Just Received Arvey Models 17.5" SuperStar Destroyer and 2" Star Destroyers

[Darth Vader Imperial March in the background ....]

It has always been my dream to have my very own SuperStar Destroyer (SSD). To me, the SSD had always been the ultimate in terms of Capital Ships in any Science Fiction Genre - anytime hands down. But dreaming of owning her was one thing, trying to actually own one ... whoa! You can see based on my past reviews on this subject that there were some pretty nitty issues holding me back from getting one earlier, particularly in terms of their prices and display space required. And some of the bigger ones have become scarce. As small comfort, I had to settle for 2 really, really small representation of this humongous ship in the form of a RPG game piece and a Titanium Series die cast kit for a while.




The RPG Game piece - I got this image from the net and mine's not as crooked as above.

Titanium Series - that Star Destroyer at its side is not to scale


Today that dream became a reality. A package arrived and it was the 17.5" Arvey Models' SSD. I got her from Arvey Models as she was the only kit of this class that was affordable (not to mention available) and would fit really snug in my display space once she's build. And I also got her from there as I am very happy and satisfied with Arvey Model's resin quality and customer service.

Ironically my decision to purchase from Arvey Models was made almost 1.5 years ago, after my first purchase with them for the comprehensive Galactica Accurization Set - which unfortunately took a whopping 3 months to reach me (yeah, I forgot to ask for International Priority Shipping). When I saw that set, I remembered being so utterly impressed with the quality of the accurization kit, and the sudden dread overwhelming me when I realised just how bad the Revellogram Battlestar Galactica kit was. Then I found the SSD on their online catalogue when I was checking out AMT's Star Destroyer's accurization set. I actually promised Robert Vancel (who then owned and manages Arvey Models) that one day, I will buy the SSD from him.

It took me 1.5 years putting aside some money each month, praying the SSD would still be available. I had to resort to this as I can't afford to buy everything I want in one go. And when I had saved up enough, I was so relieved to find the SSD was still available, and it was also enough to include 3 sets of the 2" Star Destroyers SDs to scale to accompany my "Executor" - that's Darth Vader's ship, but shipping was going to be a problem. So I wrote to "ironship" at the Starship Modeler Forum and discovered that there was a Christmas special offer for that month of December ... man, was I happy camper. I actually only needed to top up about RM50 (about USD$16) extra to cover the cost.

So now that I have the kit, I am able to do a better review for the benefit of those who may be interested in getting her. The box package is sturdy and simple, with a very small highlight on what kit was inside it.

 

Parts were protected with peanut foams inside the box which I had discarded. The main hull was protected within a bubble wrap while the smaller parts were kept in 2 separate plastic containers. The 3 smaller containers are my 2" SDs - 3 sets



A brass rod was also included, taped onto the underside of the box package 




I measured the main hull with my 18" metal ruler and as you can see from the images below, it is almost as long as my ruler. The instruction sheets consist of just a bunch of A4 papers stapled together in black and white, and the images in there are not very clear. They're also small and blurry, can't really tell much, but a simple test fit of the parts revealed no problem putting the pieces together.

The part list provided there isn't quite accurate as well as I seem to have extra parts in my set, but missing the four 1.5mm ball bearings .... ball bearings???? Not really sure how I'm going to glue those on even if they were present, as the molds on the location where they're suppose to go are really very small. I may even forgo this if I can't find a replacement.

I have laid out the pieces next to the main hull so everyone can have a better view what they look like. Usually I would clean up the pieces a little first but I have been so busy lately so I'll highlight the parts directly out from the box instead.

The parts are listed below (blue highlight for what I actually got in my set):

1 Main Hull
1 Main Engine Section
1 Engineering Section
1 Central Island
1 Forward Island
5 Short Complex Sections (6 in my set)
3 Long Complex Sections (4 in my set)
2 Medium Complex Sections (3 in my set)
2 Aft Complex Sections (3 in my set)
2 Aft Complex Section Risers (3 in my set)
1 Port Side Command Structure
1 Starboard Side Command Structure
1 Bridge Structure (2 in my set)
4 Large Engines (5 in my set)
6 Small Engines (7 in my set)
6 Engine Caps
Four 1.5mm Ball Bearings (Shield Generators) - (I'm missing these)
 


17.5" ... just the right size if you don't have much display space



As you can see from the images above, there are only a few resin flashes to clean. The castings are very well done with details clearly defined and easily seen (would be better when primed). A tentative check found no air bubble spots on any of the parts. This kit is very well casted.

Here are more images of the main hull:

I am posing the 2" Star Destroyers (SD) next to the SSD as they are of the same scale. Noticed how the SSD dwarfs them. To see the SSD in almost all her glory (without proper assembly and paint), I have put some of the complex structures on her including the bridge structure. They literally just slip into place - NICE!!. Due to the size of this kit, I don't think I am experienced or skilled enough to light her up so I'll probably built her as she is.

The 2" SDs comes in pairs with a total of 8 parts (2 main hulls and 6 engine cones - 3 each per hull)

I won't be building this one anytime soon yet as I want to finish my Moebius Galactica projects off first, then the Mark II Vipers. But I can already visualize my "Executor" in a majestic post. This is going to be one cool kit to put on display.