Imperial Battle Fleet - Imperial Star Destroyer finished - COMPLETE

Jm419

Sr Member
Hi everyone,

I have a plan to build an Imperial Battle Fleet, which should be a little different than the Imperial Strike Group which is currently under construction on these boards. :) However, it follows the same premise; it's going to be an early fleet from the Rise of the Empire era.

In any case, this fleet is going to have an Imperial I Class Star Destroyer, and two Venator-Class Star Destroyers, with the possible addition of more vessels down the line. At this point, however, the plan is to have the three Star Destroyers. One Venator is going to be in Imperial colors, and the other will be in emblazoned with the insignia of the Republic Broken Circle Fleet, still awaiting it's new Imperial paint scheme. The Republic vessel will be called the Liberator, and the Imperial ship will be christened the Dominator. I have yet to come up with a name for the Imperial Star Destroyer.

So, this is what I have so far. This post will be edited as more ships are completed, but I thought you might like to see what I have.

Here's the Liberator, which is probably going to prove to have been the hardest one to build - or at least, the hardest to paint. The stripes on the stern hull alone took two hours to mask and paint, and the Revell painting instructions are...difficult, to say the least. At some point, I just stopped following the instructions, and decided to copy how the ships looked in Revenge of the Sith. Even so, painting took about eight hours.

This model is based on the Venator in the opening shots of Revenge of the Sith In order to get the panelling color right, I had to mix gray, white, and silver paint, which was a real mess. I like how it turned out.

Photoon2010-07-21at1402.jpg


Photoon2010-07-21at1401.jpg

Here are some overviews of the Liberator.

Photoon2010-07-21at1403.jpg

As I mentioned before, the stripes took forever to paint - but it was worth it.

Photoon2010-07-21at14032.jpg

I learned a new technique when I painted the engines; it seems that simply dry-brushing silver paint over things that are supposed to look metal gives them a nice, worn look, and the overall appearance is quite authentic.

Photoon2010-07-21at1404.jpg

Another neat technique really sped up the ship's "belt." I thought it was going to be a nightmare to paint, but a black wash goes on quickly, and really looks nice. A very simple method to give a rather complex look to industrial-looking stuff.

Photoon2010-07-21at14062.jpg

Here's a beauty shot of the Liberator.

Overall, I'm pleased with the Liberator. It's a nice looking ship, and I believe I did a fairly good job with it. At least the Imperial Venator, the Dominator was easier to paint...

_______________________________________________________________________________________________________

Next, I have the Dominator, along with some pictures of the fleet as it appears right now.

Photoon2010-07-31at1745.jpg

It's a fairly good representation of the ship at the end of Revenge of the Sith, and it fufills it's job quite well.

Photoon2010-07-31at17443.jpg

I painted the engines to look like they're firing...I'm still too scared to try lighting.

Photoon2010-07-31at17442.jpg

Something else I was worried about was the weathering on the engines. Here, it works fairly well, as the Dominator has some weathering on the engines, but not nearly as much as the Liberator does - which is exactly how it's supposed to look. Sure, the Imperials repainted it after Order 66 - but it's been used a bit since then.

Photoon2010-07-31at1743.jpg

So, I proudly present, the Dominator!

Photoon2010-07-31at1742.jpg

A portside shot of the fleet as it is today, the Liberator on the left, and the Dominator on the right.

What do you think? Any comments?
 
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Re: Imperial Battle Fleet - Republic Venator Finished

Well, I'm thinking of calling the Republic Venator the Liberator, and the Imperial Venator the Dominator. What do people think?
 
Re: Imperial Battle Fleet - Republic Venator Finished

So are you scratch-building the ISD-I or do you have an Ani kit?
 
Re: Imperial Battle Fleet - Republic Venator Finished

I also found that painting the trench dark gray, say Euro gray, and then drybrushing light gray over it does have a nice effect also.
 
Re: Imperial Battle Fleet - Republic Venator Finished

I also found that painting the trench dark gray, say Euro gray, and then drybrushing light gray over it does have a nice effect also.

Huh, thanks for the tip. I might just run out of black wash, we'll have to see if that technique will come into play.

I do have an Ani kit, which is a nice deal, too. It should be cool when the fleet's together. I'm far too afraid to try scratchbuilding something...aside from a case/coffee table with this fleet inside it. :)
 
Re: Imperial Battle Fleet - Republic Venator Finished

I will post my Republic Venator here also, it is finished and you could take a look and see what i did with it. Also you do know that the Ani kit is a type 2 ISD? That might not matter so much but if you are going for sheer accuracy, you should look into doing a little modification of it.
 
Re: Imperial Battle Fleet - Republic Venator Finished

Sounds like a plan. I wasn't aware the Ani ISD was an Imperial II class, no - not that it really matters. Sooner or later, I'm going to end up mounting these in a plexiglass case, putting short legs on that, and using it as a room-centerpiece coffee table. At least, that's the current plan.

Yeah, I saw you had one picture of the finished Venator in your thread, sitting on the hull profile of your ISD. You might have added more, but when I was building the Liberator, I used that picture for panelling references, and such.

Speaking of panelling, what are you planning on doing for your Imperial Venators? Is there a certain color paint to use for "Imperial White?" And are you using panelling at all? I know the ships are just supposed to be gray, but I'm fairly sure that won't look very good in person. What are you planning on doing with that?
 
Re: Imperial Battle Fleet - Republic Venator Finished

Well I tried posting the build of the Republic Venator, but it won't let me upload photos for some reason...i'll be trying again. But after lots of research, I have concluded that "Star Destroyer White" is probably Camoflauge Grey. That's what I used as a base coat on the Republic Venator, one of the build shots shows the basecoat down and it looks pretty star destroyer white to me.
 
Re: Imperial Battle Fleet - Republic Venator Finished

Just to let you know, the pictures came out now and it's in the "Republic Venator" thread...so let me know what you think.
 
Re: Imperial Battle Fleet - Republic Venator Finished

Well I tried posting the build of the Republic Venator, but it won't let me upload photos for some reason...i'll be trying again. But after lots of research, I have concluded that "Star Destroyer White" is probably Camoflauge Grey. That's what I used as a base coat on the Republic Venator, one of the build shots shows the basecoat down and it looks pretty star destroyer white to me.

Camouflage grey from what brand? Is that a spraypaint? Or something that has to be brushed on?
 
Re: Imperial Battle Fleet - Republic Venator Finished

Got it. That should make painting a bit easier.

What are you thinking for panelling on your ISD?

Probably what i did with the Venator only more subtle i think....just pick random panels and paint them slightly darker shades of grey....since this ship is supposed to be "new", the weathering will be light and subtle....but it will be there.
 
Re: Imperial Battle Fleet - Republic Venator Finished

Yeah, I was kinda curious if the ISDs were weathered, at all, considering they were supposed to be relatively new. In any case, it's probably a wise decision cosmetically, because then the ship will have some depth to it, instead of being just a solid white.
 
Re: Imperial Battle Fleet - Republic Venator Finished

Yeah, I was kinda curious if the ISDs were weathered, at all, considering they were supposed to be relatively new. In any case, it's probably a wise decision cosmetically, because then the ship will have some depth to it, instead of being just a solid white.

Yes they are "new" but to stay in form with the Star Wars universe, it should be weathered. Also the ISD model from Empire was verey weathered. It had to be for filming purposes cause the stage lighting washed out lots of color.
 
Re: Imperial Battle Fleet - Republic Venator Finished

Yes they are "new" but to stay in form with the Star Wars universe, it should be weathered. Also the ISD model from Empire was verey weathered. It had to be for filming purposes cause the stage lighting washed out lots of color.

Yeah, I imagine.

Well, I can't seem to get my colors right. I did some light light weathering on the Dominator, but it'll look almost brand spankin' new when it's finished. It does look like the one in the movie, however, at the end (in the boring solid grey paint scheme).
 
Re: Imperial Battle Fleet - Republic Venator Finished

If I may suggest...after primer coat and good sandown, airbrush thin but black panelling. Follow the pattern, may take a loong time to get nice after that, some coats of your main light gray. The panel lines will slightly be a darker shade and maybe stand out a little more. It'll give that "new" look with some depth.(I use this technique with airplanes on the moving surfaces) Or you could get those watercolors for kids that they have at Michaels, i think they are tempura paints? they come in a big bottle. You could lay your main color down and mix up a 50/50 batch of tempura with water and wash in the panel lines. since it's watercolor a warm damp cloth will wipe away any excess.
 
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