Zvezda Star Destroyer

[David G.]

The paint work looks great in the photos Si.

Even in person I don't think the masking errors would be all that apparent even if one knew where to look.

David G.

[Madhatter]

 

the effect is a lot more subtle in the plastic than in this photo

Edited October 22, 2021 by Madhatter

[David G.]

Wow!

That worked really well, it adds a nice amount of visual interest.

David G.

[Madhatter]

Thanks David

This is just the base paint stage. It'll look better once the wash etc have been applied (I hope)

[Madhatter]

Hi all

Well, I have finally sorted out my last remaining hurdle and it's onto the final stretch - more or less. Yep, I have finally sorted out my mounting device and at long last, I will be able to slip the ship on and off it's mount (I'm not sure how many times I would want to but for transportation this will be invaluable)

all I have to do is attach the sleeve onto the bottom of the ship and we're good to go. I've got it so I have 4 separate power lines which I will be able to distribute to hangar bay lights, engines, superstructure and floodlights.

It's by no means pretty but it works which is more important. The wires will travel down the back side of the armature into the base. Once I have the last bit of wire covered, I'll paint it all black

 

 

As I said, not the prettiest stuff ever but I had to make do with what I had

Anyway, that's it for now.

As always, thanks for looking

Si

 

[David G.]

That's a snappy bit of engineering Si!

It must be very gratifying to have that finally worked out.

David G.

[Madhatter]

Thanks David! Mate, I am super happy to have finally sorted that out as it was a large hurdle for me. The stand is even painted and clear coated !I've got the base back on the bench and I sanded down all the remaining tiles to go on the plate.

I want to get this thing finished already. I know people are getting fatigued with this build - but I did say right at the start I am not a fast builder. Evolution works faster than me at times.

So thanks to those of you who are still checking in and watching etc.

[peteski]

Pretty clever.  Hopefully the styrene female "socket" will be strong enough to support the entire ship.  I'm curious why you need 8 pins if only 4 connections are needed?  Reliability? Extra current carrying capacity?

[Madhatter]

Thanks Peter. It should hold pretty well. I've run CA all over the joints and I don't anticipate it will need to hold more than a kilo or so

I needed 4 sockets so I can turn on or off each individual component (ie, engines, flood lights, hangar bays and main superstructure lights). Each component is powered individually to allow me to choose whatever lighting configuration I want. If I had the where-with-all to be able to program a board of sorts to do that I would but I still needed to be able to take the ship off the mount to transport it regardless.

[peteski]

Thanks for your reply Simon, but my question was what was the reason for using 8-pin connector when only 4 connections were needed.

As far as the styrene socket goes, even with just one kilo, the socket is relatively short and there will be a lot of pressure applied to it.  It is a type of a fulcrum. If it was my precious model, I would reinforce it (maybe by using some metal straps around).  I would not depend on just styrene glued with CA.  Call me paranoid, but seeing all the work that went into this model, I would use the proverbial suspenders and a belt.

[Madhatter]

Oh ok, I get you. I used 8 because I thought it was the simplest way I could run a negative and positive wire to each part on their own switch. It was the only way I could see to make what I had in mind happen with what stuff I had available to me. I could maybe have gotten away with making it 5 but its all done now. I am not overly savvy with electronics and so on - I am a caveman in this respect

I also see your point about the connector fulcrum but I am short of space. About 1 cm away from where the edge is, is where the center cross-brace support sits. I'm hoping it's close enough to the center to hold it. Once everything is dried, I'm going to do a test run with the top off to make sure. I would put a brace over the top but I have no room for it. Despite it's massive size, it doesn't have a lot of room on the inside.

Another thing I have found a challenge is trying to find a shop that stocks bracing plates with pre-drilled holes in them. I live in Australia, so if any Aussie's here know where I could find such plates, please let me know as I have tried a lot of places and I've had no luck at all.

To say I'm not a bit nervous about how this is going to work is an understatement to say the least, but I am also pretty confident it'll hold. (famous last words!) If all else fails, I'll resort to the standard pole in the belly but I really want to stay away from that if I can.

Edited November 15, 2021 by Madhatter

[peteski]

Ah, in that case 8-pin connector makes sense.

I too hope that the mount will be robust enough for your model!

[Madhatter]

thanks Pete! I picked it up by the sleeve last night and it held perfectly. No creaking or stress noises present, so that's a good sign

[HJK]

Hi Simon, how you're doin'? Hope you're good so far. Long time, no see. I'm still anxious to see the SD finished. Did you manage to make a little progress? Please, don't get me wrong, I'm not trying to be pushy in any way. Take care, Juergen

[Madhatter]

hey Juergen

No, your not pushy at all. in fact, I will need some encouragement to get it done as I haven't touched it since the last update thanks to real life issues. I am also trying to complete a side project in order to free up bench space

I will be coming back to it, but not just yet. Thank you though for checking in - I really appreciate that

See you again soon

Si

[Ian McLaren]

I just discovered this post and read the entire thing,  The amount of work and fine detailing is mind boggling.  I don't build this type of model but I am in awe of the scope of this project and will follow the rest of the process.

