Rebel Blockade Runner Build

[jme3]

Thanks jme3 for the feedback.

You bet bro. :thumbsup

I love seeing this kind of work and yours is stellar. I'd really like to get one of these and the Blockade Runner but I have no idea when I'd ever get to work on them. I've not ever worked on a resin kit before but something tells me one as large as the SD shouldn't just sit in wait for too long or else it'd warp pretty fiercely... (??)

Please keep us posted on your progress.

 

[CutThumb]

Jme, don't be afraid to jump in and have a go. I felt exactly the same about a year ago. I had basically stuck to doing the occasional bog standard plastic kit every now and then a long time ago until I came across this site and others and saw what was being produced. Its the stuff I always wanted decades ago.
I've found resin is different in that it is a lot softer to work with and needs alot of test fitting and thinking about what to do with sometimes but that is part of the attraction.
You can work on it as much as you want before you want to call it a day. And if you do make a mistake as long as you have got a pot of Apoxie sculpt at hand and some sheeting you can usually repair it.
I heard about the sagging issue but as long as you don't put it indirect sunlight or over central heating you shouldn't have an issue particularly if you put in some support structure, either brass rods or wood. These three kits have not altered much in the year that I have had them but the SD parts did need some gentle warming to get into shape and their size doesn't make it an easy task. Hence the wait between late November and now. I wanted to see if she did warp at all but happily thats not been the case so I can go ahead and finish her.
As I said I preffer the painting to the building because that was my major interest before I got into these large scale kits so it gives me this angst to get the details in. Speaking of which here is the finished additional piping to the engine build.Not 100% accurate but it pulls things out a bit. Now I've to finish off all those bloody little holes (after I get some more drill bits, they snap more easily than you would believe).

At the end of the day once its done and its yours then you can be really happy with the results.

 

[jme3]

I'm definitely clearing a couple of places for these two, eventually... :lol. As much as the angst factor of never having worked with resin models, it's also just adding to what is already a chock-full to-do list of other props and (plastic) models that I really, really need to get to work on to justify my having purchased them to begin with...:unsure I think that provided Randy doesn't discontinue the models or the molds wear out in the next few months, I'm definitely giving them a go. If they turn out half as good as what you've shown of yours, I'll be doing well!

Jme, don't be afraid to jump in and have a go. I felt exactly the same about a year ago. I had basically stuck to doing the occasional bog standard plastic kit every now and then a long time ago until I came across this site and others and saw what was being produced. Its the stuff I always wanted decades ago.
I've found resin is different in that it is a lot softer to work with and needs alot of test fitting and thinking about what to do with sometimes but that is part of the attraction.
You can work on it as much as you want before you want to call it a day. And if you do make a mistake as long as you have got a pot of Apoxie sculpt at hand and some sheeting you can usually repair it.
I heard about the sagging issue but as long as you don't put it indirect sunlight or over central heating you shouldn't have an issue particularly if you put in some support structure, either brass rods or wood. These three kits have not altered much in the year that I have had them but the SD parts did need some gentle warming to get into shape and their size doesn't make it an easy task. Hence the wait between late November and now. I wanted to see if she did warp at all but happily thats not been the case so I can go ahead and finish her.
As I said I preffer the painting to the building because that was my major interest before I got into these large scale kits so it gives me this angst to get the details in. Speaking of which here is the finished additional piping to the engine build.Not 100% accurate but it pulls things out a bit. Now I've to finish off all those bloody little holes (after I get some more drill bits, they snap more easily than you would believe).


At the end of the day once its done and its yours then you can be really happy with the results.

 

[feek61]

Was checking out your blockade runner. Great job and it's one of my favorite ships. I would love to have one but there is one thing stopping me from buying the kit. Is it just me or does the hammerhead look very undersized? To me it does and I can't seem to get over that. Is there any reference material on this?

Studio miniature:

 

[CutThumb]

Feek 61, there is plenty of reference available on the net. Just type in a photosearch and it will kick tons of it out. The best I came up with for a TD accurate profile was this

I don't know whose it is and I will remove it if required ,but it was out there and freely available to look at when I got it. It seems fairly accurate.
As regards the model personally I think the head is fairly proportional to the rest of the build. I know that Randy updates parts of his kits as the casts wear out,and ,for example, somebody I know got a Blockade Runner a few months after mine and a few parts of the engines were slightly updated to reflect screen accuracy, but thats what the professional casters do. Small improvements are made as the kitmaker gets more feed back and has more time to spend revising them, from what I have seen. As regards the Hammerhead I believe the scale is currently proportional.
In most of the photos, such as the one you've got , the angle it is taken is very deceptive anyway and can be pretty much ignored as a judgement of scale against the rest of the ship. Balls on accurate to the millimetre or not ,there aren't any other kits out there of the Tantive IV that I know of at this scale and I'm quite content with mine.
I'm after the Sandcrawler next ,but I'm waiting for another kit from another builder first. The SD is still in waiting for the FO to be finished,but its the summer and I've had other none model things to do.

