New Zvezda Star Destroyer Model kit

Ebay...came right from Moscow. it's offered 2 ways, no box or instructions for like 75-80, I opted to pay the extra 15 or 20 buck, I forget exactly...the seller was quick to answer questions and relatively quick in getting to AZ. took like 10 days. I'm pleased with it. saw a few youtube vids of what guys are doing with theirs, ought to be a great kit. looking forward to starting it...after I finish my latest Falcon project with a slew of Shapeways pieces and the recent HH Miniatures MKIII upgrade kit.
one thing about the Russian SD kit, it's big enough to go absolutely nuts with lighting. on Ebay there are also micro M/Falcons to attach to the rear of the conning tower for the ESB theme, and the rebel ship the princess Leah was captured on for the ANH. both to scale.
I saw a post where a guy had cut out and lit the garbage chute and filled it with junk. pretty slick...
 
I agree, it can get tiresome...but as we both know, that's the easy part of lighting...LOL

I don't know. If it ends up looking like the one that's popped up on the Bandai release thread, I'm.....not blown away. It looks like it's Avenger-derived, but with a chunky superstructure, and ugly-ass trenches.Honestly, if that's their offering, I'll stick with the Big Z. Which, incidentally, I'm now officially getting sick of drilling holes in :lol

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"- Four-part fuselage with intricately carved surfaces
- Structured side walls
- Multi-part command bridge
- Engine replicas
- Display stand"
- Level : Ambitious
That may be the silliest description of anything I've read today. "Structured sidewalls you say? Dang, I was hoping for free-form, jelly-like sidewalls. Pass."
 
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I haven't started mine yet, so this is helpful info before I start, I'm a lighting nut too. Thanks, good post


I was going to say "which is the standard of excellence and attention to detail we've come to expect from Revell"...but then I noticed that in fact it IS the German page, whereas I assumed it was actually the US or UK, so I withdraw my snark.
One thing I didn't mention about drilling holes - I've been working on the bridge face the last couple of nights, laying out my lights as closely as possible to the Avenger studio model (at this scale, some windows do have to be sacrificed sadly) and I am getting more and more impressed with that area. At first I thought it was pretty much generic shapes, with only a couple of major areas that were similar to the studio model, but almost everywhere I go on on the bridge, I'm finding I can look at my Avenger reference photos, and accurately identify where lights are supposed to sit in relation to features on the Big Z's face.
 
I saw a post where a guy had cut out and lit the garbage chute and filled it with junk. pretty slick...

14mzzg8.jpg
 
got to say, that's a really slick idea...I wish I'd thought of it. I'm always spending a lot of time cutting doors for battery access. thanks for the idea!

Thinking about this accessibility issue and internal power supplies, has anyone ever played around with rechargeable battery packs inside the model with a small micro-USB recharge port hidden under a removable panel or feature somewhere? True, nothing would be easily accessible if something went wrong but there could be no light leaks and everything would be really secure. Just a thought.
 
got to say, that's a really slick idea...I wish I'd thought of it. I'm always spending a lot of time cutting doors for battery access. thanks for the idea!

Rechargables have a finite life though - and you need to be careful with LiPo chemistries or you'll end up with a big melty mess....

I'm going to have a go at making a small lowish rpm drill for doing the windows - my Dremel is way too fast for styrene and I don't fancy doing them by hand....
 
Hey, I feel your pain on the bits...I got a set of micro bits from my local hobby shop (model store) for like 10 bucks. but before that I've been using a Snap-on set I got years ago with the Snap-on pin vise. it's like a knurled aluminum thing about the size of an ink pen with a screwed on cap at the end for bit storage. I keep the bits in a plastic vial anyway, so I just remove the cap, and then stick the pin vise in my cordless Makita. a big bigger and cumbersome at times, but nothing that ever bothers me and its a variable speed. just thought I'd throw that out there.

0.25mm fiber just arrived, so after a long pause on my build...deep breath...here we go! Still haven't quite solved the Tamiya Handy Drill issue of not being able to hold a #80 bit, but I'm getting closer! Piece of 3/8" brass plumbing...thingy...for a buck seventy at Home Depot is a perfect step between Dremel collets and the Tamiya shaft size. Now I've got to find a standard dremel collet that's just slits with no hole. Either that or figure out if a Dremel chuck will thread on the Tamiya spindle.
 
