Unlike the old Action Fleet, MGS ships don’t come with stands (besides the Scout class). Our friends in the MGS FB group and Rebelscum forum have stepped in by offering their own 3D printed stands.
But I wanted something different. Instead of a flight stand, I wanted to give my ships a miniature hangar. This Gundam display base fits the bill.
At 1/144 scale, it was on the small side compared to MGS’ 1/72 baseline. However, I did some measurements and found that the MGS TIE will comfortably fit inside the catwalk.
The kit is snap-fit and colored entirely in dark gray.
Total build time was about half an hour. Most of that was spent snapping off the parts from the sprue trees, since I don’t have any nipper tools. The parts fit well and I didn’t have to use any glue.
It came with 1/144 figures. In case you’re wondering how it compares to MGS, 1/144 is roughly half the size of Micro Galaxy (which has 1/72 figures).
There is no need to paint it, however I applied a bit of silver metal on the catwalk railing and light touches on other parts to make it pop out.
Before and after
As I expected, it fits the Micro Galaxy TIE, and a few other vehicles like the Action Fleet TIE Interceptor.
The two mechanical arms can move, and the walkways can open up to accept larger vehicles.
The rear post can also move up and down to raise the height of the catwalk.
“Well Chewie, at least we get free repairs now even if we’re wanted by the Empire.”
Where to buy
This particular kit is no longer available on Amazon. However Gundam makes other hangar dioramas, and some even come with a back wall.
This one has a moving platform and can be adapted into a TIE vertical rack, like how the First Order stacks their TIEs: Bandai Hobby EXP003 System Base 001
This one is a bit pricy. But it’s actually 4 bases connected together to form one giant hangar. At that scale you could fit an entire Imperial Shuttle in there (when it’s finally released).
DIY Mechanical Chain Action Base Machine Nest kits for MG 1/100 Gundam Model
And if you really want to go overboard, there’s this monster kit with multiple levels:
PeleusTech Hangar Garage Model Display Base
As for me, I’ll just have to be content with my one display hangar. Gotta save that $$ for Wave 5!
“Uh, what happens when they open the force field and we’re still out here working?”
“Shut up Gary.”
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