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Zvezda Star Destroyer build- #2

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  • Member since
    August 2009
  • From: Bluegrass
Zvezda Star Destroyer build- #2
Posted by robiwon on Wednesday, July 5, 2017 9:13 AM

So I picked up from Age of Plastic on Shapeways his Tantive and two pack of Falcon's. Thanks to Shapeways, they actually sent me three Falcons and then the Mouse slammed his fist down and the Falcons got removed from the site. I think mine were the last to make it out alive.
The Tantive is a marvel of miniature 3D printed engineering being design to be lit. And that's what I did. Each engine tube is hollow to accept 1mm fiber. The main body of the ship is also hollow to run a 1mm fiber up to the open cockpit window. To light this little beastie I solder up two Pico LEDs and glued them back to back. The forward facing LED would light the fiber for the cockpit and the rear facing would light the 11 fibers for the engines. Each of these fibers were mushroomed and then pushed into the engines. I gave the rear LED a few coats of Tamiya clear Yellow.
This will be mounted on the base with the Zvezda giving chase. In the pictures below you can see how tiny the Tantive is.


An early lighting test of the cockpit and engines.

After some light blocking and primer coats.

And yes, the tiny, tiny Falcon is being lit as well. I drilled a groove in the bottom hull to accept a Pico LED. This was epoxied in place. Its hard to get good pictures of this as it's so dang tiny!!!

A coat of black and then grey primer followed up by Tamiya AS-20.

I sanded the engine panel after final paint to reveal the semi transparent print material. I also did the same for the cockpit. And of course, the camera couldn't focus well and over exposed the light. It's not that bright in person. I'll try and get some better pics today.

  • Member since
    August 2009
  • From: Bluegrass
Posted by robiwon on Wednesday, July 5, 2017 9:14 AM
And the finished Tantive. I made the engines more of an orange color. Looks better that color.    And all lit up!
  • Member since
    August 2009
  • From: Bluegrass
Posted by robiwon on Wednesday, July 5, 2017 9:15 AM
Here is the finished 1/2700 Falcon. It's so hard to get any clear pictures of it! The engines are not as bright in person, it's much more realistic. And yes, light is shining through the canopy as well. Officially the smallest model I have ever lit!!!!
  • Member since
    December 2006
  • From: Phoenix, AZ
Posted by Fly-n-hi on Wednesday, July 5, 2017 10:35 AM

Dude, that's awesome!

  • Member since
    November 2009
  • From: SW Virginia
Posted by Gamera on Wednesday, July 5, 2017 12:01 PM

Oh wow the Force is strong with you Robiwon!!! 

"I dream in fire but work in clay." -Arthur Machen

 

  • Member since
    September 2006
  • From: Central Texas
Posted by NucMedTech on Wednesday, July 5, 2017 12:17 PM

The force is strong, unfortunately the pics are not. I can only see x'sBoo Hoo

Most barriers to your successes are man made. And most often you are the man who made them. -Frank Tyger

  • Member since
    May 2008
  • From: Ypsilanti, MI
Posted by MIflyer on Wednesday, July 5, 2017 7:48 PM

Fantastic work on such tiny models. Really impressive!

Kevin Johnson    Ypsilanti, Michigan USA

On the bench: 1/72 Fujimi Ki-36 J-BAAR

  • Member since
    August 2017
Posted by CavScout 2/107 on Friday, August 18, 2017 9:32 AM

I'm awestruck ! Outstanding work!

  • Member since
    February 2015
Posted by InternationalRescue on Tuesday, October 10, 2017 6:34 PM

Thanks for the tips and detailed pic's.  I ordered my ships from Shapeways and was blown away by the level of detail.  Those are some tiny ships; I'm looking forward to highlighting how big the ol' Star Destroyer is!  Now where did I put my microscope?  

  • Member since
    April 2013
  • From: Eleva, Wisconsin
Posted by Greatmaker on Thursday, November 9, 2017 10:57 AM

Holy cow.  You did amazing work on a scale that would be har for me even to see.

 

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