Star Destroyer #3

[ringa]

I finally got a kit I was waiting for in the mail. It has parts I need for the bottom hull and the engine area. They are in rubber as of now.

I painted the L'Eggs eggs white, and the test below shows they are opaque, especially the clear ones, which now have no light bleeding through...



There are two things that will make or break this replica; proportions are most important, followed by the right "feel" to its overall appearance.

To me, there is something about the fact that the original Star Destroyer is hand made, and that it has its imperfections that says something about the power of movie magic... because the Star Destroyer looks so GREAT on film; so majestic and ominous as it stretches into endless space overhead, then looming menacingly closer from the front. Then, like a shark, it swallows the 6-foot long Blockade Runner model in its gigantic docking bay, which in reality is not much more than 5 inches wide!

Thus is the spectacular illusion of miniature FX that so captured my imagination when I was a young boy watching Star Wars for the first time in 1977. And this is why the ANH Star Destroyer has always left an impression on me, making it my favorite filming model.

Because the model is hand made, there is a lot of asymmetry. So, it is near impossible to be 100% accurate replicating it. But it's not impossible to be very close. In being close enough involves having the right "feel" to the overall look. Part of the original model's charm, IMHO, is the hand-made look with all its asymmetry. That's why it's important that my replica have the hand-made look too. If I had all the parts laser cut and more symmetrical, it would lose some of what makes the original so appealing to me.

Because I have never seen the original filming model in person (ironically, even though my second Star Destroyer model replaced the real one in the "Action!" museum tour––I was contacted after it was removed), I am never entirely sure how close I am to the original's proportions from each angle. So far it looked very close from the front, but I was more concerned, and hopeful that it would look as good from the back, where the hull proportions would be much more noticeable if they were off by even just a quarter inch.

When I put a photo the real model over mine in a very similar camera angle, I was very pleased and relieved...

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This installment is more for those who are just starting out who want to learn about resin casting. More experienced model makers know all about this, and more.

If you are thinking of building a studio scale model, you know you have to get your hands on some very rare, hard to find, and very expensive kits. It is important to learn how to save time and money by copying parts you need more than one of.

I just got in the mail one of those rare kits. It comes with two small parts that my Star Destroyer needs 20 of. So, those two parts, plus others are currently in rubber.



I never played with Legos as a kid, but they come in handy when you need a customized container to hold the silicone mix. This way you can build a reusable container to suit the part(s) you are casting so you are not wasting rubber. This is a tip I read somewhere, and this is how I cast all my small pieces.

I use double-sided adhesive sheets, cut to size and stuck to a throw-away piece of plastic. I then stick the parts to be copied on the adhesive, leaving enough around the edges to stick the Legos to it as well. The adhesive keeps the parts from floating in the mixture, and seals the containment area, or silicone will leak from underneath. It is also cost effective to cast as many different parts at a time.

The Alumilite brand I'm using here requires a 10 to 1 mixture of rubber and catalyst to cure properly. The resin requires 1 to 1.

Before beginning, it's important to prep the parts being cast. The Star Destroyer uses multiples of this 8-Rad part (many filming models of that era did). This part, below, first had to have its sides removed with a hobby knife or saw. It also has many openings that have to be plugged up. I noticed the outer edges on this part are higher than some details in the middle, so it doesn't lay flat on those edges. It was necessary to build up the outer edges with plastic so they were higher than the inner details.



Depending on the cure time of the silicone you use, it could take a day or a few hours before you are ready to cast pieces in it. The pink mix will take about a day, but for this 8-Rad part I used the yellow mix, which meant I was copying it the same day. The pink mold is softer and more flexible than the yellow. They are both durable, and will last through many castings before they lose their usability.



A good thing about resin castings is that they are easy to work with. If you haven't tried it yet, resin takes a mere 3 minutes to harden, so you don't have to wait long to have all your needed pieces.



There are experts here in dealing with resin that have more advanced ways of doing things, pressure casting, etc. But if all you need are a few parts using a one part mold, or you just want to learn the basics, this could be a good starting point for you.

Hope this helps those who always wanted to try it!