[scalawag]

Hi Chaps,

I have just finished putting this one together. Return of the Jedi Scout Trooper and his speeder bike.

Both the figure and speeder bike are from Sideshow, and proved to be relatively easy to put together and pose. I was going to use a Hasbro 1/6 speeder bike for this, and even bought one to use. But when I put the figure on the Hasbro bike it just did not look right somehow. The Sideshow bikes are expensive but I managed to find one on eBay at a very reasonable price which is what you now see in these pictures.







Thanks

Paul

 

[GubernatorFan]

Thanks for posting this! Some of these images are bigger and clearer than many I've seen before and I was looking for something like this to inform my customization of the (old) Hasbro 1/6-scale speeder bike. Too bad I already weathered it this morning, before seeing these. And I think I overdid it, albeit with subtler weathering (discoloration more than pronounced scratches). The controls and rear exhaust panel of the Sideshow speeder bike are more accurate (and everything is sharper in quality) than the Hasbro one (which was a mass-produced toy), but the Hasbro speeder bike seems to be more accurate in terms of scale (I did the math). Or maybe I am telling myself this because I don't want to spend the money on the Sideshow version.

 

[scalawag]

Hi GubenatorFan,

I am glad that the pics may have been of some use.

I too have a hasbro speeder bike, and they are very nice, especially given the prices they go for.

I was going to use it for this figure too, but this Sideshow speeder bike came up on eBay at a ridiculously low price and so I went for it.

Having had the 2 side by side, the Sideshow is defiantly smaller. I am not sure which is more accurate scale wise, but in my opinion the sideshow looks better proportioned once the figure is on, but the Hasbro is really very good too.

The detail is a lot more crisp and there are many more separate pieces on the sideshow which I think add to the finished look, but at the end of the day it would be hard to justify spending what these go for today (unless you can find a bargain like I did) if you already have the Hasbro.

At the end of the day they are both great models which will work well with the Sideshow Scout Trooper.

Paul

 

[Guest]

I agree that the Sideshow speeder is a lot better in terms of detail, but the scale/length lets it down immensely. I searched through loads of photo's before going with the Hasbro for my Scout.

 

[scalawag]

Well, having reviewed some reference material, I think the size/scale issues affect both models.

Trying to assess scale and proportion from screen grabs or in action photos which are plagued with perspective issues due to the nature of cinematic and photographic lenses etc., is a very difficult task which can lead to all sorts of misinterpretations, unless you have some pretty fancy equipment to be able to maintain proportion and do side by side analysis of several photos of the subject.
Going from the studio's scale production drawings, and photos, taken off of the set, of the full size speeder bikes before they went for filming, as seen in the book "Star Wars: The Blueprints" by J. W. Rinzler, the size and proportions of the Sideshow is not too bad for 1/6 scale. Yes it is a little short, but not by as much as some would have you believe.

The Hasbro is if anything to my eye over scale for 1/6 not just in the length but in the width also, and really in its overall dimensions.
It is probably also worth mentioning here that the Hasbro was never sold as 1/6 scale, but rather as an accessory for their 12" figures. No mention is made of scale.
In my opinion it is probably closer to 1/5 scale, but it is still a great cheaper option with lots of potential.

At the end of the day though beauty is, as they say, in the eye of the beholder, so of course you will like what you like, and I will like what I like. That shouldn't be a problem.

Paul

 

[GubernatorFan]

Just to make sure, I am not saying the Sideshow version is bad. It is a piece of art (with much more accurate detail) and it still looks absolutely great. And I agree that the screen grabs are not very easy to interpret. I based my research on a couple of set photos and eventually I came across some graphics that gave the actual length of the speeder bike. So I converted this to 1/6 scale and that is how I determined that the Hasbro version was the right scale.

Just out of curiosity, since you have both of the speeder bikes in question - is the main difference in length just the front part? And if so, do you get the feeling that one could put together Sideshow's bike with the Hasbro front and get the right scale?

And again, just to make sure, by the Hasbro version, I mean one made several (many?) years ago, which has two transparent and articulated plastic support stands. Just recently they made a smaller and much less accurate still supposedly 1/6-scale version that I also bought to customize, but I gave up on.

 

[scalawag]

I have done a couple of side by side shots of the 2 speeder bikes for you. Sorry I did not want to take off the figure as I have him just how I want him now.

I think you will see once they are side by side that the length difference is across the whole bike not just the front end, and that is not the only difference in proportion. The whole bike seems "scaled up" to me when compared to the Sideshow one. It is noticeably wider and frames etc are chunkier too. It does not really show on a 2D photo but the vanes at the front are about 1.5 times the size of the sideshow ones.





