Star Destroyer #3

This build is the result of years of work. A case of trial and error, if at first you don't succeed, and all that. But it all started because I never saw the real filming model in any museum, but always wanted to (still do). So I thought I would build my own. I never thought I'd ever build three of these, and vowed I'd never do it again after finishing each one (ha!).

Now I feel I've finally got the model I set out to build in 2003 when I saw for the first time photos of the real star destroyer in a museum on Starshipbuilder.com. Seeing those photos inspired me to try scratch-building a studio scale model for the first time.

And what a ride it has been! Little did I know that my first star destroyer would end up in Patrick Read Johnson's movie, along with other models I made for it, not to mention recreating the original ILM facility on a soundstage! That was the most exciting, and most incredible experience of my career. Because I decided to build a second star destroyer, little did I know that one would end up in a museum tour replacing the real model.

Because I decided to build these models, I've met so many new friends and even childhood heroes. One thing that happened that I will always cherish... after a screening of our film '77 at the Hamptons Film Festival, we had dinner in a restaurant with our special guest Douglas Trumbull (who is a character in the film). Patrick introduced him to me and told him of all the work I had done on the movie. Mr. Trumbull turned to me and said, "You did a great job on this film." Having dinner with Douglas Trumbull and receiving a compliment from him was the equivalent of winning an academy award to a guy like me!

And because I decided to build this third star destroyer, I was able to meet Lorne Peterson. His reaction to this build was a validation of sorts for doing a mix of the real details with my own thing. When your work impresses one of the men who built the real filming model, then you know you're doing something right.

Like I said, what a wild ride!

Recently I did a series of comparison shots. I took some photos of my replica and tried to match camera angles with some of the photos taken of the real model in museums.

From the start I said that I was more interested in getting the proportions right than every last detail. A star destroyer is one of the hardest subjects to get right because of all the angles. I did my best having studied countless photos and gained valuable experience with my first two attempts. Those first two models taught me much about what I got right and wrong with them, but I think the third time was the charm. The only way I could have gotten closer is by having hands on access to the real model to take precise measurements. When building the way I had to (mostly educated guess work), some of the things you don't get quite right are only discovered after it is built and compared in this manner, but there is nothing so off that I can't live with the final result.

First is the photo that started it all for me. This shot used to be on Starshipbuilder.com along with many others. This one was my favorite. It inspired me to want to build one of my own. Here's how they compare along with two others...



I want to thank all of you who have followed this build, and for all your compliments and encouragement. You've all given me that extra push to get it done.

Stormy320 said:

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It has lots of "pencil" lines drawn on it. Does yours have that?

Mine has pencil lines on the superstructure and scribed lines on the hull (see pages 6 & 7 of this thread for the hull, and page 1 for the superstructure).

If you own a copy of Star Wars Chronicles, and you are a fan of the Star Destroyer, then you know that the original model had pieces on the back of the bridge that are no longer there today. They were on the model for ANH, and some for ESB. They were located along the back of what we call the bridge "neck," and in the open space at the bottom. They can be seen in the opening scene of ANH just as the back of the ship comes into frame for about a second.

With a little help from my friends, we tracked down those "lost pieces." Now a part of my replica, here's what the original once looked like when ANH was filmed...