vaderdarth
Master Member
Show us man!!!! 
Building The Death Star - PRODUCTION
- Thread starter PHArchivist
- Start date
PHArchivist
Master Member
Show us man!!!!
I just now took a shot. Give me few to upload.
I've said before - as tedious and time consuming as this is, it is totally worth it. I had no idea how light mine was, and how much it needed the additional contrast.
Stand by...
EDIT: :angry Damn card reader is not reading the SD card
PHArchivist
Master Member
OK a reboot fixed it... Image is almost too big - at least for my 19". Save it and reduce it a bit on your machine.
Rob... I just found this thread for the time and I gotta say, this is freakin fantastic... althou I think your original estimate of construction time was a little off... paraphrasing your first post back on Nov 11th, 2008:
"However, I anticipate this to be a six to twelve month project. I suspect the physical construction should take a month or less, but the masking and painting will be considerably longer. Then the lights... Good god!"
First I'd like to say, after seeing the work you've done, I am majorly impressed at the detail and time you've put into this monster. I thought when I built the AMT Death Star and drilled a million tiny holes in it that I was crazy... I can't imagine your level of OCD! Simply amazing bro. The only thing I wish was that the images you posted at the beginning of this thread were still viewable. Don't know where you stored them online, but seems as if they have expired a couple of years back! Any chance at compiling all the photos you've taken over the years of the contruction of this and putting them all together for us? I'd be happy to host them on my server forever if you'd like! No charge!
"However, I anticipate this to be a six to twelve month project. I suspect the physical construction should take a month or less, but the masking and painting will be considerably longer. Then the lights... Good god!"
First I'd like to say, after seeing the work you've done, I am majorly impressed at the detail and time you've put into this monster. I thought when I built the AMT Death Star and drilled a million tiny holes in it that I was crazy... I can't imagine your level of OCD!
Simply amazing bro. The only thing I wish was that the images you posted at the beginning of this thread were still viewable. Don't know where you stored them online, but seems as if they have expired a couple of years back! Any chance at compiling all the photos you've taken over the years of the contruction of this and putting them all together for us? I'd be happy to host them on my server forever if you'd like! No charge!
vaderdarth
Master Member
Oh yeah skippy, you are nailing it. It never ceases to amaze me how you can make this monstrosity even more accurate every time you touch it. It's so incredibly collosal that you can't wrap your mind around it. I usually start out accurizing my kits then after a while I hit that "gotta finish it yesterday mode" and things get overlooked. With your DS, I expect to take a magnifying glass............look at one of the dots and see a microscopic DS Gunner waving back..........LOL
PHArchivist
Master Member
Almost! It does come down to crafting the placement of a few select dots.
But you can see - right - that the bottom (where I have darkened it) is now matching the top better?
In the image, the darkened areas on the bottom almost look a tad darker than the top, but in person, its all the same. Lighting, and the way it strikes the globe.
The top just went to its current shade more or less naturally. I was painting out larger dots (to make the grain pattern more fine) then filling back in the painted areas. And then added an overall speckling with pencil, and it ended up as you see it now.
But on the bottom, I think the initial speckling was a bit too sparse, so I am having to add a more comprehensive covering of dots with the pen and pencil. Or in other words, I am having to intentionally darken it.
But you can see how light, and low-contrast the lower dome is (where I haven't gone over it yet). I like the increased contrast a lot more.
PHArchivist
Master Member
The biggest challenge / risk with adding the dots is to get a grain pattern (density and size of dots) that matches the surrounding cityscapes, but at the same time is not too uniform.
There are certain already-darkened cityscapes that I will now need to go back (once again) and add a few white dots to break up the monotony of the black dots.
That is key...
When the majority of the dots (90% or more) are black, the cityscape goes flat, and looses "relief". It looks fake...
Oh and I've also been adding more lines to this area of the lower dome. On my first pass (with lines), I got skimpy, and lazy.
There are certain already-darkened cityscapes that I will now need to go back (once again) and add a few white dots to break up the monotony of the black dots.
That is key...
When the majority of the dots (90% or more) are black, the cityscape goes flat, and looses "relief". It looks fake...
Oh and I've also been adding more lines to this area of the lower dome. On my first pass (with lines), I got skimpy, and lazy.
PHArchivist
Master Member
OK blathering away...
Looking at the trench, man that bugs me where it widens out.
Remember, the initial build resulted in a trench that was too wide (matched the original model in its present condition), and I added the strips of plastic to narrow it down.
That last 10% or so of the trench (and surface in general) was initially not going to be completed (not detailed), so I stopped the correction of the trench where I did.
And now I cannont complete it because I have no more base grey paint!
If I can get more paint some day (if Tamiya decides to sell it again), I may correct the trench.
Looking at the trench, man that bugs me where it widens out.
Remember, the initial build resulted in a trench that was too wide (matched the original model in its present condition), and I added the strips of plastic to narrow it down.
That last 10% or so of the trench (and surface in general) was initially not going to be completed (not detailed), so I stopped the correction of the trench where I did.
And now I cannont complete it because I have no more base grey paint!
If I can get more paint some day (if Tamiya decides to sell it again), I may correct the trench.
Why not just go down to the nearest hardware store and have them color match a paint for ya? I know Ace does it as well as Walmart. You could get a good satin latex based paint, th8in it down with water and use it in an airbrush and not have to worry about ever running out of the color you used again... not to mention you could actually get a formula that you could share with the rest of us!
vaderdarth
Master Member
O'Reilly Auto Parts supposedly will custom mix auto laquers in the same way Rob. You take them the color you want and they create a custom match for you. Around $100/qt. Plus they might even mix it appropriately for an airbrush. I'm sure they can match it if you have something that is painted with it........because you want them to see both the color and the sheen of that paint.
Dave
Dave
erikstormtrooper
New Member
Speaking from experience at Home Depot, the color is rarely an exact match.
Speaking from experience here as well... when I was working on one of my models, I ran out of Duck Egg Blue from Testors and the store I bought my modeling supplies from closed down. So I took the tiny bit that was left, painted it onto a post-it note and went down to my Ace Hardware dealer. I expalined the situation to the gentleman there and he was also an avid builder and assured me that he could match any color I gave him. So he placed the sample on his new fangled little machine and it came up with a formula that he punched into a mixer and about 3 minutes later I had a whole quart of Duck Egg Blue. I was a bit skeptical at first and did a test on an unnoticable area of what I was working on, but when it dried, it was an exact match. I was so happy! It helps if you find someone at a store that understands what you are trying to acheive and that you're not there to get paint to do a room. I find that Satin is perfect for Flat colors. But I seal everything with a flat clear coat anyway. Either way, it wouldn't hurt to give it a shot and you never know, you may just end up finding a whole new source of hobby materials to use!
PHArchivist
Master Member
Made really good progress today on the tedious darkening process. 98% finished with right side (top and bottom) and about 75% finished all together.
Estimating another week or two, then on to windows.
Estimating another week or two, then on to windows.
PHArchivist
Master Member
Here are some more recent shots. Hopefully, Brad can have some fun with the more blue shot, like he did last time...
SteveNeill
Sr Member
Wow!
Steve
Steve
-... . .- --..
Sr Member
That's no moon...
Wow! Look at all that detail.
PHArchivist
Master Member
Thanks guys. In these shots, the right half of the lower dome is finished being darkened.
If you look closely, you can see the difference between the left and right halves. But the left was already a tad darker than the right (before the darkening process), so it will take less time and work to match up.
If you look closely, you can see the difference between the left and right halves. But the left was already a tad darker than the right (before the darkening process), so it will take less time and work to match up.
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