DBMiller's Star Destroyer - destroyed.

Post by **DBMiller** » Sun May 03, 2015 11:12 pm

Another build to add to my growing list of "what am I thinking!" builds.

This time the inspiration comes from the new Star Wars film trailer:

I figure with half the ship buried in the sand I should be able to finish it! On the other hand, there are all those areas where the ship has been blasted open, showing the insides. That could take some time.

The box.

More photos to come!

Post by **kiwigav** » Mon May 04, 2015 9:51 am

I really like the idea. Will be an epic dio. Good luck

Post by **Hawkins6685** » Mon May 04, 2015 10:15 am

Good luck with it. Will look great when done. Fantastic idea for a dio. Following this one.

Post by **Twokidsnosleep** » Mon May 04, 2015 10:14 pm

Idea's cool this one is

Post by **kiwigav** » Tue May 05, 2015 9:26 pm

Noticed a x-wing crashed in that pic also... more building to ad to dio?

Post by **Coen** » Tue May 05, 2015 10:51 pm

You crazy!!!

I love it!

Post by **EasyEight96** » Wed May 06, 2015 9:06 am

Wow thats nuts I wish you all the best

Post by **DBMiller** » Wed May 06, 2015 7:16 pm

Nuts? Nuts? They said George was nuts to make this film! They said George was nuts when he created the Ewoks! They said George was nuts when he created Jar Jar Binks! They said George was nuts when Gredo fired first! Nuts? I'm no more nuts than George!

Oh, well maybe just a little...

Post by **floyd** » Wed May 06, 2015 7:34 pm

This is going to be one EPIC build... good luck! Watching this with interests

Post by **Nige201980** » Sun May 10, 2015 2:56 pm

This is going to be EPIC.

Good luck mate

Post by **DBMiller** » Sun May 10, 2015 11:29 pm

A long time ago, in a galaxy far, far away…

Wait! What? I was just clicking on links! I don't know how this got here, honest!

Try again.

A long time ago, in a galaxy far, far away…

That's better. Still, she was kinda hot back then.

It was 1977, Springfield, Massachusetts, and I was 17. It was the summer after I graduated from high school. I had just spent the last 6 years reading more science fiction and fantasy than studying. One of the books I read was a thin paperback by a guy I'd never heard of: George Lucas. I remember enjoying it at the time (I wonder if I could read it now?) but was most excited when I saw the 20th Century Fox logo on the back! I hadn't noticed it until I was part way through the book (I know, not too bright, right?). I remember wondering how they were going to film all the space battles when the most modern looking effects of the day were not up to the task.
Then the film came out. No one who sees it now can understand what it was like back then! Lines around the theaters and people getting right back in line to see it again! Wow! It was the first (and only) film I've ever seen where an usher, with a flash light, seated us in the dark while the credits rolled!
And what credits! That opening text crawl; no directed by, written by, or staring credits, just right into the action! The blockade runner being blasted by the star destroyer! The sounds and the rumble as it flew into the screen! It was quite a thing for that 17 year old I was back then!

FYI: this was the first film without director credits up front and George Lucas had to quit the directors guild to do it! The union wouldn't allow him to leave out the credits otherwise.

My original movie poster and lobby cards.
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My original copy of Star Wars from 1976!
...

So, enough old fart reminiscing and on to the Imperial Star Destroyer. I've always wanted to build one, as well as the blockade runner but that never came out as a plastic kit. I've built an X-Wing (long ago and long gone!), a snap together B-Wing (ditto), a Y-Wing, Chicken Walker, and a few other things that I still have, but never the star destroyer.

In honor of the new movie coming out I will finally build one of the two in my stash.

THE KIT:
The detail is not too bad considering the scale of this thing in 'real life' and the age of the kit. I can always add more surface detail with bits of plastic and small parts from the extras box. Hey, I think I have a use for all that Yamato photo etch I didn't use! Another good point is that it's not so huge that the diorama I have in mind will overflow my work area!
........

Next time: The references!

