Zvezda Star Destroyer-a WIP

Edge, I am plenty satisfied with it so far. The trenches can use some extra details to "busy" things up a bit. The basic shapes are there, but could use more piping and indiscernible "shapes" I suppose. I'm happy with the height, so far.

PH I figured you would understand what I was trying to explain. The same question was posed on another forum too. I think the only way to do it is to run fibers.
And thanks for the comments guys. It's been fun so far. I really hope they do other SW kits if this what we would be getting from them.

Edge, here is a nice comparison shot I found online. It showcases the differing heights of the trenches between the two SD's. The Zvezda matches the R1 trench height very well I think.

http://i64.tinypic.com/103z76a.jpg

The only problem is that the rest of it matches the 8 footer. Search your feelings, you know it to be true!
 
I will look at what needs to be done to the neck to angle the bridge face down, but other than that, I'm not going to do much modifying. One could spend months making mods to this to make it match a screen ship, but I just can't have another year long project! There's too much other stuff to build. Plus, there is already someone who is increasing the trench height as well as the height of all the super structures!
I will add that our good friend Tony, aka 308bits, has ordered a Z SD too. ;)
 
Looking at the trinch ,I like the amount or I guess the lack of detail gives a lot of room for custom details. Don't get me wrong I would love a super accurate star destroyer but there is something fun with being able to do your own thing. I'm really looking forward to seeing all the different custom jobs that people will be doing with this kit. My big dilemma is figuring out how I'm going to mount /display this thing.
 
Very nice!!!

I will be interested to see how you light the trenches seeing as when I look at mine it has an upper and lower inside lip that will need to be drilled through.Once glued together it will be hard to reach the upper side of the trench to pull fibres through.


Ben
 
So this is what I'm going to do, or at least plan to do. Because the trench sidewalls install on the lower hull you can drill and add fibers all day long with nary a worry. Like you said the problem comes when you try to put the upper hull on, you have that "inside" wall that will shear them off above the mating surfaces. My plan is to grind away the majority of the inside wall on the upper hull, leaving sections (like teeth) that will fit between the higher fibers that can then be glued to the lower hulls inside wall. I have used, back and forth, Tamiya Extra Thin cement and Model Master liquid cement (the one with the metal tube) and both work great on the Zvezda plastic. Because the MM glue is a wee bit thicker I can place a drop on the bottom of the upper hull teeth and lower the upper hull onto the lower hull before the glue evaporates. I don't plan on a million fibers in the trench so there should be plenty of mating surface left after removing material from the upper hull inner wall.

Did I explain that good? It sounds plausible in my head, LOL.
 
Seems like the most reasonable way to do it, Rob. You probably don't actually need many "teeth" since the glue is what will hold the top hull piece to the sidewalls. You really just need four -- two in the front, two in the back -- to align the upper hull straight. Otherwise, that entire inner wall can cut away.
 
It sounds like a good plan for installing the fibers. :thumbsup

For mine I'm thinking more along what Hunk a Junk said with the 'teeth' in the front and back for alignment but instead lighting it with LED tape. With most of the inner wall removed and a layer of black and then white paint inside there should be more than enough light to shine through the windows. So far this is the idea I have but not 100% sure yet. I'm looking forward to seeing how yours will progress with the fibers.
 
Hunk, your probably right. Over thinking I guess!

So, sorry for the lack of any pictorial updates. I left my phone at work last night which is what I use for pics. I did finish all the sub assemblies last night. I love the way this kit assembles. I built the main part of the spine, minus the back plate, built the bridge minus the face plate, and assembled the upper super structures leaving the roof off to facilitate fiber optic running.
This morning I mocked all the subassemblies together. Lord o Lord, I had a two foot Star Destroyer sitting on my bench! No surprise I like this kit. I'll be scratch building the garbage chute on the back spine. The angle of the bridge though. I'm not so sure I'm going to change that now. I stared at it for an hour this morning over coffee trying to come up with the best way to angle it down. Add shims to the back of the spine? Mod the bridge to the way it mounts to the spine? I'm just not sure yet.
 
See post #16 in this thread.

I'll tell you what though. I do have a few short strips of LED tape. After I drill holes and before I run fiber, I'll do a lighting test with some LED strip. We will see what it looks like. Who knows, I may surprise myself!
 
Ah, ok. Well, I think this problem might be solved by putting a piece of frosted material right behind the windows. Such as frosted acetate. Just an idea.
 
Frosted material behind the windows sounds like a good idea. It might be easier to just use a syringe to put some Micro Crystal Clear or Canopy glue in each of the holes, if LED tape is used to light it, after it's all painted.
 
When i was doing my SSD I ran LED tape behind the side walls and drilled holes for fibers and had hundreds of little strands going through the resin. With the thinner plastic you may get away without the fibers and just use pva glue which dries clear as little lenses.

The only issue I had with LED tape was light leakage around the seams which I cured by using black mastic to glue the halves together. however with a plastic kit with tighter tolerances you maybe OK. I would test how much light comes though the top and bottom hull pieces once they are painted before committing to it though as i dont know how thin the plastic is on the kit
 
So this is what I'm going to do, or at least plan to do. Because the trench sidewalls install on the lower hull you can drill and add fibers all day long with nary a worry. Like you said the problem comes when you try to put the upper hull on, you have that "inside" wall that will shear them off above the mating surfaces. My plan is to grind away the majority of the inside wall on the upper hull, leaving sections (like teeth) that will fit between the higher fibers that can then be glued to the lower hulls inside wall. I have used, back and forth, Tamiya Extra Thin cement and Model Master liquid cement (the one with the metal tube) and both work great on the Zvezda plastic. Because the MM glue is a wee bit thicker I can place a drop on the bottom of the upper hull teeth and lower the upper hull onto the lower hull before the glue evaporates. I don't plan on a million fibers in the trench so there should be plenty of mating surface left after removing material from the upper hull inner wall.

Did I explain that good? It sounds plausible in my head, LOL.


Sounds great. I was thinking along those lines too. :)


Ben
 
Something odd I noticed, the side plates for the bridge. These parts are replicated on sprues H & K, weird.
Just waiting on fiber optic cable to arrive from the Fiber Optics store....
 
I'll have more pics tonight. At a bit of a stand still, waiting on fiber. I will be scratching the garbage dump and prepping the bells for lighting. Any good pics out there of the garbage dump, like from a cutaway? My Google-Fu seems to suck in this area.
 
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