Zvezda Star Destroyer

[Madhatter]

Hi everyone

Thought I would update this quickly while I had some spare time. As I have said previously, I have made a good start on the base. Most of my time has been spent making casts but I have actually cemented stuff together. The main service trench has been made and I am now making the lower level details. I've tried to make it look under construction but I think I may have made it also look like it's destroyed. Not sure which yet.naturally, there will be some lighting in amongst all this to give it more life.

I've quite enjoying making the base so far and if it goes like what's in my head, then this will be awesome. Maybe even better than the ship? Too early to say but here's where I am at currently:

Well, that's it for now but once I'll update again once I have something worthwhile showing

As always, thanks for stopping by and having a look

Si

[David G.]

Wow Si, you've made excellent progress on this!

From what I see, the base like your Star Destroyer will certainly not lack for detail.

Thanks for posting these.

David G.

[kpnuts]

Great work 

[HJK]

Simon, I've just found this thread of yours and I'm completely flabbergasted. This is really, really and I mean really gorgeous detail work. I can't find the proper words for it because I'm just a guy with a low level of the English language, I'm not a native speaker so I lack the words to describe the impression your model makes on me. I'm simply blown away. Maybe you allow me to ask some (silly?) questions? What are the kind of panels you are making the service trench from? Did you make all the details of piping and gadgets and whatever it is yourself or is it something you can buy (I hope so for you, at least)? Well mate, keep up the stunning work. I'll be following closely now, I promise. Take care, Juergen

[Madhatter]

Hi Juergen

Mate, I don't think you have many issues with English - you write very well for someone who doesn't speak it and better than some who do!

That's very kind of you to say, I have no issues with questions and am happy to answer them for you. The trench details and the surface details are casts of a 3d printed tile I bought from Shapeways. It was very expensive for what it is, so I took a mold and recast it numerous times ( and still going). The rest of it is all my own stuff. I am also adding bits here and there to add my own flavour to them but not many. The piping is just brass wire bent into shape and glued in - nothing too special there

Must go do some actual work now, but happy to answer any other questions

Thanks for taking the time to post Juergen

Si

[HJK]

Hi Simon,

Thanks very much for your answer. I again read your thread on this destroyer and again I could spend quite an amount of time to look at all the details on your tiles and panels. With every look I discover something new. As David G. put it there are a lot of greebles (this word was new for me ) on this project. I really enjoy your build. I'm by no means an expert of these spaceships. So would you please tell me where this trench will be located on the destroyer in the end? As I said I'm sitting guard in front of the computer and wait for your next update. BTW, I heard that you had a complete lockdown for nearly two months in Melbourne, it that correct? Would you say it was the right measure to fight this bloody virus? Take care and stay safe, Juergen

[Madhatter]

Hi Juergen

The trench is for the base - it's meant to be a replica of sorts of the Death Star surface which the SD will be flying above. My biggest challenge in all of this is finding a way to side mount the SD to the base. I' still not there yet but think I may need to engage a plumber to bend some tube for me

Yes, its true - we had almost 3 months of full on lock down but it did the job. We haven't had any new cases now for 16 days which is awesome. Still have to wear masks etc but I'm fine with that.

[HJK]

Simon

I searched a bit on the net regarding the Death Star and its trench and found lots of images and also the site of fantasyflightgames.com. You probably know this site but in case not you can click on community>miniatures>X-wing>X-wing painting and modification and there are some people also building 3D models of the Death Star and the trench. I now know a little more about these space vehicles and have an image of them when I read these expressions. Anyway, your model building is way above my ability and so I'm sitting here with awe following your thread.

It's good to hear that you were successful to fight the virus. Allow me just one more question: Did you only have this 3 month lockdown in Melbourne or was it valid for all other big cities in Australia or maybe the whole of Australia? I'm asking this because in Germany we are reluctant to do so and hobble from one 3 week lockdown to another 4 week lockdown and experience lots of new cases after a couple of months after each lockdown. So your method seem to be better than ours. Take care, Juergen

[Madhatter]

Thought I would show you where I'm heading with this. Got some good basic structure work done and am now working on the larger details before moving in to do the finer stuff. There are some casting holes here and there and will need covering etc which will be done with details. Most of this will unlikely to be seen but it's better to be safe than sorry and have visibly empty spots of nothing

Anyways, that's it for now, but thanks for looking

Si

[Madhatter]

15 hours ago, HJK said:

Simon

I searched a bit on the net regarding the Death Star and its trench and found lots of images and also the site of fantasyflightgames.com. You probably know this site but in case not you can click on community>miniatures>X-wing>X-wing painting and modification and there are some people also building 3D models of the Death Star and the trench. I now know a little more about these space vehicles and have an image of them when I read these expressions. Anyway, your model building is way above my ability and so I'm sitting here with awe following your thread.