PS: I've mentioned this to Randy over an e-mail about the SCrawler . He took his measurements from an original RBR scale model from the original production whilst doing some studio work.So with his strong reputation as a professional minatures builder for both the film industry and the replicas arena I wouldn't worry much.

 

[vaderdarth]

Not at all, the head of the Tantive is pretty darned close to perfect in size. You can't go wrong with the RC Blockade Runner. It's challenging, but well worth the trouble.

Dave

 

[feek61]

Yes it's a beautiful ship and the first image in my life-long love of SWs. Thanks for the comments guys.

 

[clancampbell]

The hammerhead on the blueprints above is WAY too small!

Rich

 

[vaderdarth]

Why do you think that Rich? I don't see it being small at all. If you are comparing it to that pic above of the actual miniature...........the head in that photo is way too big because the photo was taken with the head closer to the camera than the tail. That enlarges the head in the frame.

Dave

 

[hollywoodhardware]

Wow, great work there! I love the extra details you did!

Thomas

 

[clancampbell]

Why do you think that Rich? I don't see it being small at all. If you are comparing it to that pic above of the actual miniature...........the head in that photo is way too big because the photo was taken with the head closer to the camera than the tail. That enlarges the head in the frame.

Dave

in the pic, it appears that both the apex and nadir of the head are in line with the dorsal/ventral spine pieces.....in the drawing they are way short....

Rich

 

[JPolacchi]

I was wondering,because I don't have anything to "scale it" by(or with),but if I were to do a diorama of a Star Destroyer docking ship bay like in the opening seqwuecne of Star Wars with the 1/350 scale Blockade Runner,how big would it be?My "guess" is around 3-4ft just to hold the ship itself,but I could be waaaaaay off.Where might I get good reference pics?Is there anyone out there that might be able to scale that for me?

 

[3d-builder]

Didn't get too much done this weekend. Attatching the engine cowls proved to be a pain as making them all fit well and level took alot of work. And they have left me with very fine lines of light leakage once the lights went on. Shouldn't have used a clear epoxy I guess. Still the lights look good once they went on and look pretty true to the film colour. At some point I'm just going to have to give up on tweaking everything and start the painting.

Love this last shot....NICE!:thumbsup

 

[jawsmodels]

Great work, excellent subjects. Your paint work is very nice. Keep up the good work.

 

[Zodou]

That is very bad-ass. While I'm not really a fan of any SW ships outside of the Falcon, I can say that this would be a runner up for me in pure asthetic terms. Great build, looking forward to the finish.

 

[vaderdarth]

That sure is pretty

 

[feek61]

The hammerhead on the blueprints above is WAY too small!

Rich

Two my eye I agree with Rich; it looks too small in the drawing and with RC's model.

 

[CutThumb]

If you look at the very first picture I took ( I've included it here) you will see that there is not much difference between that and the TD schematics.

Even at this angle, which was dead on the neck, the hammerhead looks distorted, but I can assure you it is not. This is the problem with cameras, depending from where you shoot the picture the image suffers from distortion from the distance ,angle and lense.
Randy Cooper actually took his measurements for his model from a photocopier scan he took of one of the original scale models of the Blockade Runner from somebody who had it. There would be near zero distortion with that image. The RBR is a pretty popular piece because they keep selling and this is the first time I've heard anyone really query dimensions. If somebody can provide better evidence for accuracy then please post it. I'll try to take some more pictures of the RBR later, but I'm trying to get hold of a panavise stand ,which is proving difficult from the UK. Does anyone know of a supplier?
I will be moving onto a V3 studio scale X wing from Mike Salzo (one of the last before he retired the molds) in the next couple of weeks for my autumn build and his model and parts casting are truely stunning!! The last time I held an X wing in kit form was thirty odd years ago and this is feels absolutely like an ILM studio model!!! I just looked at it for hours! The accuracy is incredible and its a testament to people like Randy and Mike who keep producing and improving these kits all the time. They are almost works of art so enjoy them.
I don't know what version I will do. Guy Cowen has done a fantastic Red 3, Mr T's Red 4 is breath taking, and I've seen so many brilliant Red 5's . I was going to have a crack at Red Leader but a fellow brit has pipped me at the post. Any suggestions ??? Or do I go Rogue leader and do my own version?

 

[vaderdarth]

I agree. Even on the real prop, it's shot closer to the nose than the rear of the ship making the head look larger than it is. The camera is just way to close. Of course considering how large the original model is, the room would have to be huge to get a non distorted image from any side.

Dave

 

[ilikebmxbikes]

amazing work. that star destroyer is unbelievable.