Studio Scale Dornean Gunship [pic heavy]

nicholassagan

Active Member
BRAHA’TOK!!!! Thanks to Rogue One this odd-ball ship from Return of the Jedi has been revitalized. I’ll be building it with all the donor parts plus some variations and modifications along the way. To start, I snagged the 1/16 vacu-form P-38 kit for the main hull, glued it together, filled it with resin for strength, then mounted the whole thing to to an old lamp base and flexi-arm. The seams also needed a good bit of putty and sanding but overall the shaping is solid.


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I decided to use the longer Slave I skirts so this version could function more as a ram as well as a gunship. Some holes were drilled and cutout to make the bridge. I found some 1/144 and 1/160 ish figures to place in the bridge. The light isn’t balanced in the last photo but the figure silhouettes are visible. The Globetrotter donor kit is a fair bit expensive so I recreated the part needed as a 3D print.


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Getting all the wing and fang-ish pieces done was another process that was aided with 3D prints. The Slave I kits I picked up a while back didn’t have those stand pieces (very distinctive hook shapes)…so they were printed. These wings/stabilizers are slightly modified from the studio kit but I think they’re still within character. The dish parts are pretty much the same thing, but with some Flak tire covers as bases.


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Lighting is pretty simple for this one: 3 big orange LEDs for the engines and a couple of white LEDs for the bridge. One cool thing about the lamp base is that after removing two extra flex arms, the leftover openings can be used as spotlights. I’ll have to add some lenses to shape and diffuse the light but it will be cool to see it lit up.


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Once the wiring was setup I could go about building up all the parts on the top. Since this is the 3-engine version the rear deck was altered a little bit. I still have the Tirpitz recreated parts inbound from the 3D printer (the side engines mount to them), in the meantime I used leftover parts from the Bismarck kit. Overall the parts placement is good but like I said, slightly modified from the Studio version. I added a turret to the top rear since, well, it is a gunship. I’ll be adding more as the build progresses.


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Part three with 11 days to go! More parts are being added daily! The Tirpitz 3D printed parts are done and in place for the engine mounts. The wiring still needs to be secured and covered. Once those parts were laid down I was able to add on the Ferrari engine parts AND (since it’s a gunship) build a rear facing turret and mount.












Speaking of gunship turrets, a few more were strategically placed. They are all pretty much made up of Flak cannon parts with a couple additions for good measure. The bottom of the command section has static forward facing for blasting blockades. If the design choice of the longer Firespray skirt needs to be justified, it can serve as a battering ram/hull breaker (like an ice breaker) and the cannons could be ion to weaken shields prior to ramming.
















Speaking of which, the command section is coming along. Bit by bit pieces are being added, all of which are in character.








I decided to cover the central seams as well with some classic kit parts. The side stabilizers are now reinforced as well. You’ll notice the bottom of the command section was augmented with an additional piece of the P-38. As I build, I keep in mind the motto: If it fits, it sticks.












 
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