Thursday, December 27, 2012

Crafts: Cardboard Star Destroyer





"I had lots of cardboard from crib packaging (kid number two is due in 2 months!), as well as some distance from modeling anything, and I figured I could give this a go and make a 'prototype' of this project.  My son is currently enjoying my Star Wars toy collection immensely, and has seen the first original film and parts of the second (not the third one though...despite the fact that Return of the Jedi has Ewoks, its pretty terrifying [re: Rancor, Emperor, Jabba and Co.]...and I feel the same way about the prequels, especially II and III).  He really loves the movies, and loves looking at all of my 'behind the scenes' materials with pictures of the models and the copious amounts of Lucasfilm art department images.  I've seen him use a few things as a stand in for a Star Destroyer, and I figured I had enough in me to give this a shot."
"Now, the major benefit of using cardboard is that my little guy can lift up such a massive ship and play with it.  Also, I used material that was all destined to be recycled or thrown out, and with the exception of white spray paint and styro-foam craft balls, I had everything on hand to make it.  So, the basic structure is heavy corrugated cardboard, lighter cardboard for the detailing on the conning tower and 'sandwich filler' greeblies,   a packing tube for the engine nozzles (sawed into three pieces), cereal box cardboard for lighter details, duct duct tape, masking tape, and a lot of carpenter glue.  All told, it took about three days (including one very late night to do the detailing), and I now have templates worked out for the overall structure.  It has an internal support structure (one center piece running down the middle with 'ribs' about every 5"), and the overall length is shy of three feet.  As far as making ships of this scale, it was a relatively quick build-up and a great weekend project."




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