[MOC] Vigilance - Venator class-star destroyer

[sandtrooper]

I built Thire5's version of the RotS Jedi Starfighter a couple of months ago.  His instructions for that are among the best I have seen of any MOC.  The Venator instructions should be exceptional.

[lowlead]

On 11/5/2019 at 6:12 PM, thire5 said:

...Yes, I'm working on the instructions at the same time...

[Palpatine] Goooood, gooood! [/Palpatine]

[thire5]

On 11/6/2019 at 8:33 PM, Schneeds said:

This is going to look better in bricks than it did in CGI.  I love the texturing of the bridge.  I will definitely be purchasing.

Thanks! I started to build the real model, I'm going to post the photos soon

On 11/7/2019 at 4:39 PM, sandtrooper said:

I built Thire5's version of the RotS Jedi Starfighter a couple of months ago.  His instructions for that are among the best I have seen of any MOC.  The Venator instructions should be exceptional.

I'm really happy to hear that! I'll do my best for the Venator's instructions 

[SteamSewnEmpire]

Any interior? 

[dvogon]

Wow! Great work! Looking forward to see your progress. The main bridge shaping is very clever and accurate.

[Evergreen]

19 hours ago, SteamSewnEmpire said:

Any interior? 

Looking at the WIP pictures I doubt there is enough space for an interior 

[thire5]

On 11/17/2019 at 12:45 PM, SteamSewnEmpire said:

Any interior? 

 

14 hours ago, Evergreen said:

Looking at the WIP pictures I doubt there is enough space for an interior 

 

Depends on what you mean by interior :) I'm not building those minifig-scale playable interiors, like Lego is doing often on the official sets. On the other hand, I will build all the hangars in the same scale as model including some micro fighters

 

 

22 hours ago, dvogon said:

Wow! Great work! Looking forward to see your progress. The main bridge shaping is very clever and accurate.

Thanks! 

[Hollander]

I am too tired at the moment to write a lengthy reply but let me just say this is looking really damn amazing. I took a glimpse at your previous Venator which was already excellent but your new design seems to be even better. Keep us updated! 

[Kit Bricksto]

I've been following this build since you started posting about it here and always enjoy seeing the progress you make! Your first Venator was already a really nice build wow does this put it to shame! :D I really like when people decide to completly rebuild something they've built before. It just shows how much a builder has developed in skill and this Venator is the perfect example for this. Even though it isn't even finished it already looks like it will be the best Venator MOC out there!
Keep us posted on this. I'd also really like to see some WIP pictures of the Real Brick build if you have any. :)

[thire5]

Thanks a lot! Here are some real bricks photos :) 

 

 

[TwoSolitudes]

I am buying this the second the instructions come out. 

[TwoSolitudes]

Just giving this a bump

[Brick-Wombat]

@thire5 did you already finish the digital construction or are you doing the two in parallel?

[Obiwanman2]

This thing looks amazing!!  Very detailed and accurate.  I’m glad that someone actually decided to make a good Venator with the SNoT technique.  I do have a suggestion though:

So, I noticed in your most recent pictures on December 3rd that their appears to be a good deal of open space in the, i guess you’d call them “winglets?”  The main triangle part of the ship. You know what I mean. Anyway, I I know that’s probably to cut down on weight and cost, which is great, but maybe we could a tiny bit of that to use.

Ok, so here’s where I get to my actual idea.  It looks like you could potentially have enough space to allow for the side-hangar doors to actually open and close. (I don’t know whether or not the angled panels for the winglets would prevent this)  Looking at how it’s constructed, it wouldn’t be all that difficult to change, since the frame around the door looks like it is held on by 90-degree brackets above and below the door. The door looks like it could already freely slide with the current setup, provided that both a track for the door to slide in (maybe parts 2653 and 4510) and a stop to keep the door from going too far are added.  You could even rig up a simple gear-and-rack system to open both sides of a door (not both hangar doors but maybe each door could be two panels with angled ends that fit together) if you wanted to go extremely fancy.

Just wanted to share my idea with you. You’ve done a great job so far. Keep up the good work.

[thire5]

Thanks for the comment, this is the current progress :)

 

 

[Cygma]

This is coming along really nicely.  The SNoT techniques in real bricks look great, and I like the details you have been able to capture in the engines.

[TwoSolitudes]

so far its on the way to being the best Venator MOC anywhere

[thire5]

On 2/5/2020 at 12:15 PM, TwoSolitudes said:

so far its on the way to being the best Venator MOC anywhere

Thanks, that's very kind! :)

 

On 1/16/2020 at 5:27 PM, Brick-Wombat said:

@thire5 did you already finish the digital construction or are you doing the two in parallel?

