I must have been around 7 years old when my father first came home with a fun hobby to pass the time. It was big model kit of a 747 jet. That night we stayed up late as we slowly put it together. No paint, just the gray color the model came in and globs of glue everywhere. It didn’t matter we both loved it and had a lot fun putting it together. That would be the first of many models I would build as a kid.
Years later when the Star Wars movies came out, I would save whatever money I had and run out and buy a new kit. Darth Vader’s Tie Advanced, X-Wing Fighter, AT-AT etc. This was my favorite hobby until my early teens when video games came on the scene.
Fast forward some 35 years!…
…After catching up with an old childhood friend, he reminded me of how he used to come to my house and enjoyed looking at the models I had on my shelves. Those models would eventually disappear because I would give them away to friends if they wanted them.
After this conversation, I started thinking about the hobby again and how much fun it was and also how much it has advanced since then. I would look online at all the amazing things modelers were doing now and eventually decided to try and build one after so long.
I’ve always loved the Star Destroyers but I remember being disappointed even back then with lack of detail in the old MPC kit. When this new one from Zvezda (Revell in the US) came out, it looked great and It was a perfect way for me to get back into the hobby.
It was a learning curve for me to catch up and learn new techniques and also learn how to install fiber optics but with the help ofYouTube and experienced model makers from many Facebook groups, I managed to do some catching up!
From my photo research I found that this Star Destroyer kit wasn’t 100% accurate with either the Devastator or the Avenger so I decided to have fun and make it my own.
I loved the engines of the Devastator with the little flaps so I added these 3D printed ones from Shapeways.
- Other 3D printed items I added:
- Shield Generators
- Trench plates
- Cargo bay
- Millenium Falcon
- Tantive IV
- Various 1/700 scale photo etch sets
- Tamiya Waterline war ship kits for extra greeblies
For the paint, my original intention was to paint it almost white like the Episode IV Devastator which is kind of off white. I primed the model with Tamiya light gray primer with the intention to then finish it with a mist of Tamiya Insignia White. But before I got to spray the last white coat, I saw how a fellow modeler drew panel lines with a pencil that just gave the model a huge scale and made it look closer to what ILM did on their destroyers.
So it was back to research for me as I studied close up reference photos that showed the line patterns they drew on the ships. After practicing them on paper, I drew the lines on the kit using mechanical pencils and finally spraying a light coat over the whole kit to lighten the intensity of the pencil lines.
At this point I realized that the color of light gray primer, was actually pretty cool so I decided to abandon the “White Star Destroyer” color and go with a more Episode V Avenger gray look.
The stand was custom made by Mathew at laserfirecreations from a design I had.
Evan at Modeltrainsoftware.com was very helpful also with showing me how to correctly wire and set up the remote control lighting I wanted.
Ok time to get ready for my next project: Bandai’s Perfect Grade Millennium Falcon!
