Recommended gear and skills for building Star Trek models?

[Neb Lleb]

So, yeah. I build a lot of models, usually Japanese action figure ones like Gunpla, but I figured that building a model of a Star Trek ship would be a nice change of pace. Of course, I already own a good modelling glue in some Tamiya plastic cement, and some citadel paints, but I could do with a guide to what's best.

The ones I'd like to build are the Enterprise-D (The Next Generation, Star Trek Generations and Picard (Matalas era/Season 3)), the NX-01 (Enterprise) and the classic NCC-1701, either Refit (first three films) or Kurtzman/Goldsman (Strange New Worlds) if you're curious.

 

[1001001]

Moving to Fan Art

 

[vfxart]

I think the best thing to do first is hang out a bit and answer some Qs that are likely to come your way.

For just about any Trek kit, given many come from older molds, you're going to want great tape (hi again Tamiya) and cutting tools (Olfa makes Tamiya's blades, so they're a good option if hobby $$$ is too much), clamps, and probably one or two more aggressive adhesives, incl a 5-min epoxy. A good putty or polyester putty (perfect plastic, tamiya, etc), a small micro-drill or file set (those windows... and older molds... not a great combo). Some sheet and strip styrene to use to correct shapes and build up joining surfaces. That's basics.

For Trek:
What scale?
Are you going to light them? (I've seen fantastic Ent-D builds with no lighting, but the paint jobs are nailed)
Armatures or stands? Have you built simple jigs to kill wobbliness? (srsly, really simple)
Do you want to match filming or even cg paint jobs? (masking paint, different or more decals, and color matching help)
Do you go crazy with markings and setting decals properly? (to kill silvering and decal bumps)

Sounds like you want to go with standard ships first, but do you have any designs in mind that would mean upgrades or customization? (off the shelf Trek kits were the backbone of later builds, you might want to collect a few for down the road, though you'd have to work out what the upgrades and additions were... that's some $$$)

There's more, but got to get to some fun and you know others will chime in.

 

[Neb Lleb]

I think the best thing to do first is hang out a bit and answer some Qs that are likely to come your way.

For just about any Trek kit, given many come from older molds, you're going to want great tape (hi again Tamiya) and cutting tools (Olfa makes Tamiya's blades, so they're a good option if hobby $$$ is too much), clamps, and probably one or two more aggressive adhesives, incl a 5-min epoxy. A good putty or polyester putty (perfect plastic, tamiya, etc), a small micro-drill or file set (those windows... and older molds... not a great combo). Some sheet and strip styrene to use to correct shapes and build up joining surfaces. That's basics.

For Trek:
What scale?
Are you going to light them? (I've seen fantastic Ent-D builds with no lighting, but the paint jobs are nailed)
Armatures or stands? Have you built simple jigs to kill wobbliness? (srsly, really simple)
Do you want to match filming or even cg paint jobs? (masking paint, different or more decals, and color matching help)
Do you go crazy with markings and setting decals properly? (to kill silvering and decal bumps)

Sounds like you want to go with standard ships first, but do you have any designs in mind that would mean upgrades or customization? (off the shelf Trek kits were the backbone of later builds, you might want to collect a few for down the road, though you'd have to work out what the upgrades and additions were... that's some $$$)

There's more, but got to get to some fun and you know others will chime in.

I personally just want to paint, glue and assemble.

 

[Neb Lleb]

P.S. Oh, forgot to mention the USS Voyager model. That's one I'd like to build.

 

[Michael]

I think the best thing to do first is hang out a bit and answer some Qs that are likely to come your way.

For just about any Trek kit, given many come from older molds, you're going to want great tape (hi again Tamiya) and cutting tools (Olfa makes Tamiya's blades, so they're a good option if hobby $$$ is too much), clamps, and probably one or two more aggressive adhesives, incl a 5-min epoxy. A good putty or polyester putty (perfect plastic, tamiya, etc), a small micro-drill or file set (those windows... and older molds... not a great combo). Some sheet and strip styrene to use to correct shapes and build up joining surfaces. That's basics.

For Trek:
What scale?
Are you going to light them? (I've seen fantastic Ent-D builds with no lighting, but the paint jobs are nailed)
Armatures or stands? Have you built simple jigs to kill wobbliness? (srsly, really simple)
Do you want to match filming or even cg paint jobs? (masking paint, different or more decals, and color matching help)
Do you go crazy with markings and setting decals properly? (to kill silvering and decal bumps)

Sounds like you want to go with standard ships first, but do you have any designs in mind that would mean upgrades or customization? (off the shelf Trek kits were the backbone of later builds, you might want to collect a few for down the road, though you'd have to work out what the upgrades and additions were... that's some $$$)

There's more, but got to get to some fun and you know others will chime in.

Some pretty good advice in there! Thanks so much!

P.S. Oh, forgot to mention the USS Voyager model. That's one I'd like to build.

Had that one as a kid and didn’t do a super good job on it. I’m pretty content with the collection of Eaglemoss models I now have, but I’ve actually been thinking about trying to built another Voyager model kit at some point. Seeing all the great model work that’s out there on the internet can be pretty intimidating though, because I feel I couldn’t even come close to that quality. These two for example are so damn impressive …

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[Neb Lleb]

Some pretty good advice in there! Thanks so much!


Had that one as a kid and didn’t do a super good job on it. I’m pretty content with the collection of Eaglemoss models I now have, but I’ve actually been thinking about trying to built another Voyager model kit at some point. Seeing all the great model work that’s out there on the internet can be pretty intimidating though, because I feel I couldn’t even come close to that quality. These two for example are so damn impressive …

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Well, I guess the Voyager would be a nice place to start.