It's good to hear that you were successful to fight the virus. Allow me just one more question: Did you only have this 3 month lockdown in Melbourne or was it valid for all other big cities in Australia or maybe the whole of Australia? I'm asking this because in Germany we are reluctant to do so and hobble from one 3 week lockdown to another 4 week lockdown and experience lots of new cases after a couple of months after each lockdown. So your method seem to be better than ours. Take care, Juergen

Hi Juergen

The severe lock down measures were placed primarily in Victoria. We did have a mini-lock down in April/May but then we had another outbreak. What really killed it was the 5KM travel radius. Its the ability to travel which really spreads it around and so when the State Government imposed travel restrictions, it slowed the spread right down to zero. All borders were closed (ie, interstate and International). Yes it was annoying and what not, but it worked. Naturally, there were the few that resisted because they felt their rights were being imposed on and what not, but in my personal opinion, it's a pretty selfish attitude to be having with something like this.

However, I'm a hermit at the best of times, so for me, it wasn't really an issue. Some good came out of the whole lock down thing though! Because of COVID-19, I can now work from home - so no more 2.5 hour daily travel times on a smelly, over-crowed train for me! My dog is now fitter than me - which isn't saying that much really, but he's been walked a heap! I am also now a much more avid cook & I don't have to get up at the crack of dawn to do the above

I hope things improve for you over there in Germany Juergen . The only advice I can offer is the sanitize your hands when you get home from where ever you've been, wear a good mask (and you can get some pretty cool ones - I have one with a scary teeth pattern on it. Was great fun at Halloween walking around the supermarket with a mask that had teeth like Venom's). Keep a social distance of 1.5 meters where possible and you'll be doing your part in helping to stop the spread. And yes to those Victorians here - I am all to aware of how cheesy that government saying is, but its apt here. Work from home if possible too (if applicable. We had quite a lot of job losses here with the closures of small business)

As depressing/annoying/frustrating as it is, if everyone sticks to the rules and does the right thing, then it you should have the same results we did. The only thing that will really bring it back is international travel - the one thing that really made everything worse to start off with.  Interesting times ahead. Stay safe!

[David G.]

Thanks for the update Si. It's amazing to watch all this come together. 

David G.

[HJK]

Hi Simon

Thank you very much for your extensive and detailed answer. Yes, I agree and act in same manner as you regarding the wearing of masks and the keeping of social distances. I hope for the best that it helps here as well and as you said there are interesting times ahead.

Thanks for your update. I'm excited to see the outcome of all that. Take care, Juergen

[kilrathy10]

Unbelievable... That's all I can say... ?I couldn't close my mouth the entire time I viewed this thing... Unbelievable....

[Madhatter]

Thanks very much guys! Sorry for the very late reply

I am happy to say that I have added all the detail I'm going to, to the bottom hull plate. I do have some stuff to add to the upper lips where the sidewalls meet the hull but that won't take long. All that's left to add detail  too are the  sidewalls themselves. I won't be going to mental there as the space is pretty short but enough to make it more interesting, and then it'll be the joyous task of adding the fibers.

Anyway, that's it for now. I'm still casting pieces for the base and that is taking up a fair whack of time but the ship detailing is nearly finished!

Sorry for the not-so-great pictures, I couldn't be bothered getting the photo tent out etc

thanks as looking!

Si

[HJK]

Simon,

Yeah, JT is right, your work is unbelievable. Did you track the number of all these tiny parts you installed to the surface of this thing? The look suggests it must be thousands. It's also the amount of creativity, endurance and patience you put into this project that amazes me. I still lack the right words to describe my awe.

