1/4222 Dominator (ISD conversion)

[nicholassagan]

Oh boy. How to start to describe this...it's late and I'm exhausted so I'll be brief. I first saw this ISD variant in a X-Wing Comic Series and thought it was pretty damn cool. Then I saw that Scale Solutions had a version and wasn't too keen on picking it up...so I figured I'd do a scratch/bash on another AMT/Ertl kit from my stash in the same manner of treatment from last year's Errant Venture. THEN the Essential Guide to Warfare book came up and Anselo Haio (aka Fractalsponge) had a render in it. A beautiful render can be inspiring....

Basically the process is the same as last year but with fewer conversion parts and less complex add-ons, etc. I started by sanding down all the raised panel detailing and small panels.

Then there was some good Dremel time opening up all the right holes.
Then the scribe line guide decals....I marked it up for proper details, etc, too

and even figured out the right diameter sphere needed to get the semi-submerged look of the domes.

Since the placement of the lower forward domes overhangs the main hangar, I'm getting rid of the auxiliary hangar and moved the main forward. It'll also be just a little smaller...

A little bit more prepping for the sidewalls

 

[Tailor]

Impressive chop-up! It'll be interesting to see how all the bit will fall back into place!
Cheers!

 

[Dark Kyp]

It will be an interresting build, I will follow that one!

 

[rookie]

Epic

 

[Leighbo]

i really admire your conversion skills, this is gonna be awesome

 

[Eastrock]

Your Insane, looking forward with the build

 

[Jurasikfrank]

Really cool!
Will be following this one close.

Cheers

 

[Grendels]

Wow a very ambitious build! Are those pen marks for panel lines?

 

[nicholassagan]

thanks guys! some of the blue pen marks, like the ones with fill-in or big X's were for gutting. some of the others outline armor paneling that i'll be adding and some of the horizontal lines (like on the bottom hull) are for the armor banding strips. or if you mean all the black lines, those are my scribing guide. which means a straight edge and a scriber will be used to trace over them.

 

[Grendels]

thanks guys! some of the blue pen marks, like the ones with fill-in or big X's were for gutting. some of the others outline armor paneling that i'll be adding and some of the horizontal lines (like on the bottom hull) are for the armor banding strips. or if you mean all the black lines, those are my scribing guide. which means a straight edge and a scriber will be used to trace over them.

That is what I ment, the black lines....

 

[nicholassagan]

ah yes. so in more detail, i've been working on star destroyer master patterns on and off here and there part of that process was to make a bunch of laser cut and etched pieces. so i designed a vector file for ALL the paneling on an ISD, most variants and scalable to whatever. in this case i did a pattern for a 10k avenger and scaled the file to 4222, make the vector lines black and printed on decal paper. i also used some micro set to get the decals to stick a little better. when i go in with the scribing tool it will just slice the line and not tear up large sections of the decal. once scribing is done i'll go back in, clean the lines up, use a toothbrush to remove remaining decal and then do some light sanding.

 

[Grendels]

Now that is a good idea on panel lines!

 

[Quaralane]

Going to be another interesting conversion, I'm sure

 

[JohnSimmons]

Man the sci Fi catergory will be tough to decide this year! Awesome stuff Nick.

 

[nicholassagan]

A friend of mine just happened to have the exact size half-sphere I need for the domes and did some vacuforming with different thicknesses. So now I'll have MORE balls to play with...ugh.

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[Glorfindel]

Nick your up to your tricks again. Good to see it son.

 

[nicholassagan]

not all hope is lost!!!! this will be a photo finish but i think i can do it.....

i've been scribing away off and on here and there...now that other projects are in their waiting for paint or drying stage....

i pieced together the bridge and started building the modified super structure....pics tomorrow probably

 

[java]

The model kit mangler , this one will look sweet.

 

[nicholassagan]

Here goes! A couple of the original pieces were missing so they were substituted with styrene. Easy. I also shortened the length of the neck by about 5mm. The face of the bridge was just too close. The main super structure is interesting because it more or less "floats" above the main hull. My plan is to get as much of the super structure done and in place on the upper hull before the real detailing begins. I think I'll have a go at scribing the main hulls next...

 

[JohnSimmons]

Great stuff you mad scriber you.