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Zvezda Star Destroyer- A Work in Progress


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Started on the Big Z Sunday. Quality, fit, and finish are top notch. The sides of the super structures are separate detail panels applied to the hull. The edges are beveled resulting in excellent fit. The side trenches assemble the same way. They are also keyed so you can't put them in the wrong place or position. For me, I'll be building the major sub assemblies then drilling and running fiber. I'll then assemble the sub assemblies.
My impression so far is excellent. I originally thought the Anigrand was better detailed, but with this being a plastic kit, the details are so much sharper. Given a choice between the two, I'd opt for the Zvezda.

 

Assembly starts with adding the detail panels to the lower super structures.

 

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Then on to the trenches.

 

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Comparison of the lower hull with the new lights/sound Revell snap together.

 

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Got all the trench pieces installed. There are some "bare" spots that will need some greeblies added to them. Again, love the way this kit is going together. I need to order .5mm fiber optic this week. I'll start on the other super structure assemblies today and then start drilling holes. Engines will need to be drilled out as well. Here are some new pics and where she sits now.

Port side trench detail.

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The inside edges of the starboard side trench. You'll have to drill thru both to run fiber.

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Bare spots needing details.

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And the upper and lower hulls resting together.

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so can't wait for mine to turn up. Thanks for the up close shots too. I agree with you about the bare spots - I foresee the use of a fair bit of plastic strip in my future :D

Looking at your parts, do you think .75 (FO) be too big and over scaled?

Also, I've seen a few images of the main hangar deck below and can see it appears to be molded to the actual hull plate. How are you going to light that (if indeed you are going to go down that route)

I am looking forward to seeing more progress as it comes

Si

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Thanks Madhatter.

 

I used .5mm on my Salzo Galactica which is a 3 foot model, for me, that's what I'll use on this. I think .75mm would be a bit too big.

 

The hangars are molded to the lower hull. I think I'll just open up enough of a hole and install a few 3mm LEDs directly behind them. Maybe build a light box around the hangar on the inside.

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I'm tempted to go down to 0.25mm with the fibre guide, think 0.75mm will be too big Si.

 

There are some good pictures of the original ILM Avenger in the book Sculpting a Universe which shows both warm white and red used for the lighting.

 

Promotional shot of the Avenger from ILM

 

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The lighting in the trench appears to use single light sources as well as fibres!

 

Cheers,

 

Warren

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 Glad I didn't order anymore .75 then! :) I was thinking .025 as well, but I don't have the kit in my hands yet to gauge what would be most appropriate size

I like the idea of the light box around the hangar walls on the outside of it. I just don't know how you would drill in underneath those ledges - the space there seems very limited. Would it be easier to scrape out the spaces between the ribs and replace the horizontal ledges with some shaped styrene to obtain said space?

 

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Keep the pictures coming though!

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At 1:2700 a 0.75mm fibre gives a 2m window, 0.25mm makes it about 700mm, 0.5mm is about 1.4m.

 

I'm not sure now so may have to experiment when I get time.

 

Great watching this come together, how are you going to tackle the inner lip on the trench on the upper section to get the fibres through?

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The Hangar I'm not to concerned about as far as screen accuracy. It's going to be on the bottom of course and will rarely be seen by even myself.

 

For the upper hull "back wall" in the trench area, I will remove the majority of said wall except near the nose to ensure proper alignment of the nose. I will also leave a few "teeth" of the inner wall to align the rest of the upper to lower hull. These teeth will slide in between any fiber in the area. I've been switching back and forth between Tamiya Extra Thin and Model Master liquid (with the metal tube) on this build. The plastic Zvezda uses likes both glues. Since the MM is a bit thicker I'll use it on the teeth on the upper hull to glue them as it takes a little longer to evaporate.

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Got a lot done on the kit this weekend. I cut out the back of the spine and built a full garbage chute complete with space junk and a Slave 1. I also drilled out all the windows for the fiber optics. Started mods to the engines as well for lighting. Very productive weekend!

 

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Space junk the Slave 1 will sit with.
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Lots and lots of holes...
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Looking pretty jimongous compared to the Revell snapper!
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Still waiting on fiber from the Fiber Optic Store....

Took care of the hull seam, top and bottom. I used Tulip brand fabric paint. Its basically thick acrylic paint (great for light blocking small areas too!) and dries super fast. I taped so just the seam was visible. I laid down a bead of Tulip and let it set for a minute. Then I just took my finger and wiped off the excess. Doing this also ensures the paint is down in the joint. I then removed the mask and let it sit for a few more minutes. Next I took a pointed cotton swab and cleaned up the smeared excess. Until I get primer on it its hard to tell if there is any seam left, if there is its shallower than the surrounding panel lines, plus, no lost detail from putty and sanding!

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Looks awesome!  Any tips on drilling small holes in a straight line? Every time I try that, there's always a couple of holes that look just a little bit off.. drives the OCD part of me insane!  <_<

Edited by Vanoyen
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Vanoyen, I try to pick landmarks on a kit when I drill holes. If there are little squares I'll drill in the center, or at the corner of a part. Thankfully the SD has a lot of that in the trenches and super structures. It just takes practice. I'm not perfect either...

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Started running fibers last night. So many fibers!

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