BRUCE SCALE MODELING DOMAIN: Part 1 - The Imperial Star Destroyer

Monday, April 18, 2011

Part 1 - The Imperial Star Destroyer

Here's one ship that everyone deep inside would love to own, the Imperial Star Destroyer (ISD). She made her grand entrance during the opening scene in Star Wars : A New Hope, and ever since then, this ship has garnered a huge following, including me. I won't go into details on her history and specifications since this blog isn't about those things (you can find them though through google), but I'll touch more on the kits at hand and her studio model reference materials.

We see her again in The Empire Strikes Back, and then in Return of the Jedi, and to those that are unobservant like me, the ship looks similiar to the one we saw in Star Wars. But for those with an eye for details, they saw a variant model.

Thanks to the internet, I found out one was called the Avenger, and the other the Devastator. I'm sure fans have given names to the other ISDs we see throughout the movies but for the purpose of my blog highlight, I will only emphasize on these two since aftermarket parts have been made available to re-create the two different ISDs.

Her design is relatively simple enough, a triangular base with upper housing and a bridge complex, synanomous with that of an actual ship at sea. She serves as a capital ship for the empire with the ability to act as both a destroyer, fighter squardron carrier and troop/mechanize transport vessel, and possesses a formidable array of armament. She is a dream come true for anyone who wants to rule the universe. Her sheer size even dwarfs the USS Enterprise D, and has the ability to jump through hyperspace. Truly a remarkable design from George Lucas, this ship is so famous that it is successfully etched unto the mind of the masses that anytime anyone sees the ISD anywhere, they would recognise her straighaway from Star Wars.

To recap on the ISDs seen in the Star Wars movies, and since its been such a long time, here are some stills of the ISD categorised according to the movie they were seen in.

STAR WARS

THE EMPIRE STRIKES BACK

For the stills highlighting an asteroid destroying one of the ISD's bridge, the tanish portion directly behind the bridge area is not a SFX blooper. That coloured area is actually the engine area of the Imperial Super Star Destroyer, the Executor, or Darth Vader's ship. The Executor dwarfs the entire image in the background.

RETURN OF THE JEDI

Here are some schematics of the ISD I found on the net,

Of course the huge ISD didn't just pop out of nowhere, as Mr. Lucas tried to reveal through his prequels. The first ship that even resembled anything toward the ISD's evolution chain was the Acclamator. This ship was versatile in the sense as it helps serves the role of a Cruiser and Troop/Mechanize Infantry Transport, and was able to make atmospheric flight as well as land on land.

Then came the Venator Class which had more firepower and was faster. The Venator was able to also carry fighter squardrons, thus becoming the very first Aircraft Carrier in space for the Empire. The two vessels served their purpose during the Clone Wars and fulfilled their roles for the Republic, until the betrayal from Senator Palpatine who later proclaim himself as Emperor, and did away with the Senate. During that time, the ISD has already begun their service for the Empire.