Jaitea said:

replace the first SD with CG model

J

Of course that!

Considering you have a so bright planet next to death star and the SD some of the blue illumination/reflection should hit the structures. Either go with a more subtle planet and keep the OT feel of absolute colors or you can put the ambient light on the surfaces of the ships :)

More realistic ways? render in passes and then composite them for maximum control.

Renders that being rendered in the final resolution always give a clear look that have many details. Which is something that we DONT want :)

Cheating of either rendering in higher rez 4-8K and then downsize or either render in slight smaller rez to get the film effects is a wise solution for anything that looks artificial.

Sharp halos, small artifacting noise blury to sharpen results blended highlights eveything that a camera can produce and not a renderer is always welcome :)

-Angel