Tag Archives: review

Print Wave 5

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Ah, mail is always a good way to start off a morning. Especially when it chock full of new goodies. (⌒▽⌒)☆

It’s an envelope inside of an envelope because Arealight had decided to ship it EMS, I received it in about 3 business days.

So then let’s see what we have here!

A bag of freebies and new product! A closer look you say? Alright let’s just get straight to it then. I personally like to put all of my orders into a little bin after dumping them out of the baggie~ It makes it so much easier to keep track of that way while I’m going through new things before I stow them away for future use!

Well… here is the new line up! I left some of the test prints and old product in the bin~. (Please note capes and such are resin cast and will not be re-released for some time unfortunately. (シ_ _)シ Arealight was just nice enough to send me a few old things.)

So here we go! I’m sure all of you are quite curious about the new product that we have. As you can see, we have quite a few new things coming out! Think of this as your little sneak preview. We’re adding quite a few things to the 501st (Blue trooper) line as well as adding a few new things to the shadow trooper line! And the poor lonely Thire will now have a commander Fox to go with him! So how about we put these helmets to “good” use~!

Ah there we go. Much better! I hope you don’t mind the random torsos on some of them! I was just a bit lacking when it came to black clone trooper torsos. ( ≧Д≦) I also had some trouble putting together all of the 501st figures as well. There are so many now after all!

Alright now how about we get this review started! All of these helmets are based off of the clone wars or extended universe. I’ll start us off with something relatively familiar. The good old blue 501st designs. As you can see, we have a 501st ARF trooper(who is based off of Boomer from the Clone Wars Games), Kix (From Season 4 Clone wars Umbara Arc) and a 501st AT-RT trooper (ARC Heavy Gunner).

So I suppose I’ll start from the left front row. The 501st ARF print is actually pretty nice. It’s a Lego blue color, so you’ll have no problem matching it; as with any of Arealight’s other blue clone trooper helmets. The helmet sports a crisp blue printing on the sun visor a long with a line down the center. There is also a bit of blue and black detail print for the face details. All in all, this is definitely a pretty nice helmet. A great helmet to pick up if you want a blue ARF trooper. Or just one of the ARF helmets in general.

Next up is the Kix helmet. I personally have always liked Kix’s design. The Kix helmet sports blue printing around the visor and on the back details of the helmet. It’s printed onto a commander helmet, but since it’s open visor; you end up with a white gap between the head and the blue print. I personally never found this too big of an issue; but if you do there’s always the option to paint the white area black or whatever color the head underneath is. Of course, if you liked the Umbara arc; you’d probably want to pick Kix up to add to your collection.

And then we have the 501st AT RT helmet. Out of all of the helmets Arealight’s printed, I believe this one was the one that’s given him the most trouble. It took several attempts, but Arealight was finally able to produce one he felt he could release. There are a few print issues, like the eyes not being fully covered and the top visor having a bit of white. However, it’s still a pretty decent match to the reference material. In all honesty i think it looks pretty good for the odd shape of the helmet.

More pictures you say? Well. Here are the side and hind shots. As you can see, the back doesn’t wrap all the way around on the ARF helmet unfortunately.

And just for fun… Here is a shot of all of the helmets with blue printing that Arealight has produced!
As you can see, there are quite a few…＼(>o<)ノ I was actually a bit surprised at how many there where..

Anyways, moving on to the three in the back!
Here’s a Shadow Clone Trooper, Commander Fox (Clone wars season 4), and a Shadow Airborne Trooper (Unfortunately I don’t have a picture for this, but it’s essentially a black version of the Utapu Airborn trooper).

So Let’s start off with the shadow clone trooper. The helmet sports a Silver and Gunmetal print. The small details on the side are a gunmetal color while the face details and the markings around the fin are a silver color. While I know I say this about a lot of the helmets, this has to be one of my favorites. It just… works. It’s simple yet effective I guess you could say. I’m just a bit disappointed I wasn’t able to show it off with a matching torso.

