Imperial Destroyer I

This is my first project. Google Pictures date this from Feb 21, 2022 to Dec 14, 2023. The total cost of the project was $110. This is fitting as my first post here also because this began my artistic renaissance. During the Covid era, I found myself scrolling the newsfeed on my phone nearly daily, but as Covid began to go away, I was still spending more time on my phone reading the news than I wanted to, so one day I deliberately switched to watching videos on YouTube on how to make things. That seemed more useful, and the first thing I chose to make was a 4' long Imperial Destroyer for my office at work because, you know, everyone needs one of those don't they? 

The Materials

Technically, my destroyer is made using 2x2s, 1x2s, a 4x8 sheet of Melamine (it's also often called hardboard), circuit boards, a plastic strainer whose holes I plugged at the bottom, and some round funnels for burners. Oh, and lots of glue and paint. Lots of glue. But I before I began this project, I knew I would be unable to get the cool looking detail I needed for the basic machinery unless I could get circuit board. When you watch the film, there are so many windows, buildings, towers, protrusions, etc, that you would have to make a lot to replicate it. Luckily, my local recycler sold me circuit board and I was set!

The Mockup

I had no plans for this, so I actually began by making a slideshow of destroyer pics (I can't even find this now or I'd link it here) including some good diagrams. I measured the measurements, converted my measurements to equal 4' long, and then I made a basic carboard cut out. This was a good idea because it gave me sort of an idea of what this would look like when I finished, and actually, whenever I cut hardboard pieces (you can't use a knife on these, only saws) it was always easier to perfect my piece first in cardboard, then simply trace on the hardboard and cut. 

The Frame

Here you can see the frame of the actual ship next to the mockup. I started with a 2x2 'T', then I kind of framed that with 1x2 outer edges. And you can see in the pic that I also created 3 'towers' along the central spine to screw the slightly angled 1x2 that I would later use to anchor the hardboard. Did I mention that I really didn't have any written plan for this? I did a lot of measuring of my original diagrams, and I learned A LOT about cutting angles. Don't quote me here, but I want to say that I used a 14 degree angle on most of my cuts. I now know significantly more about roofs, pitch, and angles than I used to. 

Here's another great picture of the frame. In the pic, you can see the 'bay' I created in the bottom of the ship with an arm to grab ships like in the movie, and for some reason destroyers have this round thing in the bottom. My round thing is actually a plastic strainer I got from the dollar store. The problem with strainers is they have holes, right? NP...I lined the inside with masking tape and then put a thin layer of joint compound on the outside, and that made those holes disappear. BTW, as I made this I had to create a stand to hold it up as I made it. When the project was done, I think it weighed over 14 pounds. Wood isn't light!

Circuit Board and More Circuit Board

At this point I began to cut my circuit board into strips. You can see the first strips I glued to my ship in the picture here. I had do this before I started to attach the hardboard hull. I cut this circuit board using a table saw, but that was a bit sketchy. (Like overkill, but I didn't have a scroll saw yet). If you cut circuit board, open windows and doors and wear a mask! Luckily it was after Covid and masks weren't a problem. Basically, I would be cutting circuit board to fit surfaces and gluing them until the end of the project. 

I learned a lot about glue doing this: I used wood glue, gorilla glue, liquid nails, and hot glue in this project, and basically what I learned about glue is that the glue you use depends on the material you need it for. Some glues would work great with one material, but then horrible on another. In the end, I think the glue I used the most was Liquid Nails: Projects. It worked the best on the greatest range of materials and it's still my go to glue unless I have a good reason to use something else. 

The Outer Hull

My imperial destroyer used up pretty much 100% of a 4x8 sheet of melamine. You can get dark and light hardboard, and the the hardboard I used has a dark brown surface and then a hard white surface. I'm glad I chose that one. I did a lot of tracing with marker on the surface of this. Since I've used both the dark and white, and I actually recommend using the white surfaced hardboard. It's a little extra money but worth it. My basic hardboard technique: cut the shape and attach to the wood using a staple gun. Click here to go to the 2nd part of this tutorial.