8' Star Destroyer from TESB

[MonsieurTox]

Thanks Jase and Franck

Well Ive been working on the front superstructures for 3 days now. I cant tell you how hard it is to find parts washed out by flash or hidden in shadow ! That's what Ive been able to ditenfy so far (Ive found more but I cant glue them until I received one kit which will determinate the space between 2 "shelves").











Several parts are not glued and not fitted, they're just in place for the pics.

[JAWS]

Hey your supposed to get the presents! Thanks julien. Looking very nice & happy Birthday as it should now be your birthday in your country. Have a really good day my friend.

[MonsieurTox]

(03-04-2010, 12:14 PM)jasonwright.1972 Wrote: Hey your supposed to get the presents! Thanks julien. Looking very nice & happy Birthday as it should now be your birthday in your country. Have a really good day my friend.

Thanks again Jase !

My fiancée offered me tickets to see with her the Star Wars Concert in Paris, 2 days ago, that was a great concert !!

A few parts were added, I gonna build the wooden frame next week :







As you can see the top of the forward superstructures is now white, I skinned the plexi parts with 3 mm styrene sheets as I was missing 3 mm !

[JAWS]

Wow thanks Julien for keeping us updated on this MONSTER project. Truly a fantastic achievement already. I feel honored to be watching this come to life. Almost as good as being in an ILM studio.

[Wombat]

Wow,thats just incredible stuff,i'm getting a headache just looking at how many part's you've got in there already.It's amazing that you can even ID everything to start with not to mention the way you recreate the builds yourself to such an amazing level of accuracy.
Excellent work mate as always!!

[MonsieurTox]

Thank you both for your kind words !

I try to do my best to get a good replica, I managed to find most of the kit parts but some are a tough task to ID because of the lack of ref (yah the 8 footer is pretty well covered but there's always an area you miss). Anyway I knew from the beginning I wouldnt find 100% of the parts, and tbh, I have more than I expected !



Yeah that's I could have bought a small car but yeah an ISD is way better !



I havent had a lot of time, but I managed some free time to build the wooden armature :











It's not 100% exact (my bulkheads are thicker than the original ones, I used 18 mm wood instead of 1/2 inch thick wood.



I also cut (the most difficult part so far) the neck to fit the superstructures. when I built the last stage of the superstructures, I glued it 5mm to backward so I had some difficulties with the neck... wont be 100% perfect as Im 5mm off, but Im still happy I havent damaged the neck while cutting it.













The neck is roughly cut, now I havent to sand the edges I cut to get a nice fit. And I'll glue it in place !



Ive also built the "boxes" on the starboard sides.



Thanks for looking, Julien

[JAWS]

That is just pure beauty Julien. What an impressive achievement you have shared with us. This will be truly one if not the most awsome 'replicas' ever rebuilt. Thankyou so much for sharing this fantastic build with us here & am so happy to have so many talented people share their skills with us.

[MonsieurTox]

Thanks Jase, stop that, Im blushing lol

Guys, I'm still looking for any pics of the front superstructures :







I would actually have good pics of those areas :











Any help would be much appreciated, thanks in advance !



Ive been working a bit on her this week end. I found some more parts on the front superstructures (the most difficult place to ID... the sides and rear superstructures are really easy... I dont know who did detail the front, but the guy used kits that are not used on other place !).











Then I detailed the outermost boxes of the hero sides. It was an easy and quick task :













Then Ive started the rear superstructures, here again it's an easy task but it took more time because all the parts need to be precisely cut and trimmed.

[Richard_2001]

MonsieurTox,

Here is one I found somewhere on the web a long time ago, not sure where or I would credit it. its not the clearest closeup to work from but might be better than nothing!



Richard

[427 Cobra]

Now that's what I'm talking about! More progress - less talk. I need to get to that stage. Unfortuantely, I always have to think my way through something before I finish it.

[JAWS]

Oh wowowowowowowowowowwo!!! Its looking just incredible Julien! Thats is just jaw dropping work your doing. I can look at these pictures for hours in pure amazement at what your doing. Thanks for the big update mate. I'll look in my references for anything that might help.

[Wombat]

I actually think this is one of the sickest builds i've seen someone undertake!
I thought a Battlestar had a few part's?OMG,this thing just takes the cake i'm affraid.For starters how you can even ID stuff where it is is beyond me,but ID it you do and then well your level of building is just one of the best going around.
Thanks for sharing your progress with us all.

