Tamashii Soul of Chogokin C-3PO & R2-D2

[Mandible]

Again, each to their own... but having being collecting for 30 years, and with a collection worth a stupid amount of money, I always strive for the most "movie accurate" with my collectables. Granted, a lot of them aren't good, but merely the best iterations available at the time. Hell, even my MR Falcon has been decimated by the new Bandai Perfect Grade 1/72 (accuracy wise).

So, to me, this did look like a cheap toy in-hand mainly because of how stark-white it was, and the mono-color dome.

Granted it looks quite good in this photo (the JazzInc dio is a stunning addition!), but something that I didn't notice on the day when I saw it was how badly integrated this panel is.

 

[TaliBane]

^^ To be fair, the Jazzinc dios always make 1/6 SW figs look WAY better because it precisely matches the lighting and reflections we saw onscreen. The at-times-mediocre looking HT Vader looks superb with white rectangular reflections in the helmet like he has in all the Death Star scenes.

 

[Rudimus]

I actually love most of the Tama R2 photos I’ve seen. I bought the HT for the metal dome, and the slots on the Tama bug me a bit, but I don’t see how I wouldn’t be happy with it when I see shots like that.

Speaking of which, did you do anything to the dome? It seems really reflective in that shot.


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No, the dome is bone stock, but as Talibane says Jazz inc.'s tremendous dio really help with the lighting. As for the panel it looks worse because I didn't push it completely flush. Can't wait for someone to weather one, think it'll look great.

 

[Bikerscout]

I guess you can construe some of the language as juvenile jabs, but I also think that many people rely on the comments to help them spend their money wisely. The HT was taking a bashing here and I am quite sure many people felt the challenge to actually to a fair comparison. i have spent so much money buying things that I thought I liked, but later learned I would have avoided after having the product in hand, Sideshow Stormtroopers come to mind. The Tamashi R2 has a lot of great things about it, some people might not catch things like fingernail slots, etc. etc.

At the same time it's also nice to get the reminders that it's a collectors item and meant to pair with Tamashi's 3PO, good points that I like to read, irrespective of the occasional bash of my purchase of HT R2, which I happen to love. I like seeing your re-work on the R2, very cool.....but not a lot of people have the skill or courage to modify something like that and they wish these pro's would do it for them.

Well said.

 

[TurdFurgusonsHat]

^^ To be fair, the Jazzinc dios always make 1/6 SW figs look WAY better because it precisely matches the lighting and reflections we saw onscreen. The at-times-mediocre looking HT Vader looks superb with white rectangular reflections in the helmet like he has in all the Death Star scenes.

I have 3 of Joost's dios now and they are all beautiful representations of some of my favorite Star Wars scenes of all time, made with high quality materials. Never imagined this would ever be possible

 

[klapper]

I hope amazon ships it soon


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[vader619]

I actually love most of the Tama R2 photos I’ve seen. I bought the HT for the metal dome, and the slots on the Tama bug me a bit, but I don’t see how I wouldn’t be happy with it when I see shots like that.

Speaking of which, did you do anything to the dome? It seems really reflective in that shot.


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The finish on the dome is nothing like SS's matte finish silver-painted plastic. There appears to be a clearcoat finish that does, to an extent, make it reflective and even metallic, but not mirror-like. That's the way it looks without modification right out-of-the-box.

 

[Lejuan]

...but something that I didn't notice on the day when I saw it was how badly integrated this panel is.

The panels are very finely toleranced - in that pic, the panel isn't closed properly.

 

[Mandible]

The panels are very finely toleranced - in that pic, the panel isn't closed properly.

I noticed Rudimus said that, but it's more than that; that panel doesn't look right. Can't quite put my finger on why, it just doesn't seem to match with the rest?

 

[Lejuan]

I noticed Rudimus said that, but it's more than that; that panel doesn't look right. Can't quite put my finger on why, it just doesn't seem to match with the rest?

Maybe these pics would make it clearer where the mismatch is/isn't?

