# Leif Ericson Galactic Cruiser



## Trekkriffic

*Leif Ericson Galactic Cruiser-FINISHED PICS!*

The Leif Ericson model kit was originally introduced by AMT in 1968 in an attempt to cash in on the enthusiasm and popularity generated in the sci-fi realm by "Star Trek" and was the first in a planned series of Strategic Space Command ships. 
Matt Jefferies, designer of the original starship Enterprise, was hired by AMT to design the Leif and its accompanying scout ship.

Here are some of his early sketches of the two:

Leif Ericson:









Scout ship:









Interestingly, the design shares some characteristics with the Botany Bay sleeper ship which Jefferies also designed, primarily the submarine-like "conning tower".

I myself built this kit as a boy. 
Along with the Enterprise and Klingon models in my collection it was one of the few kits that included light bulbs for the engines. 
The kit also came with a vinyl record called "The Sounds of Outer Space" that played 60's era "spacey" music. 
You can listen to it here:






The Leif Ericson has proved to be an enduring design and it has appeared in one form or another on covers of several sci-fi novels and in CGI. 
Most notably it served as the inspiration for the Battlecruiser MacArthur from "The Mote in God's Eye" written by Jerry Pournelle and Larry Niven. 










Sadly though, the model was not a commercial success so it remains the only model ever produced in the Strategic Space Command fleet. 
Over the years, original kits in good condition sold for several hundred dollars on eBay. 
The current kit I'm building now was re-issued by AMT in June, 2011 and now features red LEDS instead of light bulbs and is missing the vinly record. 
My build will feature lit windows in additon to engines. I will also be building it with ParaGrafix's excellent photo-etch set:










To read more about the history of the Leif Ericson go to this link:
http://www.projectrho.com/SSC/index.html


----------



## Trekkriffic

First things first. 

Here are photos of the box art including side panels:


































The model is molded in blue-green plastic. 

Parts in bags:


----------



## Trekkriffic

Decals:










This is a much more comprehensive decal sheet than the oriignal kit had. 

Instructions:


































The backside of the instruction sheet features a Strategic Space Command adventure story involving members of the Leif Ericson's crew.
A nice little touch but I'd rather have the vinyl record that came with the 1968 kit!

Here's a link to the story:

http://frank.bol.ucla.edu/lestory.htm


----------



## WOI

Weren't the sound FX in Sounds of Outer Space,the very same ones used 
in a couple of Filmation's cartoon productions as well as used in
Star Trek the Animated Series?


----------



## Trekkriffic

*Step 1 *

Drilling out and filing the windows to shape. The windows are either round (easy) or oval (harder).

Conveniently, the window are molded as raised details on the hull, no doubt as an aid in decal placement: 










Here are the tools I'm using to open the windows:










After drilling I use my xacto style knife to remove excess plastic:










Whatever styrene AMT used for this kit is fairly soft in comparison to other kits I've seen which helps speed up this process a lot.

Finshed windows after shaping up with round and curved needle files:










I should be done with this step in another couple of hours. 
All told I think it will take about 4 hours to finsih opening up all of the windows. 
I know it would go a lot faster using a dremel and router bit but I like the control doing it by hand gives me.


----------



## Trekkriffic

WOI said:


> Weren't the sound FX in Sounds of Outer Space,the very same ones used
> in a couple of Filmation's cartoon productions as well as used in
> Star Trek the Animated Series?


Possibly. Can't tell you for sure but it would not surprise me. 
A lot of stuff back then got recycled.


----------



## steve123

Very cool! I can't wait to see the next update!

I hope you have enough "GOO"...

Steve


----------



## Trekkriffic

steve123 said:


> Very cool! I can't wait to see the next update!
> 
> I hope you have enough "GOO"...
> 
> Steve


Dang it! "Goo"! Where's my "Goo"!!! I'm Goo-less!


----------



## CLBrown

Trekkriffic said:


> Sadly though, the model was not a commercial success so it remains the only model ever produced in the Strategic Space Command fleet.


I've always wondered... did Jefferies do any other sketches, relating to any other "potential ships" in this series? Did anyone else? I'd love to see other ideas which got tossed out. Heck, that would be an amazing scratch-building opportunity.


----------



## starlord

you should go read the line of post here about me building a model of it.


----------



## Trekkriffic

WOI said:


> Weren't the sound FX in Sounds of Outer Space,the very same ones used
> in a couple of Filmation's cartoon productions as well as used in
> Star Trek the Animated Series?


Futher investigation has yielded this information which indicates a connection between the Leif Ericson and Filmation making it all the more probable Fimation may have used the music from the record...

"While the Leif Ericson never appeared in the original (Star Trek) series, Mike (Okuda) mentioned that it did show up in a couple of places on Filmation's storyboards for the animated Star Trek series in the early 1970s, although the ship did not appear in any of the finished episodes of the animated series."

And...

"David Penn and Scott Snell did an amazing job at identifying both the source of the music and the spoken words in the record. The lyrics are from a 1967 psychedelic rock record called "Cosmic Sounds" by The Zodiac. The music was originally used in "The Twilight Zone" and was released in "The Twilight Zone: 40th Anniversary Collection" set."

The above was excerpted from articles found at this site:

http://frank.bol.ucla.edu/le.html#SoundsOfSpace


----------



## Trekkriffic

starlord said:


> you should go read the line of post here about me building a model of it.


It was your thread that inspired me to get started on my build starlord. I can only hope that my thread is as humorous, however unintended, as yours.


----------



## Warped9

I knew this only as the UFO Mystery Ship and always imagined it as a Gorn ship.


----------



## starlord

All those photos are the kit, I have all of it but the lights, those got lost, but the rest is what I have.


----------



## Trekkriffic

CLBrown said:


> I've always wondered... did Jefferies do any other sketches, relating to any other "potential ships" in this series? Did anyone else? I'd love to see other ideas which got tossed out. Heck, that would be an amazing scratch-building opportunity.


I'm not aware of any other Jefferies concept sketches for other ships in the SSC series specifically; however, there is this bit describing how the Leif influenced the design of another ship for a proposed TV series ...

"Around 1975 Matt Jefferies was hired by George Pal to work on a TV series based on THE WAR OF THE WORLDS."










"As you can see the Hyperspace Carrier Pegasus is an outgrowth of the Leif Ericson. 
Note that instead of two side engines, the Pegasus has four, two on each side. 
For the TV series, Jefferies actually had the Pegasus upside down in relation to the Leif Ericson, in order to make the connection less obvious. 
The TV series was never picked up, alas. 
*But this is a facinating glimpse of what might have been*."


----------



## Krel

You Tube has the pitch film in three parts here: http://www.youtube.com/results?sear....231.1465.1j10j1.12.0...0.0...1ac.Xp1NxI_piFU

The Shuttle craft he designed for the WOTW series was reused for the proposed "Star Trek" series that didn't get made.

David.


----------



## kenlee

If you are interested you can see my WIP thread here: http://www.hobbytalk.com/bbs1/showthread.php?t=339076
The main thing that may interest you is the modifications I made to the landing bay doors.


----------



## Trekkriffic

Krel said:


> You Tube has the pitch film in three parts here: http://www.youtube.com/results?sear....231.1465.1j10j1.12.0...0.0...1ac.Xp1NxI_piFU
> 
> The Shuttle craft he designed for the WOTW series was reused for the proposed "Star Trek" series that didn't get made.
> 
> David.


Thanks for posting the link. I have to agree with the comments posted on Part III. 
If that's what they showed the network suits it's no wonder the series never got the green light!


----------



## Trekkriffic

kenlee said:


> If you are interested you can see my WIP thread here: http://www.hobbytalk.com/bbs1/showthread.php?t=339076
> The main thing that may interest you is the modifications I made to the landing bay doors.


I remember your build thread Ken. Those door hinges are a big improvement-mind if I borrow the idea? I also like how you did the landing lights in the shuttlebay. Your build gives me something to shoot for.


----------



## BolianAdmiral

The scout ship as rendered on that back-of-the-box art reminds me a lot of Space Ship One.


----------



## kenlee

Trekkriffic said:


> I remember your build thread Ken. Those door hinges are a big improvement-mind if I borrow the idea? I also like how you did the landing lights in the shuttlebay. Your build gives me something to shoot for.


Please, you are free to use any idea that I post. The landing bay lights were done with 1mm fiber optic strands and a single LED as the light source. There is just enough room under the shuttle bay after I modified it for the fiber optics to fit. I made the shuttle bay about 2 or 3 mm shallower than the original part by simply cutting a section that thick out of the original part. Since I added new interior walls to the shuttlebay I didn't worry about the mismatch when I glued the kit part back together.
I was also able to restore a couple of the missing photos from that WIP thread, the ones that are still missing are gone forever since I didn't keep them.


----------



## Trekkriffic

Hmmmmm... I'm using photo-etch in the shuttle bay so it may be tough to modify and make the bay shallow enough to accomodate the fiber strands. Will have to see what the scoop is when I get to that point. Thanks Ken.


----------



## Trekkriffic

BolianAdmiral said:


> The scout ship as rendered on that back-of-the-box art reminds me a lot of Space Ship One.


Yeah. I can see a resemblance. By the way, the scout ship landing gear in the kit look like overturned plastic drink cups. Never liked them. The landing gear included with the photo-etch set will be a big improvement in that regard.


----------



## kenlee

Trekkriffic said:


> Hmmmmm... I'm using photo-etch in the shuttle bay so it may be tough to modify and make the bay shallow enough to accomodate the fiber strands. Will have to see what the scoop is when I get to that point. Thanks Ken.


If you use smaller diameter fiber optic strands, it may not be an issue. I just used what I had on hand at that time.


----------



## CLBrown

So, if I understand the "best answer" at this point... no, neither Jefferies nor anyone else seems to have created concepts for "additional ships" in this series. The most we have are some minor tweaks to the design we've got already.

Okay, fair enough. This could be another fun project, then... using the technology seen in this ship as a starting point, but assuming significantly different configurations, sizes, etc.

The "Leif Ericson" is a relatively small ship... assuming it has the crew in bunkrooms rather than private cabins, for the most part, this ship likely has a crew of somewhere between 30 and 50 personnel.