I'm working on the real model now mostly. I had to update few parts that I have made earlier digitally, because they turned out to be not enough stable. It is quite challenging to find the balance between accuracy and stability.

 

On 1/31/2020 at 4:09 PM, Obiwanman2 said:

This thing looks amazing!!  Very detailed and accurate.  I’m glad that someone actually decided to make a good Venator with the SNoT technique.  I do have a suggestion though:

So, I noticed in your most recent pictures on December 3rd that their appears to be a good deal of open space in the, i guess you’d call them “winglets?”  The main triangle part of the ship. You know what I mean. Anyway, I I know that’s probably to cut down on weight and cost, which is great, but maybe we could a tiny bit of that to use.

Ok, so here’s where I get to my actual idea.  It looks like you could potentially have enough space to allow for the side-hangar doors to actually open and close. (I don’t know whether or not the angled panels for the winglets would prevent this)  Looking at how it’s constructed, it wouldn’t be all that difficult to change, since the frame around the door looks like it is held on by 90-degree brackets above and below the door. The door looks like it could already freely slide with the current setup, provided that both a track for the door to slide in (maybe parts 2653 and 4510) and a stop to keep the door from going too far are added.  You could even rig up a simple gear-and-rack system to open both sides of a door (not both hangar doors but maybe each door could be two panels with angled ends that fit together) if you wanted to go extremely fancy.

Just wanted to share my idea with you. You’ve done a great job so far. Keep up the good work.

Thanks, I was thinking about similar idea of opening doors -in my current solution, it is possible to open the side hangar by sliding out some part of the hangar and manually replace the door piece for the "open one". It is not as smooth as you suggest but it might be enough for now. Your suggestion sounds interesting though and I will keep your idea in mind for future improvements :)

[PusH]

Out of curiosity was it a design decision to keep the outside 30 degree slop stepped instead of aligning the edges similar to the tail on your midi venator?

If you don't find my critique, I believe the 2x2 square under the rear conning tower centered vent is actually supposed to be angled in at the bottom.

Edited March 3, 2020 by PusH

[thire5]

@PusH Ok, I think I know what you mean :)  It is based on the original model. There is some kind of step on the rear side of the "tower". Maybe this picture answers your question?

 

[hackenbacker]

One of the nicest looking Star Wars ships (in my humble opinion).

[Kristof]

 

 

 

 

2

On 3/3/2020 at 7:49 AM, PusH said:

Out of curiosity was it a design decision to keep the outside 30 degree slop stepped instead of aligning the edges similar to the tail on your midi venator?

That might actually be mine MIDI Venator you are referring to :D

But I agree the steps are a little bit of an eyesore here, I keep telling Mattin all the time. But in all fairness, it's very difficult to do anything about it and still keep the other details like the windows and such in place...

 

 

 

 

On 3/5/2020 at 10:55 PM, thire5 said:

@PusH Ok, I think I know what you mean :)  It is based on the original model. There is some kind of step on the rear side of the "tower". Maybe this picture answers your question?

I think what @PusH meant is that the very bottom of that vent looking bulgy thing in the back center of the tower is angled inwards, whereas you have it straight vertical.

[PusH]

Sorry for the confusion; I too got mixed up with the midi venator posted by wombat and kristof. I circled the two parts I mentioned. The slopes of course can actually be lined up (a big thank you to kristof) and i wouldn't be surprised if you could do with with 45 degrees instead of 30 if you really wanted.

Also correct on the assumption under the centered vent; always personally found this to show a distinct increase in detail.

Edited March 8, 2020 by PusH

[Kristof]

@PusH I can answer the cheeseslope question - getting the smooth slope by using various half-plate offset techniques (such as the one I used) is not a problem and Martin could likely do it with ease. The issue is that it changes the angle of the resulting slope - it would be shallower (30 degrees in fact), and in fact very close to the angle of the second 'stage' of the slopes. That really kills the potential of this method for Martin's purpose, unfortunately. He needs the slope to be around 40 degrees.

Btw using the half plate offset to get a smooth 45 degree slope is not trivial... in fact, I doubt it's possible with the standard pieces. All 45 degree slopes come in the 1x2 form which means you cant 'sink' the next slope 1/2 plate below the previous one. Well, technically, you can by using this part but you end up with odd 1 1/2 plate high gaps which would be a pain to fill. I wish this piece existed without the extra 1x1 plate :)

Edited March 8, 2020 by Kristof

[thire5]

@PusH aah, I see :) As @Kristof said, it would change the angle. This front part of the bridge is very tricky and it's not easy to do it like the other middle parts (SNOT) because of the trans blue windows and other things attached. But I will try to rework this part.
And the rear part nearby vents/grilles is indeed sloped a little, but I thought the angle is so small that no one would notice :D will se what I can do

Thank you guys :)