[JAWS]

I keep looking at these pictures in just total amazement on Juliens achievement. Its just mind blowing to know he's going to have an 8ft Avenger docked in his living room(or which ever room its in). Its honestly a nerve quivering excitement to see this all naked in its development. A Galactica's huge aswell but this really is a massive undertaking & will be the replica of replicas.

[kula26]

wooooh!!!! mission impossible!!!!!!!!!!!!
cant wait to see it finished!!

[MonsieurTox]

Thanks you for your support !

Actually I dont know if the 8 footer has more kitparts than the Galactica, we should count them lol

The story about the domes could very long as it started in august, 2009. I will just make it short (I could make a whole post about that, but that wouldnt interest you) and say a big thanks to Jon would did the domes two times (the first ones were off because of me) and he was doing to do them a third time because we thought the second ones were lost in the mail. I finally received them almost 2 months later and what could I say ? They're perfect in shape, they're hollow (to save weight) and Job also did the pylon for me. I cant thank him enough for his patience as I was very anal about the shape and I did him redo the CG model several times.

I still have some bits to had to them but they're almost finished. I used the correct spindles (not the crappy brass rods they added when they restored her). Those spindles were not on the original model when they designed it and you can notice that the ISD doesnt have them on some TESB shots. There was only a styrene chip on one triangle and a tiny kit part on another. They added them later for TESB maybe to match the 3 footer ?






I wanted the shape as perfect as possible (the first ones were only off by not even 0.5 mm but it ruined the shape) as it's the sign of the vessel IMHO !


Thanks Jon !

[JAWS]

Nice to see you back in action J! You tryin to kill me with these heart stopping pictures! I hold my breath every time I open your thread. Just beautiful mate!

[427 Cobra]

I'm sorry to hear about the post being so damn slow! Sometimes these things happen. This is why I always put insurance on everything I send. Those look good, but aren't these supposed to have the geodesic domes even all over their surfaces and not recessed in their panels?

[MonsieurTox]

(05-13-2010, 11:58 PM)427 Cobra Wrote: I'm sorry to hear about the post being so damn slow! Sometimes these things happen. This is why I always put insurance on everything I send. Those look good, but aren't these supposed to have the geodesic domes even all over their surfaces and not recessed in their panels?

No Chris, they're supposed to be like that.

Here a pic of the dome (unfinished as the spindles are missing while it is in the final cut though, they were added later and are visible in other scenes) :



Thanks Jase =)

[427 Cobra]

I see now, I just wondered as I've never really looked at them very closely before.

~ Cobra Chris

[MonsieurTox]

(05-18-2010, 09:14 AM)427 Cobra Wrote: I see now, I just wondered as I've never really looked at them very closely before.

~ Cobra Chris

Well the big ones of the big bridge are different... The exploded one too !

I have a slow recovery but I'm pretty much done with the front superstructures, still some parts to find (some to find litterally, because I have those parts but cant find the sprue, like the Chieftain ones ! :lol) :

[JAWS]

LEVIATHON!!!! THat is sick Julien!

[MonsieurTox]

Thanks Jase !

I found an old primer can so I was able to shot a light coat of primer on my domes.



W/ flash :









W/O flash :









I continued to work on the smaller roof (not so small ), Ive drawn the lines I'll have to draw once it's painted to get accurate placement of the styrene chips. I drew them as accuratly as possible (even if some are missing, that was very time consuming for almost nothing lol) :

[dbhs]

It's really just too much to see all at once.

[JAWS]

Yeah Im just dumbfounded every update Julien gives us on this build. I really struggle to use correct english instead of our Aussie slang & swear words. All I can say is she's beaut mate!

[427 Cobra]

(05-20-2010, 11:29 AM)dbhs Wrote: It's really just too much to see all at once.

You're kidding - right? Wait until you see this finished! I'm dying to get my X done, but now that the rains have subsided, my yard is a swamp. At least there are a few things I can do until drying season begins.

This looks great for what's done so far. I just wish I could get something substantial done myself. Thank you for showing us this, Julien. Keep working on this, don't get sidetracked, or distracted like I did.

~ Cobra Chris

[MonsieurTox]

Thanks guys !

Yeah Chris, I reckon sometimes its hard to stay on the project, and I want to work on some other porjects (but that's cool to swtich though).

The roof is almost done (still 3 parts to find), I scribbed the main lines on it and added the last few styrene chips :















The superstructures start to take shape, I'll start the non hero side very soon !









http://i65.photobucket.com/albums/h203/m...8ft262.jpg

[JAWS]

AWSOME J!!!!

