I like the silver; it looks good and gives it kind of a 50s/60s Space Age-y sci-fi feel. I've been meaning to ask about the scale and the size of the models, since I haven't built anything in ages and never paid attention to scale. How long are these models? How does that compare, size-wise, to the old AMT/Ertl TOS 3-pack (Enterprise, Klingon D7, Romulan Bird-of-Prey)?
You're in luck! I'm obsessed with scale. These current models are billed as 1:2500 scale, though the Enterprise is about 4 3/4" long which actually puts it as closer to 1:2400 (hence the title of this thread). The old Three Ship Set was 1:1600 scale, making them quite a bit larger than the new ones. The Enterprise from that is about 7 1/8" long. Here are pictures of the old models (to the left) and the new, smaller models (on the right). The cutting mat they're on has a one-inch grid. Notice how wildly inaccurate the old Bird of Prey was. These new ones, though a lot smaller, are a lot better than what came before. --Alex
That's purple? It looks blue on my monitor. Didn't you mention something about doing different colored bird decals on each ship? This might seem silly, but maybe color-coordinate the domes with the birds.
Looks purple to me on the the monitor at work too. Color coordinated with the bird decals sound like a neat idea. -Ricky
Purple, huh? I tell you what, it's 3243e8 at 53% opacity. That's right in the middle of blue. I'm leaning towards the orange/amber domes. An early draft of "Balance of Terror" had the Romulan ship being built using technology stolen from the Feds. The idea was dropped by the time the episode was finally finished, but I wonder if Wah Chang built the shooting model under that assumption. In that case, maybe the lights were similar to those on the E. Matching them to the bird graphics would be cute, but I'm not sure if there's any technical justification for it. --Alex
Thanks, Robert Simmons! So, I decided on the orange color for the nacelle domes. I painted the domes white, then blended a layer of yellow leaving white in the middle, and then blended some orange around the base of the hemisphere, then covered the entire dome with Tamiya Clear Orange X-26. Then a shot of Testor's Glosscote and started in on decals. I intend to use the kits decals for two birds, the silver one and one of the white ships. I will make custom graphics for the other ships, but I find myself not in the mood for that kinda thing at the moment, so I think I might put them on hold for a while. Since I want to work on the top and bottom of the ship separately, I went ahead and used one kit's decals on both ships. Tomorrow, after these are quite set, I will break out a second kit's sheet and do the opposite sides. Both the Silver and the Insignia white look pretty darn good IMHO. My only complaint so far about the Romulan ship is the decals. The graphics for the top fin are fiddly and not well shaped to the area they go on, and I feel that the big bird graphic should have been a touch wider so the ends of the wings would wrap a bit higher around the body of the nacelles. And these do require generous amounts of Micro-Set and Micro-Sol to lay down. There are still a few little wrinkles that may be here to stay... though I will give one more effort with the Micro-Sol to try to smooth them. We'll see. Also, to get the bird graphic to settle into the seam between the nacelle and the pylon, I had to slice through it. I may go back and try to touch up the break with some dainty brush-work. Depends on how saucy I feel in the next few days. --Alex
ROMULANS! I finished these two. I used some Bare Metal Foil for the aft end of the nacelles. It was just the right finishing touch. The white one looks great, but the silver one.... I'm afraid I got overly excited and didn't wait long enough for the Matte Finish to cure. My grubby fingerprints are all over this thing. I'm pretty unhappy with the finish. I have every intention of redoing the silver ship with a fresh model on some future date. I'll probably spray this one black and have it be the "cloaked" version. Anyhow, I did take few shots from familiar angles. Enjoy! --Alex
The silver/gunmetal BOP gets my vote. In terms of the original episode I see a small, "bare bones" experimental gunship, and this vessel fits the bill perfectly.
Thanks, guys! I've begun the next one. This will be the Constellation from "The Doomsday Machine." I like that the original episode used an AMT kit as the damaged Constellation. Though the damage they applied seems like little more than judicious use of a lighter. I really like the more extensive damage depicted in the remastered version, though I think the actual ship model they used was too much like the Enterprise. There were a few alterations here and there to make it a "different ship" but I feel that the use of the AMT model really did more to expand the setting than just making it 98% the same as our hero ship. Also, the Cadet Series Enterprise kit is pretty good match for the AMT 18" Enterprise right out of the box, so I will be using those lines for my interpretation of the Constellation. What I don't like is the nature of the damage on the CBS model. So much of the "wreckage" looks more like someone let a cigarette ash than like a vehicle that has been shot up, especially what we see around the saucer (the nacelles are better). So I'm going to try to make it look like there is a sensible internal structure being exposed rather than just "damage." To this end I am referencing both Matt Jefferies' cross-section for his take on the Phase II ship, as well as my own stab at deck plans, for the revealed interior on the saucer's flat surface. So far this has taken me about three and a half hours. But I kinda got bored with doing it straight through so I decided to pause and show you all the beginning of my current project. Thanks for looking! --Alex
Some more progress on the Constellation. I've been working on this here and there and it's ready for me to figure out how to skin it. I have a couple ideas. The areas marked purple are the areas that will be exposed. --Alex
Working on the ship again. I painted all the exposed areas black, to fill in any hard to reach areas when I really paint it. Then I used some rotary tools to eat into the tops of the bulkheads and chew up the edges of the outer hull. You might notice the background is black instead of my usual green cutting mat. I went ahead and took this bad boy to work and used my instruments there. I have rotary tools at home, but a greater variety at work. This damage stuff has added more thickness than I hoped, so it'll be interesting to see how I treat the lower saucer. --Alex
That's going to look really good! It would be cool if you could get some spots of florescent paint in there, that would look like still smouldering fires in some of the cabins. -Ricky
I didn't think of the fluorescent paint idea... but that's worth looking into. Thanks for the good idea! I've made a bit more progress, filling and leveling the patched in sections of hull to blend it all together. Nothing that would show up well on camera though. I've been trying to not chew up the Impulse hardware on this one, but I dunno, I may end up needing to take it off and scratch build a new one like I did for the Enterprise. We'll see. Have a great day, everybody! --Alex