Revell 1/2700 Imperial Star Destroyer

[Madhatter]

I can't believe you managed to get 7 LED's into that space at all. Marvelous!
You could punch out some clear plastic discs and then sand them to diffuse the light. Maybe add a PE After Burner ring on top so it has some visual interest when switched off and isn't just a sanded round cover?

 

[JimmyB]

I bought some cheap acrylic adhesives in the shape of a diamond or jewelry stone. I have removed the adhesive and metal coating from its flat side. I then polished that area and placed them face down on the LED sets of the main thrusters.
With this I intend to “imitate” the halogen bulbs that were used in the IL&M model.
View attachment 1797444 View attachment 1797445 View attachment 1797446 (The light is much more intense than it appears in this pic).

I'm still not very convinced with this solution. What do you think about it?.

I reckon the engine lights solution looks ace. I have a box of those acrylic diamond things left over from my mum and dad's diamond anniversary. You've inspired me, thanks.

 

[Mijob]

I can use your upgrades when Im designing my papermodel. I love your light kit. If the LED are to bright you can use other resistors. Try 1KOhm.

 

[Fett_Ish]

I think the light solution is great but I would try diffusing the back to see what effect that has. The rest looks great to, someday I will build mine!

 

[Moska]

I can use your upgrades when Im designing my papermodel. I love your light kit. If the LED are to bright you can use other resistors. Try 1KOhm.

Hello Mijob, I like the brightness of the LEDs as they are now. The value of the resistors I am using is enough to protect the LEDs and maintain high brightness. That's what I look for to illuminate the engines.
Thanks for your comment.

 

[Moska]

I think the light solution is great but I would try diffusing the back to see what effect that has. The rest looks great to, someday I will build mine!

Hello Fett_Ish, thank you very much for your comment.
The truth is that I'm still not sure how I will finally do it. I just bought some Ø13mm lenses and I have to wait for them to arrive from China to see the effect I get.
I'm not in a hurry, this will be decided once all the work pending on the model is finished.

 

[Moska]

I reckon the engine lights solution looks ace. I have a box of those acrylic diamond things left over from my mum and dad's diamond anniversary. You've inspired me, thanks.

Hello JimmyB. I'm glad to have been useful to you.

 

[Moska]

Currently working in the side trenches.

Finally, I have decided to increase the height of the trenches by 2 mm. The difference between 1.5 and 2 mm does not seem important to me. I even think it is more accurate to replicate the height of the IL&M model. But I recognize that the main reason why I have made this decision is because it makes it much easier for me to extract the details from the pieces that I copied in resin.


I made a provisional montage to see the effect and I am quite satisfied with the result (sorry for the poor quality of the pics). Later I will add some more details to enrich the visual aspect of the trenches.


Greetings.
Rafa

 

[INVAR]

I did the same with the side trenches and it does make a difference in the aesthetic look to coincide with the ILM ESB Avenger model. Outstanding job thusfar! Resin or 3D printed side trenches would have made things easier when I did mine lo those many years ago - but I did enjoy the tedium of carving and shaping all that detail out of styrene. Cheers!

 

[Moska]

Hello friends.

I have completed work to provide lighting to the hangars and bays.
In both bays, the only thing I have done are the side openings through which the light will enter directly in the large one, and through Ø0.5 mm optical fibers in the small one.
For the hangars in both bays, I have built some black polystyrene boxes to illuminate them. These boxes are lined with white vinyl inside. The light will come from the rear and will hit the back walls of the hangars. For the larger hangar, I have detailed its walls with fragments taken from Hasegawa's Leopold kit. In the two small ones only the empty space lined with white.


To adapt the kit pieces to the 2 mm height that I have added around their perimeter, I have glued 1 mm styrene strips both on the internal reinforcements that the kit includes, and on the rear part of the engines. To glue the rear piece to the lower fuselage I had to use a good number of pressure pliers because the pieces, both of the lower and upper fuselage, come in the kit very curved and distorted in their rear profile. On this rear part, the result of that 1 mm height addition is a small step that doesn't really bother me too much, but I will try something to improve it.