[KrokoHunter]

Wowzer .... a most impressive project ... the level of details on this beast is mindblowing ..... this is going to be a true piece of art. You rock, Julien!

[MonsieurTox]

Thank you guys !

I built the parts which are depicting the Essex bridge on the 3 Footer ISD.

Here's the way I proceeded :


First, I used this pic (thanks Nwerke) to ID the parts and to draw the shape of the styrene plates, using the kitparts as a gauge :











Done :

[427 Cobra]

Kitbashing is fun, but I love scratch building the most. Kitbashing goes fast, but scratch building takes a lot more thinking, which I like instead of using other peoples' work to detail my models. Unfortunately, you have to kitbash when copying ILMs' work. There's no way around it. On the other hand, you make it look easy Julien! I think this is why so many people idolize your skills.

~ Cobra Chris

[JAWS]

Its just incredible what Julien achieves. There are people that also assist with helping to Id parts that are an important part of making this & most peoples builds achievable but J's work is always just outstanding.

[dbhs]

(05-24-2010, 01:12 AM)427 Cobra Wrote:

(05-20-2010, 11:29 AM)dbhs Wrote: It's really just too much to see all at once.

You're kidding - right?

Of course. I love greeblie overload !!!

[MonsieurTox]

Thanks guys

Ok that's not a vid, but it will follow the detailling of the non hero side step by step. The hero side is not very hard to ID, but some parts are hard to figure out, even if they come from the usual "ILM kits".

[Hammer3246]

This is an incredible undertaking, kudos.

[JAWS]

You the man J. the fact that you post your stuff here is just an honor. Cheers buddy.

[JAWS]

Hey J can we get an update please.

[MonsieurTox]

Not yet Jase, I'm working full time on the Falcon right now ! Maybe once the Falcon is done

[JAWS]

J youve got this primered now haven't you?

[KrokoHunter]

Damn Julien .. this rocks .... I'd just love to see some of your work in real life sometime ... perhaps we should setup a european studioscale builders gettogether in the future ... that could be cool

[JAWS]

I think thats what the modeling conventions are for. The ones in Europe Ive heard are rather large!

[KrokoHunter]

(07-22-2010, 10:12 AM)jasonwright.1972 Wrote: I think thats what the modeling conventions are for. The ones in Europe Ive heard are rather large!

Yup .. there are a couple of pretty big conventions ... I've attended Intermodellbau in Dortmund, Germany as a visitor a couple of times.. I guess we could plan, to get a booth there, were we could make a big studioscale showcase ... Last year a R2 Buildersclub exibited their R2 units .... it was pretty cool

Sorry for the OT .. perhaps we should move this into a seperate thread

[MonsieurTox]

No worries Niels !

Pretty cool idea ! Unfortunatly I'm not sure I could move the Star Destroyer very far lol

Only a few models like the X-Wing, both AT-ST's, TIE Bomber, both despatch pods would take a lot of place in the car once crated... I would need to rent a truck to carry the ISD ! (and that's what I will have to do when I move to my new home, a small truck only for the destroyer ).

[dbhs]

(07-23-2010, 09:11 AM)MonsieurTox Wrote: No worries Niels !

Pretty cool idea ! Unfortunatly I'm not sure I could move the Star Destroyer very far lol

Only a few models like the X-Wing, both AT-ST's, TIE Bomber, both despatch pods would take a lot of place in the car once crated... I would need to rent a truck to carry the ISD ! (and that's what I will have to do when I move to my new home, a small truck only for the destroyer ).

Not a flat-bed truck - LOL. That thing might get airborn when you're on the freeway !! That would be a sight !

[JAWS]

Julien I'll move it for you. To Australia!

[MonsieurTox]

Would cost you an arm Jase ! lol

Well Ive been spending a full week, working 12-14 hours a day for almost nothing to show lol



Ive scribbed the hero side, cut and glued the little styrene chips all over the hero side and found some more parts to glue on the shelves. The hero side is about 98% finished now but Im still looking for a few parts that I cant find due to the lack of reference...



Thanks for looking and sorry for the color of the pics, I had 2 temperatures of color in the room...

[JAWS]

Your killing me J! That is just mindblowing.....

[dbhs]

Awesome doesn't cut it.

[kbilly]

Just continues to get better and better!!!....

[leukirix]

Great job Julien ! Bravo !

[dbhs]

I'd love to see an overall shot for scale. It looks like you're assembling them in pieces and will attach to the main strucutre later on?

Will certain parts be always removable for access to the inside?