How do I start? Slave 1 build.

[ComicCaper]

Hi all,

So I decided to take on Slave 1 SS model as my first project. It will definitely be a slow process, and I'm looking for some constructive criticism on my thought process:
1. I started reading posts in the SS forum starting with the last page and moving forward. I'm about 10 pages in. Unless people think I should read the most recent posts and work backwards?
2. Ordered Chronicles..., Art of Empire..., and Sculpting a Galaxy, they should be here in a few weeks
3. Going to pick up some of the cheaper kits, measure out the pieces and compare to photos (this was suggested in a post from 20 years ago) and model duplicate pieces and then resin print them as needed. Try and source/buy the harder to get pieces. All to try and keep costs down.
4. Keep chugging along, and post my progress.

I do have one question, I see a lot of the kits posted but I'm not sure if the production date of the kit matters? Example If a Tamiya kit is available that was produced in the last couple years will it still be the same pieces as the kits produced in the 70s? I don't see dates listed next to kits so I'm going to assume a company like Tamiya is still producing some of these kits?

Thanks for the help. BTW I was at Disney a month ago and took these photos. I'm not sure if this was an SS model or not, if not let me know and I'll delete the photos so they don't confuse the next new guy.

-Matt

 

[Scott Graham]

I’ve got a fiberglass shell and vac formed canopy that I might sell. The shell is a little undersize front to rear, but otherwise a great start. interested?

 

[Bjorn]

Hi all,

So I decided to take on Slave 1 SS model as my first project. It will definitely be a slow process, and I'm looking for some constructive criticism on my thought process:
1. I started reading posts in the SS forum starting with the last page and moving forward. I'm about 10 pages in. Unless people think I should read the most recent posts and work backwards?
2. Ordered Chronicles..., Art of Empire..., and Sculpting a Galaxy, they should be here in a few weeks
3. Going to pick up some of the cheaper kits, measure out the pieces and compare to photos (this was suggested in a post from 20 years ago) and model duplicate pieces and then resin print them as needed. Try and source/buy the harder to get pieces. All to try and keep costs down.
4. Keep chugging along, and post my progress.

I do have one question, I see a lot of the kits posted but I'm not sure if the production date of the kit matters? Example If a Tamiya kit is available that was produced in the last couple years will it still be the same pieces as the kits produced in the 70s? I don't see dates listed next to kits so I'm going to assume a company like Tamiya is still producing some of these kits?

Thanks for the help. BTW I was at Disney a month ago and took these photos. I'm not sure if this was an SS model or not, if not let me know and I'll delete the photos so they don't confuse the next new guy.

-Matt

Hey Mat,

The process you have described is the tradition, tried and true way. Photos are a great source of scale and measurements. Kit parts help confirm the scale so its important to have the parts in hand.
Be aware that photos are often distorted and can give false measurements, especially when depth of field comes into play. Things further behind foreground items.
Period kits are typically the most reliable however, as you said, most have remained unchanged. Working with other builders can help with knowing this.
Slave1 is not an easy subject, but a seriously cool one.

Nice pics BTW!

And good luck, you're guna need it...

Bjorn

 

[Treadwell]

The Disney display is a repro, but a good one. I think one of our own did it.

 

[Jkirkon]

The Disney display is a repro, but a good one. I think one of our own did it.

I believe Mike Salzo built it.

I saw this model at Jerseyfest a few years back. Mike had it on display in a ‘paint an x-wing’ class that I took.

Slave 1 is not one of my favorite models, but that was impressive.

 

[ComicCaper]

I’ve got a fiberglass shell and vac formed canopy that I might sell. The shell is a little undersize front to rear, but otherwise a great start. interested?

Much appreciated but I will probably model my own. I have 2 resin printers and 4 FDM. I will keep it mind though.

 

[ComicCaper]

Hey Mat,

The process you have described is the tradition, tried and true way. Photos are a great source of scale and measurements. Kit parts help confirm the scale so its important to have the parts in hand.
Be aware that photos are often distorted and can give false measurements, especially when depth of field comes into play. Things further behind foreground items.
Period kits are typically the most reliable however, as you said, most have remained unchanged. Working with other builders can help with knowing this.
Slave1 is not an easy subject, but a seriously cool one.

Nice pics BTW!

And good luck, you're guna need it...

Bjorn

Great suggestions thank you!

Yeah I figured it probably wasn't the easiest one to start with but it's definitely my favorite.

 

[swgeek]

You might want to look into this build.

Thread ''SLAVE 1' Studio scale build' 'SLAVE 1' Studio scale build

Also, if you're planning on using all original kit parts, it's probably one of the most expensive studio scale ships to build.

 

[ComicCaper]

Previous week in review:

Sculpting a Galaxy came in. I slowly looked through all the pages. Wish there was more pages dedicated to each model, but it is what it is. Great image from the top of the paint scheme so I liked that. When I get a chance I'll take some pics of the book and upload those.

Still making my way through past posts, I'm on page 129 starting from 185 or so. I'm finding lots of images and websites and even members seem to no longer exist. Guess that's a given since I'm in the 2007-2008 range.

This week's question:
Do you have a suggestion for the first model kit to pick up?

 

[ComicCaper]

You might want to look into this build.

Thread ''SLAVE 1' Studio scale build' 'SLAVE 1' Studio scale build

Also, if you're planning on using all original kit parts, it's probably one of the most expensive studio scale ships to build.