I've ventured out with adhesives...I tried that Laser Bond stuff (as seen on TV) works really well and instantly. But it has the advantage that you can pull it apart if you need to without damaging your parts.
I also found at Reynolds Advanced Materials (I cast and duplicate upgrade parts so I only have to buy them once) they have three grades of a super glue that you can get a release agent for incase you mess up.[


QUOTE=INVAR;4202127]Yes, how is that done? I'm thinking about using magnets to hold the wedding cake superstructure down on the model so I can open it up to change batteries (I'm internally powering this because it is going to hang from the ceiling in an invisible fishing line cradle). Are there mini-magnets powerful enough to hold through the plastic, and do we use double sided tape, hot glue or something else to hold them in place? I've never seen or heard of that technique used before, but I have read it mentioned a few times in regards to this build.[/QUOTE]
 
Thanks.
That was my build (I sold it). After I fished it TonyRR on Shapeways released a 3D print of the garbage chute. I have one for my next build.
 
Just wanted to share this as I see a few folks asking about the tamiya handy drill, heres what I did.

The proxxon micromot chuck threads onto it just fine :

20170504_220937_zpsrdktiif0.jpg

What you need though is something in the shaft that the chuck can press against or it wont close. When I looked around I had a bunch of Neodymium magnets that a stack of fit in there perfectly so they've stayed :) The only negative is that the drill cant be pushed down too far. maybe something tubular with a thick wall would work but I've been fine with it.

20170504_220948_zpsuqsazc9e.jpg

And here she is complete with weeny drill bit all snug (broken of course :) )

20170504_221048_zpssim120ij.jpg
 
I'll reiterate my final solution to the handy drill - smallest Dremel collet (1/37"? Whatever is in the 4 pack of collets) works fine on a #80 bit. The only thing I'm not enthused about is the Dremel is a 2-slit design collet, and it would be nice to have a three jaw chuck like the Proxxon, just for ease of centering the stupid thing. And yeah, anyone (like me) just getting into this stuff for the first time - buy your bits in BULK.
 
At that price, if I can't get it at my LHS, there is always Russia.
I am soooooo glad I got mine already. I had a feeling it was going to be jacked up in price moreso than it was coming from Russia. Revell jacked up the Fine Molds kits when they repackaged them on their label, so I figured they would do the same. At least it's not ridiculous like the Falcon markup was.
 
I am soooooo glad I got mine already. I had a feeling it was going to be jacked up in price moreso than it was coming from Russia. Revell jacked up the Fine Molds kits when they repackaged them on their label, so I figured they would do the same. At least it's not ridiculous like the Falcon markup was.

Yep. I just checked: I can get one minty fresh from Russia, in 2 days, from Amazon Prime for about the Cult preorder price right now.
 
Yep. I just checked: I can get one minty fresh from Russia, in 2 days, from Amazon Prime for about the Cult preorder price right now.


Go for it. I got mine almost $30 cheaper thanks to Fett_Ish and I am certainly glad I did not hang on to wait for the distribution via Revell. The only upside is the fact that ordering the repackaged kit here limits the risk one takes ordering from someone in Russia off Ebay. But since Amazon is selling them direct - that is definitely the way to go, and what I wold have done had my insatiable appetite for one not been satisfied by a member here.
 
Of all the kits ordered from Russia, did any of them not actually arrive or get lost? I think I only remember their being one kit that never actually showed up. Mine took forever to arrive but that was because I ordered it over the Christmas holiday.
Other than the mini poster and the fact that there is not really much of a price difference at all, I think I'm more inclined to just get another Zvezda when I go to buy another. Unless of course I see them at Hobby Lobby and then I'll grab one with a 40% coupon.
 
Our local Hobby Lobby is totally untrustworthy when it comes to model kits. They never got the Rogue One kits in from Revell, and are still prominently displaying the TFA kits on endcaps. Before the Zvezda came out I trolled HL to find the Revell 'toy' SDII and they never got them. Amazon is where I had to go. Management at HL always told me that their 'buyers' decide what stock they receive - whatever that means. But yeah - a 40% off coupon makes a giant affordable difference.
 
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