Revell 06756 Star Destroyer 1/4000 Fiber Optic Experimental Shot

Before I start working on the bigger Star Destroyers from Zvezda and Anigrand I thought it makes sense to practice with the Revell ISD first.
Plan was to add some FOs and engine lights, never done that before and I have no idea about electronics at all.

While working on the model, I found more and more areas to modify and I spent much more time than initially planned.
But, I learned (and swore) a lot and am quite happy with the results so far.



To get myself familiar with soldering, I disassembled one of this LED lamps, was quite surprised to find those LEDs are of high quality and super bright.
24 LEDS per lamp, bought a pack of two for 5 Euro.



And then, after some burn marks and more swearing, I got this:



Even the original model had warm white lights, I decided to give it a cold look and blue truster lighting.
This is the lighting module, made by Helios Models:




Some pictures of the progress:










And some of the challenges I still have to resolve:

I found a micro switch in an old FO lamp, thought this will be a clever, easy solution to switch the power on and off. Result is that power is always on until I press and hold the button, then its off. Have to gather some expertise here to get this sorted the way I want it to work.




Next issue I haven’t solved yet is the laser turret lighting. Plan is to use 0.5mm FOs with green lighting, with a mix of 500ms flash and double flash. Due to the size of the turrets I am limited to using 2 barrels on each side. The pipes were cut from a hollow needle, those cannulas are made of high quality, hardened steel I guess, quite easy to get a nice and straight cut. Bought a huge amount since I plan to use them frequently from now on.

First test fit with the original turrets:



Wasn’t happy so decided to make new turret bases from scratch. Still have to work on a jig that allows drilling consistent and aligned holes.




And here’s the model with all FOs (around 700) installed and ready for painting! Will start tonight with a black base coat, followed by Tamiya grey and white primer, followed by some accentuated panels in a slightly darker tone, based on the white-greyish base color.



Thanks for looking.

Wow, very cool! Can't wait to see her lit up.

Lighting test upper hull and engine flickering

That makes the model POP! A wonderful effect!

Very nice work so far.

Thanks Edge and Galactican!

Lower hull done and all components squeezed inside. I'm quite surprised the hulls close even I had to remove a few pegs and other stuff that was in the way of all the electronics. Need to dim the engine lights a bit, they are too bright.



Next I will work on the base, hangar bay lights and green FOs for the turrets. And I killed the garbage chute LED, need to replace that, too.

Outstanding work so far, looking forward to more.

Wow, that really makes the ship come alive! Very nice work!

Excellent job on the lighting and engine effect! This is already the nicest Revell SD I've seen.

Holy crap balls that's a TON of fibers ! I thought my X-wing had a bunch, that is ridiculous...Looks great :thumbsup

Would love to see a video of the flashing and flickering.

Pcoz said:

Holy crap balls that's a TON of fibers ! I thought my X-wing had a bunch, that is ridiculous...Looks great :thumbsup

Would love to see a video of the flashing and flickering.

Click to expand...

The two smaller lit pictures above are actually videos, click on them and your wish will come true!

Well, would ya look at that ! Well done....I like that the effect. Amazing how much you packed into this model.

What a beauty. Great job!

Wow, superb job, it brings the Revell kit to life!

Thanks for the nice comments, guys.

I only can recommend this model, Revell did a great job and for less than 30 old world bucks you'll get a really good base for modifications.
After removing supports and pegs of the super structure you’ll gain enough headroom:




I wasn’t able to get really good pictures so far, will work on proper environmental lighting settings and resurrect my cam and tripod this weekend. I shot the model in a mirror, that was the only way to get a picture that gives a good impression of all the lights installed. And I will change the power supply to 12V anytime soon.

This is so cool!

Small update, hangar bay flood lights done. Just 4 SMDs alongside longitudinal axis due to limited space on starboard side.
I like how the lights add depth to the bay.

Playing with the base. Working title: Imperial orbital garrison "Falcon's Nest"
40 resin tiles in 30x30mm.

New job, moving houses, new baby girl = no hobby (for a reason).
Had some hours a while ago to work on details of the diorama , lil' imperial shuttle, 26 parts, quite happy with the outcome so far


Looking forward to messing up my new 300sqft mancave... *soooon*

CUUUUUTE!!! Congrats on the girl! And the baby shuttle!