To finish for today, I have taken special care when preparing the support for the model. My ISD is going to be displayed on a single support consisting of a Ø12 mm aluminum tube. The tube enters directly through the center of the model's lower dome. To make sure it was perfectly level, I built a small structure out of 1mm aluminum. I have reinforced it with angles and L-shaped profiles to prevent it from bending, and I have placed four screws that have allowed me to adjust the inclination of the axis until it is perfectly level. Inside this tube will be the cables that will carry electricity from the base to the model.


Thanks for watching.
Rafa

 

[edge10]

Hit me if you like, but...

Given all the amazing work you are doing/have done, please tell me you will correct the out of box shield generator globe bases, on the top of the bridge.

 

[Moska]

Hit me if you like, but...

Given all the amazing work you are doing/have done, please tell me you will correct the out of box shield generator globe bases, on the top of the bridge.

Hello edge10.
I have no intention of hitting you, nor do I have any intention of correcting those bases.
It may seem stupid, but the truth is that sometimes there are minor details that obsess me, and other times there are larger and more obvious details, like in this case, that don't worry me at all.
I guess it's just another one of my own contradictions.

best regards to you

 

[Moska]

Hello friends.
I am currently preparing the entire lighting system and making sure there is no light leak.

I have covered the inside of the model with metallic paper, leaving only the areas where the LED strips will go. It is important to plan in advance where you are going to place the LEDs so that the work is more efficient.


Next I applied black paint with the airbrush to the inside of the side trenches. I applied many layers of paint because my goal was to opaque those areas as much as possible.


Then I made the connections of the different LED strip sections and placed them in their positions. I did a first power-up test and everything worked perfectly. You should not trust the adhesive that LED strips have, it tends to come loose over time. So I secured all the strips and connections with hot glue.


Before continuing, I did a temporary assembly of the fuselage to detect light leaks and, thanks to the work I had already done previously to avoid them, the leaks were very few and very small. There is a little transparency in some of the areas where I have added height, but it is very slight and I will fix it with the exterior paint of the model. What did surprise me is to see how the light came out of all the Ø0.3 mm holes without having to place optical fiber. Still, my intention is to use fiber optics throughout the model to achieve a more uniform effect.


I was also pleasantly surprised at how well the light performed in the lower bays. After this test, I placed some strips of plastic diffuser inside, on both sides of each bay to further unify their lighting. I put in the cool white light boxes for the hangars and they worked the way I wanted them too.


Before finishing with the lighting, I am still waiting for the lenses I bought to arrive to make the final decision on what the light output will be like in the three main engines. When that part is decided and installed, I will protect the interior well and start the painting job.

Thanks for looking.
Rafa

 

[Moska]

Hello friends.

Immersed in painting work right now.
I primed all the pieces with black Fine Primer spray from AK Interactive. This is not the first time I have used this product and it has always given me good results. To give it a but, maybe it leaves a little texture when it dries.
Next, I started airbrushing the fuselage. For this I used 3gen acrylic paint, also from AK Interactive. I bought the color Insignia White AK11868 and also its thinner, but I have to confess that both products disappointed me. The paint color is not at all similar to the famous Tamiya AS-20. And its covering power also seemed quite poor to me. But the thinner is even worse. It is somewhat thick and oily. And also, it doesn't dilute this paint well. It leaves small lumps that can clog your airbrush and ruin the finish of the model. However, water dilutes it perfectly.
So, after doing some testing, I decided to make my own thinner as explained in some YouTube videos: 70% distilled water, 30% isopropyl alcohol (IPA) and a few drops of liquid glycerin to improve flow. This thinner has worked much better than the one I had purchased and is much cheaper.
Although the color was not what I expected, I decided to continue using it because it is a cold white color that I think is suitable for an empire ship. Its low covering power turned out to be an advantage in this case because it helped me create volumes and panel separation. Having to do it in so many layers, it was quite easy to control the final finish. I took advantage of the most prominent volumes and panel lines of the model to highlight them by applying more paint to lighten them and create separations only using the intensity of the color. The result is thus much richer and more convincing than if I had painted everything homogeneously.


