Silverstone 2 Posted January 25, 2015 Share Posted January 25, 2015 (edited) This is my first SF post as i'm mainly Aircraft and AFV builder at heart. STAR WARS is on my mind a lot at the moment with the new film coming out later this year. My favorite space ship of all time is the legendary ISD, right from the first encounter in episode IV when it is in pursuit of the "Blockade runner". I have been looking for some time at the MPC and even the Anigrand Star destroyers but I wanted more. The MPC kit is far too basic and the Anigrand although decent size at 27" (70cm) hard to find and expensive if one ever turns up? Then there is the Randy Coopers version 38" (1/1700 scale), which is in a league of it's own IMHO! This rendition does the ISD justice in terms of scale and detail. The Bandai forthcoming version looks very basic even compared to this: All this detail and scale comes at a price though, in terms of both money and effort in building this huge replica. I purchased this from Randy in December. shipping was quick, only taking 8-9 days door to door. On examining the huge resin casts and parts, i thought i'd bitten off more than i can chew! So i couldn't wait as the suspense in building something so difficult due to extreme fit issues and mold accuracy I started 3 weeks ago. First I prepared all the parts.....sanding......sanding...... scribing.........sanding. This is very labour intensive and requires more patience than any other model i've ever built. But i'm thoroughluy enjoying the challenge! Once the parts were prepared, i began on test fitting using strong cellotape just to get an idea of where i was, fit wise: There is warping galore on all parts including some size issues due to such large molds. All fixable though through careful profiling and heat treatment. Even the engines are not round until a bit of careful manipulation. After 5-6 hours, I first built the inner frame and attached the large faces and buildings, all taped: Edited January 25, 2015 by Silverstone 2 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Silverstone 2 Posted January 25, 2015 Author Share Posted January 25, 2015 There is a lot of work to do, and it's only sensible to tackle the build in stages. Here you can see the warp-tastic on the upper superstructure. Nerve racking to look at but I've found that as the ISD assembles, a lot of remedy solving becomes apparent, just need patience. The piece of the Blockade Runner for some idea of scale: the overall length is 1m and heavy! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Silverstone 2 Posted January 25, 2015 Author Share Posted January 25, 2015 I've bonded all the main upper and lower sections together now (triangular pieces). This now gives me the 4 main pieces: upper Left/Right and Lower Left/Right sections. I used 5 min epoxy for this and left 24hrs drying. I had to buy a Black & Decker Flat sander for this model in order to get the finished section flat (seamless) on the inside faces. This is essential for getting an accurate fit of the internal structure and trenches. Now these 4 sections were complete, i could now tape it all together again to get an idea of overall fit. It's BIG! 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Silverstone 2 Posted January 25, 2015 Author Share Posted January 25, 2015 It is very important to obtain the correct Geometry of all the main pieces. So after careful preparation of all the parts i stood it up to look down all the edges, everything is coming together nicely! 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Silverstone 2 Posted January 25, 2015 Author Share Posted January 25, 2015 I have now bonded together the 2 lower halves and built the hanger and even started on the trenches: The Tower & Bridge are also finished although still some detailing to do around the deflector shield generators, the underside is looking very good and i'm very happy with the level of detail of the Resin casts. the hanger looks truly amazing! I'm not putting any fiber-optics in this ISD nor any lighting of other sorts. I'm going for an authentic weathered look with very high detail paint scheme. Quite o lot of sanding and finishing to be done on all the seems: 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Silverstone 2 Posted January 25, 2015 Author Share Posted January 25, 2015 (edited) Finished the trenches yesterday, You can see the structure reinforcement i made on the longitudinal access to correct some warping in the structure and to provide more rigidity. The Cross bracing is very important in this resin model due to it's large size and apparent weight. used quite a bit of plasticard as spacers for the trenches which worked very well Also primed and sprayed the rear engine section although i think a lighter grey is what's needed here. This is still only held together with tape: Edited January 25, 2015 by Silverstone 2 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Silverstone 2 Posted January 25, 2015 Author Share Posted January 25, 2015 The 2 remaining top sections still need some work on the front-half joins: You can see the gap at the rear the is created due to the ill-fit! No probs all fixable with careful sanding! This close-up demonstrates the curved profile that must be straightened to solve the fit issues: 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Silverstone 2 Posted January 25, 2015 Author Share Posted January 25, 2015 Here are some pictures i took today of the finished bottom section and completed Blockade Runner: 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Silverstone 2 Posted January 25, 2015 Author Share Posted January 25, 2015 Some Pictures of Bridge and the Blockade Runner, still WIP: 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gunpowder17 Posted January 25, 2015 Share Posted January 25, 2015 Cool. That brings back memories. I built one of these for someone and added over 1500 fibre optics! It looks great when its done. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SMD70 Posted January 25, 2015 Share Posted January 25, 2015 Ohh thats gorgeous! I'd love one of those one day... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
