2023 Retrospective

Thought it might be a good idea to do a little review of the models that I've made this year as I've been photographing them with a plain background as each one has been completed. Quite a few have build diaries here on Scalemates but not all of them have been seen before and I thought it'd be nice (for me at least!) to document all the models I've built in one calendar year. 

January and I started with the Revell 1/65 Outland Tie Fighter from the Mandalorian. Nice kit to start the year with, not overly complex and turned out nice with paint and weathering. I wasn't too happy with the supplied base so made my own - any excuse 😄.  

On to February and next was the Bandai 1/12 Darth Vader from the Return of the Jedi. Managed to pick this kit up for a reasonable price as I'd only ever seen it really expensive. Usual Bandai quality although I wasn't sure about the rubber cape parts. They worked out fine and allowed it to be posed in the sitting position nicely. Made use of previous builds of Bandai kits to make the set of four bases for him to sit on.  

Still in February and on to Revell's Grogu - the Child. A big kit but was surprisingly simple to make. Made a quite rough attempt at hair for him by shaving cotton buds over his head while the clear coat was still wet. Could be better!  

Next up, in March was an old kit revisited as I'd build this one a few years ago but was never happy with the pose of it. I'd bought another copy of the kit (see next photo) so revisited this one to give it a different pose using the unsplit arms and cape to better pose the kit. Happy with how it came out.  

At the same time I constructed the new General Grievous kit. This time using better weathering techniques to scuff him up a bit and with some wash to bring out the detail. Light sabre handles all got painted and posed him with the split arms in a nice fighting stance.  

March came around and I made the Bandai Millennium Falcon from the Last Jedi. First attempt (and probably the last!) at using Photoetch which I didn't enjoy one bit!! More enjoyment with the painting and weathering on this one. The use of wash for the streaks and rust and pigments on the exhaust came out really well to my eye.  

Sticking with the Star Wars theme in April with the Bandai, box scale (possibly 1:1000), Blockade Runner. Tiny little kit with loads of detail so gave me lots of practice hand painting the really small stuff. Still amazed by how dusty the stand got it the few days It took to build and paint 😉 

Still in April, I must have had some time off work to tackle the Revell re-box of the Zvezda 1/2700 Star Destroyer. Lovely kit with surprisingly few parts. You can't see it well from this photo but I had fun with masking to introduce a (sort of) Aztek pattern to break up the vast expanses of Insignia White that I painted it with. 

An eBay bargain to start off May. Got this kit of 5 Bandai Battleship Yamato 2202, Andromeda Class ships for less than £30 and built them all at the same time. Lots more hand detail painting practice and they got better as I finished each one. Nice change from Star Wars too 😎.  

Still in May, I got my hands on the new AMT Havoc Marauder kit from the Bad Batch. Superfast build, all done in about three days. A very simple kit that turned out nicely.  

I enjoyed the Andromeda builds so much that I bought a few more Battleship Yamato 2202 kits and rounded off the Andromeda kits with the Neu Balgray. Lovely decals on this kit but I wish I'd made the red/brown sections a little less brown. Oh well, it's all a learning curve 😉.  

June saw the AMT Pod Racer under construction. For an old kit, it was really enjoyable to build and I went to town on the weathering on the Engines which I'm really pleased with how they turned out. Decals were a right pain though- really thick and needed lots of work with Microset / Sol to get them looking anywhere near decent. 

July brought my first "dip of the toe" into the world of Maschinen Krieger. Liked the look of these from builds I'd seen online but they were always horribly expensive to get from Japan. Handily a seller on eBay that I'd been buying things from regularly, reached out to ask me if he could help with sourcing kits that I'd be interested in that he was bidding for on Japanese Auction sites. I suggested Ma.K and the rest, as they say, is history. Really happy with how the custom base came out. 

Also in July a slightly disappointing kit from Revell of Kylo Ren's Command Shuttle. Definitely showing it's "EasyKit" Snap Together origins, the only difference is that you needed to paint it! And then that was mostly Black 😉 

August brings another Revell Mandalorian kit, this time "The Bounty Hunter". The "diorama" parts needed quite a bit of work to stop them looking like a plastic kit but the addition of some basing sand and directional paint on the stormtrooper helmets really helped. Pity it's stuck in the one pose (the head moves and that's it) but not a bad kit for the money and fun to 'customise' the base as far as I did.  

Still in August and another slightly disappointing kit from Revell of the Imperial Shuttle Tydirium. Also showing it's "EasyKit" Snap Together origins and some very poor figures supplied with it for the cockpit.  

Next up though is my favourite build of the year. Took my time with this one so started at the end of August and finished it in October and really, really enjoyed the build. Lots of new techniques tried out that (in my humble opinion) made a beautiful model. This one has pride of place on the shelves (for now!) and I enjoyed it so much I've added the Laboratory Pod variant to the stash so I get to build it all over again 😎.  

In November it was another old build re-visit with a Bandai A-Wing I'd made previously. Bought another copy of the kit but this time built the Gun Turret base and used oil weathering on that and the new model to gave a dynamic diorama of two A-Wings skimming over the Death Star. Quick build but fun to do.  

And finally, in December. Revell's new Mandalorian N-1 Starfighter. I'd had this on pre-order pretty much all year and it jumped straight to the front of the build queue once it finally turned up. Really lovely build, well detailed and looks amazing in it's metal colour. The figures weren't the best but the ship itself makes up for that. Second favourite of the year after the Space 1999 Eagle.