 

[FlyAndFight]

I've been involved in my own 1:1 R2 build and it just hit me what the Tama R2's dome reminds me of: A fiberglass dome.

The HT R2 obviously looks like it's made of aluminum but Tama's looks like it's made of fiberglass. It's not necessarily a bad thing, as some of the R2's were made with fiberglass domes. It's just missing the aluminum "brush strokes", if you will.

Just an observation.

 

[blazelsd]

Is $231 shipped a good price for the Tama? Or is there cheaper sellers out there?

 

[Solo_bones]

I've been involved in my own 1:1 R2 build and it just hit me what the Tama R2's dome reminds me of: A fiberglass dome.

The HT R2 obviously looks like it's made of aluminum but Tama's looks like it's made of fiberglass. It's not necessarily a bad thing, as some of the R2's were made with fiberglass domes. It's just missing the aluminum "brush strokes", if you will.

Just an observation.

Really good point, strange choice for Tamashi Nations, but still. I saw that they said they chose the prop that was remote controlled, not the Kenny Baker hollowed out R2, even thought they included the leg/foot covers.

 

[Ahab]

Ahoy!
I've been working on the mods to R2 and thought I'd share some progress here..
I'm doing my best to document the progress and I'm putting together a kind of journal I'll share in the custom thread. For now, all things are moving forward pretty smoothly. Initially, my plan was to get the dome to a more brushed aluminum look and if I started getting ambitious, fill the nail slots and rivets. It was bound to happen...

As it stands now, I've just applied a primer coat to seal and check the filling work on the rivets and nail slots... So far so good. I've got a little clean up (dust/fuzz trapped in the paint) in a few places, touch up/paint, then on to clear coat and wheathering. Note: the door panels will remain open until the primer has a chance to fully cure.

I never really planned to take it so far, but I couldn't help myself! I'll be going for the opening scenes/droid auction from Star Wars for the finished look.

Thanks for lookin,
Ahab

 

[Bikerscout]

Ahoy!
I've been working on the mods to R2 and thought I'd share some progress here..
I'm doing my best to document the progress and I'm putting together a kind of journal I'll share in the custom thread. For now, all things are moving forward pretty smoothly. Initially, my plan was to get the dome to a more brushed aluminum look and if I started getting ambitious, fill the nail slots and rivets. It was bound to happen...

As it stands now, I've just applied a primer coat to seal and check the filling work on the rivets and nail slots... So far so good. I've got a little clean up (dust/fuzz trapped in the paint) in a few places, touch up/paint, then on to clear coat and wheathering. Note: the door panels will remain open until the primer has a chance to fully cure.

I never really planned to take it so far, but I couldn't help myself! I'll be going for the opening scenes/droid auction from Star Wars for the finished look.

Thanks for lookin,
Ahab

View attachment 376882View attachment 376883

Good job. So you filled the rivets with putty?

 

[Ahab]

^
All the surface areas around the rivets were masked to minimize clean up and damage to surrounding areas. I then used Tamiya putty for the first round (knowing that it will shrink). After careful sanding I topped then off with Valejo plastic putty then sanding. The nail slots are filled with a mixture of CA and talc powder. Time consuming a tedious work. Not for the faint of heart...
Cheers

 

[Bikerscout]

^
All the surface areas around the rivets were masked to minimize clean up and damage to surrounding areas. The then used Tamiya putty for the first round (knowing that it will shrink). After careful sanding I topped then off with Valejo plastic putty then sanding. The nail slots are filled with a mixture of CA and talc power. Time consuming a tedious work. Not for the faint of heart...
Cheers

I know what you mean. Great work!

 

[Mandible]

Holy cow, Ahab! Your got some mad skills - and big cahoneys!

This is looking great! Can't wait to see the final product

 

[Ahab]

Thanks! Yeah, I'm glad to have gotten to this stage of the process. Paint and weathering are most welcome after tedious surgery!

Holy cow, Ahab! Your got some mad skills - and big cahoneys!

This is looking great! Can't wait to see the final product

 

[davejames]

Excellent work! Looks so much better now without all those rivets and nail slots.