Post by **Twokidsnosleep** » Mon May 11, 2015 12:33 am

God, Carrie Fischer is not what she was

Great history to the build and you bring back some memories......I was 10 yrs old when it came out . Saw it at a drive in long ago and far away in a small BC town

Post by **Coen** » Mon May 11, 2015 2:14 am

Sorry... Wha??
oh right.... Star Destroyer haha.

I've watched every one of the movies as well as most of the spin offs (the one's that I have anyway) over the last few days... surprisingly I'm not star warsed out yet haha.

That kit doesn't look half as bad as I thought that it would. It should do the job nicely.
A little dress up and you could have a hell of a diorama.

Post by **mincemeat** » Mon May 11, 2015 2:53 am

Good luck! It looks like it will be a pretty cool dio!

Post by **jbellos1** » Mon May 11, 2015 4:02 am

Thanks for the trip down Memory Lane, I was 16 when the first one came out and nothing was the same in motion pictures since.

I can't wait to see your treatment.

Post by **EasyEight96** » Mon May 11, 2015 8:35 am

DBMiller wrote:Nuts? Nuts? They said George was nuts to make this film! They said George was nuts when he created the Ewoks! They said George was nuts when he created Jar Jar Binks! They said George was nuts when Gredo fired first! Nuts? I'm no more nuts than George!

Oh, well maybe just a little...

Hahaha

Post by **Hillbilly** » Mon May 11, 2015 1:27 pm

Like Coen said,that kit looks pretty good.For what you are doing it should be perfect.And,thanks for the trip down memory lane too,it reminded me of how much of a Star Wars geek I was when the movie first came out came out.

Post by **tiking** » Tue May 12, 2015 4:49 am

Been thinking of doing something like this after seeing the new Star wars trailer but gonna wait to see yours first.

Post by **DBMiller** » Wed May 13, 2015 1:17 am

THE REFERENCES:
I have several books I've collected over the years, the movies of course (on laser disc and DVD!), and the internet. By the way, one of the two laser disc sets I have is the original THX edition of all three films! I think that set was the last time you could get them without the 'special edition' treatment. Han shoots first! No 'cute' sight gags and slapstick robots everywhere! No Han fudged to climb over Jabba's tail as they repeat the same lines Han and Greedo just spoke! All that is missing is the "Close the blast doors! Close the blast doors!" shout that went missing some time after the film came out. The beginning of the end; with the crushing blow being delivered by the prequels. Sigh.
Move along.

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Online resources:

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And for scale:

The Indianapolis Motor Speed Way, with Star Destroyer!

As for the suggestion that a crashed X-Wing, like in the trailer, would be cool; it works out to about a 10th of an inch long at the kit scale! I rendered these 3D ships in LightWave to show the scale. The meshes are from an online site; because I sure can't model in 3D this good!

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Next time; the build!

Post by **mincemeat** » Wed May 13, 2015 1:58 am

Those are some pretty cool references, thanks for posting. I came across this page a year or so back. He builds some pretty impressive Star Destroyers from scratch.

http://www.stardestroyerproject.com/Pages/default.aspx

Post by **DBMiller** » Tue May 19, 2015 2:40 pm

mincemeat wrote:Those are some pretty cool references, thanks for posting. I came across this page a year or so back. He builds some pretty impressive Star Destroyers from scratch.

http://www.stardestroyerproject.com/Pages/default.aspx

Thanks for that link!

And also;

I don't think I will be going for quite that much detail!

One last reference pic then on to the build:

So, using the screen grab as reference I balanced the upper hull on my desk and used a ruler to mark out the cuts. I added a bit of overlap to allow for the build up of sand, bit the bullet, and CUT!

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Whew. That was tense for a bit.

I added the side panels and started building up the upper hull structures so I can see where I can add the battle damage. I won't add the lower hull until after I build up any visible interior. The engine section is just set in place to see if it still fits. I will glue it in later.

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By the way, just for no reason at all, here is another image to show scale.

