Thanks, man.

Got a bit more done on this beast. The "wedge" thingies between the forks was rather barren, so I put a couple of new plates on it to break up the surface. The front of it and the bottom still need attention, but I'll wait on that till later. I also finished most of the detail work on the lower hull. There's still a strip of armor around the bridge gondola that needs . . . something, but it will also have to wait. The edges of the wings also received some attention tonight, as well as the area above the engines right below the wings. Finally, I built the remaining two turrets, which will accompany the other four on the bench as I decide how I want to detail them.

Here are the pics:

The new plate-work on the wedges:

This is the new detail work on the sides of the wings (I might need more detail on it):

One of the two new guns:

The port side of the lower hull:

And the starboard side:

Finally, here's the newly built-up section above the engines:

I was also thinking about what name I want to christen this ship. I have considered the following:

Inquisitor

Shadow

Stalker

Alacrity

Celerity

Expediter

But I'm open to suggestions if anyone has something in mind. I want to name her something that evokes the idea of speed or interrogation, as that is what this ship is known for.

Stalker is already the name of a Death Squadron Star Destroyer. My vote goes for the Expediter, its an ironic name for a ship holding up the galaxy's smugglers!

Great job on this. It is awesome. I've loved this ship since I got the Tramp Freighter Galaxy Guide back in the 90's.

Inquisitor has that ominous feel while still implying law enforcement.

Sleuth
Searchlight
Vigilant
Omniscient
Persistence

Just a few names I could come up with considering the ship's aforementioned duties of patrol and inspection. Seeking clues, watching, knowing full well what's happening, not letting up on finding out.

All pretty relevant I think.

Inquisitor and Lackwit's Vigilant sound the most appropriate.

I second Expediter.

Sounds like a USPS ship gone wrong, kinda like the Empire.

Beautifully stunning model crafting. That needs to be in a movie!

Lol, yeah it does. I'm really starting to fall in love with Inquisitor, though. I intend to go to a trophy shop in town and have them engrave a custom brass name plate to go on the base. The plate will be removable for gaming, and have the ship's name, registry number, captain, and some bare bones specs, along with an Imperial logo on one side and the Rendili Stardrive logo on the other:

That logo will have the company name under it, to avoid confusion.

Think Inquisitor suits it.

Well, I got it painted. Sorta . . .

I need to explain that I have two airbrushes, but one has an immovably stuck needle and the other one has a tip which is split and therefore needs to be replaced. I've also got several cans of spraypaint lying around, both black and white. So I decided to use them on my Corvette.

Big mistake, it turns out.

This stuff is WAAAY too thick. I've lost a lot of detail and half my panel lines. It also didn't cover evenly. Grr . . . why I didn't think to simply go to the hobby story and buy Tamiya paint in a spray can is beyond me. Suffice it to say several days' worth of spraying and waiting for it to dry have been wasted, as well as a lesson learned: never spray Walmart and Rustoleum on a model.

But on the bright side, from a distance it looks like a shooting miniature.

Take a look up close though, and you can see the problem:

It's most telling on the main docking ring:

And here's the best example of the uneven coverage:

I tells ya, I'm really in a love-hate relationship with this ship at the moment.

If you hate it, I can dispose of it for you.

That thing looks awesome!!!!

Got pics of the base?

Dude, fear not, it looks great. I actually like that every plate isn't totally distinct and all of that... It adds to the scale, I think. Otherwise it just looks like a model, instead of a real thing. And the paint looks good. Remember... It is painted, just like every other ship in history, so it LOOKING painted is exactly right. Seriously, step back and take a breath, it looks fantastic... And I say this as a long time miniature painter:)

You are probably your own harshest critic but it still looks great. Star Wars ships in general are quite "grimy-looking" which does add to their character. The engines will show the greatest wear naturally so it actually looks better to see it faded here. Granted on something as big as this it will stand out more. I am up to spray painting my own Imperial corvette and plan to use Tamiya spraypaint going from a dark charcoal grey to mid gray then a lighter grey colour.

Yeah, but you guys forget: I'm also building this for competitive modeling. This kind of paintwork really is sub-par compared to other models in this scale. Don't worry, it's actually rather easy to strip a model using oven cleaner, then apply a new primer coat, then black and finally white.

I'm just glad i hadn't screwed up a paint job like this one:

Lools great indeed but if you think you can do better, then go ahead. Good luck at the contest.

I'm guessing you're the same Millennium Falsehood over on Starship Modeller? This is really first-rate stuff, and I'm sorry to hear about your airbrush/spraycan woes. Would it help to use some fine-grit sandpaper to smooth out the issues from your first layer of paint? I suspect you're probably looking at either trying to restore or replace your out of commission airbrushes for this.

I am more a painter than a scratch builder. Having once built the polar lights 1/350 Enterprise myself, you have my immense respect for a project like this. It's a fantastic craft, and an awesome build. Please don't let this setback slow you down, I would love to be able to work on a project like this, but alas I have not had the time as of late.

Yep, that'd be me.

Thanks for the kind words regarding my work. I'm still learning, and I guess I'm just my own worst critic. Sanding it down won't work. The paint has filled in a lot of the panel lines, and there are a ton of surface details that would come off with it that I'd rather not have to replace. A chemical solution is the best one at the moment.

I'm not going to mess with my air brushes because I just don't have the spare cash at the moment for it, but I did get a new can of Tamiya flat white that I'll be using to repaint it later. I just need to go out and buy a can of Easy Off to get rid of this paint job so I can reapply it.

Mind Blown. Need more pics!

It's not finished yet, but I put on the main color coat and wash, and it looked so good that i just had to take a picture and have a little fun with it. Here's the Imperial Customs Corvette Inquisitor out on patrol near the Ablajeck sector:

It's not finished yet, but I put on the main color coat and wash, and it looked so good that i just had to take a picture and have a little fun with it. Here's the Imperial Customs Corvette Inquisitor out on patrol near the Ablajeck sector:

That looks photoshopped to me ...

Nice pic,

Name ideas:

The Resolute

The Argus
The Aegis
The Occulus
The Grimoire
The Implacable
The Gorgon
The Myrmidon
The Sagacious

That is seriously excellent. Thanks for sharing!

that looks awesome.. the glow in the engines is a nice touch too..

All I could possibly recommend is using darker shades of grey here and there to highlight certain parts.

Other than that, holy crap.

This looks awesome, such as good job!!

Is there any chance of some more photos? How long do you think it will be before you get it totally finished?

Thanks a lot, you guys!

I've been under the weather for the last couple of days with a few more days of illness still to come, but I think after I get well I'll be able to finish it fairly quickly.

The main thing keeping me from declaring it finished is that the center engine, my Photoshopping notwithstanding, is still not finished yet. I was promised an entire Millennium Falcon this time so there will be no mistakes in the part I'll be getting, and after I get that done I'll have to build thrust vectrals and rebuild the fins. This time, I'll just fix the fins in place rather than rebuilding the joints for the third time (paint seeped into them and when I tried to thin it out I accidentally broke the joint).

After that I'll paint some small details and give it a tiny bit more weathering. Nothing major, just a blast mark here and there and some repainted panels.

Once it's finished though, expect an influx of pics, including a few more "cinematic" ones.