no paint required
- New and sealed inside retail packaging
Features:
7. 1/20 Maschinen Krieger series MK07 robot Battle V 44-inch surface of the moon for a heavily armored combat uniform MK44 Anmonaitsu (smart gun equipped)
- This is a plastic model kit (unbuilt / unpainted) - NOT A TOY
- ASSEMBLY AND PAINTING REQUIRED (glue and paint not included)
- Contains parts to build one model.
Features:
8. Gundam RB-79 Ball Ver Ka MG 1/100 Scale
1/100 scaleA Japanese BANDAI product. Gundam is a very popular character all over the world.Japan ImportJapan Import(C) SOTSU / Sunrise
9. Bandai Hobby #08 RX-178 Gundam MK II (AEUG) 1/144, Real Grade
- Features of a MG and PG kit at lower price
- Molded in separate colors, no paint required
- Easy to snap together, no glue required
Features:
10. 1/72 Scale Armored Core Variable Infinity Series Asupina White-Glint ARMORED CORE 4 Ver. - Limited Edition Construction Kit
- Imported from Japan
- White Glint is comprised of 250 individual pieces
- 1/72 Scale Model Kit
- Body size: Total height: about 170 mm
- Plastic model that requires assembly and painting. Separately, tools, paint etc are necessary.
Features:
11. Bandai Hobby #99 NZ-666 Kshatriya, Bandai HGUC Action Figure
- No glue required for assembly, a hobby nipper is required to remove parts from runners
- Colored plastic, little to no paint required to replicate appearance
- Product bears official Bluefin Distribution logo ensuring purchaser is receiving authentic licensed item from approved U.S. retailer
- Only product with affixed official Bluefin and Bandai Namco label has been thoroughly tested for safety and meets all North American consumer product safety regulations and entitles the purchaser to product support assistance
Features:
13. Winsor & Newton Brush Cleaner & Restorer - 4 oz. bottle
Brush Cleaner and restorer safely and easily cleans both natural and synthetic brushes without damage to brush headsIt leaves no oily residueEmits a low amount of Vapor and is non-toxicBiodegradable, water-soluble, non-flammable and non-abrasiveComes in 4-ounce bottle
14. Pegasus Hobby Mercury 9 Rocket Model Kit - 9103
- Model Kit
- May Require Paints and Glues to Assemble
- Accurate Scale Model
- Detailed Instructions Provided
- Decals/Transfers Included
Features:
15. Bandai Hobby Vehicle Model Millennium Falcon (Empire Strikes Back Ver.) ''Star Wars''
An approximately 1/350 Version of the Millennium Falcon as seen in "the empire strikes back"Includes the iconic 5 landing gear box layout and includes display base.
16. Plastruct Plastic Weld w/applicator 2oz Bottle
2 Oz.PLASTIC WELD SOLVENT CEMENTImmediately tackySets in minutesPermanently bonds ABS to Butyrate, ABS to Styrene, ABS to Acrylic and more
17. Bandai Hobby Space Battle Ship Yamato 2199 Model Kit (1/500 Scale)
- Approximately 26" long
- Colored Parts
- No Glue required
- Display stand, Slide mark, Instruction manual
Features:
18. AMT AMT955 1:1400 Scale Star Trek USS Enterprise 1701-D - Clear Edition Model
Accurate Scale Model KitRetro PackagingFull Colour Decals
19. Rustark 21Pcs Modeler Basic Tools Craft Set Hobby Building Tools Kit for Gundam Car Model Building
✔ APPLICATION: The modeler basic tools set is suitable for a beginner and advanced modeler as well. You can use it to manufacture toys, cars, robots, cartoon, and other crafts.✔ FULL RANGE & COST EFFICIENT: Package include : 1 x side pliers, 2 x screwdriver, 5 x files, 1 x separator, 1 x steel r...
20. Bandai Hobby Action Base 1 Display Stand (1/100 Scale), Clear
- No glue required for assembly, a hobby nipper is required to remove parts from runners
- Colored plastic, little to no paint required to replicate appearance
- Product bears official Bluefin Distribution logo ensuring purchaser is receiving authentic licensed item from approved U.S. retailer
- Bluefin Distribution products are tested and comply with all U.S. consumer product safety regulations and are eligible for consumer support
- Runner x4, instruction manual x1
- No glue required
- Color coded no paint required
Features:
If you really wanna get it good looking I'd recommend getting an airbrush to paint it. Cans are fine but you'll never get the right colors going that way. It's possible to just use a regular brush but it'll also come out extremely thick and unsatisfactory compared to an airbrush. Its a small investment (about $150 for a nice airbrush and another $100 for a small compressor if you don't already have one. Get one with a tank if you can) but if you do even a couple of models with it you'll never want to use a regular brush to paint an entire model again.
First off the model as it comes is way too blue, I'd recommend painting it based off the newer bandai model's box art as it looks fantastic which you can see here: TIE Advanced.
For the paint itself my personal favorite is the Tamiya line of acrylics. They are the best looking and most professional out of all the acrylics I've seen. They come in nice bottles that are great too. This is of course the best for airbrushing as thats what I would do but if you do end up going the brush route a better paint would probably be Vallejo as they are more suited towards that.
I'd honestly forgo the primer and simply do a full flat black base coat to get that blue off of the solar pannels then mask those up and do the main body. According to the supplied sheet for the bandai model the main body is 70% neutral grey and 30% white with a pinch of blue grey. For the darker parts around the ship its a 100% neutral grey. You'd use that in areas like the recesses on the wing roots, the window's frame and a few other places.
After that its really up to you how much extra detail you wanna add. You can do some dark washes to get those nice shadows, maybe add some metallic scratches and what not. Theres no limit with these sort of things.
