Building The Death Star - PRODUCTION

The lines are looking great, actually. You hit the tone about right I'd say. That ball is really beginning to get a bit indistinguishable from the ref photos you've posted.
 
The lines are looking great, actually. You hit the tone about right I'd say. That ball is really beginning to get a bit indistinguishable from the ref photos you've posted.


That's a cool thing to hear - thanks!

Here is a shot of the original (the one in the middle) showing what I strongly feel are lead and ink lines, plus the same area on mine with flash, and without flash:
 
Looks like I'm still having issues with granularity. In viewing the last pics I posted, looks like mine is still more coarse than the original, even after finessing it.

Here is an example of the finessing of the granularity I've been doing; the above block the "after" paintiing out the largest dots, the below block the "before".

The original must be far more fine than I imagine...
 
Couple quick looks at the latest progress...

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Rob, give me a call when you have time. It looks simply amazing. Better than I could've ever expected!
 
Almost speechless! About all I can say would be swear words :lol

Those fine lines really add a lot to the feeling of scale - and so does your 'finessing' the granularity. Don't sell yourself short; that appears (to me) to be working quite well. Once you get some fine light pencil lines on there, the granularity should be even less distracting ... I think.

Keep on keepin' on! We're proud of you! :thumbsup


-Mike J.
 
That is one heckuva job - wow the hours are sure paying off - she's a beaut! Er... just wondering what permanent home in your house you're gonna have for it, and how the heck will you get it through the door? Well... it's so beautiful you can always just cut a hole in the house... it would be worth it! ;)
 
After all the effort to place all the lines as accurately as possible nad getting the paint flecks as close as possible, its almost going to be a shame to drill holes through it all...


"ALMOST!!":love:thumbsup

Jedi Dade
 
After all the effort to place all the lines as accurately as possible nad getting the paint flecks as close as possible, its almost going to be a shame to drill holes through it all...


"ALMOST!!":love:thumbsup

Jedi Dade

I did them on the trench and some on the upper dome and luckily Rob doesn't HAVE to drill holes, just scrape teeny tiny bits (square, round and rectangle shapes) off. These "holes" will be no bigger, actually smaller than some of the black specks of paint.

The coolest thing about this prop is that it is amazing when it's in a lit room or when it's pitch black out!!!
 
After all the effort to place all the lines as accurately as possible nad getting the paint flecks as close as possible, its almost going to be a shame to drill holes through it all...


"ALMOST!!":love:thumbsup

Jedi Dade

Thanks JD - BTW I (in poor form) allowed a question of yours go un-answered. I likely will not do detailed specs on the cityscapes, as it would be way too complicated to do... Plus. I'll always have the model to refer to.

Waaaay back when this project started you said you were going to keep measurements. I'm pretty sure you took measurements of the dish placement, trench width etc., are you also keeping track of the "cityscape" as you build and paint it? It seesm that you're going through a hack of a lot of trouble to keep it as accurate to the original as possible, it seem's a shame to to record that as well.
 
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Its weird... I like the lines, and they do add dimension and interest. But - especially when they're only partly done - it "messes up" the overall appearance. I sort of like the clean sphere.

Ah, the Gestalt - the whole will be greater than the sum of the parts...
 
Anyone intimately familiar with mechanical pencils?

I'm using a Pentel, .05mm. I don't recall the hardness rating, but it is in the "Hard" range, but at the lower end.

The challenge I have with the DS, is I have a very difficult time assessing how rich (dark, wide) the original pencil lines were, due to fading. I'm fairly certain that the lines have faded notably (I'm pretty sure some have been lost entirely), but I don't know for sure just how dark they should be.

In the image below, the origianal is on the left; mine on the right.

I think I need to go to a .03mm diameter lead, and possibly a harder lead as well.

I'm thinking this, as I'm fearing that my lead lines may be too robust. One thing I've learned on this model is that the finer and smaller any visual element is, (specks, trench, radials, etcetera), the better the scale effect.

Thoughts?
 
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