spacewolf Posted October 3, 2019 Share Posted October 3, 2019 Greeting all As many of you know I was rather excited to hear Bandai was bringing out a 1/5000 Star Destroyer.. well, she just popped out of hyperspace ... and OMG is she sweet ! A big box with LOTS of goodies !! As is usual for Bandai the detail is just insane... You get a sprue of clear parts for those who want to go for extreme accuracy.. Note that the windows are pre molded as this model is designed to be lighted from inside WITHOUT fiber optics ! The detail... just jaw dropping... so fine you need a magnifying glass to see some of it ! Bottom side trench detail... LSP_Kevin, mpk, scvrobeson and 2 others 5 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
spacewolf Posted October 3, 2019 Author Share Posted October 3, 2019 As I said.. the holes for lights are pre molded... They taper back to front... A test run in front of my bench light... I couldn't wait to see how it sized up with my Jedha city... looks pretty close !! You get a 'to scale' Falcon in both the lighted and unlighted kits ( I got both) And the Blockade Runner.. TorbenD, Vandy 1 VX 4, LSP_Kevin and 3 others 6 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
spacewolf Posted October 3, 2019 Author Share Posted October 3, 2019 My first beef with the kit is the cheap stand included... certainly we need an aftermarket stand worthy of the kit ! The blockade Runner and falcon are to be displayed from a rod that plugs into the stand under the SD.. Other than that it looks great ! I got both the instruction manuals in the lighted kit. A wealth of info on the filming miniature and how to make an exact copy from the kit. The only difference in the lighted and unlighted version as far as I can see is the battery holder/ switch unit and the lights/ wire bundles and some reflective pre cut stickers. The instructions and everything else is the same.. you could make up your own lighting unit with little problem.. or at least it looks like that so far. TorbenD, Vandy 1 VX 4, jimbo and 3 others 6 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dave Williams Posted October 3, 2019 Share Posted October 3, 2019 I thought the clear side panels and head were only in the lighted boxing. spacewolf 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
spacewolf Posted October 3, 2019 Author Share Posted October 3, 2019 Parts everywhere... here we go !! The battery box.. 3 AAA batteries.. the light bundles.. basically plug and play. The instructions show you how to group the wire bundles and the measurements to tape them together.. and give you the pre cut reflective stickers with which to do so. First parts going on... this part needed glue.. it was a bit loose. Front hanger wall.... this assembly is 1 cm x 7 mm.... !!!! this went together in about 3 minutes... I'm jumping in the deep end... more in a few days !!! TorbenD, Vandy 1 VX 4, mpk and 4 others 7 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
spacewolf Posted October 3, 2019 Author Share Posted October 3, 2019 (edited) On 10/2/2019 at 7:31 PM, Dave Williams said: I thought the clear side panels and head were only in the lighted boxing. You are correct .. no clear parts in the unlighted kit. But honestly, I don't think you need them unless you are going for 100 % accuracy with the lights. Edited October 4, 2019 by spacewolf Vandy 1 VX 4 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
spacewolf Posted October 4, 2019 Author Share Posted October 4, 2019 Back at it we go.. these kits go together fast !! They provide you with stickers to use for light blocking.. I did this first one but used black paint for the rest.. too much work ! The main hanger opening.. Everything falls together in minutes.. brilliant !! The nose section.. 3 parts here.. Gluing in the side walls. each side has two parts so I glued everything for strength & rigidity. A quick light check using just my work lamp.. looks good ! Out2gtcha, LSP_Kevin, Shawn M and 2 others 5 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
spacewolf Posted October 4, 2019 Author Share Posted October 4, 2019 These white parts are light block/ guides.. the light from the LEDs reflect along them.. they also cut down any chance of light bleed through the skin of the ship.. brilliant engineering ! The forward panel is covered in the pre cut silver tape.... and with that.. the bottom half of the ship is done ! Time for lights.. the instructions guide you to do this.. Everything is drop fit... another light guide goes in place after you place the first lights.. The nose LED and all other lights are held by these molded clips.. just press in and it's done. Rear sidewall lights and engine lights in place.. Light check !! Hanger lights !! Sidewalls... Vandy 1 VX 4, jimbo, LSP_Kevin and 2 others 5 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
spacewolf Posted October 4, 2019 Author Share Posted October 4, 2019 The engine section goes together easy... amazing detail The unit press fits into the bottom rear of the ship. I glued every joint here. Light check !! Certainly captures the look !! One can see a bit of light bleed on the left side.. I'll address this in a bit. I knew I wanted to have the ship 'hover' over the city.. but there is precious little space inside the model to mount a rod receptacle but I found this happy coincidence ! One of several guide tubes is in the perfect spot. The top tube fits into the bottom so stresses would be shared with both top and bottom hulls. I added support made from scrap sheet... Then drilled a hole through the outer skin for a stainless steel rod. Using the kits as it comes you need the support.. it's a heavy beast ! With that little issue decided, the top hull went on. Shawn M, Out2gtcha, LSP_Kevin and 2 others 5 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
spacewolf Posted October 4, 2019 Author Share Posted October 4, 2019 Checking for light bleed. NOTHING !! Not a bit through the hull or skin at any point. The lights look good from an initial look.. Very convincing ! However.. on closer inspection there were slight gaps at the top of the side walls.. nothing bad but needing extra work. The top hull was just press fit on so no glue has been used yet. We will address this soon. I'm super impress with this new kit, however I have the impression it has been over engineered and perhaps even rushed or too ambitious.. The fit is good but could be better based on building their earlier kits. This is NOT you typical 'fall together' Bandai kit.. but it is stunning none the less. More in a bit !! Shawn M, Out2gtcha, Vandy 1 VX 4 and 3 others 6 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dave Williams Posted October 4, 2019 Share Posted October 4, 2019 Looking good! My first impression on looking at the kit is, how am I going to paint all the parts without accidentally filling in all of those tiny pinholes for the lights to shine through? spacewolf 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Shawn M Posted October 4, 2019 Share Posted October 4, 2019 I was thinking that to Dave, paint before assembly? spacewolf 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ringleheim Posted October 4, 2019 Share Posted October 4, 2019 It looks like a great kit and it really captures the look of the "real" ship from the movies...but why did they have to make it so small! I wish all of these Bandai Star Wars kits were presented in larger scales. Has Bandai mentioned doing a really big Star Destroyer? Even the Zvezda kit is too small. spacewolf 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Out2gtcha Posted October 4, 2019 Share Posted October 4, 2019 Wow, great stuff Vaughn! I just got the kit in hand myself and am also very impressed. I see the most detailed sheet with explanation of the lighting setup is in all Japanese! spacewolf 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dave Williams Posted October 4, 2019 Share Posted October 4, 2019 7 hours ago, Shawn M said: I was thinking that to Dave, paint before assembly? Yeah, I’m thinking that’s the way to go, but the other issue is that the pinholes are so tiny that they risk being filled by droplets of paint or primer, so I think you have to go with a very fine paint. Vandy 1 VX 4 and spacewolf 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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