Next up is the Fox helmet. I think arealight did a really good job with matching the reference material. He actually decided to hold off on the release of this until he was able to get Dark bluish grey sunvisors made to match the show. (You can see this above.) The main issue again is that Arealight still hasn’t been able to perfect the art of printing white on dark colors. So your helmets may have some “off white” on the white areas. Otherwise the helmet looks great. Something nice for any clone wars fan.

Now for the last of this weeks release. The Shadow Airborne trooper. This helmet sports a silver and gunmetal print. While I don’t like it as much as the Commander helmet version, I still think the silver and gunmetal just works. Those two colors go great on black and honestly this helmet is no exception to that. This printing on this helmet is actually perfectly aligned with the grooves as well. This is definitely something nice for those people who want to build up their own little group of shadow clone troopers.

And now for a few more side and back shots!

 

And just for a bit of fun. Here is a group shot of the 3 Shadow troopers together~

As for an added bonus here’s a little shot of the new version of the Neyo helmet. Honestly Arealight did a fantastic job of revamping it, my only issue is the skewed 91st emblem.

Anyways, Over all this was a fantastic release. I can easily recommend picking up any of the helmets. They’re all really just lovely parts. And honestly, I feel this is probably one of the better releases this year.

Anyways, until next time. I hope you enjoyed this review, I decided to update my review “style” a bit to try and make it a bit more fun.

Happy customizing! (,, ･∀･)ﾉ゛

AT-RT Printed Helmets

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More reviews~ 🙂

Arealight has never printed on AT RT helmets before so I’m actually pretty excited about this.

Left to Right: AT-RT Assault Helmet / AT-RT Pilot Helmet / AT-RT 212th Helmet.

(I apologize for the lack of more references, it was hard for me to find anything besides the AT-RT pilot reference)

AT-RT Assault Helmet: This helmet sports a yellow print with black detailing. I personally have never been a big fan of the design of the AT-RT helmet, but these do look nice. I’d like to point out a few minor issues that occur on all AT-RT helmets, the print doesn’t reach the area above the visor due to printer capabilities. This actually caused one of the AT-RT designs to be scrapped unfortunately. Now back to the AT-RT Assault helmet: There is a small print error on the back as well where the print doesn’t reach the back of the helmet. I would say get this helmet if you want an AT-RT helmet and want to add some yellow to your collection.

AT-RT Pilot: This is your typical AT-RT pilot printed onto a white helmet. I think it turned out pretty well, but the printing itself didn’t turn out as crisp on this as it did on other helmets. I feel it’s probably due to the odd shape of the helmet. The print on the back of the helmet is also a bit off. There isn’t much to say. It’s a new print on a helmet that has never been printed on before. I’m a bit biased due to the fact I’ve never been a big fan of the AT-RT helmet, but I think it turned out alright and could recommend it if you want to add an AT-RT driver to your collection.

AT-RT 212th Helmet:
Out of the three AT-RT helmets released, I feel this turned out the best. The simple design allowed for easy printing and it works with the bomb trooper torso. The back of the helmet is a bit uneven, but it’s not exactly easy to notice. As I said before, the printing on this turned out the best, it has the crispest printing out of the three and looks nice. I can easily recommend this to you if you want an AT-RT helmet and are trying to decide between the three.

In conclusion:
It’s always exciting to see Arealight branch out to printing on new items; but I feel the over all awkward shape of the helmet sort of ruined the printing capabilities here. I mean, they look nice, but there are subtle issues here and there. If you overlook those small print errors then it’s no big deal. All in all, these are fun new prints and I would recommend getting these if you like the AT-RT helmet.

Hope this helps~

-Apples

Wave 3 ARF

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As usual, new product means more of my tacky reviews.
With this review, I’ll be giving a brief run through of the new printed ARF helmets. (sans the Shadow ARF, I didn’t receive that one yet.)