I've always assumed that the little spires out in the wing vertices are some form of weapons hardpoints. The "nose" looks almost like armor, but that makes little sense, so I'll treat it as some form of sensor platform, somewhat akin to the nose-mounted radar on modern aircraft.

The tower is clearly where the command deck is, as well as the navigation and comms centers. It likely also has an airlock docking port at the very top.

The external "engine shrouds" are the faster-than-light drive, I think. The "slots" in the aft-most section are llkely the sub-light drive. There's clearly a hatch on the aft section... and that's likely where the ship connects to a base or other support facility during embarkation, resupply, and refueling operations.

The odd horseshoe-shaped "rim" on the underside is part of the gravity generation subsystem.

Most likely, crew bunkrooms and officer cabins are in the "neck" region. The aft section is likely almost all engine space.

So... that's what I THINK is going on with this ship. Anyone have different takes on things, or anything you'd like to add (given that 100% of this is speculation at this point)?

So... the basic features we see on this ship would likely be replcated on other ships, but not necessarily in the same overall configuration.

For example... a "carrier" would be a lot larger, and might not have the "nosecone" in front, but might have similar objects on some form of mount outboard from the ship centerline.

We know that the FTL "shrouds" are just there to house some esoteric little device inside of them... something which likely needs to be outside of the ship proper, but is relatively fragile. Other ships may have only one of these "drive cores" and some others may have more than the Leif does. The cores may exist in larger sizes, or this may be a common size.

Any ship of this "series" needs to have something similar to what the Leif has on the underside, if that ship is going to have on-board gravity.

And the "refueling/resupply/embarkation" hatch at the aft is likely going to be a common feature of any large ship.

Otherwise, though... it seems to me that the sky's the limit for designs in this general "universe."

I was hoping that Jefferies had at least proposed a few others. It would have made for an excellent starting point. BUT... if not... that leaves more freedom to play with concepts, doesn't it?

So, if the Leif is the "small warship" class in this venue... pretty much an analog to the "Defiant" from DS9, I'm guessing, except not quite to "uber-ized"... we'd expect a range of other ships in the same fleet.

I'd love to hear other brainstormed ideas. But in the meantime... The Leif remains the only "defined" ship in this "series."


----------



## steve123

Don't get all side tracked by the hoo-ha. add what sounds like fun..and build a ship..let the debating society build it's own kits

Steve


----------



## Trekkriffic

CLBrown said:


> So, if I understand the "best answer" at this point... no, neither Jefferies nor anyone else seems to have created concepts for "additional ships" in this series. The most we have are some minor tweaks to the design we've got already.
> 
> Okay, fair enough. This could be another fun project, then... using the technology seen in this ship as a starting point, but assuming significantly different configurations, sizes, etc.
> 
> The "Leif Ericson" is a relatively small ship... assuming it has the crew in bunkrooms rather than private cabins, for the most part, this ship likely has a crew of somewhere between 30 and 50 personnel.
> 
> I've always assumed that the little spires out in the wing vertices are some form of weapons hardpoints. The "nose" looks almost like armor, but that makes little sense, so I'll treat it as some form of sensor platform, somewhat akin to the nose-mounted radar on modern aircraft.
> 
> The tower is clearly where the command deck is, as well as the navigation and comms centers. It likely also has an airlock docking port at the very top.
> 
> The external "engine shrouds" are the faster-than-light drive, I think. The "slots" in the aft-most section are llkely the sub-light drive. There's clearly a hatch on the aft section... and that's likely where the ship connects to a base or other support facility during embarkation, resupply, and refueling operations.
> 
> The odd horseshoe-shaped "rim" on the underside is part of the gravity generation subsystem.
> 
> Most likely, crew bunkrooms and officer cabins are in the "neck" region. The aft section is likely almost all engine space.
> 
> So... that's what I THINK is going on with this ship. Anyone have different takes on things, or anything you'd like to add (given that 100% of this is speculation at this point)?
> 
> So... the basic features we see on this ship would likely be replcated on other ships, but not necessarily in the same overall configuration.
> 
> For example... a "carrier" would be a lot larger, and might not have the "nosecone" in front, but might have similar objects on some form of mount outboard from the ship centerline.
> 
> We know that the FTL "shrouds" are just there to house some esoteric little device inside of them... something which likely needs to be outside of the ship proper, but is relatively fragile. Other ships may have only one of these "drive cores" and some others may have more than the Leif does. The cores may exist in larger sizes, or this may be a common size.
> 
> Any ship of this "series" needs to have something similar to what the Leif has on the underside, if that ship is going to have on-board gravity.
> 
> And the "refueling/resupply/embarkation" hatch at the aft is likely going to be a common feature of any large ship.
> 
> Otherwise, though... it seems to me that the sky's the limit for designs in this general "universe."
> 
> I was hoping that Jefferies had at least proposed a few others. It would have made for an excellent starting point. BUT... if not... that leaves more freedom to play with concepts, doesn't it?
> 
> So, if the Leif is the "small warship" class in this venue... pretty much an analog to the "Defiant" from DS9, I'm guessing, except not quite to "uber-ized"... we'd expect a range of other ships in the same fleet.
> 
> I'd love to hear other brainstormed ideas. But in the meantime... The Leif remains the only "defined" ship in this "series."


I see nothing to disagree with in anything you've stated Mr. Brown.


----------



## Trekkriffic

steve123 said:


> Don't get all side tracked by the hoo-ha. add what sounds like fun..and build a ship..let the debating society build it's own kits
> 
> Steve


I hear that. This build will be pretty faithful to the original. One idea I am toying with though is adding some type of more visible weaponry to make her look a bit more menacing. 
Maybe something as simple as modifying the barrels projecting forward from the wingtip "vertices" to beef them up. At the very least I'll replace the plastic bits with brass tubing.
Could run fiber into them and light them up too.


----------



## JGG1701

Steve the windows on the ship were the most tedious part of the build (_for me anyway_). The rest is real fun. Looking forward to seeing your progress!:thumbsup:
-Jim


----------



## Paulbo

Trekkriffic said:


> Hmmmmm... I'm using photo-etch in the shuttle bay so it may be tough to modify and make the bay shallow enough to accomodate the fiber strands. Will have to see what the scoop is when I get to that point. Thanks Ken.


If you fill the holes in the PE with Micro Krystal Klear and hit them with dull coat (inside and out), then you can just add some LEDs at the sides of the landing bay at the bottom (facing in) and they'll light up quite well.


----------



## steve123

I like the weapon idea! some tubing, some Fo..
don't want your post to be all yak and no starship..but the craft could stand some mods.

The heinz 57 ship.. Sorry Steve 244 said that to me when I was starting mine...it was over after that..lol

Steve


----------



## Trekkriffic

Paulbo said:


> If you fill the holes in the PE with Micro Krystal Klear and hit them with dull coat (inside and out), then you can just add some LEDs at the sides of the landing bay at the bottom (facing in) and they'll light up quite well.


Cool. Thanks for the tip Paul!


----------



## Trekkriffic

JGG1701 said:


> Steve the windows on the ship were the most tedious part of the build (_for me anyway_). The rest is real fun. Looking forward to seeing your progress!:thumbsup:
> -Jim


I looked at your Leif thread on The Thoilan Web again this afternoon Jim. Loved the lighting job you did on that. Really nice work! :thumbsup:


----------



## Joe Brown

Great work on the windows! :thumbsup:

Starting back in Feb of 2004, there was started a multi-year, multi-page area of the SSM Forums just on the Leif and the Strategic Space Command:

http://www.starshipmodeler.net/talk/viewforum.php?f=39

Sadly, when the Mystery Ship re-issue came out, activity over there dropped to barely a flicker. When the model wasn't available, more folks seemed more interested than after it became easy to get...


----------



## JGG1701

Trekkriffic said:


> I looked at your Leif thread on The Thoilan Web again this afternoon Jim. Loved the lighting job you did on that. Really nice work! :thumbsup:


Thank you Steve.
-Jim


----------



## Trekkriffic

Joe Brown said:


> Great work on the windows! :thumbsup:
> 
> Starting back in Feb of 2004, there was started a multi-year, multi-page area of the SSM Forums just on the Leif and the Strategic Space Command:
> 
> http://www.starshipmodeler.net/talk/viewforum.php?f=39
> 
> Sadly, when the Mystery Ship re-issue came out, activity over there dropped to barely a flicker. When the model wasn't available, more folks seemed more interested than after it became easy to get...


Cool! I haven't posted anything on this build over on SSM yet. Guess I know where to post it now. It'll be interesting to see if anyone responds.


----------



## Krel

Trekkriffic said:


> Thanks for posting the link. I have to agree with the comments posted on Part III.
> If that's what they showed the network suits it's no wonder the series never got the green light!


You have to understand that the point of the short was not to show the story, but to demonstrate how the effects would work. The story was just a quick and dirty framework for the effects, which I think look great. I like it better than a lot of the cgi sets in some shows.

David.


----------



## Trekkriffic

Krel said:


> You have to understand that the point of the short was not to show the story, but to demonstrate how the effects would work. The story was just a quick and dirty framework for the effects, which I think look great. I like it better than a lot of the cgi sets in some shows.
> 
> David.


I see. That makes more sense then looking at it from that angle. Just curious if the actors were filmed in front of a bluescreen. I don't think I saw any shadows being cast on the floor.


----------



## Krel

Trekkriffic said:


> I see. That makes more sense then looking at it from that angle. Just curious if the actors were filmed in front of a bluescreen. I don't think I saw any shadows being cast on the floor.


I don't remember the name of the system, but it used a system similar to the later Introvision process used in "Outland". The actors were filmed against a blue screen, while at the same time a snorkel camera filmed a miniature set. Both cameras were computer controlled, and the two images were combined together in real time. This allowed them to treat the miniature set like a real set, to where they could even walk behind features on the model.

There were some shadows on the floor, but this is a poor copy, so it is hard to tell how many shadows were actually there.


----------



## starlord

steve123 said:


> Very cool! I can't wait to see the next update!
> 
> I hope you have enough "GOO"...
> 
> Steve


you mean something like this?


----------



## Frank2056

Trekkriffic said:


> Futher investigation has yielded this information which indicates a connection between the Leif Ericson and Filmation making it all the more probable Fimation may have used the music from the record...


