I am not sure if I did highlight the die-cast Spinner from Master Replicas some time ago as I could not find the post. Anyway, while I was bored, I entered the search for the Spinner on a Chinese B2C platform and it came up with these three images. I am very sure it has something to do with Master Replicas as it was the only ‘Shop’ to have the product, albeit at a slightly inflated price.
Let’s take a look
So, these three images were never in the Master Replicas Website. And after comparing them, I would like to say, it is the same 11″ model.
Image 001
(Clockwise from top right)
– The roof looks like it is semi-opaque with the blue ‘cover’ painted over it.
– The rear revolving light is supposed to be blue and not yellow. Then again, there are quite a few images on the Internet that says differently. Many Spinners of different scales were created for the Movie and so, some details would be lost in translation.
– The Mandible lights (green arrows) are whites painted on to the model. This is where I am hoping that the die-cast part (better, if it is plastic) is hollow.
– As for the middle light in front of the cockpit, its a semi-opaque white plastic (I hope).
– Also do note that the two roof windows are now covered.
This image on the restored Spinner showed that the rear revolving light was blue. Look at how the wires coiled and (should be) disappearing into the middle light thingy. Therefore, I do not need to worry about ‘hiding’ the wires on the Model.
Image 002
Somehow, the floating detail on the passenger side is not there. You can see that the five rectangular light details on the roof are just pieces of plastic with paints on instead of being hollow boxes with coloured lens.
Image 003
This was the image I as looking for all this while!
– The Red/Blue lights seems fragile so, care must be taken to make sure they do not break. Looking at it closely, they resembled more like a single plastic part with the Red/ Blue painted on.
– The two floor windows are unexpectedly semi-opaque maybe a clear transparent sheet will solve the problem.
– Look at the Red arrows. I think this whole assembly is plastic because I don’t think die-cast metal will have these two lines. I could be wrong. Then again, the pair of blue arrows might be showing some deformation (or maybe it just thick paint) and on the side, a die-cast will never have such sharp detail such as the two slits on the side of the single blue arrow.
– As for the green arrow, I think the side thruster fell off. Nevertheless, the four side thrusters needs to be hollowed out and their slits cut for lighting.
I am not sure how the Model was assembled together but my theory is definitely using the normal method of riveting the top and bottom metal pieces together, with the bottom chassis being the snap-on plastic cover to hide the rivets/ screws. For lighting one would definitely need to figure out how to get clean cut holes on the front mandibles and the rear thrusters since they’re definitely are going to be die-cast metal. And hopefully, someone out there in the near future will create 3D sitting figures and the floating detail on the passenger side, maybe even the interior consoles re-cast as clear for lighting.
Insight Editions and where else to get them
Thanks to Mike Arthur via Facebook, he has pointed out that the Company Insight Editions also does sell the Spinner with most of the ‘extra’ Images I got from a Chinese B2C Platform where the the listing has now disappeared. Alternatively, you can try Sideshow Collectibles as well.
The Real Colours of the Spinner
Most of the time, the Spinner was painted blue, including myself. There was a lot of arguments online because, the blue was very different. The shade as seen by who made the model, those who saw the photos, those who witnessed the restored car, are all very different. It is like debating the actual colour of the original Star Wars T.I.E. Fighter, where colour of the Studio Model (blue) vs as seen on the screen (grey). Randy Cooper who is a well-known Studio Scale modeller, has the correct colour (Pantone 646C) as he said, “No it isn’t. I know people who worked on the film. My spinner has the most accurate color. I’m not saying that out of arrogance. I got the color swatches from them. The reason why it’s a lighter blue is they were shooting at night, and dark blue looks black.. This is also the reason why the miniatures were also painted lighter colors.“. Having said that, I prefer what I have seen on the screen, which is a darker blue, I used Tamiya’s Spraycan TS-44 (Brilliant Blue). since it has that “44”, ha ha ha.
