DBMiller's Star Destroyer - destroyed.

[Coen]

I've have a couple of bases warp like that on me. dAS is really bad for that, the stuff is really strong.
Here's hoping that you can get that workings into that fram. The dio looks fantastic so far!!!

[DBMiller]

For your viewing pleasure while you wait for the movie to come out!

I give you JEDI PEACOCK SPIDERS!

[youtube]Dsz2jqJYGNs[/youtube]

And The Man!



So, I've been testing colors for sand. I had started a color chip card a while back so I used that to see what tan and brown colors I had looked like over light grey primer. I think the US Armour color from Mig Ammo looks pretty good for the overall sand. I started by laying down some darker and brighter colors as a pre-shade. I think the sand color should look pretty good over that.

Don't mind the smear, the Tamiya got away from me!


.....

So, in the immortal words of Moe Howard: "Back to woik, W.O.I.K., woik!*


*That's from the 3 Stooges, in case you younger folks don't get the reference!

[Twokidsnosleep]

Oh dude, the sand looks great
You are nailing the colours

[Coen]

That's superb bud!!!

[DBMiller]

Sure, it's ugly now, but wait until it's done. It will still be ugly, but, it will be done!

I've decided that the display will look better with some thickness. Several people here have build dioramas where the base follows the contours of the landscape. I like that look so I'm trying it here using the frame I bought for this build. It may work. Like the tooth picks holding the foam together until the glue sets?

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Ugh! Just testing the fit now, but, once I fill in the gaps and texture it maybe not so bad.
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[rodrant]

Epic!!! This is and in my opinion a great SiG , a lot of incredible builds , and this one is just great !

I didn't participate on this and now I fell sorry for that

well , I participate watching this epic builds !

[wappynutter]

Awesome stuff Don, love the sand work..
Continued success bud..

[Coen]

Very! Very cool!
Doing that is a lot harder than it may seem.

[DBMiller]

Twenty days? No problem!

The base is built, primed, and soon to be painted black! I need to cut the rest of the balsa side panels to fit then I can trim them to the contour of the sand. Once that is done I can finish painting the sand and blend it all together!



Styrofoam temporarily in place.


Ship set in place just to check it out.


Showing off the balsa as it will look in place around the ship before trimming.
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I keep thinking it needs some scraps buried in the sand as the trailer shows. I may ad some bits for texture if I can work out how that will look.

[kiwigav]

Taking shape.. that sand is so realistic

[Nige201980]

So cool mate

[DBMiller]

I am so getting there!

The base is coming along. However, the foam the model is on is a bit too wide; mostly from the clay smooged over the sides. I tried cutting it but it is really hard! Had to bring out some power for the job!



That got it sorted! It slides right in place!

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A bit of pre-trimming before I add the last panel.


In place!



More trimming and primed! When the model is in place I will trim down the sides to be even with the sand, then seal and paint it to match. The base itself will be black.

[Twokidsnosleep]

Looking good man, I like the scale you have done here for the base and kit
I have that same palm sander, much favorite one for finishing before the hand scrapers.....Missing woodworking

Keep on plugging away, you are getting close

[wappynutter]

I can see the end on another first rate build here...
Well done Don, nearly there now mate, and she looks awesome..... All kinds of awesome to be honest.
Keep doing what ya do bud, see you at the finish line.
All the best..

[Coen]

Between you and Andy I'm going to dehydrate from all the droolin

[felisbarcinonensis]

Wow! it's looking so good The sand effect is awesome

[DBMiller]

This may be the last post until the reveal!
I've been looking at the amazing build over here (http://www.phoxim.de/forum/index.php?to ... #msg242475) and wondering what I can do to jazz up my own version. What I've decided is that my own vision for this scene fits how I want it to look better than the one shown in the link. This is how I would want to photograph the scene if I was there. I like my idea of the vast desert with a star destroyer stuck out in the middle better than the more complex one with all the salvage going on and the rusted (over rusted to my eye) and opened up hull.

All that I really came up with is that mine needed more texture on the sand. Not much at this scale but just a bit more. What I tried is this product spread over the sand and built up in flows and dunes. I also added some very tiny sand a gravel bits for bigger grit. Once painted it should look pretty good.




Here is how it looks before painting. The white is a layer of gesso just to give the paint some bite over the edges.

...

[Coen]

Oh man!! Way too much awesome in the Star Wars threads today.

Superb work!!
The little bits and pieces look just like cast off boulders and large stones, and I love those little dark spots.
Wicked looking stuff!

[Twokidsnosleep]

I agree
I like the detritus and crash spray of different size and color.....just think of the shockwave that sucker would cause crashing in.
You are in the final stretch now, keep plugging away

[DBMiller]

Alright, just one more teaser!

I used oil paints for the final desert colors as I work with them better in this kind of situation. I also used pastel dust and dry brushing for highlights and some more variation. It's not as bright and slightly pink as the trailers show but I'm pretty happy with the result. When this is dry I will give it all a matte finish and done!