One of the many reasons why there wasn't a CD or record in the re-release was the effort and cost of obtaining the rights to all the sounds/music in the original record. Considering that the soundtrack is out there, what would be the point of the extra expense?

Great job on the windows, BTW. I always thought all the windows made it more of a cruise ship than an warship... but I think that's just me trying to justify my not having to drill them out.

Cozmo has made some really nice resin bits to go with the kit (http://www.hobbytalk.com/bbs1/showpost.php?p=3890432&postcount=11), and that Paragraphics PE set is excellent.


----------



## Trekkriffic

Frank2056 said:


> One of the many reasons why there wasn't a CD or record in the re-release was the effort and cost of obtaining the rights to all the sounds/music in the original record. Considering that the soundtrack is out there, what would be the point of the extra expense?
> 
> Great job on the windows, BTW. I always thought all the windows made it more of a cruise ship than an warship... but I think that's just me trying to justify my not having to drill them out.
> 
> Cozmo has made some really nice resin bits to go with the kit (http://www.hobbytalk.com/bbs1/showpost.php?p=3890432&postcount=11), and that Paragraphics PE set is excellent.


Those little resin vehicles are pretty neat. I think I see the Voyager, the Landmaster from Damnation Alley, and the LIS Chariot? If not, they are close.


----------



## Trekkriffic

starlord said:


> you mean something like this?


Dude you need to brand that stuff. 

"Starlord's Goo"

Have a picture of yourself grimacing with it sticking to your hair on the label.

:thumbsup:


----------



## starlord

Trekkriffic said:


> Dude you need to brand that stuff.
> 
> "Starlord's Goo"
> 
> Have a picture of yourself grimacing with it sticking to your hair on the label.
> 
> :thumbsup:


that would be a big trick, as I live by myself and there is no one else in this trailer.
:thumbsup:


----------



## Trekkriffic

starlord said:


> that would be a big trick, as I live by myself and there is no one else in this trailer.
> :thumbsup:


No one else that you're aware of anyway eh?
:thumbsup:


----------



## Lee Staton

Krel said:


> I don't remember the name of the system, but it used a system similar to the later Introvision process used in "Outland". The actors were filmed against a blue screen, while at the same time a snorkel camera filmed a miniature set. Both cameras were computer controlled, and the two images were combined together in real time. This allowed them to treat the miniature set like a real set, to where they could even walk behind features on the model.
> 
> There were some shadows on the floor, but this is a poor copy, so it is hard to tell how many shadows were actually there.


You're thinking of Magicam. It was used in Carl Sagan's "Cosmos" series. The company was also going to do the FX for "Star Trek Phase Two" before it became a big motionless picture.

Magicam would've made some of Paramount's 4th network s-f shows possible on a TV budget.

Lee


----------



## Scorpitat

Trekkriffic said:


> No one else that you're aware of anyway eh?
> :thumbsup:


Shhhhh! We are not to mention the "voices"! Lest they go away and speak to us no more! Shhhhh, I beg of you! :wave:


----------



## JGG1701

Scorpitat said:


> Shhhhh! We are not to mention the "voices"! Lest they go away and speak to us no more! Shhhhh, I beg of you! :wave:


That tone sounds familiar.........
-Jim


----------



## Captain April

Trekkriffic said:


> I'm not aware of any other Jefferies concept sketches for other ships in the SSC series specifically; however, there is this bit describing how the Leif influenced the design of another ship for a proposed TV series ...
> 
> "Around 1975 Matt Jefferies was hired by George Pal to work on a TV series based on THE WAR OF THE WORLDS."
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> "As you can see the Hyperspace Carrier Pegasus is an outgrowth of the Leif Ericson.
> Note that instead of two side engines, the Pegasus has four, two on each side.
> For the TV series, Jefferies actually had the Pegasus upside down in relation to the Leif Ericson, in order to make the connection less obvious.
> The TV series was never picked up, alas.
> *But this is a facinating glimpse of what might have been*."


Anyone else notice the painting is upside down?

And along those lines, is anybody else a little jazzed that they brought back the original stand?


----------



## Trekkriffic

Captain April said:


> Anyone else notice the painting is upside down?


Yes. That was intentional on Jeffery's part apparently. 




> And along those lines, is anybody else a little jazzed that they brought back the original stand?


It's even got a slot cut out for the slide switch which is nice. The kit also includes a second stand option which is the same as the old stand included in the 18" Enterprise kit.


----------



## Trekkriffic

JGG1701 said:


> That tone sounds familiar.........
> -Jim


:jest:

You guys crack me up!


----------



## Captain April

I point out the stand because it was also the original stand for the Enterprise kit in its first release. The spindly cradle one came later.


----------



## Trekkriffic

Captain April said:


> I point out the stand because it was also the original stand for the Enterprise kit in its first release. The spindly cradle one came later.


Ahhhhh yes. That is true.


----------



## Trekkriffic

*Could only spend an hour working on this last night but made some progress ...*

*Step 2:* Light Blocking

So after drilling/filing out all the hull windows I shot the upper and lower hull inner surfaces and the insides of the engine shrouds with Testors flat black:










I did the same for the command tower and back panel:










While that dried I perused the instruction sheet again and noticed this:










A Phaser Projector! Yet another reference to Star Trek! How cool is that?

You can see the piece on the parts tree in this pic. It's chromed and looks like a funnel with a brim around it:










Upon closer inspection I noticed that the end of the "barrel" was solid plastic-no hole for the phaser beam to issue from. 
Couldn't have that so I decided to drill it out and do my best to simulate a red phaser glow from the tip using red acrylic rod:










Test fit:










Light test:










Not bad! The red acrylic rod works just like fiber optic. I think this will work.

*Next step will involve spraying the interior with gloss white for light dispersion. 
Then I think I'll play with a little of the photo-etch. *


----------



## Trekkriffic

Question for you guys. What's the best way to remove plastic chrome plating without damaging stryrene parts? I've heard of using bleach. How about Easy Off? Any other methods?


----------



## Scorpitat

Trekkriffic said:


> Question for you guys. What's the best way to remove plastic chrome plating without damaging stryrene parts? I've heard of using bleach. How about Easy Off? Any other methods?


Sandblasting. LOL :wave:


----------



## starlord

I only wish the one I am building would be as good as yours.


----------



## Trekkriffic

starlord said:


> I only wish the one I am building would be as good as yours.


It might still be better starlord. There's plenty of chances left for me to screw it up! 
The nice thing about this kit is it really is designed to be modified in a variety of ways. So no two ships need be exactly alike.


----------



## Trekkriffic

Scorpitat said:


> Sandblasting. LOL :wave:


Hey look! A comedian! :dude:


----------



## starlord

Trekkriffic said:


> It might still be better starlord. There's plenty of chances left for me to screw it up!
> The nice thing about this kit is it really is designed to be modified in a variety of ways. So no two ships need be exactly alike.


here at ones that I built long time ago, now you can throw rocks at'm.


----------



## Paulbo

Trekkriffic said:


> Question for you guys. What's the best way to remove plastic chrome plating without damaging stryrene parts? I've heard of using bleach. How about Easy Off? Any other methods?


I've used Formula 409. Did a great job, though it wasn't super-fast. I put the parts in a vat at night and by the next morning they were ready.


----------



## Trekkriffic

starlord said:


> here at ones that I built long time ago, now you can throw rocks at'm.


Sorry. No rock throwing man. I think I'll LEAF your ERICSON's alone!


----------



## Trekkriffic

Paulbo said:


> I've used Formula 409. Did a great job, though it wasn't super-fast. I put the parts in a vat at night and by the next morning they were ready.


So I googled the question about stripping chrome from plastic parts and watched a cool video by this guy with a Briitish accent who used bleach. 
In the video the chrome dissolved in minutes without harming the part. 
Sounded like the way to go for me. 
So I had a bottle of Clorox bleach up on the shelf in the garage but it's really old and when I went to try it on the chrome plated sprue to test it nothing happened.
So I took a whiff but didn't smell anythoing; then I dipped my finger in and tasted it and it tasted like salt water. 
So turns out my bleach was old and no good. 
Now I need to go to the store and get some new bleach. 

God... I'm starting to sound like starlord...


----------



## Scorpitat

Time to call the Handy Van to pick you up Trek! LOL


----------



## starlord

soeey posted under wrong listing


----------



## astro123

So I had a bottle of Clorox bleach up on the shelf in the garage but it's really old and when I went to try it on the chrome plated sprue to test it nothing happened.
So I took a whiff but didn't smell anythoing; then I dipped my finger in and tasted it and it tasted like salt water. 
So turns out my bleach was old and no good. 

Just an FYI. Bleach has a very short shelf life. 6 months tops. I know because I used to work with industrial bleach for water disinfection. If you have any bleach more than a few months old chuck it. ss


----------



## Trekkriffic

astro123 said:


> Just an FYI. Bleach has a very short shelf life. 6 months tops. I know because I used to work with industrial bleach for water disinfection. If you have any bleach more than a few months old chuck it. ss


Yeah. I had that bottle in the garage for years and years.


----------



## Trekkriffic

*Progress over the weekend and today...*

*Step 3:*

Decided to have some fun with Paulbo's great photo-etch...

Here are my cheap diamond files which I found at Harbor Freight. Not fancy but they do the trick:










First thing I worked on was the hangar bay...

A coarse sanding stick is used to remove the raised kit detail from the sidewalls:










Starting with the floor, I used a small angled chisel file to cut the piece away from the fret:










Paul has lines scribed in the floor for a basketball court. Very clever! There are also basketball backboards inscribed in the control towers at either end of the floor. 

There are holes for landing lights around the perimeter of the floor. I used a sharp dental pick to mark where the holes are in the underlying plastic:










A pinvise is used to drill out the holes to allow light to shine up from below:










Holes are drilled in the end walls for LEDs to pass thru and light up the twin control tower windows at either end of the bay;










Slots are carved out behind where the observation windows are in the sidewalls. Later I will glue strips of thin clear styrene sheet into the slots:


----------



## Trekkriffic

Sidewall test fit. The white LEDs (from my Christmas tree light string) are glued in too:










Fits like a glove Paul! 

