BANDAI HAVE DONE WELL with Star Wars kits, showing solid achievements in accuracy, tight moulding standards, and excellent presentation. The 1:5000 scale Bandai Star Destroyer is a good example of this track record.
SMN report: The range of scales in Star Wars models reflects the massive range of sizes, from single-seat spaceships to the asteroid-sized Death Stars. So the 1:5000 scale of the Bandai Star Destroyer is far from being abnormal. To put its scale into perspective, a full-grown human crew member of the Star Destroyer works out to only about one-third of a millimetre tall.
That said, the Bandai Star Destroyer lends itself well to the art of scale modelling, with plenty of opportunities for accurizing and super-detailing. A certain amount of dirtying up is also beneficial, though 'weathering' is technically a no-no, as these ships don't normally enter atmosphere. Mind you, here's an opportunity to recreate a planetary crush scene, with all the weathering you like!
The Bandai model is a snap-kit, which means less time waiting for cement to dry, though as ever, you wish to apply liquid cement here and there to ensure a completely tight, non-creaking fit.
Thanks to the excellent work of ModelChili Scale Models (below) we can view how the kit goes together. There's also an installation of LED lighting, which takes the model to a new level, at least in the dark.
Having said that, I recall a youthful build of the Strombecker Moonliner, which could be illuminated by gently inserting a pen-type torch inside the fuselage. The effect was in some ways excellent, as the portholes were translucent green and lit up beautifully. The downside was that the torch also showed up all the internal mould and component lines, meaning that several coats of paint – and a lot more time – were needed when I built a second Moonliner.
Closeup view of a Star Destroyer (below) reveals the level of detail that the original Star Wars design team put into making it look as realistic as possible.
Rear view (below) shows the nozzles of the propulsion system. LEDs make these light up very effectively indeed.
