Painted Jabba the Hutt Model Kit by Knight Models

I wrote about the Knight Models Jabba the Hutt model kit a few weeks ago, and now I’ve finished painting mine up. Above, you can see what the model looks like after assembly and before priming and painting. You have a little freedom in terms of where to put the pillows and cups, but Leia pretty much has to go in one position since they have sculpted part of her costume onto the throne itself, and there’s an indentation where her left hand is supposed to go as well.

I would say you need intermediate modeling skills to complete this kit. You will need to use a pin vise (small hand-held drill) to securely attach certain parts like the hooka pipe and hose. I also drilled some holes in the railing and hooka and used metal pins (actually pieces of paper clip) to reinforce the join between the two pieces. Salacious Crumb was a particular problem because he comes in 6 pieces, which is kind of ridiculous for such a small model. I thought I had lost one of his incredibly tiny ears and fashioned my own replacement that you can see in the picture above, but I finally located the real one and replaced it.

I didn’t really care for the paint job that Knight Models uses as their example, which you can see here (it’s very well done technically — I just don’t like the colors). So I went with orange and green, which is my preferred color scheme for Jabba. Overall, the painting went pretty well, although Leia was a little tricky due to the complexity of her costume and her tiny facial features. The kit comes with a separate chain for Jabba to hold, as well as a thin wire to use for the hooka hose, and I think those add a nice amount of detail.

I still think that the kit is considerably more expensive than it should be, given that very little metal is actual used in it, but I’m glad I got it. The Jabba sculpt is one of the top 3 or 4 that I’ve ever seen. Knight Models also has Gamorrean Guard and Boushh models, but considering that they cost $70+ apiece for models that are really quite small, I’ll probably just get Jabba — at least for now.