Star Destroyer #3

[JAWS]

Yeah sorry mate i been side tracked getting this place organised & other stuff.
I will mould them up this weekend & have them in the mail by Monday or Tuesday.

[ringa]

Here's something I wasn't sure if I was going to do... engine flaps. In the end, though, if I want this to be as much like the original filming model as I can make it, I would have to have them.

The original part comes from the Aurora Sealab. From what I've seen, there is only one, maybe two per kit, and the kit is very rare and very expensive. If I had the part, it would be too fragile to cast, so I had to scratch build them.

One of the reasons I was hesitant to do them is because I wasn't sure how sturdy they would be. I was concerned that I would be knocking them off every time I had to turn a light bulb. Turns out they are very sturdy, and they don't get in the way of reaching the bulbs as much as I thought.

Here are a couple of photos I just took with lights on and off...





This makes the model one step closer to completion! So little left to do!

[Cylon-Knight]

Rick - WOW!
I saw those composites and thought they were from A New Hope... Your build is perfect.
Thank you for sharing it!

[ringa]

Got a new camera. Can take better pictures. Here's one for now.

[JAWS]

[/i]Rick I have done your parts for the bottom of the neck & the engine thrusters.
The resin is f@#$%d but should be ok when it fully cures. Sorry for the delay but I wasn't going to cast these parts with this resin & just hadn't got around to ordering more yet.

[ringa]

Happy New Year!

It's been a while since I've done anything on this model. After more than a year of intense work on it, I just had to get away from it for a while.

This morning I took a new shot of the back of the ship to redo an older shot that did not have flaps on the engines. Still some missing pieces, but I will have to wait until what I need turns up.



I've updated my website with photos of this model. All three Star Destroyer replicas can be seen here: Rick Ingalsbe Studio

[darkimmitator]

That is an awesome composite !!!

[JAWS]

Happy New Year Rick!
You have 6 pieces to go buddy & she's done.
Sorry youve had to wait but you will get them soon.
Hope you had a good Christmas & start to the New year & llok forward to working with you on an new project.

[Mensaboy]

AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA !!!!

thats f'in INSANE !

[ringa]

(01-02-2012, 06:42 AM)jase72 Wrote: Happy New Year Rick!
You have 6 pieces to go buddy & she's done.
Sorry youve had to wait but you will get them soon.
Hope you had a good Christmas & start to the New year & llok forward to working with you on an new project.

Thanks Jason! It will be satisfying to finally call this one finished.

Don't know when I will start the next one. So many ideas, so little time.

[darkimmitator]

cough cough ,battlestar , cough hack ,cough, galac ,cough cough , tica , hack , cough !

[Wombat]

You really should have been working for Apogee back then, it's pure magic looking at that composite.

Really, that is simply stunning!

[ringa]

(01-03-2012, 12:04 AM)Wombat Wrote: You really should have been working for Apogee back then, it's pure magic looking at that composite.

Really, that is simply stunning!

Thanks! Glad you like it. Would have been great working for Apogee back in the day, but I think I was too young at the time.

---

(01-02-2012, 11:51 PM)darkimmitator Wrote: cough cough ,battlestar , cough hack ,cough, galac ,cough cough , tica , hack , cough !

I detect a subtle hint.

[JAWS]

Rick can you email me your address again please & will have a package away tomorrow.

[Darkmoonspirit]

Looks like the most incredible Devastator ever...!

Most impressive Work !

[ringa]

[LastBattlestar]

Just fantastic Rick, looks like the real deal!

Try cropping the pics to the 2.35:1 cinema aspect ratio and it will be perfect!

Mike

[ringa]

Thank you, Mike!

How's this?

[LastBattlestar]

Yeah, that'll do.

Mike

[Wombat]

It passes with flying colours no question about it!

[JAWS]

Show off!
The main thing is we can tell your happy with it Rick & so you should be.
Mine looks like a skeleton dead on my bench after years of decay......

[ringa]

(01-26-2012, 12:32 PM)jase72 Wrote: Show off!
The main thing is we can tell your happy with it Rick & so you should be.
Mine looks like a skeleton dead on my bench after years of decay......

You're only getting started. Before long it will come alive.

[ringa]

Yesterday I went to a craft store and bought a huge piece of black fabric for use as a backdrop for taking pictures of this model. It makes silhouetting so much easier.

In shooting some photos of the model this morning, it suddenly occurred to me that I don't have any recent side view shots of the model. The side view shows the gradual tapering of the forced perspective of the trenches. It is about half as wide at the back as it is at the nose.

So here, along with a new front view, is a side view...

[JAWS]

Damn I never get tired of looking at your pictures. I only just realised you put the ribbed piece on the bridge face. So are you going to add the Defiance parts to the back neck? Its a Revell e?repop so will be cheap & you'll be the first to have those missing pieces on S D replica. If we can only find the right ribbed piece for the bridge & the mystery part for the neck base cavity... Nice stuff Rick. Mails obviously not there yet...