Post by **Twokidsnosleep** » Tue May 19, 2015 3:56 pm

What a massive undertaking, huge project
Good for you for giving it a go, will be very impressive when done

Post by **plasmahal** » Tue May 19, 2015 4:24 pm

A great idea for a unique build.

And to say your a Star Wars fan is an under-statement.....

Post by **Coen** » Tue May 19, 2015 4:27 pm

Whew!

That worked.
Well done. The interior bits will be interesting to build, mostl likely the next tricky bit.

Post by **floyd** » Tue May 19, 2015 5:59 pm

You boys (and girls) that go chopping up kits have some balls! My hats off to you,

I certainly wouldn't have the nerve to chop big lumps off an expensive kit like that. Going to look good

Post by **wappynutter** » Tue May 19, 2015 9:38 pm

Good luck Don, i must admit tho'.... i was gob smacked when i saw you was gonna hack an expensive, rare kit like this one to bits...

Felt a little better when i realised it wasn't the "Lit" fibre optic one.....

I think this build is gonna rock dude, with some care taken with the dio base, she'll steal the show....

All the best mate...

" munch...munch...munch....GULP....."
Thats me camping on your thread for 6 months.. lol...

Post by **DBMiller** » Wed May 20, 2015 12:59 am

Thank you all for enduring this with me! Now, on to more abuse of a kit!

I've begun adding the battle damage by thinning out the inside and grinding down the outside with a Dremel tool. I used some plastic cement to smooth the grinding to look more like heat damage as well as 40 years of desert winds. Also, you may have noticed the thin white plastic 'extensions' around some of the hull. I was hoping this would add some more fine detail to tone down the kits heavy molding.

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Oh, look, Yamato rails! How did they get there...

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And extra hull detail re-purposed as interior bulkheads! This will be almost invisible when the kit is closed up so I don't need too much in here.

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I've got some ideas on how to add more 'exploded hull' effects to the openings I've made. That should improve the look of the damage quite a bit. I also want to drill out the engines and add tubing into the hull.
Till next time!

Post by **mincemeat** » Wed May 20, 2015 1:35 am

As I was scanning through your modification, I was tense myself! I haven't grown any that large to chop a model yet. Lookin good!

That's cool you posted that size comp chart. A while back I came across this one. It's "all" the sci-fi ships. Too large to be useful though.

http://dirkloechel.deviantart.com/art/S ... -398790051

Post by **Nige201980** » Fri May 22, 2015 8:30 am

Great work mate so glad it all worked out with the cutting looking forward to the next update.

Post by **kiwigav** » Sun May 24, 2015 8:58 am

Nice Damage dude. Well done

Post by **Hillbilly** » Sun May 24, 2015 3:29 pm

Outstanding damage!

The P.E. rails really adds to the damaged look

Post by **DBMiller** » Sun May 24, 2015 3:36 pm

Intermission:

This is how it began with The Phantom Menace. I got all excited by the trailer. Then the magazines started coming out. Then the novelization (which I read!). Then (oh the humanity!) the TOYS!

Then the movie came out. It was a turd. Not a huge turd. But a turd.
Now, turds in the wild often have nice things around them. And they can help nice things to grow. But they are still turds.
Now, all these years later, another poke (to change metaphors) at the 17 year old that still lives inside me. Will that poke become a lovely massage? A friendly tickle? A stick in the eye? Or, (back to the original metaphor) a step in another turd?

All this is leading up to:

VANITY FAIR'S STAR WARS PHOTO ISSUE! Photos by Annie Leibovits again!
I had to, what else did you expect?

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Even my photography sites are in the game!

http://www.slrlounge.com/may-fourth-ann ... c6430c19bf

Back to the build.

My biggest problem is scale. This thing is so huge in 'real life' but so small as a kit that none of the normal scale effects work. I can't use people or vehicles because they would be too small to build! Also, the damage itself is a problem. Too much looks way off scale and a bit ridiculous but too little and the ship would not have crashed!

To help with the effect I've used thin plastic sheet and foil tape to add a more believable skin thickness.