The walls and LEDs are painted with fluorescent white acrylic paint to help with light dispersion behind the control tower windows:










Control tower with clear styrene sheet glued behind window frames with CA:










The two towers:










The tower on the left has had its windows masked off with Tamiya tape. Tedious work cutting little bits of tape with an exacto knife. The one on the right has just been glued together with CA; I used Gorilla Glue-good stuff!

I used thin strips of adhesive backed foil and taped them along the seam lines to help prevent light leaks. You can also see the thin strips of clear styrene sheet I'll glue behind the window frames:










Control tower glued in place to end wall. Any gaps are filled with Tamiya Basic Type polyester putty. Lacquer thinner applied with a microbrush is used to clean up any leftover putty from around the seams:










As of this writing both control towers have been installed and the entire bay (exept for the sidewalls) has been sprayed with grey Tamiya Fine Surface primer.

I have more pics to post of other progress on the Leif but I'm pretty beat at this point soooo... I'll post them in the morning.

*Thanks for reading along and good night!*


----------



## Captain April

I feel so inadequate all of a sudden...


----------



## Paulbo

Thanks for posting the detailed building shots, Trek'! It looks super!

(Unfortunately it's too late, but a trick for the floor landing lights is to just remove a big rectangle from the floor - this allows more light to reach the holes than the small holes.)


----------



## Trekkriffic

Paulbo said:


> Thanks for posting the detailed building shots, Trek'! It looks super!
> 
> (Unfortunately it's too late, but a trick for the floor landing lights is to just remove a big rectangle from the floor - this allows more light to reach the holes than the small holes.)


Yeah. I thought of that too but after I glued the brass floor in place. I have some lighting ideas though that might help with the illumination of the holes.


----------



## Trekkriffic

*Step 4:*

*Command tower and phaser projector...*

I routed and filed out a large hole in the top of the hull forward below where the command tower will attach. This will allow for light to shine up into the windows:










Test fit with command tower. Will need some putty around the base but a good fit nonetheless:










The phaser projector was glued to the nose shield:










A brass tube was inserted from the backside of the projector and thru a hole in the nose shield for added strength.The red acrylic rod slid snugly inside the tube to project out the back and catch the light:










Test fit of the nose shield/phaser projector assembly and command tower:










*More to come...*


----------



## Trekkriffic

*Last update for today...*

*Step 5:*

Power jack installation...

So I had decided that I didn't want to mount the ship permanently to the base and I didn't want to try cramming in a battery inside the model sooooo...
I needed to install a DC power jack in the underside of the hull. Ideally I would have used the openings as molded in the kit but the hangar bay is located right over them and the jack is too tall to fit under the bay. This necessitated moving the jack further back towards the stern.

Here's the jack after initial install. Yep. It clears the rear wall of the bay:










I used Evergreen strip to build up a wall around the power jack then covered the whole thing with AVES apoxy putty for additional strength. 










The underside of the hull showing the power jack. The original kit holes have been filled with AVES prior to sanding smooth:










*Thanks for reading!*


----------



## Maritain

Hey nice work,looking forward to seeing more.


----------



## Dr. Brad

This is great! Thanks for posting! And, thanks to you, now I've got to get Paul's PE set!


----------



## starlord

Scorpitat said:


> Time to call the Handy Van to pick you up Trek! LOL


as I used to drive the Handy-Van it would be up to me if I picked them up or not.


----------



## Trekkriffic

starlord said:


> as I used to drive the Handy-Van it would be up to me if I picked them up or not.


Ooooooooookaaaaaaayyyyyy...


----------



## Trekkriffic

*Here are a few quick pics from last night...*

After the AVES dried I sanded the lower hull down to about 600 grit. Then I layed on some Tamiya polyester putty and let dry for an hour. Then I went back and did the finish sanding and priming. Here's the lower hull after priming: 










Can you see the orignal kit mounting holes? I can't! :thumbsup:

Here's a pic of the hangar bay after priming: 










The side walls have been sprayed with Tamiya Light Gray. The rolling doors have been sprayed with Tamiya Ocean Gray 2:


----------



## Dr. Brad

Again, beautiful! Really looking forward to seeing the finished product!


----------



## Trekkriffic

*More progress from yesterday night...*

I masked off the entire bay except for the control tower rollup doors which I will spray with Ocean Gray to match the doors in the side walls:










The side walls are masked and sprayed with Tamiya Silver Leaf:










The same is done for the end walls:

















Photo-etch is glued in place on the inside face of the hangar bay doors and sprayed Light Gray. 
The grooved panels will eventualy be masked around and sprayed with Silver Leaf:










The end walls and rollup doors after masking tape removal:










The side walls after masking tape removal:










A piece of white reflective tape is stuck down where the kit stand holes were filled. 
This is insurance against light leaks:










*Next steps involve finishing the bay and the bay hatch doors. 
I need to mask off the center of the floor and paint the perimiter with Tamiya Medium Gray. 
I'll also paint the panels silver on the doors. *

Thanks for reading!


----------



## Paulbo

Excellent painting!


----------



## Trekkriffic

Paulbo said:


> Excellent painting!


Thanks Paul. I have to say I'm pretty happy with my color choices. In my minds eye I can imagine a crewman standing in the bay surrounded by walls of light gray and silver with the doors above forming a silver paneled canopy. Might look pretty awesome; dare I say... dazzling... to the eye. Aftere a moments reverie, he bounces the basketball twice, shoots, and makes the game clinching foul shot.


----------



## Trekkriffic

*Step 6: 

Filling the windows...*

So I went down to _Michaels_ and found something called Envirotex jewelry resin. 
I'd heard someone on the forums say they used this so thought I'd give it a try. 
A pack of Envirotex resin and hardener cost much less than the clear casting resin they had on the shelf and you don't have to buy a big can of it. 

First thing was to mask off the windows from the outside with transparent tape:










Then I mixed up equal parts of resin and hardener and filled the holes from the inside:










For the round windows I just inserted clear acrylic rod in the holes. 
So this only left me with the oval windows to fill. 

After drying overnight I removed the tape and noticed several voids where the holes had basically just been skinned over by the resin. 
There was also a lot of sticky tape residue on the hull that had to be wiped off with alcohol. 
So I decided to fill the holes again but this time from the outside. 
First though I clamped each hull half in a vise so the window openings were perfectly level. 
I used a hypodermic type syringe and hollow needle to inject the resin right into the window openings filling them from below until the resin was even with the hull:










Hull halves set aside to cure. Tomorrow I can repeat the process to fill in the windows on the other side:










I'm optimistic my decision to use Envirotex turns out to be a good one. 
I have to say the resin is extremely clear; in fact, it's easy to think the openings are empty uintil you look at the windows at an angle in the light and see the reflection of the resin in them. 
The drying timne is 12-24 hours with full hardness in 48 hours so it's not the fastest method for filling windows that's for sure. 

After cleaning up the unused resin from the measuring cups and washing my hands vigorously with warm soap and water (followed by 70% isopropyl alcohol) I went back to work and finished painting the hangar bay doors:










I also decided to modify the Sensor Ray Dome that sits up on top of the command tower. I didn't just want a chrome ball up there so while at _Michaels_ I bought a package of rhinestones:










Then I sanded off the chrome plating and sanded off the top of the dome before gluing a rhinestone on with epoxy. 
I'll paint the whole thing steel or maybe aluminum before installing it in the model:










I also soaked the engine Inter-Adapters in Super Clean overnight and, by this morning, was pleased to find the chrome plating was gone with no damage to the plastic underneath:










*That's it for now. Thanks for reading!*


----------



## Dr. Brad

Looking good! Thanks for posting all the updates!


----------



## Trekkriffic

Dr. Brad said:


> Looking good! Thanks for posting all the updates!


Glad you like the posts. I try to include lots of pics so hopefully nobody gets bored.


----------



## Paulbo

The new radome looks far superior to the simple ball. I love the resourcefullness of using the rhinestone for the faceted affect.


----------



## Trekkriffic

So today I wet sanded the windows to make them level with the hull and decided that 6 or 8 of them still looked like crap due to bubbles in the resin when I originally poured from the inside. 
So I drilled and filed them out, stuck transparent tape on the inside, and refilled them with fresh resin from the outside making sure to drag any bubbles out of the window frames so the resin is nice and clear now. 
I could only do one side of each hull section so will do the windows on the opposite side tomorrow after these are dried. 
This phase of construction is a pain in the arse but I'm not going to be satisfied with crappy looking windows after all this work.


----------



## Trekkriffic

Took the day off Friday so got a bit more done...

*Step 7:*

*The Scout Ship...*

This little bugger has a head like a duck! 










The scout ship is only 4 parts: upper hull, lower hull, and 2 fins. 
I won't be using the kit legs as they look loike inverted plastic cups. 
I'll be using Paulbo's PE landing gear instead. 

After gluing I puttied her top and bottom with Tamiya Basic Type putty. 
I'll sand and prime tomorrow:


















*Step 8:

The ion drive engines...*










The engines were fairly easy to assemble. 
I just fed the wires thru the large slots and inserted the inter-adapters which I'd sprayed with Tamiya silver. 
The inter-adapters were a tight fit so had to use a goodly bit of force to get them seated properly so the large clear red tabs on the finned engine bits would align with the slots in the hull. 
Then I glued on the intercoolers and spikes. 

*Step 9:

The stand...*

I enlarged the small hole at the top of the stand arm intended for the wires to pass thru from the engines and trimmed away the extra tab that was designed to fit into a slot in the lower hull. 
Then I mounted a size K power plug to the top of the stand arm and soldered the wire leads. 
After soldering I filled 5 minute epoxy in around the plug threads to secure the plug to the stand arm:










I covered the backside of the stand arm with .040 thick styrene sheet:










The completed stand. 
Still need to sand and paint it of course:










The underside of the stand:










I soldered the negative lead to the power jack in the back rim of the base. 
The positive lead runs from the pluig in the stand arm to the kit provided slide switch and thence to the power jack. 
I figured I'd go ahead and install the switch even though it's rather redundant as the battery box has it's own switch but having the switch in the stand gives me the option of running the model off a wall wart (which doesn't have a switch) if I ever go that route.


