Aur0ra145's Revell 1/2700 Imperial Star Destroyer

[aur0ra145]

Howdy!

Got the go ahead from the significant other to purchase this kit. I'm supremely excited for this build.

A bit of background from Wookiepedia:

The class began with the prototype Imperial II known as the Empire, commanded by Admiral Feyet Kiez. The vessel was more powerful than later vessels of the line and was said to have amassed a reputation similar to that of the Executor. The first operational ships of this class began to appear in service shortly before the Battle of Yavin.

Many participated at the Battle of Hoth, such as the Avenger and Stalker. During the final years of the Galactic Empire under Emperor Palpatine's rule, this starship was instrumental in the implementation of the Tarkin Doctrine.

The class remained in service for a significant length of time, despite more advanced starship designs being available. These warships were seen even during the Yuuzhan Vong War, being used for both offensive and defensive roles in critical missions.

The particular example I'm building will be the Chimera. Not that you can really tell a difference between any one ISD; but, the Chimera was super chill and involved in lots of important battles.

The kit itself is huge! Overall it's about 2 feet long and a foot wide. It's quite a substantial kit and will look great on my shelf when completed.

Overall, this will be painted white with a little tint of gray. I'm debating on what color of primer to use. I'm thinking it'll go with Ultimate gray; but, I'm open to suggestions.

[Lysus]

The particular example I'm building will be the Chimera. Not that you can really tell a difference between any one ISD; but, the Chimera was super chill and involved in lots of important battles.

I guess if you're not a Rebel

Awesome! Loves me some ISDs. Was Chimera Thrawn's ship? I don't remember...

I think grey primer should be fine, you can go with black but you might go nuts getting all the panels to show the shading you want with all the greebles on the hull. Might be worth a try, but myself I'd just stick with grey and rely on some old preshade/postshade effects with a wash or pigments for filth. The scale of the thing also says any details black basing is meant to create won't be visible. It's YUUUUGE.

Good luck, great start!

[aur0ra145]

I guess if you're not a Rebel

Awesome! Loves me some ISDs. Was Chimera Thrawn's ship? I don't remember...

I think grey primer should be fine, you can go with black but you might go nuts getting all the panels to show the shading you want with all the greebles on the hull. Might be worth a try, but myself I'd just stick with grey and rely on some old preshade/postshade effects with a wash or pigments for filth. The scale of the thing also says any details black basing is meant to create won't be visible. It's YUUUUGE.

Good luck, great start!

Yup, it was Thrawn's flagship throughout the Thrawn trilogy and probably for other stuff too. I haven't watched to much of Rebels yet.

[aur0ra145]

Got the bottom started. The bulb was pretty easy to get in, not too much fuss. Though, you do need to file down the sprue runner attach points for it to set correctly. I used a hobby knife and some sanders to get it flush.

Attached the nose section. Had to scrape a certain piece a bit for it to set flush. Used a Squadron panel line scraper to get it right. Great tool for flattening any raised issues on a flat surface.

Overall to get the nose section attached I used some folded up paper towels to get the absolute correct attach angle. My bench table is a bit warped so the paper towels worked out well. If you have a truly flat work space it shouldn't be an issue. For the top half of the ISD, I put the whole thing on top of paint pots and it ended up being pretty straight (did use a xacto blade dispenser to weight down the top to match up perfectly.) I will note that I used Tamiya Cement vice TET so I would put a lot of cement on the attach point to make it stronger (in my humble opinion) versus just using TET to attack the two parts.

Also, the little claw ship grabber thing goes together well. However, there is no locater pin or anything for you to know where to put it. You just have to eyeball it. But, the instructions give you a really good idea of where to put it. I'm not fretting it.

[Tomcat64]

Two feet long?? Wow - that's going to look mighty impressive!

I think I'd actually be tempted with a black primer and then pick the details out, but as Lysus already mentioned that might be a real pain to do on something this scale so grey with wash might be the easier option.

Either way I'm really interested in watching this come together

[aur0ra145]

Got a bit done over the week. Kit goes together really easily, very reminiscent of Bandai kits.

Also got the stands painted in Alclad Gloss Black ALC304. Fantastic stuff. However, I do want to try out the new Ultimate Gloss Black primer (on something else.)

[aur0ra145]

Got some more work done on the ISD.

Assembled lower and upper half, then got the mast finished up. Next up will be primer.

[Lysus]

My LHS had one on the shelf yesterday.

Must...resist...

Your spray booth big enough or is this a garage job? Looks sweet...

[Tomcat64]

Wow that's a seriously impressive looking beast!

Just as an aside I don't know if it's my browser but it's really struggling to load the images from this one - I had to reload twice to get them all up. It was worth the wait but I was wondering if anyone else is having similar problems.

[aur0ra145]

Wow that's a seriously impressive looking beast!

Just as an aside I don't know if it's my browser but it's really struggling to load the images from this one - I had to reload twice to get them all up. It was worth the wait but I was wondering if anyone else is having similar problems.

Not you, just not the best hosting server.

I use Imgur to host images. Sometimes their servers get overworked and they won't load for a bit.

[Tomcat64]

Wow that's a seriously impressive looking beast!

Just as an aside I don't know if it's my browser but it's really struggling to load the images from this one - I had to reload twice to get them all up. It was worth the wait but I was wondering if anyone else is having similar problems.

Not you, just not the best hosting server.

I use Imgur to host images. Sometimes their servers get overworked and they won't load for a bit.

Ah ok - thanks for confirming - I was just concerned that the latest Win10 update had screwed everything up!

[Lysus]

Hi there, hope all is well.

Good news! The deadline has been extended to midnight GMT October 31! Get building!

[aur0ra145]

Well.

I primed half of it. Looks good too. As I don't have a large enough spray booth or a garage, I had to do it on my tiny back deck. The fear of having a leaf land on it is real.

Whelp, letting the bottom half dry before I start on the top.

[aur0ra145]

Got everything primed and painted. Used a mix of XF-2 and XF-55 10:1 with about 2 parts thinner. Engine inner part is painted with X-11.

Next up will be a wash of some sort.

[DrSprue]

Wow with the 3rd picture down, it looks almost like a shot from the movie!I bet your reveal is gonna look great!

[aur0ra145]

Well, I think it's done. I decided against a wash. The thought of sealing with aqua gloss and what not would have driven me insane. So..... it's finished!

I did paint the insides of the motors a blue wash type color, so if you look straight into the motors you see a blue glow.

Now I just need to figure out what to do about the photo situation. This is MUCH too big for my standard photobooth (and my photobooth is white.)

[Tomcat64]

Now I just need to figure out what to do about the photo situation. This is MUCH too big for my standard photobooth (and my photobooth is white.)

That looks absolutely awesome!

ref the photos - depending on how dark it gets where you are maybe set it up outside at night and light the destroyer with a couple of lamps (or flashlights) and use the natural darkness as your backdrop if possible? Obviously depends on how much light pollution you get.

[aur0ra145]

Now I just need to figure out what to do about the photo situation. This is MUCH too big for my standard photobooth (and my photobooth is white.)

That looks absolutely awesome!

ref the photos - depending on how dark it gets where you are maybe set it up outside at night and light the destroyer with a couple of lamps (or flashlights) and use the natural darkness as your backdrop if possible? Obviously depends on how much light pollution you get.

I'll give that a go tonight!