[MOC] ISD Chimaera

[Jerac]

I might be not the most frequent poster of Eurobricks... but I believe I might have something which some of you might enjoy. Pardon for reusing mocpages description, but it seems to be pretty complete. I just hope there are some of you guys here who don't read mocpages too often... :)

Let me present you the Chimaera, famous flagship of equally famous Grand Admiral Thrawn. A prime example of an Imperial Star Destroyer Mark II.

The Star Destroyer might be very well the best looking sci-fi vessel in any franchise and for a good reason. Its design combines simple, clean lines with fine detailing where required, and the way bridge section arrogantly perches on top of the massive warship tells much about the Empire itself. Most people know that a Star Destroyer measures 1600 meters in length, but not many know that it is actually about 1000 metres wide!

Building a huge Star Destroyer was my long lasting child dream, and by some luck I came across such time of my life when I can build it. Year earlier it would be impossible and given amount of money required, it might not have been possible in the future.

First, some raw data. The model dimensions are 202x125x58 centimeters, or 252x156x72 studs. This alone makes it bigger in ANY dimension than ANY of my previous builds. The already large Titow Battlecruiser was probably a tiny bit longer than the Chimeaera Star Destroyer is high, but the SD might be a bit too low actually.

Such dimensions naturally causes considerable heft of the construction and indeed - the model weights approximately 50 kilos. Approximately because it is impossible to lift it by one person so I cannot really check precise value. It is not the structural integrity which is limiting, the model is durable enough - it is the pure weight and dimensions.

The Star Destroyer design process started in early November and actual build started just after Christmas, when first (...large...) batch of parts arrived. Since the model was meant to be featured on Zbudujmy.to LUG exhibition in Swarzewo which was to start at 1st of July, 2014, it was also the deadline. The model was ultimately finished just few hours before the beginning, which is the reason why some little sections are unfinished.I also had no possibility of taking good quality photos, since when the model was encased in glass cabinet, sunlight and reflections made that almost impossible.

The ship in its full glory, standing in the display cabinet. The stand itself is made of steel but does not enter the structure - model is simply lying on the stand which is profiled to match ship's anges.

"Terraces" section of the vessel, also the highest concentation of greebles and sometimes difficult angles. While the whole ship is a SNOT-ly mess, the superstructure greebling is actually built with common studs-up technique which allowed me to use some trans-clear plates. They will be required later on.

Each of those engines took about 1,5 hours to assemble, and first one took about 1,5 weeks just to get the design right. Imagine you have to build a smooth 15-cm diameter bowl which is empty inside, stays straight and is durable enough to survive transport. In such a massive ship, every detail that can fall off during transport, will fall off during transport. Generally the bigger your MOC is, the more durable it has to be.

Altough exact proportions of the Star Destroyer Mark II are an absolute mystery, I based them on known ISD-I proportions and common notion that the second ship was a bit more narrow than the original. Thus, while ISD-I would be 200x132 cm, mine is 202x125 cm. Either way, this is a stunningly wide ship which I have realised only when I started the build.

Notice how the ship stays straight... while weighing around 50 kilos, measuring 2 meters long and having absolutely no steel or non-lego structural supports inside. LEGO and LEGO only! :)

Bridge and terraces section close-up. The goal of greebling was not to recreate greebling of original ship, this would cost me too much time given the strict deadline. Most important features are included, though and greebling is easy to replace so maybe one day... :)

As said before, the entire frame is made with LEGO pieces only, and consists of well over 1.000 technic bricks, out of which 700 are 1x14 or 1x16. There are also hundreds of plates, pins, liftarms and unimog suspension parts... yeah, no mistake here :)

The ship is modular - it is too heavy to be moved around by two people safely, so entire top section can be taken away. Not only it makes it lighter, but allows easy access to the frame which is both required for maintenance and also offers good holding points. One who wants to pick it up by the frame needs to have good leather gloves or it will hurt. A lot. With blood. :D

This little viginette shows how empty the model is inside. I wonder how heavy would it be if it had an interior... not that the interior would be interesting, considering that if a minifig was to-scale with the ship, it would be shorter than one plate's height.

That's me :)

Maybe tired a bit after another sleepless night but happy anyway. One of LEGO-related dreams fulfilled!

Kris Kelvin, The Prime Judge of the Zbudujmy.to association - friend who has helped me a lot during preparations to the exhibition and (mentally) during building.

Plans for the future?

The ship will stay at Zbudujmy.to exhibition at Swarzewo in Poland for next three months, after that I will take it back and properly finish. Altough detailing is more or less done, some parts of the structure are not reinforced and are too fragile in long-term. I also plan to add fully working lightning, which you sneakly peek at here:

That photo dates back to March or so when the ship was still under constructions, but shows how hangar lightning already works.

And in the end, few more or less interesting facts:

- There were more than 1500 used of each of: 1x2 plates, 1x1 bricks with headlight, 1x4 bricks and 1x1 tiles - all in light bluish grey.

- Sensor globes on the bridge were actually designed to be 6-stud diameter, but one BL seller decided it would be fun to change splash terms at night and cancel my order - few days before the deadline. So I had to use whatever I had at hand...

- The halfway-done ship was entirely dismantled near April because I found out it was less than 10 centimeters too shallow.

- For quite a time it was impossible to pick the ship up, because its structure relies not only on the frame but external covering as well. If one side - either top or bottom - is missing, the other side won't stay attached to the frame.