----------



## Trekkriffic

I mounted the lower hull to the base and tested the ion drive engines by touching the wires to the power jack wires in the lower hull. 
The negative lead from the power jack has a 220 ohm resistor soldered to it. 
I was relieved to see that all the lights lit up! Thank God!

Here's a pic of the upper and lower hull on the stand:










Well that's it for tonight. 
Tomorrrow I'll start some of the wiring to light the windows in the forward hull, the neck, the phaser projector, and the commad tower.
I'll also try and finish the hangar bay. 
I'm thinking of running fiber optic to the landing lights in the bay. 
I want them nice and bright to illuminate the underside of the scout ship as it sits in the bay. 
I'm also going to fashion a clear support rod to insert into the underside of the scout ship. 
This acrylic rod will have a thin brass rod in the lower end of it to fit thru a hole I'll drill in the center of the circle in the floor of the bay to secure the scout ship. 

*Thanks for reading!*


----------



## Trekkriffic

This morning I sanded the windows flush with the hull. The Envirotex Jewelry Resin did a nice job. The windows are clear, very hard, and there was no shrinkage. And it's less messy and smelly than casting resin to work with.


----------



## Dr. Brad

That's good to know, since I have some of that stuff to use....


----------



## JGG1701

Truly a work of art in progress Steve!:thumbsup::thumbsup::thumbsup::thumbsup:
Putting my L.E. build all to shame.
-Jim


----------



## Trekkriffic

JGG1701 said:


> Truly a work of art in progress Steve!:thumbsup::thumbsup::thumbsup::thumbsup:
> Putting my L.E. build all to shame.
> -Jim


Hey Jim! It's the photo-etch buddy. I still love the way you lit your hangar bay. Your build is the one that inspired me to get this kit.


----------



## Dr. Brad

I know I've said it already, but I'm really looking forward to seeing how this turns out!

Brad.


----------



## Trekkriffic

Yesterday I pretty much finished the hangar bay. I glued the side walls and rolling doors in with CA and glued in clear plastic for the side windows. I also drilled a small hole in the circle at the center of the bay for the scout ship support rod. For the floor, the PE had lines inscribed for the basketball court so I took a mechanical pencil and traced along the lines so you can see the markings on the floor. Then I sealed with Glosscote. The only thing remaining are the landing lights which I need to run fiber to. 

I also sanded the putty on the scout ship, drilled two small holes-one in the belly and one in the tail giving me two options for inserting a brass support rod, and attached the PE landing struts. So far so good.

I'll post a few pictures later.


----------



## fluke

Looking awesome....This is top notch! I'll be watching this one for sure! :thumbsup::wave:


----------



## Trekkriffic

*Update for today...*

*Pics of the almost finished hangar bay. As mentioned last night I still need to run the fiber to the landing lights:*


























*Cleaning up the fret tab on one of the landing struts with a needle file while gripping it with my PE folding pliers:*









*
The three landing struts ready for install in the scout ship:*










*Scout ship with landing struts glued in place:*










*More to come!*

:thumbsup:


----------



## JGG1701

That last pic. of the Scout ship with landing gear is pretty cool Steve.
What colors do you plan to use?
-Jim


----------



## Trekkriffic

JGG1701 said:


> That last pic. of the Scout ship with landing gear is pretty cool Steve.
> What colors do you plan to use?
> -Jim


I kind of like the look of this resin model that Ed Holt (modelnutz) produced:










I'm thinking of priming with white Tamiya Fine Surface Primer then doing some of the panels in Tamiya Bare Metal Silver (got a can of it today at the LHS) followed by an overcoat of thinned Testors Camouflage Grey enamel airbrushed on so you can still see the silver underneath. Then I'd paint the black glare mask on the nose. I might paint the windows silver and the landing struts steel. Then I'd seal with Glosscote and apply some accent decal paneling from my leftover decal stash before sealing with more Glosscote followed by Tamiya flat base which I also bought at the hobby store today.

Or I might not do any of this.


----------



## Trekkriffic

*Had a little fright this morning when I looked at the hangar bay. I'd brushed on some Tamiya flat base onto the floor the day before and when it dried it left a white residue all over wherever my brush had touched which included the floor and some areas on the walls! Yikes!

Not knowing exactly what to do I first tried rubbing the white stuff off with a wet q-tip. This seemed to get most of it off but there was still some left after drying so I then brushed on some Future. That covered most of it leaving only a few small areas of white which, after a second application of Future, are gone now. Once again, Future saves the day!

Question for the members here... Has anyone run into this problem with Tamiya Flat Base? Did I not mix it up enough? Am I supposed to thin it with something before applying it?*


----------



## Frank2056

Trekkriffic said:


> *
> Question for the members here... Has anyone run into this problem with Tamiya Flat Base? Did I not mix it up enough? Am I supposed to thin it with something before applying it?*



I have. If you apply it unthinned, it can pool up and leave white spots. Future may mask it, but sometimes not completely (you may see cloudy or hazy areas where the spots were). 
After my experience with the Tamiya Flat Base, I started using Testor's Acryl, which is very flat. I've recently started using Vallejo matt clear as well, and it's good.

Great job on the landing bay!


----------



## kenlee

Trekkriffic said:


> *Had a little fright this morning when I looked at the hangar bay. I'd brushed on some Tamiya flat base onto the floor the day before and when it dried it left a white residue all over wherever my brush had touched which included the floor and some areas on the walls! Yikes!
> 
> Not knowing exactly what to do I first tried rubbing the white stuff off with a wet q-tip. This seemed to get most of it off but there was still some left after drying so I then brushed on some Future. That covered most of it leaving only a few small areas of white which, after a second application of Future, are gone now. Once again, Future saves the day!
> 
> Question for the members here... Has anyone run into this problem with Tamiya Flat Base? Did I not mix it up enough? Am I supposed to thin it with something before applying it?*


I may be wrong but I thought that the Tamiya Flat Base was not a true dull coat but was meant to be mixed with their gloss colors to make them flat.


----------



## Trekkriffic

kenlee said:


> I may be wrong but I thought that the Tamiya Flat Base was not a true dull coat but was meant to be mixed with their gloss colors to make them flat.


I think you may be right Ken. I've heard of mixing it 50-50 with Future to get a flat coat too. I'll know better than to apply it straight from the bottle next time.


----------



## Trekkriffic

Frank2056 said:


> I have. If you apply it unthinned, it can pool up and leave white spots. Future may mask it, but sometimes not completely (you may see cloudy or hazy areas where the spots were).
> After my experience with the Tamiya Flat Base, I started using Testor's Acryl, which is very flat. I've recently started using Vallejo matt clear as well, and it's good.
> 
> Great job on the landing bay!


I don't have a ready local source for Vallejo paints. Testors Acryl though I may be able to find. 

I found that I still had some patches of discoloration so dipped a swab in 70% rubbing alcohol and it took most of what residue was left off. The remaining lighter discoloration I touched up with some of the Tamiya spray paint decanted into a piece of aluminum foil. Then I took a soft brush and gave the entire bay another coat of Future. I'll need to dull it down again some but this time I'll spray it with Dullcote.


----------



## Trekkriffic

*Today's update:*

Paulbo reminded me about the hangar bay floor decal that came with the kit. 
I had totally forgotten about it!
It will fit in quite nicely around the landing lights. 
Thanks Paul!










So last night I spent about an hour working on the engine shrouds. 
First thing I did was tape the ion engine in place on the port side afterwhich I taped the hull halves together. 
Then I mounted the shroud halves to the hull and brushed on Ambroid ProWeld to the inner seam of each shroud assembly: 










Got a nice fit; however, the front of the ion engine was a little too far forward which would place it almost up against the forward PE grillwork so I'll be redoing the slots in the hull where the engine tabs fit so they will sit further back in the shroud. 
This will be more in keeping with the position of the engines in the original Leif Erticson kit I built as a boy. 
I read somewhere that when they reissued the kit, AMT moved the engines forward, which I don't quite understand since the red plastic fin bits are slotted to allow them to sandwhich the forward inner leading edge of the ship's wings.

After the intial Ambroid set a few minutes I pulled the shrouds off the hull and gave them another going over with Ambroid so the bond was good and strong between the shroud halves:










I test fit the forward and rear PE engine grills to the shroud:


















ParaGrafix got the fit just right! Paulbo even accounted for the angle in the forward inner edge at the front of the shrouds by creasing the forward PE where it needed to bend. 
Now that's thinking of everything.:










The last thing I did last night involved doing something to enhance the glow frrom the ion engine LEDs inside the shrouds. 
I remembered I had 2 sheets of 060 spaced corrugated aluminum sheet from K & S Engineering in my hobby cart:











I'd bought it years ago from HobbyTown for another project but ended up not using it. It was the perfect thing for lining the inside surface of the shrouds:










Cont'd...


----------



## Trekkriffic

The shrouds wsith corrugated aluminum sheet lining the insides and reedy for priming:










I can hardly wait to see how the engines look all lit up with these shrouds!

*Thanks for reading!*

:wave:


----------



## Trekkriffic

Just gave the scout ship it's basecoats. I shot her with Tamiya Bare Metal Silver underneath and Tamiya Light Ghost Grey on top. Looking good!


----------



## Captain April

Just out of curiosity, how hard is it to fabricate fins for the scout ship? That's one of the bits that was missing when I got my recent glowy version (an old long box AMT).


----------



## Trekkriffic

Not too hard I would think. The fins are 5/16" long at the base and 5/32" tall sloping at about a 20 degree angle from the vertical at the back edge. You could even make them from 1/4" wide Evergreen strip but you'd need to double up to get the right thickness. Then grip the part with tweezers while you sand the top and backside edges to a nice taper as those edges aren't flat.


----------



## Trekkriffic

Upon closer inspection I found a few tiny divots on the underside of the scout that needed filling; the silver really shows up any surface imperfections really well. So I brushed on a goodly amount of Mr Surfacer and set aside to dry before giving her another light sanding. This time I think I'll go with medium grey underneath though instead of silver. I'll probably give her a final spray of pearl grey clearcoat when I'm finished.


