Studio Scale 4' Star Destroyer...

[Teddz]

Hi Everyone,

I've been looking over this site for a bit and more specifically, this section. Impressive... I've been building models for the better part of 30 years, from plastic cars, boats and planes to wooden ships and R/C craft (1st model was a 1/72 SR-71 Blackbird when I was 4). I've never really bashed a kit like what I've been seeing, maybe taken a part from one to add a weapon, but nothing like what goes on here. I also dabble in engineering, automotive customization, metal fabrication, wood working and have a full sized machine shop in my basement.

After recently losing my job and finding myself in a very robust Greek economy, I was faced with "what to do". It dawned on me while looking over several threads and engulfed in the fumes we all know and love.... I decided to just keep building models.

While gathering info, I saw a couple of builds for the Star Destroyer. WOW! And the Executor... SICK! I would love to build both of them, but one at a time... From what I gather, the hardest part is sourcing all the kits needed for the details. The rest looks fairly straight forward and quite easy.

To make things easier, before I start building anything, I'm going to update my workshop. 2 pieces of equipment that I'm going to install are a CNC router and a CNC Laser cutter. I noticed a few guys getting laser cut parts and when I looked up how much they charge out here, it's cheaper for me to get my own cutter. Once up and running, I'll also offer cutting services to members here (either very cheap or barter for parts). Eventually a 3D printer will be added too..

So far, I've put together a list of kits (taken from the part-map) for the Studio Scale 4' Star Destroyer.
Aurora 1/500 USS Iowa
Aurora 1/93 US Navy SeaLab III

Airfix 1/144 Apollo Saturn V Rocket

AMT 1/43 peterbilt
AMT 1/25 White Road Boss
AMT 1/25 1957 Chevy Bel Air
AMT 1/25 Kenworth W-925

Aoshima 1/700 Washington

Bandai 1/48 Panther G
Bandai 1/24 M60

Fujimi 1/76 M4A1 Sherman (Willy's Jeep )
Fujimi 1/700 US Battleship Missouri, New Jersey
Fujimi 1/700 Kirishima, Kongo, Haruna, Hiei

Hasegawa 1/700 Ticonderoga, Yorktown II
Hasegawa 1/450 Akagi
Hasegawa 1/450 Vanguard
Hasegawa 1/450 Yamato
Hasegawa 1/72 M-4(A3E8) Sherman

Heller 1/700 Ship Railings
Heller 1/400 Task Force Ravitailement
Heller 1/400 Petrolier LA SEINE

Italeri 1/35 BM13 Katyusha Rocket Launcher

Revell 1/570 Tirpitz
Revell 1/450 HMS King George V
Revell 1/570 HMS King George
Revell 1/570 Bismark
Revell 1/542 Battle of Midway Carrier

Tamiya 1/20 Tyrell P34 6 Wheeler
Tamiya 1/700 Mogami
Tamiya 1/700 IJN Shinano (Old Tooling)
Tamiya 1/35 German 232 8Rad
Tamiya 1/35 Hanomag
Tamiya 1/700 Scharnhorst
Tamiya 1/35 8Rad
Tamiya 1/700 Ticonderoga Essex Class Cruiser
Tamiya 1/700 Taiho

Did I miss any??

What other resources should I obtain? I've already bookmarked or downloaded whatever I could find on this site regarding the star destroyer, but I know there's more.... any books or anything?

Chances are, I'll be building 2 SS 4' SD's... one for my display and the other will go up for sale. Anyone have any idea how much this build costs? So far, I'm estimating at least 1,000 euros just for the kits...

I look forward to countless hours, lots of coffee, sleep deprivation and everyone's favorite spending 20 minutes looking for a part that you just had but can't find... fun fun fun. :lol

Ted

 

[MonsieurTox]

The Sealab costs between $600-800 so I think you underestimate the cost of the kits. While the 8' Star Destroyer is a total different beastie (more kits but the 4 ANH SD requires more vintage kits that are both hard to find and expensive), I am close to the 8000€ worth of kits.

If you're a lucky, you could get for 1000€... One Sealab and one 1/24 M60... no more but that's if you're lucky enough to get fair prices !

 

[Teddz]

Wow. Yea big underestimation of the kits... I was basing the price on what I've found available already. I'll source what I can, and for the parts I can't find, I'll figure that out when time comes.

Do you know if anyone has any resin castings of the harder to find parts?

8000? is that for the 4' SD?

On a side note, I've been combing through your builds MonsieurTox... very impressive work... What do you do with the completed models? Display or sell? I've always been one to keep what I've built, but I don't know if the same holds true after dropping close to 10K on a build... not to mention having 4' and 8' models taking up retarded amounts of space.

 

[ralphee]

Yeah its easy to think the kits won't cost all that much, collecting them over a long period is the best option and hunting out the rarer ones can take you an age too, cast parts will keep costs down, but not all that much in the grand scale of a build like an ISD, in either guise, hell, I've threw maybe another £500 at my Bwing just making mods, it soon adds up and costs escalate quickly lol.

lee

 

[MonsieurTox]

I dont think the 1/20 6 wheelers was originally used on the model, probably added for TESB or ROTJ.

 

[Teddz]

I know collecting the kits may take a bit, but that's fine. I was expecting it and have worked it into my planning.

Since I'm setting up my 'hobby room' to a more production oriented modeling studio, it'll be a while before I actually start attaching pieces, so a bit of time collecting the parts is fine with me. Although, with recent developments in the sourcing of the kits, I may need to ditch the CNC router for a 3D printer.... unless I modify the CNC router with an additional axis to rotate. The laser cutter I'm finding to be an absolute necessity.

When the time comes for the really difficult parts, I'm sure there will be someone out there that has them (or castings) that would be in need of some laser cutting that would be willing to trade the parts for the cutting... right? I hope...

Would anyone happen to have plans for the internal structure and basic sheeting or should I make my own plans? I know there's an ILM book and Star Wars: the blueprints book, but I don't have those yet and don't know if sourcing those will be just as bad as the kits.
Any help will be greatly appreciated.

 

[Teddz]

random question...

are there any implications from ILM/Disney/whoever owns rights to star wars props if Studio Scale models are built and sold? Is there any licensing involved?

 

[stonky]

random question...

are there any implications from ILM/Disney/whoever owns rights to star wars props if Studio Scale models are built and sold? Is there any licensing involved?

If you were to crank up an assembly line and advertize openly then I'm certain that there would be a C&D in your future.