[Madhatter]

Hi Ian, and thank you for actually reading it from the start - that would have been a time consuming event

I'll be coming back to this as soon as I have finished off a couple of other items - and they're nearing completion, so not long!

[Madhatter]

wow - it has been a while hasn't it? Hi all, and thanks for stopping in. First of, sorry for the really long delay in doing anything to it until recently. RL has interfered a lot as have other projects blah blah. We all know the reasons why etc that things go on hold but, I do have an update that's worth showing

So, I am unable to paint anything ATM due to weather and other such stuff like getting ready to move up north to Brisbane at the end of the year, plus a reno and as such, that limited my options. But I have been chomping at the bit to get restarted on just something to do with this build as its just dragging on and on (rather my my words) so I thought I would continue on with the base.

And I must say, so far, I am super happy with it. It's coming out way better than I had hoped so far! I am almost finished the edging on the top plate as you'll see in a sec and the shape of it is working perfectly. I will need to cast another 2 or 3 plates and some more of the original plating for the bottom and mid tiers, but that won't take too long

So, first up, the top plate as it is now:

 

The advantages of using resin is you can sand it super thin and then remove excess bits with a sharp knife to create new shapes

 

 

 

And the bottom plate has also had some treatment started to it. There is HEAPS more to do of course

 

And combined, it starts to take shape. There is a tier to go in between them but not there just yet

 

 

 

Well, that's it now for the next 3 months.... nah, just kidding. It's 7 if you're lucky

Hopefully the next update will come sooner rather than later.

Thanks for any continued interest

Till then!

 

 

 

[Lunajammer]

Apologies not necessary. I'm just glad this is still going.

[David G.]

I'm glad to see this one back on the active list again. Excellent progress on the base! It'll look great when it all comes together.

David G.

[Madhatter]

thanks guys! Yeah, I'll admit, I have been busy with lots of RL things but even so, all the while, I have been thinking about this build. At any rate, I will continue on with the base to get that sorted. I have got some ideas for it, so hopefully, I can make them a reality

All the joints in the tiles have been filled in as much as possible with Putty and cleaned up ready to start detailing the surface some more. The hollow space on the right has yet to have it's edging done, but that won't take long (a couple of hours and she'll be right). Luckily, I do not need to vast any more tiles, so that's some time saved there too! I want to build up some smaller structures on the surface - not too high, but enough to make it more interesting.

I really appreciate the continued interest in this. I know it's been going on and on and on - worse than the Energizer Bunny on speed, but I will get there.

[Madhatter]

Hi all

Quick update

The edging is all done and putty applied. Still a couple of spots to clean up but nothing dramatic.

I've started to add some more detailing to the surface, with some gun batteries which i thought could be quite cool. I'm not trying to replicate the DS or its surface to its filming parents, so the relevancy of their existence is mute. Looking at them, I do need to change the shape slightly to mask their origins though. Just on the bottom front corners I think

I'm looking at making some kind of central building structure, like a control center of sorts, again, just to break up the surface more. Not too high, but high enough. I've been furiously rummaging through the spares box looking for something suitable but nothing is matching my idea, so I think it'll have to be scratch built.

Anyways, enough words

 

 

I just started the detailing, but you get the idea of where its going

 

 

 

That's all for now, but open to ideas, suggestions or constructive critique

Cheers

[David G.]

Wow! ? 

Even the "underneath" is "over the top" on this!

Do you plan much detail painting on this or something more on the monochrome side?

David G.

[Madhatter]

thanks David I will do some detail painting on the things that can be seen naturally but not so much the rest.

Update coming soon

[Madhatter]

Hi again all

For the past 2 weeks (well, more like 6 days when combined) I have been working away on the top plate. I decided to make something to go on top as I feel it needs more visual interest. Yeah, I know its the DS tiles I'm using but I don't really want this to BE the Death Star - more, my own interpretation. I wouldn't go calling my display a battle-station. Probably more a mechanical planet  

It's far from being finished - I still have heaps to do, but before I really get lost in this and put more energy into it, I thought l'd just get a general gauge if this is a good idea or not

It's basically superstructure parts from my ill-fated Bismark and other bits and bobs. My favorite bit is the landing platforms

this is where Im intending to put it

 

If all else fails, it could always be a new hull part of a space ship

 

Well, that's it for now, but feel free to let me know what you think. 

As always, thanks for stopping by and having a look