Left to Right: Trauma Helmet /  Geonosis Camo Boil Helmet /Geonosis Waxer Helmet

And here are a few shots at different angles. I apologize for some of the photos. Although to be honest, there’s not really much to see on the back of the helmets.

Alright so here are my personal thoughts on the helmets:

Trauma Helmet:

Trauma seems to be quite popular, not exactly sure why; but he has a nicely designed helmet and Arealight definitely captured that. Incidentally, I received two of these; one has crisper printing and the other doesn’t; both of them are a bit lighter above the nose area of the helmet though. The helmet has green print for the design, although I personally would have preferred it to be sand green to match with the new clone trooper battle pack. I feel it would have made it a bit easier for people to make their own “custom Trauma”.  All in all though, it’s a great helmet. I personally like the design of the ARF trooper helmets, so it’s a bit biased; but I could suggest getting this helmet if you’re a fan of the character/design of the helmet.

Boil Helmet:

Alright, now I’m usually not a big fan of camo; but I actually do like this helmet and the Waxer one. They both look great. The Boil helmet has a few inaccuracies: it’s missing the little face on the side and according to Arealight, a yellow triangle up top. I personally couldn’t see the triangle in any references I found though. The helmet sports a brown camo printed on a tan ARF helmet: something many people requested if I recall correctly. Although, as with the previous Camo ARF helmet, it lacks printing in a triangular area on the back. This is due to the printer capabilities, and isn’t really that big of a deal in my opinion. The rest of the helmet honestly makes up for it.  I can easily recommend this helmet or the Waxer helmet.

Waxer Helmet:

As I said before, I’m not a big fan of Camo or brown or tan; but for some odd reason, I really love this helmet. It sports a thick yellow stripe down the top and brown camo printed onto a tan helmet. As usual, arealight did a good job matching the reference, except he missed the small face on the side; but it’s no big deal. I feel it actually looks a bit better without the face on the side. Like the other camo arf helmets though, it lacks printing on the back. I can easily say that this was my favorite ARF helmet out of this round. I would definitely recommend getting this helmet.

Summary:
All in all, these are great helmets. The printing on them is very crisp, sans that single spot above the nose on the Trauma helmet. I can easily recommend picking up these helmets, especially the Waxer helmet.

As a side note: if you’re wondering about torsos for the tan helmets and you’re a bit strapped for money : Brickforge’s Decals work well if you don’t have the option of printing your own decals. The decal on the torso of the waxer helmet is put over a Kingdom’s Torso.

I hope this helps with your purchase.

-Apples

Here we go again~.

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So, it’s around that time again. As I did before, I’ll be giving a quick run through of the new product to hopefully help you decide what you want.

Where to start?

Alright so: Commander Helmets and Neyo Helmet.

With this new wave Arealight will be adding two new Commander Helmet Designs and one “new” Neyo Helmet design.

From left to right: 501st Clone Jet Trooper / ARC Fordo Helmet / Galle Helmet

With the front view, you can already see a few defects with the commander helmets; the Fordo helmet turned out perfectly though.

Alright, so:
501st Jet Trooper Helmet:

This helmet actually has a pretty nice design. It was actually one of the first ones I had received a long with the Galle helmet, so I suppose it may have grown on me. The helmet sports black and blue (Lego Blue) print for the design and black and dark bluish-grey detailing. All in all, the helmet itself is pretty accurate in regards to looking like the references photo.  What was  a bit of a problem for me was the printing that went out of the little grove on the side of the helmet. The black marks on the side really should be a bit lower and it probably would have worked out much better. On the other hand, the printing itself is very clear and crisp. I feel that it’s still a pretty good helmet over all. If you’re a fan of the blue 501st colors or the clone itself, then this would be a great item to pick up. Otherwise, I personally would go for one of the other helmets.

Fordo Helmet:

Fun story about the Fordo helmet was that it a long with the Galle helmet were suppose to be released earlier. It was originally scheduled to be released with the other Neyo helmets, but had to be held back for printing issues. Anyways, the helmet itself is actually one of the best helmets in my opinion. The print on it is a Lego Red with black and dark bluish-grey details. In regards to the ink itself, it is a very crisp coat and over all looks great. If you only plan on picking up a few helmets, I can definitely suggest this helmet.  Whether you’re a fan of the character or not, it is a great helmet with a great design.

Galle Helmet:

The Galle helmet is essentially a yellow version of the Deviss Helmet. It sports a yellow print going from the back to the front of the helmet and  dark bluish grey and black detail print. I can see a lot of people using this for regular 327th Star Corps clones. There isn’t really much else to say. the yellow print on the front is a bit off to the right.  Beyond that it looks pretty good. In comparison to the Lego version; I would say the Arealight version is far better. Much more detail and I personally like how Arealight’s helmets are more angular vs the roundness of the lego version. If you’re strapped for cash and like yellow or the character or maybe you want to make your own 327th star corps clones, then I would recommend getting it. Otherwise; I would go for one of the other new releases.

In regards to these helmets:
All in all they’re pretty nice. I personally like the jet trooper helmet despite it’s slightly messy printing; but I feel like out of these three the Fordo helmet turned out the best.

I hope that sort of helps, there wasn’t too much to say about these helmets.

I’ll be uploading more reviews within these few days.

-Apples

Mandalorian Printed Helmets Review

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Good day everybody.
As the title states, it’s time for a review of the last of the Printed helmets that had come out with this release.

So here we go:
Left to right: Pre Vizla Helmet(Displayed with Alien Conquest legs and Torso / BrickArms Tactical Sword/ Si-Dan Toys belt / Arealight Jet pack)
Rav Helmet (Painted Arealight Jet pack, Painted Power Miners Legs, Painted BrickForge Vambraces, Printed Arealight Torso with Red battle suit)

Arealight did a great job with getting the detail in on both of these helmets.

Alright, so we’ll go ahead and start off with the Pre Vizla Helmet. First off, the Helmet does seem quite accurate in comparison to the reference picture. The helmet itself is done very well, it has a very crisp printing job and the dark silver is actually printed all the way around the helmet.

The Dark Silver is a close match to both Brickarms’ Gun Metal and Brickforge’s Steel as well as the Platemail print for the new Lego Kingdoms knights. If you’re looking for a paint color to match this helmet, I’d suggest using Citadel’s Bolt Gun metal. The white on this helmet is transparent, but it works fine here since it is just small detailing ont he helmet. The highlights on the helmet seem to be a nice purple color. If you need something to match those highlights to, the Alien Conquest alien color works quite well. Over all, this is a great helmet; definitely worth it if you were looking into getting this helmet.

Moving on to the Rav helmet: This is personally one of my favorites. This helmet matches the reference quite well. The silver on the helmet is just plain beautiful and is printed relatively well. There are a few tiny tiny gaps that aren’t really noticeable unless you look closely between the print surrounding the visor and the sides of the helmet. The black print is very nice as well and goes from front to back.

The red of the helmet is a match to Lego Red, and the silver matches the Lego light silver. If you’re looking for paint to match the silver, Citadel’s Mythril Silver does the job well. The helmet also fits quite well with Arealight’s printed Torso, though I’m pretty sure they’re referenced from the same character. With that said, I can definitely recommend this helmet to anyone looking into getting a Mandalorian helmet for their collection.

Back photo of the helmet. The design goes all the way around.

Now as for the helmet itself, I’d like to make a note that it does in fact hold Arealight’s Phase 1 Visor.

HOWEVER, it is very hard to remove once you get it in; so do this at your own risk. The visor was not made for this helmet, but it does fit it very well and still moves up and down.

Alright so all in all: I would highly suggest you pick these up if you want some printed Mandalorian helmets. I personally like both quite a bit.

I hope you enjoyed these reviews and that they helped you in making your decision to purchase or not.

-Apples

Alright. So With that said, I’d like some input:

Arealight put me in charge of the blog, sort of; so I want to know what you, the reader, would like to see on here. What would make things interesting for you?