I know what you mean about having family over being a show-stopper for model work. I usually just stay up an extra hour after everyone else has gone to bed and get a bit of modeling time in if at all possible. Regardless, take your time w/the models. I know from experience just how half-arsed a model can look when you rush them.
No. Unfortunately, I haven't even had time to set my stuff back up. On the bright side, I did get the colors I want to use on the E-C's hull (dark sea gray and gunship gray). And my brother (at my request) found the 1:72 Revell Shuttle that I was working on a couple years back, and the paint is still inside. Hooray. Looking at that, I'm amazed at how well some of the things turned out (the clear pieces I'd put in weren't smeared, for example). I'm going to have to figure out how to strip some of the paint, though; the paint in the payload bay pooled at the bottom, and the cockpit is horrid. The ventral tiles are nice, though. (Note to self: Order the replacement engines from Real Space Models. And find replacement decals. Revell's post-STS-107 box doesn't include decals for Enterprise, Columbia, or Challenger.)
JBOT Decals makes an excellent Line of Shuttle Decals. I've found that Easy-Off™ Oven Cleaner should work fine on taking the paint off.
I think I may have both sets of decals, if not, I do have a paper model that has those decals, I'm sure.
Apologies for the tangent, but I've been looking (well, more like drooling) at the models on the Federation Models site, and I'm curious. How do these resin kits get made? Are they licensed by Paramount, or do they just hope Paramount doesn't notice? Marian
I'm no expert, but I think it has a lot to do with the fact that no model kit maker has the Trek license right now, because most of them have the attitude that "sci-fi doesn't sell". Both AMT/ERTL and Polar Lights were bought out by RC2, who doesn't seem to have any desire to produce new Sci-Fi kits. Revell-Monogram had Voyager and classic Battlestar Galactica kits, but neither sold well, partially because Paramount told Revell what Trek ships to model (the Kazon Torpedo comes to mind here. ). Bandai had some excellent Trek kits, but the price was way too high. As you can see, I've done my homework.
It's debatably referred to as "grey market." There was a time, not too long ago, that Paramount took to shutting down any unlicenced materials through cease-and-desist orders. By doing so, they drove their market away in droves, and I've always been convinced that this was a KEY factor in why Trek began to fail. The studio ceased to think of it like entertainment and started thinking of it as a PROPERTY. So, instead of seeing this sort of thing as what it really is... FREE ADVERTISING... they looked at it as "lost profits." And in the process, they reduced their own profitability. Today, Paramount has come to recognize the silliness of this (I'm a stockholder myself and the one time raised an issue with a stockholder meeting, it was about this, just FYI.) They recognize that small-volume stuff like this... fan-publishing, fan websites, fan "garage-kit" modelmaking, fan-films, etc... all of that is GOOD for the franchise. So, while TECHNICALLY the "garage-kit-makers" have no legal rights (ie, if Paramount WANTED to they could shut down Federation Models tomorrow) they have no INCENTIVE to do so. Basically, its a tacit agreement between F.M. and Paramount... don't do large-volume-production. Support officially-available models (and add-ons that will increase sales of those officially-available models!) to the maximum extent possible. Don't step on Paramount's toes, or any of Paramount's licensees' toes... and we'll treat you as what you are... something that's helping keep our property alive! By keeping interest in Trek alive, this actually INCREASES the potential profitability of the property, it doesn't harm it in any way. So Paramount, today, sees NO reason to act against outfits like F.M, or Jackill, or anyone else who's involved in low-volume "fan-work" production. EDIT: Also, as for "how they get made"... a fan modelmaker makes a model (typically referred to as a "pattern"). You coat the pattern liberally with mold-release agent and build an RTV rubber mold off of that. You then use polyurethane 2-part casting resin in that RTV mold to make multiple copies of that part. Alternatively, you can make a hard mold off of certain fairly flat surfaces on your pattern, drill some tiny holes in that, and use it to vacuum-form styrene sheet which then becomes the core of a vac-form kit. The RTV molds have a useful life of less than 100 shots (typically around 40 to 50). A vac-form die lasts a few hundred shots, typically. That's unlike an injection-molded kit that is good for tens or even hundreds of thousands of shots. The turn-around time for a cast resin part (from one pour operation to the next) is the better part of a day. A vac-form part takes at least an hour to do really well (shorter turn time gives softer detail). Versus injection-molding that generates a part sprue, typically, about every eight seconds. As for the decals they sell, these are typically either done with offset printing on blank decal film, silkscreening on blank decal film, or (as has become more common in the past few years) printing using a special ALPS brand printer on blank decal film. (The ALPS printer uses inks that are completely waterproof and form a thick film, not like most inkjet inks.) Some laser printer toners are also suitable for decal use, but I'm no familiar with the details of that (SOMEONE here is, though, I'm sure!) So... again... everything F.M. does is either (1) very low-volume stuff, or (2) directly supports increased sales of licenced goods. Get it?
To answer your last question, the GKMers (Garage Kit Manufacturers) make them and hope that ParaBorg/CBS/WhoeverCurrentlyHoldsTheTrekFranchise never take any real notice of what they're doing. Paramount had sent out Cease & Desist notices to several companies in the past, as they have to do so to protect their interests. However, it's fairly few & far between. I can't recall exactly when the last C&D I heard of came about from Paramount for Trek models, but know it was a company that sold Vacuum Formed Trek called Science Fiction Spaceship Models somewhere around 7 years ago, I think it was. LucasFilm, LTD does the same thing w/the Star Wars franchise. For the most part, the money made from GKMers that "gets taken away" from license holders is a drop in the bucket, so they don't usually get "officially" noticed, tho several folks who've worked for Paramount have purchased garage kits in the past. LucasFilm realizes that GKMers are actually a boon to his franichse so often "overlooks" them, tho I've heard he's recently started turning his gaze towards those companies selling finished armor and other prop-like items.
I know what you mean about the masking. I didn't even try to mask the details on the models. I used a fine, flat edge brush and some thinned paint to "flow" it to the edges of the panels. It worked ok, but took practice. My second E-E was just base coat and Absolut decals. My Amby is all had painted. I hope to do another in the future. Keep up the work Turbo, and post updates when you can. j
Just another 'looks good so far!' post. Biggest lesson I learned when gettign into modelling is to take your time. Its not a race to see how fast you can get it together, so take your time and do everything right. Learnign that myself as I'm drilling out the windows on a $70 large scale Ent-D for lighting. It's a looong, tedious process thats easy to screw up.