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Imperial Star Destroyer - Avenger Class (Randy Cooper)


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The superstructure and buildings have most of the warping found in this Studio ISD model. This is probably due to there complexity of joined molds and size.

So I Have started numerous test fitting and used some large sellotape again to see how this all fits now they are sitting correctly on the hull angles.

I've also dry-fitted the Tower and main deck to give you some idea of how this is going to look once finished, minus some detail parts still awaiting their fit.

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Hopefully the radiator behind give some idea of scale and size. The ISD is very heavy, the hull alone is weighing in at 7-8 kgs hence why lots of internal support is necessary.

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The main hull geometry and fit is looking straight :thumbsup: edge detail still awiting. but this will all go on last.

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The rear quadrant is also bonded in place now...more pictures of this area to follow. (some of the edge details will need re-working where the molds haven't come out properly

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Edited by Silverstone 2
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The gap in front of the Tower on the top section of the superstructure is caused by cast-warping.

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I will remedy this problem by creating beams along the inside ceiling. I will use 6mm Sq. Albion alloy tubing for this.

more picks to follow!

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Some picks taken this afternoon.

The superstructure is now bonded only along the ceiling join in order for me to still be able to manipulate the shape for the final fit. It's natural resting place seems to fit pretty well after some careful profiling.

It is quite easy to see where the fit issues are with both halves, simply resting each piece on the hull and seeing how parallel the join is going to be once fitted.

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The top join: (important to get this detail aligned correctly!

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Today's update:

Glued all the building on now, head unit is still dry fit only as this will need airbrushing first before final fit. Otherwise the underneath of bridge section will be very hard to airbrush, once fitted due to clearance.

If finally found the right base colour too, which is great news. Priming first then finishing of with #166 "Light aircraft grey".

I will then be giving the whole ISD a dark-wash, this could taske some time and about 1000 cotton buds :banghead: Followed by high lighting with #196 and probably Ghost grey to pick out different panels.

The painting is going to take some time :weep:

Here is a picture of the building reinforcement to keep the ceiling straight - Albion alloys sq-tube

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Hull reinforcement posts to prevent sagging of the large resin casts:

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Buildings on:

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I don't want one......really I don't ....honest...... God it's nice..must resist...

You know that resisting the dark side is futile!!

Great work so far, I've got the MPC kit but suddenly it just looks small!

Cheers,

Warren

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Looks awesome, although there appears to be quite a bit of engineering work to get it together and keep it true, such is the nature of resin.

One note to remember those drooling over the build and wondering about taking the plunge, Bandai have shown their own 1/1700 Imperial Star Destroyer when they launched their Star Wars kits, so in the near future we may be able to get a plastic version the same size, probably with not quite the same level of detail, but probably a tad cheaper and certainly lighter. It does still have the same issue as the resin one in whilst looking awesome and taking us back to those opening scenes of Star Wars from our youth its still a damn big model and leaves the question on where on earth do you put it once built so that you can see it from all angles ? :shrug:

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Astonishing. I have been absent from this type of modeling for ages and didn't know this existed. I have worked with resin but nothing on that scale...it still looks like it's made of white chocolate! It's obviously in scale but didn't realise the blockade runner was so small in comparison. I think I have found one on Ebay, but it's too pricey and in the US so would be in bits by the time it got here. There even seems to be a mini Falcon available you can stick on the back of the tower (to float away with the rest of the garbage lol) Incredible detail. Just think how big a Super Star Destroyer would be in the same scale! (was never so keen on the shape of those myself)

I know it would be hell but are you fibre-opticing it?

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Astonishing. I have been absent from this type of modeling for ages and didn't know this existed. I have worked with resin but nothing on that scale...it still looks like it's made of white chocolate! It's obviously in scale but didn't realise the blockade runner was so small in comparison. I think I have found one on Ebay, but it's too pricey and in the US so would be in bits by the time it got here. There even seems to be a mini Falcon available you can stick on the back of the tower (to float away with the rest of the garbage lol) Incredible detail. Just think how big a Super Star Destroyer would be in the same scale! (was never so keen on the shape of those myself)

I know it would be hell but are you fibre-opticing it?

The Star destroyer on eBay is indeed the Anigrand version. 1:2250 scale and only 27" long. So quite small in comparison the 38" Randy Cooper version.

Yes you are right the blockade runner is small in comparison but only 120m long in life scale, vs the 1.3 mile long ISD.

I will not be using Fibre optics in this model, although it might look convincing to various degrees with the lights off but it detracts from the authenticity and the model detail.

Also I intend to be looking at the finished Star Destroyer in daylight or with the lights on.

There have been plenty of good attempts at interior lighting on Sci-fi models but to me they always end up looking less real and more like toys in this case. A bit like making a perfect 1/32 Aircraft with weathering and washes and then having LED nav lights or landing lights?

Thank you all for the kind words and encouragement on this build, I'm looking forward to progressing a bit further with it this weekend.

I do have a Millennium falcon for this too, which I will make detachable from the rear of the main bridge.

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I can see what you mean about the lighting, it can go horribly wrong. I have found in my research (my main love is Star Trek models) that it seems that a lot of the studio models (which often look terrible!) don't actually have very much lighting if any and it's all added in post-production so you would never be able to recreate it. I can only imagine how many drill bits you would break going through thick resin too. I think Randy cooper does a studio sized Romulan warbird too, also amazing.

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Painting has now commenced! The entire hull and main structure has had its first coat today, looking good but this has highlighted the areas that still need some tidying-up!

Overall I'm very happy at the moment with it even after 4 hours of airbrushing and about 50ml of paint used already. There is going to a couple of days needed, devoted completely to surface refinement.

I will post more pics as they become available. I cant handle the main hull yet until the first coat is dry.

Thank you for all the great comments.

Phil

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