----------



## TIEbomber1967

After having a look through that _other_ Leif Erikson thread, I decided to bump this one up. You've done a good job, and when I visit the Sci-Fi modeling forum I'd like to see this thread first.
Please keep up the good work.


----------



## Trekkriffic

*Updates from yesterday and today...*

I finished painting the scout ship and decided to go with a paint scheme very similar to what modelnutz used for his resin kit. 
It's so simlar it's almost identical but I really liked the look of his Vega shuttle. 
Hopefully he won't mind, after all, imitation IS the greatest form of flattery right?
Anyway, after the paint dried I added some decals from my leftover decal stash to go along with the window decals from the kit. 
I used a nail set to punch out some tiny round black decals for the four portholes (two per side) on the rear of the pilots cabin:










Today I gave it a shot of Glosscote to seal the decals:










I decided I wanted to be able to turn off the lights in the hangar bay while having the lights in the neck and engines still lit so I canibilized a dollar store booklight for a micro slide switch. 
This will allow me to create a separate circuit just for the landing lights and any sidewall and control tower window lights in the hangar. 
I cut a slot and installed it in the stern hull bulkhead. 
At some point before final paint I'll fashion a slide cover to disguise it better:


























For lighting the neck I used a high brightness (7000 mcd) white LED from Radio Shack. 
I installed it facing dead forward mounted in the reflector from that same dollar store booklight. 
I soldered a 220 ohm 1/4 watt resistor to the negative leg. :










A test in my darkened downstairs bathrooom proved that this one LED is sufficient to light up all the windows in the neck, the command tower, and the phaser projector in the nose. 
Pretty awesome IIDSSM! 
I thought I might have to add one more near the front but nope, not necessary.

More to come...


----------



## Trekkriffic

The further along I go with this build the more ideas I get. 
One idea actually stemmed from a 3-D mesh Craig Fey did of his interpretation of the Leif. 
He added what I would call "impulse engines" to the stern and I thought this looked fantastic!










So I just had to do it for my build; however, my engines would be blue rather than yellow...

Looking thru my greeblie box I found some transparent blue window inserts I'd saved from some empty Glide dental floss dispensers:










I also use the small plastic hubs that the floss wraps aorund for making shrouds for my LEDs but that's another story. 

Anyway, I gave these transparent blue bits of plastic a rough cut using an xacto razor saw blade:










Then I filed and sanded them to final shape and placed tham on the hull just for ducks, They looked pretty good I thought:










Tracing the shape of the inserts onto Tamiya tape I used them as a guide to drill several pilot holes thru the plastic afterwhich I cut the plastic out with a #11 blade:


















The holes after cleanup with a half round needle file file and my xacto knife:










The blue inserts were given a light sanding with a fine sanding stick to make them somewhat more opaque then glued into the openings with Elmers white glue:










The fit was perfect. No light leaks so no puttying required. This was accomplished thru extensive test fitting while I shaped the holes until the pieces slid in nice and snug. 


(cont'd)


----------



## Trekkriffic

Here's where I started getting real creative. I'd bought some mesh brass photo-etch years ago before my local HobbyTown USA closed...










...and it was just laying around looking meshy and taunting me until I could finally find the right use for it and that time was now! I trimmed two quarter round pieces from the sheet and glued them inside the hull behind the blue impulse engine vents:










It looks pretty cool from the outside don't you think?










Next thing I'll do is install two blue LEDs to light up the impulse engines. 
By the way, those Trek purists who may take exception to me calling them "impulse" engines shoudl recall that Matt Jeffereies himself designed this ship and, aside from that, the instruction sheet itself makes reference to the nose-firing phaser projector so the Star Trek connection has been well established by now. 


Next up I install the hangar bay and doors in the upper hull and run fiber to the landing lights. Then I'll finish up the wiring and seal the hull.

*As always, thanks for reading!*


----------



## Fozzie

What a great upgrade! Those impulse engines look terrific! :thumbsup:


----------



## JGG1701

Awesome Steve!
All this extra work you're putting into your L.E. is *really * going to pay off.
-Jim


----------



## Dr. Brad

This just gets better and better! I'm really enjoying this build!


----------



## Trek Ace

I really like what you've done with this kit. Outstanding work!


----------



## Spockr

Your build reminds me of the fun I had with the Leif and Mystery ship kits I built last year. The LE is a favorite model of mine and you are doing some pretty cool mods. Your window and lighting work looks great and the Paragrafix add ons are beautiful. Very inventive solution for lighting the windows along the neck.

Really enjoying watching your progress and thinking that I may just have to pull another one of these out of my stash.

:thumbsup::thumbsup::thumbsup:

Regards,
MattL


----------



## Dr. Brad

I look forward to seeing this kit all lit up! It's going to be beautiful!


----------



## Trekkriffic

I have to admit this is even more fun than I had when I first built this ship as a kid. Guess I've elarned a thing or two about miodelling in the decades since.

Yesterday I created frames around the impulse engines. I used small diameter half round Evergreen strip. Each frame took a curved and two straight sections of strip. 
Today I puttied the places where the strips butt up against each other. Tomorrow I can give them a sanding afterwhich I'll mask off the vents and brush on some Mr Surfacer. 

Today I finished wiring up the lights for the hangar bay. I used high-brightness white LEDs. 
I used some of those semi-opaque Glide floss hubs as shrouds for two of the LEDs that will serve a dual purpose-lighting the windows in the side walls and acting as fiber light sources. 
After soldering all the wires I did a test and all the LEDs lit up beautifully!
I even ran some fiber from one row of landing lights using Devcon 5-minute Epxoy to secure the fiber in the holes in the floor of the bay. 

Before I finish the rest of the fiber runs I think I'll tackle installing the blue LEDs and wiring for the impulse engines. Then I'll finish the fiber optics.

I have some pics to post later.

Thanks everyone!


----------



## Trekkriffic

*Here are some pics from yesterday's work...*

The slots in the hull where the ion engine tabs fit were moved back about 1/16" so the wing now slides into the rear engine fin slot:










Pieces of Evergreen strip were cut to fill the gaps left from moving the engines back. 

Fiber runs from the forward wall landing light holes were gathered and wrapped with foil tape then inserted into a tube where a high brightness white LED was mounted between the hangar control tower LEDs:










The side wall landing light fiber runs as well as the side windows will be lit by an LED mounted facing downward:










The LEDs for the fibers runs were mounted after gluing the hangar bay to the upper hull. The side wall LEDs have shrouds made from stacking two dental floss hubs together with CA. 
The shrouds will glow allowing the windows to illuminate:










All LED leads were soldered and a test showed all seven LEDs operated perfectly (whew)!

The blue LEDs for the impulse engines:










Light boxes were glued together with CA from sheet styrene and lined with adhesive backed aluminum foil:










The finished impulse engine light boxes:










I'll wrap some more foil tape around the outside of the light boxes over the seams as an added light block. 

Next step is to finish the fiber runs. 
Then I'll finish the wiring in the lower hull for the ion engines, solder the leads from the upper hull to the leads in the lower hull (some trickiness involved with that), and glue the upper and lower hulls together. 
Before that though I'm toying with the idea of making some tiny crew silhouetttes out of foil and sticking them behind a few of the windows in the hangar bay and the oval windows in the neck. 
I think that would really enhance the realism of this model.

*Thanks for reading!*


----------



## Dr. Brad

I'm learning a lot from this thread! Thanks again for posting!


----------



## JGG1701

Trekkriffic said:


> I think that would really enhance the realism of this model.


Ya think!:freak:

Good Lord man you are taking this to the ultimate extreme.
I am really likeing the extra effort you are putting into this. But please tell me, where do you find the time?
-Jim


----------



## Lloyd Collins

When Steve builds a model, it looks as if it could really fly on it's own power! Another Awesome build!


----------



## Trekkriffic

Thanks guys! Yesterday I did some work on the laser cannons at the nexus of the wings-those pointy things that look like antennas. I also installed formation lights; red and green flashing LED on each wing rearward of the laser cannons not quite midway down the nexus between the upper and lower fins. They are wired up in series with one 440 ohm resistor on the negative leg so they flash simultaneously. Pics to come...


----------



## Dr. Brad

Looking forward to seeing that!


----------



## Trekkriffic

Well yesterday I ran the rest of the fibers to the side and rear wall landing lights and guess what? The hull halves wouldn't close up! I got the bend radius on the fibers as tight as I could but there's just not much clearance between the hull halves especially alongside the hangar bay. 
And there's not enough room under the hangar bay to put the LEDs there. 
I could attempt to force the hull closed but I don't think that would work too well long term as there would be a lot of force acting to split the model at the seams all the time. 
So I've got a solution in mind which is based on the ability of the fiber optic strands to pick up and transmit ambient light without necessarily being run directly into a tube-mounted LED. It's a risky solution which if it doesn't work would mean I'd have to drill out all the fibers I've run and epoxied into the holes in the floor. But I think what I'm planning will work. 
Wish me luck!


----------



## Paulbo

Argh!

You could also try placing the thickest piece of clear plastic that will fit underneath the landing bay (after snipping the optics off flush, of course). Mounting a few LEDS firing along the side toward the edge, the plastic should "glow" if you rough up the surface with some medium sandpaper. This will give semi-direct lighting to the fibers.


----------



## Trekkriffic

Paulbo said:


> Argh!
> 
> You could also try placing the thickest piece of clear plastic that will fit underneath the landing bay (after snipping the optics off flush, of course). Mounting a few LEDS firing along the side toward the edge, the plastic should "glow" if you rough up the surface with some medium sandpaper. This will give semi-direct lighting to the fibers.


Thanks for the advice Paul. That might be my Plan C if Plan B dosen't pan out. Drilling out all the holes to run new fiber would be a real biotch with all the epoxy on there. I'm hopeful my Plan B will work though as the fibers will stay bent now even if I snip them shorter and leave them dangling over the edge of the floor pointing in the direction of the LED mounted at the base of the walls (actually it only looks like the base since it's where the walls glue to the hull; it's the top of the walls if you flip the hull over to the correct orientation).


----------



## TrekFX

I'm not sure about all the specifics, but if it's a fairly localized pinch zone, maybe you could cut out the stock hull (or whatever) plastic until you get adequate clearance all around, then graft on a thin bubble, wart, pod, ECM blister, sensor fairing, putting green or something. Deviates from the "canon," but it would be unique!