Thanks for your update. Take care and stay safe, mate. Juergen

[Madhatter]

hey Juergen

Mate, I'd have to be some kind of crazy person to count that many additions. I'd say your in the right ball park with your estimation, although I'll be honest - I'm never going to count them. I look at it more toward how much material I'm going through. It's a LOT. This is why I cast pieces I use a lot of, Such a money saver. People keep asking me if I have shares in Evergreen I would shudder to guess how much money this has cost me. The wife is hounding me to sell it when it's done.  I've never sold a built model before and I'm not sure I would want to part with it. I may see if the local hobby shop would want to display it for a while

[Daxman]

On 11/16/2020 at 9:05 PM, kilrathy10 said:

Unbelievable... That's all I can say... ?I couldn't close my mouth the entire time I viewed this thing... Unbelievable....

Same here. This is truly an amazing build. I will be watching. Thanks for posting every little detail.

[Madhatter]

Thanks guys!

Quick update while I wait for my work meeting to kick off. I took some pics last night of one of many test fits of the front sidewalls and upper and lower hull plates. I have to keep adding the walls and plates together to make sure the detailing I've added tot he underside of the edge on the top plate and again on the bottom plate don't interfere with the details on the sidewalls etc. Its very time consuming but it'll all look pretty cool once its together.

Excuse the not so great photos. I promise next time they will be clearer

Well, that's all I have for now, but once the front wall is done, I'll take a photo of the kit standard VS what I've done side by side so you can see the difference some extra details can make

Well I have to go back to work but as always, thanks for stopping by and having a look

Till next time!

Si

[kilrathy10]

Dude!!! This is quite far the best I've seen a kit of this type done... Too cool... Excellent attention to detail, and tremendous amount of patience on display, here... Unbelievable....

[HJK]

Goodday Mate, hope you're still good. It's always fun to look at your work, There's so much detail to see. Each time I have to stare at the pictures trying to gather all the little things you put into this project. BTW, the photos are a bit spooky in a way because of the black space-like background. Did you switch on a kind of illumination from inside the spaceship or is it the white parts reflecting a flashlight? Well, either way it looks great. Take care and stay safe, Juergen. PS: Please convey my best respects to your wife, no more hounding!  I believe she's a good one!!! Until next time. Juergen

[Madhatter]

hey Juergen

Thanks mate! No, I haven't added any lights to this yet. That's going to be fun when I get to it...

I took some time today to make use of the awesome daylight we've had here to get some more detailed shots of where I am up to right now. I'll have some more time to myself this week as the wife and child are heading off to see her family before Xmas before I go up to Brisbane to join them later. I hope to be able to use that time constructively

So yeah, the last set of photos didn't really convey what I'd actually done, and here's hoping these ones tell a better story

Well, that's it for now, but as always, thanks for stopping by and having a look

Till next time

 

Si

[mustang1989]

I forgot this thread was going on over here too Simon. This is in......sane!!!!!!!!!!!

[HJK]

Hi,

Well, Joe, as I'm not a native speaker of your language I'm not a 100 % sure whether the word 'in......sane' is the right description for the work Simon is doing but it certainly has a touch of insanity (I hope Simon knows what I mean!). But in every aspect this spaceship looks gorgeous. It's hard to take my eyes off it.

All of you take care and stay safe. Juergen

Edited December 22, 2020 by HJK
wrong writing

[HJK]

Hi Simon, I hope you had some nice days up north and a relaxed turn of the year. And of course I hope that all is good with you as you didn't post anything for a couple of weeks. I don't mean to be a pain in your neck but is there any progress on your destroyer?

Take care, Juergen

[Madhatter]

Hi Juergen

You're not a pain in the neck for asking - not at all. Truth is, I am on a short break from the relentless detailing of the SD and am currently building something a little smaller and less detailed as a way of restoring some lost mojo. I am doing a build thread of it in the link below if you want to have a look but I'm not going to do multiple threads like I have with the SD.  https://www.therpf.com/forums/threads/hasegawa-1-3000-cordoba.336991/

Rest assured my friend, I will be back at this once I am done with the Cordoba which won't be far off as I don't have to do as much detail work. I have invested too much time and effort for me not to finish it I do want to thank you for your keen interest though