Now that everything is covered in paint, I really like how well the parts that I added to the model fit together. The details of the side areas, being copies of the original pieces, maintain a uniform and coherent appearance. And the areas I placed to increase the height of the neck of the bridge also integrate very well without giving away that they are added “patches.”


Over the previous finish, I applied a few thin layers of Marabú brand glossy spray varnish to seal it well. And then I did some very light washes using black oil paint very dissolved in a quality Talens brand thinner.
I still have to clean it up a little more, but I'm pretty happy with the result. Despite being so light, I think it has accentuated the details and lines enough to achieve more realism. If you look closely, you will see that I have not yet applied washes to either the bridge or the lower bays. In these areas you can see the difference between before and after washing.


To finish for today, the lenses I had bought online finally arrived. They fit perfectly into the main engine bell holes, but I'm still debating whether to use these lenses or one of the acrylic “diamonds” I already had. I have three options. What do you think?


Thanks for watching.
Rafa

 

[Fett_Ish]

Hello friends.

Immersed in painting work right now.
I primed all the pieces with black Fine Primer spray from AK Interactive. This is not the first time I have used this product and it has always given me good results. To give it a but, maybe it leaves a little texture when it dries.
Next, I started airbrushing the fuselage. For this I used 3gen acrylic paint, also from AK Interactive. I bought the color Insignia White AK11868 and also its thinner, but I have to confess that both products disappointed me. The paint color is not at all similar to the famous Tamiya AS-20. And its covering power also seemed quite poor to me. But the thinner is even worse. It is somewhat thick and oily. And also, it doesn't dilute this paint well. It leaves small lumps that can clog your airbrush and ruin the finish of the model. However, water dilutes it perfectly.
So, after doing some testing, I decided to make my own thinner as explained in some YouTube videos: 70% distilled water, 30% isopropyl alcohol (IPA) and a few drops of liquid glycerin to improve flow. This thinner has worked much better than the one I had purchased and is much cheaper.
Although the color was not what I expected, I decided to continue using it because it is a cold white color that I think is suitable for an empire ship. Its low covering power turned out to be an advantage in this case because it helped me create volumes and panel separation. Having to do it in so many layers, it was quite easy to control the final finish. I took advantage of the most prominent volumes and panel lines of the model to highlight them by applying more paint to lighten them and create separations only using the intensity of the color. The result is thus much richer and more convincing than if I had painted everything homogeneously.
View attachment 1812550 View attachment 1812551 View attachment 1812552

Now that everything is covered in paint, I really like how well the parts that I added to the model fit together. The details of the side areas, being copies of the original pieces, maintain a uniform and coherent appearance. And the areas I placed to increase the height of the neck of the bridge also integrate very well without giving away that they are added “patches.”
View attachment 1812553 View attachment 1812554 View attachment 1812555

Over the previous finish, I applied a few thin layers of Marabú brand glossy spray varnish to seal it well. And then I did some very light washes using black oil paint very dissolved in a quality Talens brand thinner.
I still have to clean it up a little more, but I'm pretty happy with the result. Despite being so light, I think it has accentuated the details and lines enough to achieve more realism. If you look closely, you will see that I have not yet applied washes to either the bridge or the lower bays. In these areas you can see the difference between before and after washing.
View attachment 1812556 View attachment 1812557

To finish for today, the lenses I had bought online finally arrived. They fit perfectly into the main engine bell holes, but I'm still debating whether to use these lenses or one of the acrylic “diamonds” I already had. I have three options. What do you think?
View attachment 1812558 View attachment 1812559

Thanks for watching.
Rafa

I like the new one. Mostly because it look interesting while off. I guess I missed the part where you said no fiber optics! It all looks great! I had hoped to put fibers in mine but light the interior like you, so no bundling or wrangling strands. I see this may not even be needed. Great work as usual!

