1:5000 Star Destroyer

This is my build of the Bandai Star Destroyer released just last year (2019). The detail in this kit is phenomenal, it truly is a masterpiece. 2 variants of the kit were released and I acquired both of them. The difference between the kits was that one of them had a full lighting kit added with it. It seems as though more and more model companies are doing that recently. That being said, the standard kit (the one i'm building below) has all the ships windows bored out before hand, which is a massive time saver. The kit is built to be lit and i used my own lighting kit for it. Consisting of 0805 SMD LED's and standard 3mm LED's, this kit looks fantastic in the dark.

This is the Docking bay rear end.

Note the extreme detail in every individual part.

I added weights to help keep the ship from slipping off the stand it came with. I later decided to forego said stand and go with a custom base.

Incredible detail! The image below (from the angle you're viewing it at) has 3 separate seams in view. I challenge you to spot them all (chances are, you're wrong)!

About 8 or 9 pieces in the image below. Little seam work is needed.

The front end, along with other sections, will have reflective tape (from Bandai) to ensure light reflects through every window as equally as possible.

Lower LED's for interior lighting added.

The completed shuttle bay (pre paint) lit up using my overhead light.

Custom Light blocking tape came with the kit, just like the reflective tape. Very necessary! I'm glad they included it, as it saved me lots of time.

Each "Wing" (Rear engine housing) has 5 pieces currently installed in each one at the time of this photo. See if you can find them all!

Engine sub assembly completed with primary paint job.

Snake nest of wires. Switch seen below has since been removed so that it can be added to the base instead.

Using 0805 SMD LED's for the first time was difficult because of how small they are (smaller than Abraham Lincoln's head on the American penny). Each SMD is blue in colour...obviously... and has a flickering effect.

Checking for light leaks.

Rear view in the dark.

Beautiful side view.

TO BE CONTINUED...