Death Star II, v2 FINISHED

[modelerdave]

So this is the Death Star II that came with the mini Star Destroyer I posted in the "Ready for Inspection" forum. I'm not really one for documenting my builds but I figured I'd make an effort moving forward.

The reason this is the v2 is that a year or so ago I built my first Death Star II but it was lost (along with a kick-bottom viper Mk VII build) in a cross-country move. Man, don't even get me started on what a hideous experience moving is!

So here's the progress to date. It's a simple build that I complicated with lighting. I think I drilled about 60 holes for fiber optics. Right now I'm in the masking stage. I'm using a combination of tape and masking fluid to mask certain panels and sections.

Primed and did some drilling while a few parts were still on the sprue.

Still have some more to do on this side.

 

[Haui]

Nice idea with the lights.

 

[modelerdave]

I still have trouble drilling holes this tiny in a straight line, but we'll see how it turns out.

 

[Darph Bobo]

Looking good!

Despite their size these mini kits just beg to be detailed out!

 

[modelerdave]

I'm trying to figure out the paint scheme. The gray in the pictures is straight Stynylrez dark gray primer, and I have a light gray as well that I'll be using copiously on a Bandai 1:5000 Star Destroyer build. They could work well as the two main colors, but the Death Star also has a slight bluish tint to it. Any recommendations on paint?

 

[JediMichael]

Lot of work for such a tiny little thing.
I think I would want it to be a bit bigger.

 

[NakedMoleRat]

Excellent start. Looks great so far.

 

[modelerdave]

Lot of work for such a tiny little thing.
I think I would want it to be a bit bigger.

I don't disagree, but it's the model I have to work with! There's still a lot of detail for something so small. The exposed interior parts especially, which are masked off in my pics so far.

 

[modelerdave]

So I finished the masking and applied a darker coat. I still need to clean off the edges of the masking fluid, do a light sanding, and then a fair amount of hand painting other details. I'll clear coat and then add a light oil wash so the recesses between panels are a lighter gray, which is how the Death Star model looked.

 

[Restart934]

Can’t wait to see the final piece!!

 

[JediMichael]

Looking really good.

 

[NakedMoleRat]

All you need to do now is take a dime, reduce it by 50% and build a Falcon to go with it.

 

[modelerdave]

In hindsight I should have reversed the dark/light gray colors so there is more of the dark gray. I think I'm going to add some to make the dark gray more of the primary.

 

[modelerdave]

All you need to do now is take a dime, reduce it by 50% and build a Falcon to go with it.

I think a Falcon would be about the size of a spec of dust!

 

[Analyzer]

Great work!

 

[modelerdave]

So I'm now at the part of the build called, "My ideas outstrip my talent and I should just toss this is the trash and move on to something else." It happens with pretty much every model at some point in the build. I should have reversed my light/dark gray tones for the masking, so I tried to add more of the dark with a brush. Meh. My brush skills are just okay. Then I needed to clean up the lighter gray and apparently what I thought was straight-from-the-bottle gray primer must have been a slightly darker mix because it didn't match, so I needed to do even more clean up. I'm done fiddling before I make things worse. I painted a bunch of the red structural beams with a brush -- once I add a clear coat and do some washes they won't be nearly as bright. They're looking okay. I'm hoping the clear coat and a few light and dark washes will make everything look a little more cohesive and cover some of the more egregious mistakes

 

[NakedMoleRat]

It’s looking just fine. A few washes will give you what you’re looking for.

 

[modelerdave]

FINISHED.

Still not terribly happy with the paint scheme but it'll do. The last few steps applying a clear coat, then some dark washes in the interior and exposed sections, then a light gray - almost white -- oil wash to sit between the panels since the Death Star has lighter "seams" than a normal ship, where you'd have darker panel lines.

Then it was finishing the base and wring it all up. The base is just a frame I bought at Hobby Lobby. The mirror film is from Amazon and is an inexpensive way to mirror a base.

Sorry about the photos. As I said before, I only have my phone to use, and tying to take pics in ambient light that's dim enough so you can see the lights but also the model itself was problematic.

There are several strands of fiber optics that you can see on the interior at certain angles. I will go in there with some black paint and try to block all of that light, but that's a post-final step.

 

[NakedMoleRat]

Well done. You crammed a lot of detail into a little space! It looks amazing.

 

[modelerdave]

Well done. You crammed a lot of detail into a little space! It looks amazing.

Thanks! Bandai's attention to detail on things even this small is pretty incredible in its own right.