This is a pic of Kit West one of the effects crew who filmed the chase scene with an original speeder bike on its rig. This is a great shot as both Kit and the Bike are square on to the camera, and so we can get an idea of the proportions of the bike.



As per my last post, when using the drawings in the Rinzler book (great book by the way) the Sideshow overall scales better to 1/6 in my opinion. It is short, but using the same drawings the Hasbro comes up long, and wide.

But at the end of the day its whatever you feel is right for your model.

Paul

 

[GubernatorFan]

Thank you so much for the extra photos. You are right, Hasbro is also significantly wider. And while it is not just a matter of scaling, that is part of it too. I love the sharper detail on the Sideshow version. Ironically, although you had the back flaps down, some of the most notable difference in detail is what lies beneath them.

 

[masamune]

That Hasbro Speeder Bike is not too bad....

 

[scalawag]

Thank you so much for the extra photos. You are right, Hasbro is also significantly wider. And while it is not just a matter of scaling, that is part of it too. I love the sharper detail on the Sideshow version. Ironically, although you had the back flaps down, some of the most notable difference in detail is what lies beneath them.

Fixed:thumb



The Sideshow also has a little piston attached to each flap which helps keep the flaps in the position you place them. The Hasbro I have has quite loose hinges on the flaps so they will not stay in place. You can see here I have had to tuck the top edge under the canvas roll to stop them drooping back down.

Paul

 

[scalawag]

That Hasbro Speeder Bike is not too bad....

Yeah its a great looking piece of kit, and easy to make look even better.

Like I said, at the end of the day its all personal preference.

 

[cdn_rhino]

Awesome stuff guys. Great pictures and posing.

 

[GubernatorFan]

Paul, thanks for posting the comparison photos of that gorgeous speeder bike behind.
So I dug up my files and looked at more photos and it appears both speeder bikes are to some extent wrong!
Hasbro got the main body's length right, but made it too wide, and made the front part and the vanes too long.
Sideshow got the width of the main body almost right (actually a smidgen narrow), but made the main body too short; however, it seems that it got the front part right.
See graphic below (I hope you don't mind I used one of your photos for a basic demonstration). I think you can see how I initially concluded (not entirely correctly) that the Hasbro version was more film-accurate in terms of scale. The values in [ ] are the appropriate lengths for 1/6-scale.

 

[scalawag]

Yeah as I said the size/ scale issues affect both, and neither is entirely accurate, but both are great models in different ways.

 

[GubernatorFan]

By the way, are these the same drawings you were referring to? They did come from some sort of blueprints, probably for the film props themselves.

 

[scalawag]

No these are different drawings. The Blueprints book has several drawings of prototype versions of the bike, as well as the drawings used to produce the full size bikes from. There are detail changes between the plans and the pictures of the finished full scale models, like the shape of the foot pedals, and the main drawings show a camouflage scheme on the bike too which obviously never made it to production. There are also several part drawings showing riding positions etc. and a pic of one of the models on the lot before it was used in filming.

Your over all length from your drawing of 10.5 feet ( 78 in + 48 in) for the full length of the full size bike matches nicely with what I have on the drawings and also looks right to the photos too. In 1/6 scale this would equate to an actual model length of 21 inches.

I just measured my Sideshow along this length and it comes out at 20.5 inches actual length so if I have calculated correctly that is roughly 10.25 feet in 1/6 (20.5 / 2). The Hasbro I have is 23 inches for the same measurement which gives a 1/6 scale length of 11.5 feet (23 / 2).

I think if you scale up my photo so that the front of the hull on the sideshow meets the vertical orange line for the front of the hull you will see that the length of the sideshow is then only just short of the correct length as per these calculations (about 1/2 inch in actual measurement or the equivalent of 3 inches in 1/6 scale), and also that the Hasbro is then a tad longer than it should be (about 2 inches actual measurement, or equivalent to 1 foot in 1/6 scale.

Interestingly I think what appears to be the slightly narrow rear of the sideshow will also almost exactly match the drawing when the pic is scaled up as I described. At the same time whilst it will keep its overall proportions the hasbro will be bigger all round than your drawing. I think the proportions of both bikes are very similar to your drawing, and if you match the front and back of either model to the front and back of the drawing both pretty much hit the reference points on the drawing. However when when you take into account their lengths in 1/6 scale then the sideshow is very close to the drawing, and the Hasbro is bigger all round. Which is why I believe the Hasbro is closer to 1/5 scale than 1/6.

As I have said though both are still really good models.

Paul

 

[scalawag]

A bit of an update on how this is displayed. Today my new Scout Trooper helmet prop replica arrived today and so the Scout Trooper is displayed with this helmet and a 3D printed replica of the scout troopers blaster pistol.



Thanks

Paul