Or, start by just thinning out the area with a ball cutter in a Dremel. You might find that just thinning the plastic will do. If not, you've got a start on your cutout!

I hate it when good plans run into reality. I've being trying to rework a stock part into a super-accurate 1/350 Refit nacelle (gawd... what do they smoke in China? Or is there a competition to see how far off drawings and spec they can go?) I chose a fixed reference point and worked from there, then found out my reference point was the goof zone.


----------



## Trekkriffic

TrekFX said:


> I'm not sure about all the specifics, but if it's a fairly localized pinch zone, maybe you could cut out the stock hull (or whatever) plastic until you get adequate clearance all around, then graft on a thin bubble, wart, pod, ECM blister, sensor fairing, putting green or something.


Yep. Tried that already. The problem is two-fold. One is the height of the double-stacked floss hubs on the sides of the bay and the second is the stiffness of the fibers when held in pace with epoxy; there's just no flex in them. The first thing I did last night was try cutting an angled section out of the outbopard facing top of the tubes. This helped a little but not enough. Then I tried thinning the hull plastic using my dremel where the hub was butting up against it. Still not enough without going thru the hull and I had no intention of doing that witrhout trying other options first. My plan now is to cut a small section out of the center of the tower above the top of the LED on the bottom and the fibers on the top. The tubes are filled with epoxy resin making them quite hard and solid. The epoxy also helps to transmit the light in all directions. After removing the middle section I could apply a thin layer of epoxy to splice the 2 sections together again. I only need about a 1/16" or so for clearance. If that doesn't work I might try cutting the fibers off the top piece and removing it from the stack leaving just the bottom section of the tube in place over the LED. The LED would still glow plenty bright and this would allow the remaining fibers, now freed of any attachments at the LED end, to flex as I close up the hull. And I've found that once bent and held in place for a few days with epoxy the fibers remain bent in the same direction so their ends would still be pointing right at the LED. Everything I've learned the past few years about light transmission thru fiber tells me this should work.


----------



## Trekkriffic

Good news! Cutting a section out of the center of the floss tubes worked like a charm. 
Once that was done I took the upper "cap" still connected to the fibers and glued it to the shortened bottom section with CA and held it for about 4 minutes while the glue set. 
A test with the LEDs lit showed the landing lights all lit up inside the bay. 
And test fitting with the lower hull showed no more interference issues. The hulls halves mate together nice and flush. 
The next thing I'll do is mount one more LED at the "base" of the back wall and run new fibers from the landing lights on the floor near the back wall to the LED. 
I'll just have to make sure the LED and it's tube clears the power jack mounted to the stern of the lower hull but that shouldn't be too much trouble, knock on plastic...


----------



## Trekkriffic

*Here are the latest pics from today...*

I took some clear acrylic rod and spun it in my dremel using a scribing tool like a lathe to make a round observation dome to sit just behind the bridge. 
I thought it would be useful for the crew to have a point where they could look directly aft over the stern of the ship:










You can also see where some of the windows were blacked out as I figured not every cabin light would be on all of the time in the ship. 
I also cut some tiny figures out of foil tape and stuck them behind a few of the windows in the neck as well as some of the observation windows in the launch bay. 
The figures show up as shadows behind the ports and windows which were painted on the inside with acrylic fluorescent overcoat. 
The overcoat glows well when light hits it and makes the windows more opaque; otherwise, the Envirotex was so clear you could see the inside of the hull which I didn't really want. 
Even sanding didn't work to make the windows less transparent. 

The wiring is finished for the lower hull. There are basically 1 negative and 2 positive leads to solder to leads from the upper hull:










Laser cannons and flashing formation lights finished...

.50mm fiber was run thru a channel in each wing to metal barrels made from resin syringe needles. 
The needles were the perfect size to fit the fiber strands. 
I also carved channels to wire up red and green flashing LEDs connected in series and mounted in the nexus of each wing:










The lower hull ready to be sealed up. 
You can see how the fibers from the laser cannons run forward to a piece of clear styrene sheet mounted in front of the main forward facing LED. 
The fibers really pick up the light well and the wing-mounted lasers really glow nicely at their tips!










The upper hull almost ready for gluing to the lower hull. Lots of wires. Still need to finish attaching the fiber runs to the light for the rear wall of the launch bay:










Closeup of the fiber runs for the launch bay landing lights. 
A 1/16" section was sawed out of the center of the tubes on the sidewalls then glued back together to allow the upper and lower hulls to mate properly:










Upper hull showing rear wall of launch bay:










I had to mount a fourth LED for the rear wall landing lights. Once the epoxy has set up good and solid I'll bend the fibers over and wrap the ends with aluminum foil tape before trimming the ends flush with my scissors. 
Then I'll fill the LED tube with 5 minuter epoxy and glue the fibers into the top of the tube. 
Since I had an extra LED in the stern now I decided to add a red light to the top of the stern hull plate. 
A hole was drilled in the hull and another in the side of the LED tube and red acrylic rod was inserted thru the stern and into the tube. 
Now I've got a red glowing light in the stern of the ship that I didn't plan on having before the lighting modifications were needed. 
Nice!

My next pics should show the hull halves finally sealed up!

*Thanks for reading! *


----------



## Paulbo

Cool! I like the little observation lounge.


----------



## Trekkriffic

*Got some more work done today; mostly duirng my lunch break. One of the virtues of working from home!*

First thing was to bundle the fibers for the rear wall landing light together, wrap them with foil tape, and stick them down into the LED illumination tube on the rear wall with Devcon 5-minute epoxy:










After the epoxy set up I plugged the lower hull into the stand and then clamped the upper hull in my portable vice positioning it so the wires were close enough to solder together. 
Once the soldering was done I coated the solder joints with Liquid Electrical Tape to insulate them. That stuff stinks but it sure does the trick!:










Before gluing the hulls together I turned on the power and checked the lights...

The impulse engines lit up NICE! Just a beautuful blue glow thru the PE mesh; the photo really doesn't show how blue they are but you get the idea:










And my litttle stern light made from red acrylic rod glows too!

The lights in the launch bay all work now:










When I did a dry run last night I noticed the forward control room wasn't lighting up! FRACK thought I! What the heck???
Found out I'd unhooked the main positive wire from the circuit for those two LEDs when I installed the LED to light the rear wall landing light fibers. 
I'd had to remove a red wire that was in the way of the LED tube and forgotten to reconnect it. 
Once I resoldered the wire the windows sprang back to life! 
To quote C3PO, "Thank the maker!"

The side wall windows lit up:


















You can't see it in this poorly focused photo but there are crew silhouettes visible behind the windows. 
I also noticed some of the paint had flaked off the one launch door so will need to retouch some spots with the brush.

The upper and lower hulls finally are glued together and clamped:










Next it'll be time for a little seam filling and sanding. 
Then it'll be time to mask off the windows and impulse engines. 
I'll also need to figure out how to cover the launch bay opening so no uwanted paint gets in there. 
Then will follow the priming. 
Then maybe more seam filling and sanding. 
Then more priming. 
Repeat as needed...

*Thanks for following along everyone!*


----------



## Scorpitat

Outstanding build as always Trek. Your attention to the small details inspires us all. Bravo!! :thumbsup:


----------



## Paulbo

Excellent! Glad the landing lights worked out in the end.

The impulse engines look super with the trim around them.


----------



## Trekkriffic

*Today's progress...*

Worked on a lot of little things today.

I wanted the launch bay doors to look like they interlocked so I cut 5 sections of thin styrene strip to 1/2" lengths and glued them to the edges of the doors staggered so they go together like woven fingers:










I did a lot of work to finish up the sensor dome which I now looks less like a ball and more like an array. 
After drilling some holes and inserting some really small flat headed pins (delicate work) around the perimeter at the base of each facet of the rhinestone I drilled a hole thru the stem and up into the clear plastic of the rhinestone:










The entire array including the rhinestone was painted with Mr Surfacer. After it dried I drilled a round hole in the center of each facet to allow light to shine thru. 

A 3 inch length of .5mm fiber was glued up thru the stem into the bottom of the rhinestone:










A nail set was used to make small circular tape masks for the holes drilled out of each facet:










The array was dipped in Future to seal the tape masks and, after drying, sprayed with Tamiya Bare Metal Silver:


















I'm hoping when the array is inserted in the opening atop the bridge the fiber strand, which bends in the direction of the main high brightness LED, will transmit the light up into the rhinestone causing the ports in each facet to glow. 

Next I took some aluminum tubing of the right diameter to fit over the barrel of the phaser projector and beveled one end with a grinding stone spinning in my dremel's flexi-shaft held in a Panavise. 
Then I cut the metal tube in my mini cutoff saw and glued it to the plastic tip of the phaser projector:










It's a small thing I know but I think it's a nice upgrade over the simple kit part. The metal gives it more of the appearance of a gun barrel now. 

Moving to the stern I made a cover from two thicknesses of styrene sheet and epoxied it to the slide switch that controls the launch bay lights:










The last thing I did was to mix up some AVES and fill in some major gaps in the stern and along the nexus where the upper and lower wingtips meet. 
I also smoothed the seams in the forward part of the hull alternating between sanding sticks and my seam scraper. Then I covered the seams with Tamiya polyester putty and set the whole thing aside to dry for the night. 

*Comments welcome!*


----------



## Joe Brown

You are truly insane, sir, in an awe-inspiring way! :thumbsup:

Awesome work!


----------



## Dr. Brad

I second that - insane (but in a good way).


----------



## Trekkriffic

Thanks Joe. Thanks Dr Brad.

Just a quick note, I plugged the sensor array into the top of the bridge temporarily and turned on the lights. It lit up beautifully.


----------



## Captain April




----------



## Trekkriffic

*Today's update...*

Work progressed with puttying and sanding....

Blue tape was used to mask off the windows for application of Tamiya Basic polyester putty:










The model was puttied with AVES, sanded, puttied with Tamiya Basic, sanded, and brushed with Mr Surfacer:










The stern after cleanup with needle files, puttying and sanding:










One of my buds over on the Tholian Web forum asked if I was making the basketball hoops so...