[ringa]

The Revell Defiance was a great find, and I will be adding those parts to it as soon as I am able to get the kit. Going to a few hobby stores today to see if they have one.

I would love to know what the correct ribbed piece is on the bridge face. The one I made for my model is temporary. From the photo of the SD in the Chronicles book, you can see that ribbed piece is not just below, but in front of the pieces above it. It also looks bigger than the piece I made from the Akagi kit. Below is a comparison of my bridge with the Chronicles photo. Does anyone have any idea where this ribbed piece comes from?



Also, it seems that if I decide to reposition the antenna upright, it would be straighter than the original as it leaned pretty far to the starboard side. I think this was done as part of a forced perspective issue like the trenches, since the ship was only filmed from the port side. I can't see the ILM crew positioning it that far off by accident.

[JAWS]

I think the ribbed piece is from a 1/200 carrier. Maybe the Doyusha 1/200 Akagi. Haven't got one to have a look at yet. The piece just looks a bigger scale of what youve got. Its on my list of must finds.

[star-art]

Looking good, Rick! The antenna issue might have been one of the reasons they decided to change it for ESB. Who knows. . .

A 1/200 part would be more than double the size since the Akagi part substituted here was 1/450. That is, assuming it's the exact same part/assembly. Perhaps 1/400 or 1/350? I believe the Doyusha kits were 1/250. Anybody check the Shinano?

[ringa]

I guess I could scratch build it if nothing definite turns up.

[JAWS]

I believe Rick joined 2 pieces together to make what he has on the face?
Might be some random scale.

[dbhs]

(01-30-2012, 12:00 AM)ringa Wrote: The Revell Defiance was a great find, and I will be adding those parts to it as soon as I am able to get the kit. Going to a few hobby stores today to see if they have one.

I didn't see this in the kit scans section. Would you mind posting pics of the rest of the kit when you get it?

[ringa]

As soon as I can find one, I'll do that.

[ringa]

Thanks to our friend Jason Wright, I was finally able to add more missing parts to this model. New parts include the detailed rings inside the secondary engines that come from the Tamiya Centurion kit, and the two small, square pieces at the bottom of the bridge neck from the Kirishima.



Thanks again to Jason for helping me make this model one step closer to resembling the real thing!

[JAWS]

No worries Rick. Am glad to be of assistance. Will get the Panther parts to you soon aswell mate.

[ringa]

Thanks Jase!

[ringa]

Here's a view I haven't done before...

[dbhs]

Hi Rick,

Looks great. The lighting on your models is great. I'd be interested to see a picture of how you set up the model for taking these photographs. The setup I use is somewhat crude and I get mixed results. For mw, getting the lighting to come out the way I want is the hardest part. I like to use a bright halogen shop light because of its intensity and color balance but often the shadows are too harsh. I've experimented with using pieces of white paper opposite the model from the light to bounce a little light back to the dark side to make it balance with the bright side. You have a great balance in the lighting on the bright and dark sides and wondering if you do something similar?

[ringa]

Thanks! Lighting is EVERYTHING in making a model look its best. In my opinion, the best example of lighting space vehicles can be found in the film, 2001: A Space Odyssey. Most of the time the models are back lit, with the dark side lit with the appearance of reflected/diffused/ambient light. That reflected light usually has a blue hue to it, like this cap from the film:


I never get tired of watching the effects work done on that film. It's just a masterpiece of cinema.

In response to your question, I looked through my photos to find a good example of how I do this. Below is a photo I originally posted at the bottom of page 7 of this thread. With it are two of the shots I took for use in that composite.

I use an old, overhead projector for lighting. I have a large roll of black backdrop paper, which I used in these photos below. This is an older photo, taken before the model was finished, and before I bought a huge piece of black fabric.

First, I matched the position of the light to the Deathstar picture I wanted to add my Star Destroyer to. Just out of camera range on the left side, I use a large, white piece of foamboard mounted on another stand to reflect the projector lamp light coming from the right side. I chose this as an example because it has a similar back lighting that I like so much.

I'll take several photos with the reflector in different positions, some even without it. You can achieve 2001-like effects by using a blue foamboard instead of white to reflect the light (or whatever color you want). You could even use colored gels (carefully) placed in front of the light depending on what kind of effect you're going for. Since I am compositing all elements in Photoshop, I use the photo filters in the program. There's much more control over the desired effect (see last photo below).

I'll choose the one shot that works best in the composition I'm creating, then silhouette the model and copy it into the background. In this case, I airbrushed engine flames, kind of like the classic production still of the Star Destroyer.

This shot has the reflector close to the model. I felt it was too bright. It might have worked this close if there were a planet above/left, which would make more sense in this shot.


But, since this was 'deep space,' less ambient light was the way to go...


Here's the final composite...


For a more 2001-like look, a blue photo filter is added to the reflected light...


That's how I do it.

[ringa]

This build is the result of years of work. A case of trial and error, if at first you don't succeed, and all that. But it all started because I never saw the real filming model in any museum, but always wanted to (still do). So I thought I would build my own. I never thought I'd ever build three of these, and vowed I'd never do it again after finishing each one (ha!).