- Originally I have based the model dimensions on drawings taken from Essential Guide to Star Wars Vehicles, which was a bad decision. The model would be 200x100cm while it should be 200x125cm.... even bigger problem surfaced when I have realised that my car's trunk opening is actually only 110 cm wide. It would be ok for the ill-proportioned EGSWV design but not for the proper one.

- For last two weeks the model was built in the dining room. I was testing if it would fit in the car after "cutting off" the edges (and it did!), but I found out that it is impossible to drag it back to 1st floor due to narrow staircase. It was hard enough to get it down.

- Original estimate for 1x2 plates was 2000. By a mistake I have ordered that lot twice... which eventually proved to be beneficial, as there are over 4300 of them used in the final iteration of the model. 1x2 plates are by far the most common element used.

- The model can be actally hung from the ceiling on some kind of a steel wire - the frame will easily support the weight. The problem to solve is in the ceiling itself, it would need three quite massive hooks.

[VK-318]

I'm lost for words. This is, indeed, a masterpiece, and also a testament to the strength and integrity of Lego bricks.

And, you don't want to know how much it would way if it had a complete interior. You'd probably need a helicopter to lift it, because I rather suspect that it would weigh more than most cars.

[TheBear]

Congratulations, this is unbelievable! A lot of people looking at it would probably not even realise it is built out of Lego.

[Nom Carver]

, You win, this is the most awsome star wars vehicle ever made with legos, I saw it at FBTB and I hoped to see it around here sooner or later, I know it is not supposed to be minifig scale but it could certainly hold a couple features like a bridge or something, that would be the cherry of the cake, but it is perfect as it is, BRAVO!!!

[Csacsa234]

I can't describe this. the best damn ISD in Lego form, from a super sequel, thank you for sharing this, it's astonishing

[Jerac]

Thanks! :D

@Nom Carver: I already have one model with fully finished interior (a warcraft 2 juggernaut) and I can tell you that unless you can very easily switch between "open" and "closed" modes, this makes absolutely no sense at exhibitions. People are coming and going, spending just few seconds near my table or cabinet, and I prefer them to see the outside. If I open up the model, they might not even realise what are they looking at, plus imagine all these comments "but these lego figs are too big!"

And, uh, it would be heavy, as @VK-318 says :)

Edited June 4, 2014 by Jerac

[955561976]

Wow, that is a very impressive model you've built there, I am in awe! *stands* *applauds*

[Phoib]

...until now I didn't realize I need a vacation. In Poland. I have to see this with my own eyes!

[rollermonkey]

I cannot speak right now, because my jaw hit the floor and shattered.

:o

[AudiBobaR5-D2]

Very impressive.

Is that part of the film props? Never seen a Lego ISD that big before.

[Pablo94]

Jerac, I think because of your ISD our Baltic Sea will be at last important point at the Europe tourist map :D

It's incredible, one of the best if not the best Star Wars LEGO models ever!

Edited June 4, 2014 by Pablo94

[Jerac]

Definitely worth to go and see the exhibition, there are so many cool dioramas and MOCs built by members of Zbudujmy.to there :)

Edited June 4, 2014 by Jerac

[kr-lik]

when is it due ? I think I might drive there from łódź just to see that...

[emilstorm]

That is simply amazing! It is without a doubt the best looking Star Destroyer i have ever seen! All those angles nust have been hell to put together, I admire your patience I love the suface texture of all the 1x1 tiles, and the greeble level is perfect, to me at least. It is very impressive what you have done in such a relatively short time. Excellent work!

[Borex]

Oh Wow! This is mighty!

This could have been a real prop of an actual Star Wars movie

I think we're all a little jealous right now.

:thumbup: :thumbup:

[Jerac]

@kr-lik: Till the end of August. You should have contacted me earlier though, I live in Łódź and we could arrange a meeting anyway :D

Road to Swarzewo is very nice, motorway all the way from Strykow up to Gdynia and then just some kilometers on a normal road. Even with the tiny, underpowered delivery van I was using it was about 3,5h of smooth driving.

Btw, come to us at http://zbudujmy.to - we have cookies! :D

Thanks again everyone!

Edited June 4, 2014 by Jerac

[kr-lik]

@Jerac: well I live here too so yeah maybe a meeting sometime :]

either way end of August seems nice. I will defeinitelly do a one day trip to check it out then :]

[CCOOK]

This is absolutely superb work - I wish I had more time to devote to large-scale stuff like this!

[kris kelvin]

I`ve seen this "in real". It`s hard to tell how beautiful this model is. For me it`s something beyond the words.

[deanorth]

this is really a master piece, and truly ingenious, the internal structure alone is really smart.

[Csacsa234]

Very impressive.

Is that part of the film props? Never seen a Lego ISD that big before.

It's from the Thrawn trilogy, it was Thrawn's flagship.

[Lobot]

This is beautiful Jerac, a genuine masterpiece! And (already)....

[Robianco]

Oh. My. God.

How the hell did the Empire ever lose when they had Lego models like this in their arsenal!

Quite simply the best Lego creation I have ever seen.

[Mr Man]

Bloody Hell it's stunning.

[harmacy]

I saw this the other day on another website, and am still stunned. The scale, the detail, the sheer beauty of this model are all breathtaking. I'm also working on a large scale ISD and this beautiful example only makes me more determined to do a good job of it. Well done!