Wow! I noticed in some pics taken at the archive that the "nose" of the model was sagging. Was this from damage done during shipping as well? Looking at photos of it under construction, it seemed there might not be enough "structural integrity" to the armature to prevent this from happening. The hangar bay seriously cuts into the available space for structure in that part of the ship. (Funny thing is, the smaller 4-foot model had an even deeper hangar bay, so even less room inside the model.)
The reason I was studying this is because I am about to start building a 4-foot ANH version for a client. Engineering the structure has been a bit of a challenge. Julien, you might want to be very careful when designing the armature and bulkheads for your 8-footer. If the sagging nose was *not* the result of a shipping incident, it might indicate structural weakness in the design itself.
Also, recently I was very lucky to have the opportunity to
do some repair work on the original
Battlestar Galactica filming model. After more than 35 years the glue bonds were starting to fail and the parts kept flaking off. We were very lucky to know where almost every single missing part went and we brought quite a few spares with us. I can only imagine though what might happen if that model were to be shipped somewhere. . .
Having built two studio-scale replicas of the Galactica and having shipped both of them successfully, I honestly can't believe how the studios transport these kinds of items. From what I can see, they build a wooden platform and mount the stand and model to it. Then, they assemble a wood crate around it. The trouble is, ALL shock and vibration is transmitted directly to the model this way. When I crate a model, I suspend it in a bed of very soft foam rubber inside the wooden structure. The idea is to make sure there is no direct contact between the crate and the ship. I know this requires a lot of effort and planning. But, if I was in charge of shipping something as priceless as a screen-used Star Destroyer, I would spare no expense or effort to make sure it got to its destination unscathed. WTH?