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Also, looking at the screen grab more carefully, I saw that the damage to the rear, by the engines, was more geometric. It looked like the hull burned or exploded off around the support beams. I've gone back and cut it more and added some structure under the skin. Maybe once it is painted and covered in sand and dust it will look better.

Post by **Coen** » Mon May 25, 2015 5:34 am

That's looking really cool now bud. Nice work with the interior ribbing.
That mag had a tonne of cool eye candy in it. It certainly makes ya want to see the film

Post by **DBMiller** » Sun May 31, 2015 3:05 pm

A bit more work this past week. It's been too hot to do much more until today.
I've started adding some detail to the main engines. I have plastic sheet with ribbing that I thought would look nice so I cut a thin strip to try it out.

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A little work inside in case some goober with a flash light pokes his nose in the damaged areas!

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A great discovery! Super glue with a brush applicator!

Just checking how the damage looks with a bit of primer added. Eventually this will be all grey but it looks kind of nice like this.

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Until next time, when I add another surprise for the curious with a light!

Thanks for looking!

Post by **Danta2er** » Mon Jun 01, 2015 3:36 am

Sweet!!

Post by **Twokidsnosleep** » Mon Jun 01, 2015 4:08 am

Yep she is looking good, great battle damage
I am sure those Vanity Fair magazines were your wife's girlfriend' or daughter's, Ya?

Post by **Coen** » Mon Jun 01, 2015 1:05 pm

Ok... one word...

COOL!!!!

Post by **trekfanj** » Mon Jun 01, 2015 4:49 pm

Just got caught up with this build, and all I can say is...OUTSTANDING!!

I will definitely keep my eyes on this one for sure!

Post by **DBMiller** » Mon Jun 01, 2015 6:20 pm

Twokidsnosleep wrote:Yep she is looking good, great battle damage
I am sure those Vanity Fair magazines were your wife's girlfriend' or daughter's, Ya?

No, it is mine.

But my wife read it, so it's OK!

Post by **rodrant** » Tue Jun 02, 2015 12:25 am

This is so coll mate

Great diorama idea and the build is going great !

Post by **DBMiller** » Sun Jun 07, 2015 4:46 pm

So, this is for the nosy buggers with their pen lights who have to poke their noses into every nook and cranny to see if all the rivets are in place!

Showing the weathering I've tried out. I figure after 40 years of exposure on a desert planet sand would start to collect in the damaged areas. Moisture condensing would also cause it to stick, and maybe rust, in place. For most of the sand I sprinkled baking soda over the paint while it was still damp, then re-painted over that for color. The coarser grit is '000' silica sand (for sandblasting) added the same way.

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Hulls are closed up! And this is what you get for peeking!

Post by **Coen** » Sun Jun 07, 2015 6:00 pm

HA!!

That's awesome!!

Post by **Twokidsnosleep** » Sun Jun 07, 2015 6:06 pm

Nice, but she should be topless....just saying

Post by **JediBoer** » Sun Jun 07, 2015 6:23 pm

Bwahahaha! Awesome!

Post by **mincemeat** » Tue Jun 09, 2015 2:37 am

That's a lovely little easter egg you've got planted in there. Great idea!

Post by **Willem** » Tue Jun 09, 2015 5:02 pm

Another reason to follow your build (not that any was needed).

Great stuff.

Post by **kiwigav** » Tue Jun 09, 2015 9:23 pm

Very cool

Post by **wappynutter** » Fri Jun 12, 2015 12:19 pm

...my favourite childhood poster... Right there!.... Lol

Fantastic update as always.... Keep working that magic Don.....

All the best...

.... Camping out here a while, watching you build a Masterpiece...

Post by **Hydrophish** » Fri Jul 17, 2015 3:57 pm

Looking forward to this build! Following!

Post by **Stokesy44** » Mon Jul 20, 2015 8:22 am

The imagery in the trailer was awesome. Seeing it come to life in this build is so cool. Brilliant so far, need more updates (he said selfishly)!!

Great stuff.