whitestar12chris Posted January 25, 2015 Share Posted January 25, 2015 Cracking build, just love his ship, as you say the opening to star wars, unforgettable. Look forward to seeing the finished ship. All the best Chris Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
oileanach Posted January 25, 2015 Share Posted January 25, 2015 Oh that looks fantastic mate- what a model! With so much effort going into preparation I can see this one being amazing when you complete it. Please keep up the wip pictures as you progress- there are a few of us working on similar stuff (much smaller in my case)- seeing a talented modeller solving all the little niggles and issues really helps. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
theanorak73 Posted January 25, 2015 Share Posted January 25, 2015 wow, what a kit. looking forward to this one Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chris1984_99_99 Posted January 25, 2015 Share Posted January 25, 2015 This is going to look amazing when its finished! Im pretty sure they had several studio models of this ship for the films and some of them were around this size?Amazing detail, im really looking forward to more updates and cant wait to see how this turns out!Best of luck!Chris Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Silverstone 2 Posted January 25, 2015 Author Share Posted January 25, 2015 Thanks for the kind words and encouragement, I promise to have the build completed in the next few weeks! I hope? It's extremely fulfilling tackling such a difficult build when the end results emerge. I will be getting a proper metal display stand for this once completed. Ideally I'd like the ISD to stand about 80-90 cams high on a custom stand. A bit like the old stands used for static airliner models in travel agents. Best Phil Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Madmonk Posted January 25, 2015 Share Posted January 25, 2015 That is just the dogs dangly bits. Great work so far. I've got the "small" MPC version, might have to rethink it having seen this! Cheers, Warren Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Silverstone 2 Posted January 26, 2015 Author Share Posted January 26, 2015 Today's Update: Have finished the 3 large engines now. Lots of adjusting to do on the exhaust rings, as they come too big to fit correctly on the engine shrouds. Bit of splicing as sorted this fit issue. Also bonding corners first and then adjusting with fingers to create a round shape coincident with the engines. The engines had to be heat treated first to bring back to a round shape rather than oval. This ISD is truly a labour of love! or perhaps insanity? Also fixed the top halves-seem issue this morning and have test fitted both sides. One side is now epoxied into place. I made register marks on the structures to check alignment during this process. (Need a lot of clamps!) This is very strongly recommended. Because it will be extremely annoying if there is any creep or movement in the curing process. 5 min epoxy really takes the Full 24H to really get it's strength. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Silverstone 2 Posted January 26, 2015 Author Share Posted January 26, 2015 This build is eating through adhesives like it's going out of fashion. I've already used 3 x 25ml Epoxy and 2 x 1/2oz Insta-cure thick CA! More or order as I predict at least another 1 oz CA and 2 x Epoxy will be needed. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
spruecutter96 Posted January 26, 2015 Share Posted January 26, 2015 Wow, wow... and a side order of WOW! Thanks very much for sharing. Chris. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ian Shumsky Posted January 26, 2015 Share Posted January 26, 2015 Most impressive! Looking forward to watching this beast come together. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Caerbannog Posted January 26, 2015 Share Posted January 26, 2015 :wow: :wow: :wow: :wow: What a great kit. I wish I could afford that :-D Rene Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
John Laidlaw Posted January 26, 2015 Share Posted January 26, 2015 Brilliant work - I shall now follow this . Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Breaker Posted January 26, 2015 Share Posted January 26, 2015 Love it! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Silverstone 2 Posted January 28, 2015 Author Share Posted January 28, 2015 Bit more of an update, After gluing the first top half I noticed some sag on the front section (bowing), due to warpage and natural weight of the long casts. So i built a support from hard wood: This enabled to solve 2 potential problems as I wanted to reinforce the front section anyway as it's m mainly hollow in front of the middle bulkhead. The other half went on nicely and has joined up well in the middle. Now i have a finished main hull! Superstructure and buildings next...... 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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