A "smooth" PL 1/350 TOS Enterprise....

[Warped9]

Round2 will be issuing a revised version of their Polar Lights' 1/350 scale TOS Enterprise: http://www.collectormodel.com/star-...e-developments/#sthash.jqu7oHrc.1nQ7ZszK.dpbs

It will have minor revisions for even better accuracy, but more interesting is that it will no longer have the engraved gridlines. Instead it will be a smooth hull wherein you have to pencil in the gridlines yourself if you want them.

The smooth hull parts will also be available separately for those who already have the kit and haven't built it yet.

Uh, I would be one of those so I am definitely buying this.

 

[Albertese]

Great news! I'm glad I haven't actually built mine yet!

--Alex

 

[Warped9]

I admit part of what has kept me from building mine was the prospect of filling in those engraved lines. From what I've read it would have been an involved process.

 

[Ar-Pharazon]

I admit part of what has kept me from building mine was the prospect of filling in those engraved lines. From what I've read it would have been an involved process.

It didn't seem like it at the time, but I guess sanding the raised gridlines off the AMT Enterprise kit wasn't the worst thing in the world

 

[Madkoifish]

From what I have seen of the saucer primer and a light sanding would wipe the things. Probably more worth it to get the new parts to get those fixed light hole things as those are a PITA to fix as you have to plug then level it and then re-drill them. I do hope they addressed the shuttle bay issues and secondary hull gaping as I thought those were far worse than those grids. I might just pick one up, dunno where the hell I would put it though. As a comment on the article says I would have liked to see the TOS shuttle though.


The raised grids were the least of the AMT's problems.

 

[Warped9]

As a comment on the article says I would have liked to see the TOS shuttle though.

Yeah. I, too, would really like to have seen that.

 

[Forbin]

You need more than primer to get rid of them. They're deeper than I would have liked, back when I was rooting for them to be included. I had visions of fine Tamiya-aircraft-model-style engraved lines. PL's Chinese factory couldn't do it.

 

[Forbin]

The painful part is that I've already built one as a pilot version, but I left the grids on out of plain laziness. Do I rip the saucer off and replace it? Throw it out and build a new one?

I really hate it when manufacturers do this with expensive kits. Moebius reissued the big 4-window Seaview with nose contour correction AFTER I bought and started the kit. Then they reissued the big Flying Sub with improvements AFTER I built it. PL first issued the 350th NX-01 with a crooked engine, then issued a correction AFTER I bought it. Ferchrissake.

 

[MadMan1701A]

I think I prefer the grid lines anyway, even it they aren't studio accurate. The saucer just looks so plain without them!
-Ricky

 

[Ar-Pharazon]

The raised grids were the least of the AMT's problems.

On every TOS model I remember

I think I prefer the grid lines anyway, even it they aren't studio accurate. The saucer just looks so plain without them!
-Ricky

Sure. They were actually "there", but like the Klingon ridges, the studio didn't have the budget to show them

 

[Madkoifish]

You need more than primer to get rid of them. They're deeper than I would have liked, back when I was rooting for them to be included. I had visions of fine Tamiya-aircraft-model-style engraved lines. PL's Chinese factory couldn't do it.
http://www.inpayne.com/models/trek/pltoselit1-03.jpg

Oh those do look much larger than the ones I saw on a WIP kit at the LHS. TOn that example a good primer coat and some sanding would have zapped them. I wonder if molds are opening up or control of injection temps are not being kept. The kit I did see had some severe gapping and slight distortion on the secondary hull. This was the main reason I held off in purchasing at the time. (other than kit size after seeing it as a wip)