Also as a last note if you wanna get into some more of these model's I would highly HIGHLY recommend the entire line of 1/72 ships by bandai. They are all snap together and have more detail then you would believe for their price as well as coming slightly colored so you can fit it all together and still admire it even before painting. I have the TIE Fighter and plan on getting the TIE Interceptor and TIE Advanced. They are the perfect size for putting on display (or playing with haha) and even scale correctly with other real world planes in 1/72 scale.
Bandai is (IMO) the top of the Japanese heap, model-wise - well-engineered, complex but not fiddly. Their Eva offerings are OK, but where they really shine is the Gundam stuff. Currently, they're available as 1/144 HG (no inner frames, decent articulation and detail), 1/144 RG (inner frames and high detail) 1/100 Re/100 (no inner frames, decent external detail, 'niche' MS) 1/100 MG (current ones have internal frames and high detail; older ones, not so much), 1/60 PG (big scale, high detail inside and out), and some 1/144, 1/100 and other 'No Grade' (older, low-articulation, low color separation kits), and some non-Gundam stuff like VOTOMS (we'll get there in a bit). Like everything else, newer kits will have better parts layouts than older kits. You can check Dalong.net, for visual reviews, parts counts, scale comparisons, and so forth.
In HG, most of the kits from Char's Counterattack, Unicorn, Build Fighters/Try and Iron Blooded Orphans on are excellent kits, with prices running from £6 up to £35
In RG, (IMO) the best kit, in terms of detail, design, and durability is the RG Gundam Mk II AEUG, priced at a very reasonable £15.
MG run from £16.75 up (Ball is love; Ball is life) up to the mind-blowing, £95 Sazabi ver.Ka. Yes, it's pricey, but it's one of the best-engineered models you'll ever build. 37 runners of multicolored, snap-fit glory.
PGs are well out of your price range, all well over the £100 mark.
Outside the Gundamverse, Bandai also does 1/20 VOTOMS; but slightly over your cap at £65 They also do Macross kits (the current series is Delta; kits are just now being released), but their transforming requirements make them a little explodey. They also do Yamato and other spacecraft; I don't have a lot of experience with them.
Past Bandai, Kotobukiya does some excellent Armored Core (among other properties) kits; they are a little finickier fit wise, and a little pricier, coming in at around £45 and up. They work best for experienced modelers who aren't afraid of complex painting jobs. Hasegawa does non-transforming Valkyries; they will need glue and paint to look good. Hasegawa also does the love-to-get-grubby, need-glue-and-paint-and-patience Maschinen Krieger line.
Beyond that, you start getting into smaller makers, and resin kits, and imports direct from Asia, and probably out of your area of interest.
I use an iwata HP-BCS.
http://www.iwata-medea.com/products/iwata-airbrushes/eclipse/
Its great because it will take any paint I have thrown at it without thinning. It feels like an industrial airbrush with the thick paints I can use and it's really nice not to have to worry about thinning paint. This can also be a bit of a problem because it will also throw paint chunks if you have contaminated or old paint.
This brush does have some disadvantages. The needle does on occasion needs a touch of lube to keep it working well and it took me a long time to figure this out (herp derp). The double action is nice but it makes it a little harder to clean but I've never really had a problem cleaning it so this is mostly what other people say about the double action brushes.
That said, It might be nice to have the style with the top feed hopper, something like the HP-CS. A design like this would mean I would waste less paint and make it easier to just drip some in and go. With my brush you need to fill enough of the bottle to allow the pickup hose to reach the paint and this wastes paint when It comes time to clean the bottle. I also find I am poring paint back and forth a lot, and all that can lead to paint contamination and spills.
As for maintenance I use mostly water cleanup paints so I just run water through it. For the occasional deep clean I use this magic stuff called. ["Brush Cleaner and Restorer" from Winsor & Newton] (https://smile.amazon.com/Winsor-Newton-Brush-Cleaner-Restorer/dp/B005M4W1VK/ref=sr_1_6?ie=UTF8&qid=1511330111&sr=8-6&keywords=paint+brush+cleaner). It has very little smell seems pretty non-toxic (and is labeled as such) and will remove any oil, enamel, acrylic, or wax paints I have ever used. I can't say enough about this stuff. Just soak the needle and spray head in this stuff for a while and wipe with a q-tip and your brush (air or hair) will look like new.
In conclusion, with my experience with the just the HP-BCS, I would probably not buy it again, but instead get the HP-CS. Its pretty much the same brush but that top feed style seems much easier to clean and would waste less paint, especially with the dropper style paints like Vallejo sells.
The viper models (old or new) have nice balance between the number of parts and the ability to get creative with painting. Star Trek ships are a bit limited since they are so clean and large scale they tend to be too simple.
I haven't tried the new reboot Enterprise though, that might be better.
I liked the Pegasus rocket a lot, it has a diorama base too
http://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B004A8ZHHO
I painted mine in steam punk metallic colors and it stands out.
Thanks! It's a kit, and fairly cheap at that. Super easy build, really not much to it. Most of the time spent was weathering and painting. I messed up by airbrushing the coat on the top hull a bit too thick, but thankfully it wasn't catastrophic.
It's the Ertl 1/1400 1701-D in clear plastic:
https://www.amazon.com/AMT-AMT955-Scale-Enterprise-1701-D/dp/B01MZ2I1UX
It's not a great kit to start, and doing it in clear (brittle) plastic makes it more susceptible to damage, but if you can pull it off it looks quite nice.
I used an Action Base 1 for my TIE Interceptor, it comes with all sorts of adaptors for pretty much every kit Bandai produces.
https://www.amazon.com/Bandai-Hobby-Action-Display-Stand/dp/B000VO056O/