Star Wars GB Episode II CLOSED

Another quick update...

I'm deviating from the instructions a bit to make painting easier. And thanks again to Brandon for pointing out the wing-orientation gotchas, invaluable info! I'm doing my best to keep the "right sides up." :-)

Hit the wings with some gray/white paint after pre-shading. I'm going for an overall "patchwork in-the-field repairs" look so decided to mask the markings (using the sticker decal sheet as the template) rather than use the decals to get some overspray and general messiness. Then started picking out various panels with darker and lighter grays and some yellow. 

Next, I'll seal everything with Future and then start the weathering in earnest (panel line wash, filters, dry-brushing, chipping, and overall color adjustments as needed). 

Thanks for looking! And for those in the U.S., hope you have happy and safe Thanksgiving. 

PB, the X-wing is looking sweet!! Great job!

OK, I'm finally going to get some pictures posted of the Star Destroyer. So far, I believe this kit was made to be a toy that you glue together. There are seems all over this model, but, Perfect Plastic putty has become my best friend. 

I did buy a resin kit for this build, however, I decided not to use many of the parts. I'm not extremely happy with the molding of some of the parts and I started to late to be able to effectively add them to the build. 

Anyway the pictures show what parts I am using:

Many of the locator pins had to be removed for the hull to attached correctly:

The hull being glue together:

Here the hull is attached:

Here is the resin Command Bridge. The Deflector Domes are from Shapeways. I am adding the cage surrounding the domes. 

I have to finish the cage, then finish the seems on the hull. Hope to get primer on soon.

Thanks, Bruce! And your build is off to a great start, too.

Ah, the MPC SD. One of the first kits I built when I got back into the hobby ten or so years ago. I don't think all that aftermarket was available (or I just didn't know about it), so looking forward to seeing what you do with it. It boggles the mind that decades after ANH hit theaters we still don't have a higher-quality SD kit. C'mon, Bandai!

Bish, PB,

I bought the kit from Avery Model Products.

It's the Devestator Conversion set, but I'm not overly impressed with the quality of the parts. The bay and the engines have been the best parts so far.

Bish,

I bought the Odyssey Hanger bay too. It's in several pieces and look very delicate, but very nice. I also bought the Odyssey engines too.

I have enough parts to build another star destroyer, which I may do at some point.

I think the Odyssey hanger is better than the Avery one I installed. But, it will take much more patience to install correctly since it's in multiple pieces. I installed the Avery hanger because I'm getting to the end of this GB and all I had to do was trim and glue.

Edit: Bish, I'll take pictures of the Odyssey kits along side the Avery kits. Maybe this will give you a better idea. I'll do this later tonight after I get home from work.

Thanks for the info on the SD kit, Bruce, and for the compliment, Bob. :-) 

Going full bore with weathering on the wings (downside of building the X-Wing--you have eight wing  surfaces to weather!), hope to post some pics soon of my progess. 

PB

Bish,

Here is the Odyssey kit:

And here is the Avery Bay:

Here are the Odyssey Engines (3 large and the 4 smaller):

Here are the three Avery engines:

Man, that is some nice work going on here! 16 days till the end and the sprint is on! PB's x-wing is looking great! Bruce, those updates will really enhance that SD. I used 1/700 quad bofors for my turbo lasers, but those resin ones are really nice. Waiting to see the AT-AT finished up, too. That is looking great. Now, did I see Bish starting in on the Stormtrooper? Those are really big kits. Bish, did you use the spray foam for the inside on this one?

Well looking forward to how this all turns out, keep it up everyone and may the force be with you!

-Stephen

Thanks, Stephen!

Got the topsides of the wings weathered, so halfway there. Bish, will definitely miss the deadline at this rate, so I'll keep posting photos after if you guys want to see more progress. 

Thanks for looking.

PB

PS--Go, Pack! :-) 

Wow, PB! Looks outstanding!

Thank you, guys! Your compliments mean a lot, especially since I can be so self-critical. Ugh.

Anyway, I'll prob adjust the weathering as I go along (ie, tone it down or bring it up in various areas) after I get the fuselage in place and can see what the overall look is. The fuse won't be as beat up as the wings, so my strategy is go for more subtle tonal variations in the nose panels and other fuselage bits. Still pondering how to tackle the engines.

And will definitely keep posting progess pics after the deadline. :-) 

PB

I might be posting some pics after the deadline with you.  I stained the base, but it is taking forever to dry, so I'm hoping at some point in the coming week I'll be able to get some celluclay down on it.  In the mean time, I've painted up the snowspeeder that will be zipping around.  I also built the flaps on the bottom side from sheet styrene and the tow line launcher from stretched sprue.  I still have to weather it.

SB,

The Snowspeeder looks great! looking forward to seeing your AT-AT complete!

Quick update on the Star Destroyer.

Command bridge is complete. I scratch built the cage around the domes, not too happy with how they tured out. I should have used a touch smaller round stock, and placed them more inside the dome.

Here is the complete SD:

And here with primer: