Randy Cooper 38" Star Destroyer Kit

looks great - 120 parts, wow, that´s a lot. Will there be also some kind of framework included to get this build up? Like the plexi core structure I´ve seen earlier?
 
2000 is waaay too many. This ship is big, but not that big. You'd be lucky to get 50 into the bridge and surrounding support tower... and another and 40 on each sidewall, IMHO.
 
I agree Ostrich, We're only talking about each side being 36" long. If you see the spacing on the original, you might cram 100 per side counting the upper buildings, but I think that would be more than enough. You don't want as many pinpoints of light as you'd find on the deathstar for example.

Dave :)
 
No, I am sorry guys, Coby is right, 50 is nothing, if you look at an array, that's 7 across and 7 down, that is not even enough for the bridge! At 2000, that array is 142x142. I know this sounds like a lot, but if you take something small, such as a BB or small beads (T1 LED's will work too), count out 100 and put them in your hand, you will see that there are far fewer that expected.

I would recommend buying the fiberoptic on a spool, then arrange it to a convenient place for all of your lighting and electronics. You just need to tightly bundle them together, clip the ends, and attach them to a light source and they will work. Plus, you will get better quality cable that way as well.

note: DO NOT USE SOLVENT BASED GLUES- this will destroy everything and you will end up with a HUGE mess. If I could use my Jedi mind trick, "Listen to the voice of experience!"...

Hope this helps guys.

Dave
 
I stand corrected... this dude (Matt Meyer) scratchbuilt a 2 footer and used 3,000 fiber optic strands.


http://scratchbuild101.com/star_destroyer.htm



coby... i should have known not to doubt you!

I'm going for the Al Gore "Reduce Your Carbon Footprint" Star Destroyer. Darth Vader politely asks each crew member to consider turning on only 1/4th of the lights on my Green Destroyer! Storm troopers will be outfitted with Hemp uniforms and birkenstocks and they will fly Hybrid Tie Fighters.
 
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I noticed that alot of the lights on the ESB version SD's were larger than just a typical fiber optic. I think you'd save some time by installing some small LED's in some of the locations rather than trying to FO everything. Then again, I'm lazy. :)

Dave
 
Been keeping an eye on this. 120 pieces kinda took the wind out of my sails. lol! I can't imagine what someone would charge to build and light this beast.
 
It's almost like one of those huge 3D jigsaw puzzles.........LOL. I'm gonna cheat mine and if I light it at all, light up the docking bay and engine pods like the ANH model. I did a couple fiberoptic projects that were only a fraction of this beastie and I won't ever do that again.

Dave
 
Yes its gonna e a TON of FO. plus I think that the idea of a few well placed LEDs... Behind some greeblies so they are not directly visible would go a long way... Additionally a lot depends of the width of the FO used. thin FO vs a thicker FO changes the look of the "window"

However the question still remains - anybody have a good source for FO? I have a couple of good places to get LEDs and such but not FO...

Jedi Dade
 
When you do your FO lighting, keep in mind that the windows should be different sizes as was the original SD. The same thing can be found on ocean liners today..........lots of windows with similar shaped windows, but different diameters. That will help keep it real. I like the occasional LED idea too, it's also found on the original. One other things is if you take a red sharpie marker and very sparsely and randomly color the FO tips........like no more than once per 6 square inches of lighting for example. You can find several examples of the occasional red FO on the ESB/later SDs.


Dave :)
 
One little saver on the FO is to run cold cathode lighting along the trench walls. Then your not running full bundles all over the place. You'll only be using 1" to 2" stubs to catch the light. with the hull lined with reflective foil it also lights up the bays. Then just some smaller bundles wherever the tubes don't reach and up to the tower. This is what I did on my newest 24" build:

lit4.JPG
 
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