Now I feel I've finally got the model I set out to build in 2003 when I saw for the first time photos of the real star destroyer in a museum on Starshipbuilder.com. Seeing those photos inspired me to try scratch-building a studio scale model for the first time.

And what a ride it has been! Little did I know that my first star destroyer would end up in Patrick Read Johnson's movie, along with other models I made for it, not to mention recreating the original ILM facility on a soundstage! That was the most exciting, and most incredible experience of my career. Because I decided to build a second star destroyer, little did I know that one would end up in a museum tour replacing the real model.

Because I decided to build these models, I've met so many new friends and even childhood heroes. One thing that happened that I will always cherish... after a screening of our film '77 at the Hamptons Film Festival, we had dinner in a restaurant with our special guest Douglas Trumbull (who is a character in the film). Patrick introduced him to me and told him of all the work I had done on the movie. Mr. Trumbull turned to me and said, "You did a great job on this film." Having dinner with Douglas Trumbull and receiving a compliment from him was the equivalent of winning an academy award to a guy like me!

And because I decided to build this third star destroyer, I was able to meet Lorne Peterson. His reaction to this build was a validation of sorts for doing a mix of the real details with my own thing. When your work impresses one of the men who built the real filming model, then you know you're doing something right.

Like I said, what a wild ride!

Recently I did a series of comparison shots. I took some photos of my replica and tried to match camera angles with some of the photos taken of the real model in museums.

From the start I said that I was more interested in getting the proportions right than every last detail. A star destroyer is one of the hardest subjects to get right because of all the angles. I did my best having studied countless photos and gained valuable experience with my first two attempts. Those first two models taught me much about what I got right and wrong with them, but I think the third time was the charm. The only way I could have gotten closer is by having hands on access to the real model to take precise measurements. When building the way I had to (mostly educated guess work), some of the things you don't get quite right are only discovered after it is built and compared in this manner, but there is nothing so off that I can't live with the final result.

First is the photo that started it all for me. This shot used to be on Starshipbuilder.com along with many others. This one was my favorite. It inspired me to want to build one of my own. Here's how they compare along with two others...



I want to thank all of you who have followed this build, and for all your compliments and encouragement. You've all given me that extra push to get it done.

[dbhs]

Thanks for the feedback on the lighting, Rick. You're right about needing to use a reflector to help bounce light back to the dark side. You have a lot of control over very subtle ligthing effect with that by varying the size, distance and type of reflector. The light is much softer than a secondary light source trying to do the same thing. I did this again in the shuttle photos I took recently. I was pressed for time on that one and didn't really set it up as well or cleaned the photos up as well as I would have liked but it will do for now.

I hadn't thought of using a colored reflector as you mentioned. For mine it would have distorted the colors but I could see using it if I was compositing for a particular look....like if it was next to a red-orange planet I could reflect red-orange light onto it and make it look more realistic. Very good idea.

I definitely understand you're desire to fulfill a goal fueled by inspiration like that. I'm going to be posting soon on a dream project of my own. For me the challenge of making it real is often more inspiring than the desire to just have the final product. Having the product is just the icing on the cake so to speak....the journey is the cake.

[kbilly]

It looks exactly like the studio model! This is such an incredible build!

[JAWS]

Ok time for a new build Rick.
Lets do Blockade Runner.

[Wombat]

Simply stunning!

Congratulations, Rick.

[ringa]

Thanks everyone! For all those who followed it, I'm very glad you enjoyed it.

[ringa]

If you own a copy of Star Wars Chronicles, and you are a fan of the Star Destroyer, then you know that the original model had pieces on the back of the bridge that are no longer there today. They were on the model for ANH, and some for ESB. They were located along the back of what we call the bridge "neck," and in the open space at the bottom. They can be seen in the opening scene of ANH just as the back of the ship comes into frame for about a second.

With a little help from my friends, we tracked down those "lost pieces." Now a part of my replica, here's what the original once looked like when ANH was filmed...

[darkimmitator]

Very cool . I did not know there were pieces lost off of the original !

[ringa]

There are actually more missing pieces off the original in other places, like a couple of parts on the bridge face, the nose trench details, side trench details and the backs of the trenches (the small spaces on either side of the engine area).

[JAWS]

Beautiful Rick. That is just fantastic to see the model at this point. Those details are so key to this model I can not believe they have been lost. So congratulations Rick & thanks for sharing this.

[ringa]

We arrived here at WonderFest yesterday, and immediately I set up the model in the same place it was on display (partially completed superstructure only) last year. Next to me to my right is Jason's Blade Runner Blimp. He wasn't there when I set up the SD, so I haven't seen it in all its powered up glory, so no photos yet.

[JAWS]

Oh your killing me Rick.
That is so seriously awsome.
I love the mirror at the front.
It does the job perfectly & just looks awsome!

More pics please.

[darkimmitator]

Exactly whate Jase said ....Well done indeed !!!!!