Plan is to get the original kits (price being within reason) model them and then print them out.

As for expensive, I figured as much. Hence I'm seeing this as a long term project. Not only for expense but I just bought a new house and have tons of other stuff on my plate. So as I get a break here and there I read posts and think about things and then write everything up in Evernote to keep it all in one place.

 

[StevenBills]

Here's a pretty good playlist of videos of a fellow who's printing his own Slave I. Pretty interesting to watch, as he shows his mishaps as well as his successes.

https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLeJIlSabClNBtLUv9NzrG-YQY02deI1cD

SB

 

[Bjorn]

This week's question:
Do you have a suggestion for the first model kit to pick up?

Everyone has their own personal strategy here. Some go for the rarer ones first, other for ones that offer up the most parts.
I typically pick up what ever is cheapest as it comes along.

I'd suggest working out what you feel are the more important ones to you and getting those first.

 

[ComicCaper]

Week Two:

Went through some more past threads, I'm down to page 32 from 182, so making good head way there.

Prior to this week I saw LOTS of banned members posts and wondered what happened. I finally got to the thread about the Dark Times. I don't see any reason to comment on something that happened years ago. I read the entire thread and I'm glad to see the people of RPF pulled through.

I couldn't wait so I took a peak at the Slave I Map & Reference thread. Think I'm going to order the Tamiya Ferrari 312B kit soon.

I ordered Chronicles, but somehow it got lost in the mail. Thankfully it was through Amazon so I can just cancel and reorder.

No questions this week.

Cheers,
Matt

 

[swgeek]

Uggh! The dark times. Yeah, lost a lot of good builders during that era.

 

[FURBALL]

Hi, just seen your post and got a real sense of deja vu! I am just finishing off stl files to 3D print a SS SLAVE 1. Check out the 'StaplesandVine' Youtube channel to see my journey and where I am at. Just finished the test build. If you need any pointers just ask.

 

[ComicCaper]

Hi, just seen your post and got a real sense of deja vu! I am just finishing off stl files to 3D print a SS SLAVE 1. Check out the 'StaplesandVine' Youtube channel to see my journey and where I am at. Just finished the test build. If you need any pointers just ask.

Oh yeah. Been a fan for a couple months now. That piece is amazing. Honestly I saw it on YouTube before therpf and I think it's what got me to come back around to this fine hobby. Thank you for the assistance if needed, will definitely hit you up.

 

[ComicCaper]

Ok where we at?

Week 3 updates: finished up the remaining threads. I started saving off images of some of the other studio scale builds from some of the other threads. Snowspeeder and AT-ST. I figured I would hold off on Millenium Falcon since that seems to be the Grand Daddy and has so many threads and photos.

Week 4: Slogged through the internet, downloading and reviewing every image I could find on Slave 1 studio scale. One problem I'm going to have is sorting out which images were the real thing, if many of those even exist. I think I ended up with around 60-80 images total. I also contacted Amazon as to why Chronicles hasn't shown up yet. Seller checked the tracking number and shows it basically went no where. He offered up a refund. So that should go through soon. I'll order another copy once the refund goes through. I also watched some YouTube videos, one of note was Star.Killer 77's showroom. Some really cool stuff. I love the upscaled minirigs. Sweet AF.

Week 5 (this week): Going to go through the Map & Reference guide and make a list of all the models in Excel then figure out their respective current pricing. I'm also going to work on my photo staging area some more. I talked to a friend of mine that does photography as a hobby and he gave me some pointers. Here's a taste of our favorite bounty hunter, that I used for a test subject. Also, going to break out the X-Wing from Bandai and practice 3d modeling pieces off real world products.

-Matt

 

[ComicCaper]

Week 5: Not much of an update, didn't get as far as I would have liked, but I want to keep this train moving. Started moving hyperlinks from the Slave 1 parts PDF to Excel for easier viewing. Found some of them broken. Tried like mad to figure out a way to auto import them, but nothing seemed to work, so looks like I'll have to manually brute force copy and paste each one. I'll post it back here for anyone that wants it. Still no refund from Chronicles so contacting Amazon customer service today.

-Matt

 

[ComicCaper]

Week 6:
Work on the spreadsheet some more, it should be complete next week. Also, started digging into prices for all the model sets. Only a couple looked promising to be one of the first sets I get. Got the refund for the Chronicles book and ordered from a new seller, it should be here within a week.

 

[Analyzer]

I do have one question, I see a lot of the kits posted but I'm not sure if the production date of the kit matters? Example If a Tamiya kit is available that was produced in the last couple years will it still be the same pieces as the kits produced in the 70s? I don't see dates listed next to kits so I'm going to assume a company like Tamiya is still producing some of these kits?

It depends on whether the kit is a retool, or just repacked kit

a great site to see kit timelines is ScaleMates

There is a Timeline option there and it will show you the history of a kit. If it shows New Tool, then parts may not be the same. Sometimes it will show New Parts, but that could be an additional sprue, or a new version of a sprue so it might be iffy. New package or box will simply be updated packaging and therefore should contain the original parts, just in a new box
for example

it was new in 1972, then just different artwork for subsequent releases until 1989 when it got new parts, then got addition new parts in 1990 and again in 1991 presumably to make a new variant