Star Wars: Return of the Jedi - 1/12 scale Scout Trooper [Completed sans Speeder Bike]

 Unlike its more famous cousin the Stormtrooper, the Scout Trooper isn't as well known to modelers apart from those who are fans of the Star Wars universe or science fiction in general. More so when the Scout Trooper is taken in isolation sans the iconic Speeder Bike as seen in Star Wars: Return of the Jedi. But now that I've spend so much time building and painting this figurine, it has grown on me considerably, so much so that I think it has better proportions when compared with the original trilogy Stormtrooper and the First Order Stormtrooper. See below for your own conclusions.  

Bandai 1/12 scale Star Wars Scout Trooper [Completed]

Scout Trooper both halves plus the blaster pistol prior to final assembly

 At the previous stage of the project I had finished painting the Blaster Pistol. And here, the weapon was finally placed into the holster on the right boot. And that's where it'll stay because I don't intend to do any poses of the Scout Trooper wielding the pistol in his hand. To do this I would've to build and paint a different set of hands and snap-fit it onto the pistol. Once that's done, it'll be very difficult to remove the weapon from the hand without causing paint to chip. To me that's not worth the trouble.

Blaster Pistol holstered onto the Scout Trooper's right boot

Because the Blaster Pistol has not been glued into the said holster ...

... the option to place the weapon into the Scout Trooper's hand remains open

 In posing the Scout Trooper I opted for a relatively staid, unfancy standing posture. This I did just to showcase the details inherent in the painted figurine. The heavyweight poses will only come when the Speeder Bike and the "Endor Moon Forest Floor" base have been completed.

Scout Trooper posing against a dark sky blue background ...

... nothing fancy though, just a simple standing posture ...

... mainly because I felt that the more unique or dynamic poses ...

... should be reserved for when the Scout Trooper has proper props to pose with ...

... such as the yet-to-be-worked-on Aratech 74-Z Military Speeder Bike ...

... as well as the "Endor Moon Forest Floor" base (both not shown here) ...

... which also doubles up as a stable structure for the bike to attach to ...

... long story short, here is the Scout Trooper in a simple standing posture.

 In keeping with what I usually do when photographing scale model kits, the Scout Trooper was first posed against a dark sky blue/azure background before being subsequently posed against a black one. Personally I prefer posing scale model kits and miniatures against a black background. In this case especially, I feel it made the Scout Trooper look more realistic and less like an action figure.

Scout Trooper shown here posing against a black background ...

... which in my opinion better accentuates the white/off-white details ...

... but the trade-off is seeing the black/dark colored sections of the Scout Trooper ...

... somewhat blend into the background thus losing detail visibility ...

... though I expect this little hitch should sort itself out and ...

... be largely mitigated when the Scout Trooper is posed seated ...

... on the lighter colored Speeder Bike and base ...

... so black essentially remains my background color of choice going forward.

 While it can't be denied that finishing the 1/12 scale Scout Trooper figurine is a significant milestone, it is still only about one third of the progress for this Star Wars kit i.e. taking into account the bike and base. And when you consider the Scout Trooper/Speeder Bike project is actually part of a bigger Star Wars: Join the Empire Mini-Vignette 02 project, then the project has in fact barely begun. So ahead lie a lot of hard work. Or in the words of Dunder Mifflin's Michael Scott ... that's what she said.