 

[Moska]

I like the new one. Mostly because it look interesting while off. I guess I missed the part where you said no fiber optics! It all looks great! I had hoped to put fibers in mine but light the interior like you, so no bundling or wrangling strands. I see this may not even be needed. Great work as usual!

Hello Fett_Ish.
Thank you very much for your comment.
I agree with you and I am going to use the new lenses. They provide a more "technical" aesthetic.
As for fiber optics, yes I am going to use it. But only small pieces of 10/12mm in each "window". This is more than enough for them to collect the interior light and bring it to the outside of the model.
In the following image you can see what the problem is. If you don't use fiber optics, you will only see the light depending on the angle at which you view the model. As the image shows, only two lights are visible on the bridge because I put fiber optics in those two holes to check the effect. You can't see the light in the rest of the windows on the bridge because you look at them from the side.

 

[Fett_Ish]

Hello Fett_Ish.
Thank you very much for your comment.
I agree with you and I am going to use the new lenses. They provide a more "technical" aesthetic.
As for fiber optics, yes I am going to use it. But only small pieces of 10/12mm in each "window". This is more than enough for them to collect the interior light and bring it to the outside of the model.
In the following image you can see what the problem is. If you don't use fiber optics, you will only see the light depending on the angle at which you view the model. As the image shows, only two lights are visible on the bridge because I put fiber optics in those two holes to check the effect. You can't see the light in the rest of the windows on the bridge because you look at them from the side.

View attachment 1813353

Awesome, thank you, so it is on with my original plan that you have proven works! I say this because I mentioned this plan in a thread at least a couple years ago and was told it would not work. I couldn’t understand why it wouldn’t but couldn’t be sure until you did this fantastic build!

 

[Moska]

Well. It's time to get down to work with the most tedious part of this hobby. Masking, masking and masking. Several hours to place all the masks, just a few minutes of airbrushing, and another long time to remove the tape. And this is just the first round of paneling. I intend to make a 3-color pattern. In this first step I used the popular Tamiya smoke paint. For the second I am going to use a bluish gray color and finish with a yellowish gray or ocher tone. I had planned to finish with a light warm white filter, like Tamiya's Insignia White, to dull these panels a bit and uniform the overall finish, but that will depend on whether the model requires it after the three paneling steps. As you can see, I am only working on the lower part of the fuselage, which is going to be the least visible part, to take note of my mistakes and successes. And take advantage of this experience to paint the rest of the model with more confidence and a guarantee of success.



In the last image, you can see an unintended effect that the masking tape has created. If you look closely, you'll see that the tape has removed some of the previous black wash, leaving some lighter bands around the new smoke-colored panels. I love that this happened. I think it provides greater richness of tones to the finish of the model.

Greetings.
Rafa

 

[Moska]

Continuing with the painting job, to save time, I reuse the pieces of masking tape. In addition to saving me the trouble of cutting all these little pieces, the tape loses part of its adhesive power and is less aggressive for the paint already applied.


Finally, I have decided to make an overall pattern of just two colors. I don't really like how the third yellowish gray color looks. If I leave it more neutral, it looks too much like the Tamiya smoke. And if I add more color, it leaves a strange tone that doesn't look good on the model. So I have only applied it to a few areas of the lower fuselage.


But the finish did not convince me. I needed a little more complexity to better reflect the scale of the model. So I made a template cut out of a sheet of clear plastic and did some tests. I like the result much more now. Not only does it create a more complex finish, but it also tones down the color of the “patches,” leaving a more integrated overall look.


On this template I am spraying Tamiya matte white, without any color mixing. And I try to leave it at 40-50% opacity so as not to lose any nuances from the previous work.
Since the stencil is not self-adhesive, I place the airbrush vertically on it. In this way, the air from the airbrush pushes the stencil against the surface of the model. The edges of the design are a little blurred in some areas, but it doesn't bother me at all.
I have not yet ruled out the possibility of making a final general white filter to further unify the finish.
I hope you like the look my Star Destroyer is taking.

Thank you for watching.
Rafa

 

[modelerdave]

Absolutely brilliant work, as usual.