Solid core tinned wire was wrapped around the end of a dental pic to make loops. These were then glued into holes drilled into two tiny styrene backboards:










Leftover decals from my stash were applied to make the red squares above the hoops on the backboards:










The finished backboards with hoops were coated with Krylon and set aside to dry:


----------



## Trekkriffic

The nosecone shield was glued to the hull with styrene cement. 
I noticed some gaps between the webbing on the inside of the shield and the hull so I cut some lengths of Evergreen channel tubing and slid them into the gaps before brushing them with Ambroid ProWeld:










I needed to cut oval and round window masks from tape for the hull, neck and bridge so I ground 1/8" and 3/32" diameter brass tubing to a sharp edge with my dremel's grinding wheel. 
Then I squeezed the 1/8" tubing with pliers to an oval shape. It was the perfect size for the windows:










The window masks were punched from blue tape using a tack hammer and placed over each window with tweezers. I can't tell you what a time saver this was versus trimming each window mask with scissors or an xacto knife :










The window masks all in place and coated with Future to seal the edges:










Lastly, the engine shroud grills were coated with primer and sprayed with Tamiya Bare Metal Silver:










*Thanks for all the kind words everyone!*


----------



## Captain April

Maybe a little fine mesh to make the baskets....?


----------



## Dr. Brad

Captain April said:


> Maybe a little fine mesh to make the baskets....?


Heh! That would be something else!


----------



## JGG1701

Don't tempt him.
I'm tellin' ya he *will* do it.
-Jim


----------



## Paulbo

Trekkriffic said:


> ...One of my buds over on the Tholian Web forum asked if I was making the basketball hoops so...


LOL!

Looks great.


----------



## Trekkriffic

Captain April said:


> Maybe a little fine mesh to make the baskets....?


Maybe I could train a spider to make them from spider silk.


----------



## Trekkriffic

JGG1701 said:


> Don't tempt him.
> I'm tellin' ya he *will* do it.
> -Jim


Hmmmmmmmm... I have an idea that might work with the assistance of my magnifier lamp; however, it would pretty much put me at the extreme edge of what I can do at such tiny scales. 
I mean, honestly, the baskets are only about 1/32" across.


----------



## JGG1701

Trekkriffic said:


> Hmmmmmmmm... I have an idea that might work with the assistance of my magnifier lamp; however, it would pretty much put me at the extreme edge of what I can do at such tiny scales.
> I mean, honestly, the baskets are only about 1/32" across.


I knew you couldn't pass it up.
-Jim


----------



## Frank2056

This is really looking great. 

Couldn't you make the oval and round window mask cutters by just cutting the brass tube at an angle? No squashing involved.


----------



## Trekkriffic

Frank2056 said:


> This is really looking great.
> 
> Couldn't you make the oval and round window mask cutters by just cutting the brass tube at an angle? No squashing involved.


Hadn't thought of that but that might work too. But then you'd have to hold the tube for the oval cuts at an angle as you tap sideways with the hammer. This way I was able to punch the tape out with the punch held vertically.


----------



## Lloyd Collins

I like the spider web idea, a few flies, you get nets, and two problems solved. THEN AGAIN, seeing you do a 1/32nd scale net, would be so much fun. You better hang the "Do Not Disturb" sign, I hate to see any harm or damage when you get frustrated!


----------



## Trekkriffic

Lloyd Collins said:


> I like the spider web idea, a few flies, you get nets, and two problems solved. THEN AGAIN, seeing you do a 1/32nd scale net, would be so much fun. You better hang the "Do Not Disturb" sign, I hate to see any harm or damage when you get frustrated!


Hey there Lloyd! I found some finely woven fabric at _Michael's_ yesterday that might do the trick for the nets. 
It's got some metal jewelry doodads attached to it that I'll cut off. Figure on cutting a section of it at an angle to the threads then gluing the back edge together to form a narrow (1/64" ?)tube. 
Then I'll force one end of the tube over a toothpick that I've carved into a funnel shape to flare it out at the top where it attaches to the rim. 
Then maybe spray it with something like a Krylon acrylic clearcoat so it will hold it's shape. 
We'll see.


----------



## Trekkriffic

*Stuff from last night...*

I finished masking the cracks around the bay doors and the slots where the engine shrouds attach and the ion engine tabs slide into the hull. Then I gave her a spray with Tamiya Ocean Grey 2 for the first coat:










I had found this satin fine mesh ribbon at _Michaels_ the other day and thought it might work for making nets for the basketball hoops:










I cut a square of it and wrapped it around the end of my dental pick, gluing it together with craft glue to form a tube:










After the glue dried I carefully trimmed two tiny nets and glued them to the hoops with white glue:










That was it for last night.

*Thanks for reading!*


----------



## walsing

Amazing work! Can you create scale tennis shoes to go with those hoops?


----------



## Dr. Brad

Maybe some crew members in EVA suits shooting some hoops?


----------



## Trekkriffic

Dr. Brad said:


> Maybe some crew members in EVA suits shooting some hoops?



Or if one conjectures the existence of a force field in the open launch bay....
Let's see... miniature tennis shoes, jersies, and shorts... 
And a tiny basketball!


----------



## Lloyd Collins

WOW! I can't wait to see them!:thumbsup::thumbsup:


If you are now careful.....nervous breakdown.:tongue:


----------



## kenlee

Trekkriffic said:


> *Stuff from last night...*
> 
> I finished masking the cracks around the bay doors and the slots where the engine shrouds attach and the ion engine tabs slide into the hull. Then I gave her a spray with Tamiya Ocean Grey 2 for the first coat:
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> I had found this satin fine mesh ribbon at _Michaels_ the other day and thought it might work for making nets for the basketball hoops:
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> I cut a square of it and wrapped it around the end of my dental pick, gluing it together with craft glue to form a tube:
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> After the glue dried I carefully trimmed two tiny nets and glued them to the hoops with white glue:
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> That was it for last night.
> 
> *Thanks for reading!*


That's it, it's official, I am a toymaker, not a model builder.
BTW, fantastic work!


----------



## Fozzie

For heaven's sake...DON'T DROP THEM! 

Those basketball goals are a masterpiece of miniature modeling. Excellent work. :thumbsup:


----------



## Trekkriffic

Fozzie said:


> For heaven's sake...DON'T DROP THEM!
> 
> Those basketball goals are a masterpiece of miniature modeling. Excellent work. :thumbsup:


Thanks Fozzie! They are pretty neat I guess. As far as degree of difficulty in construction, I rank them right up there with the spiral staircase I built for my 1/350 scale _Seaview_...


----------



## Trekkriffic

kenlee said:


> That's it, it's official, I am a toymaker, not a model builder.
> BTW, fantastic work!


Well gosh Ken, then you really got some nice toys there!


----------



## Trekkriffic

*Today's progress...*

Doesn't look like I did much but if you've ever sat for hours cutting small bits of tape and carefully placing them on a model while measuring with a ruler and drafting calipers to achieve symmetry between the port and starboard paneling then you'll understand...










The drawings I'm using as a guide are CGI images created by artist Paul Lloyd of the I.N.S.S. MacArthur. I really like the look of the hull paneling:


















Here is as far as I got today. I'm about halfway there with this first masking:


















What I can't divine from Mr Lloyd's drawings I make up as I go along. 
Aztec paneling really is a matter of gestalts I think. 

The engine shrouds were primed then sprayed with Tamiya Ocean Grey 2:










After I finish masking off this layer I'll seal the tape with Future and give the hull a shot of Krylon Gloss Black lacquer followed by a coat of Tamiya Bare Metal Silver. 
I'll spray the shrouds first and use light passes with the Krylon just in case the Tamiya and Krylon paint react badly together. 
I can easily remove any messed up paint layers from the shrouds; repainting the main hull would be a big pain as you can well imagine.
Anyway, assuming all goes well with the black and silver layers I'll mask off the silver panels. 
Then she gets a layer of Tamiya Medium Sea Grey followed by more masking and verbal humiliation, followed by evening punishment...

Woops! Sorry... where did that come from? Must have been channeling Michael Palin on SNL there for a moment... anyway...

Then it will be time to remove the masks (some of the dark grey masks will stay where I want stripes) before the final coat of thinned down Model Master Camouflage Grey enamel is airbrushed on to unify the layers and create the right level of subtlety to the paneling. 
I may give her a quick overall brush of Future acrylic to act as a barrier layer but I really think I'll be fine laying enamel right over the lacquers coats. 
Any of you master painters out there with an opinion on that please chime in with any advice you'd care to offer. 

*As always, thanks for all your comments!*


----------



## Paulbo

Trekkriffic said:


> Thanks Fozzie! They are pretty neat I guess. As far as degree of difficulty in construction, I rank them right up there with the spiral staircase I built for my 1/350 scale _Seaview_...


Hot da*n! Your spiral staircase has been an inspiration when I've thought up an idea and said "nah, that's way too small for someone to do" - then I turn around and do it anyway figuring *somebody* will put the parts together.


----------



## Trekkriffic

Paulbo said:


> Hot da*n! Your spiral staircase has been an inspiration when I've thought up an idea and said "nah, that's way too small for someone to do" - then I turn around and do it anyway figuring *somebody* will put the parts together.


Well Paul, your _Seaview_ control room demanded that someone do something really crazy in honor of someone else who put in a ton of thought and creativity into creating such wonderful photo-etch.


----------



## the DOCTOR

Some fantastic work here, making me think very hard about how I'll tackle mine, when I eventually get round to it! (by then, it'll probably be long out of production and as collectible as the original release!)


----------



## Trekkriffic

the DOCTOR said:


> Some fantastic work here, making me think very hard about how I'll tackle mine, when I eventually get round to it! (by then, it'll probably be long out of production and as collectible as the original release!)


Thanks Doctor!

Well I did the first layer masking on the shrouds today, sealed with Future, then gave them a shot of the Krylon black lacquer. They came thru great and I'm confident the Krylon will work fine over the Tamiya now.


----------



## Captain April

Sir, you are an undisputed genius, an incredible talent, and certifiably insane.

Carry on.


----------



## Lloyd Collins

Certifiably insane? Not yet, he needs to finish a few more classes first. I can tell, that there is no time, with the excellent work being done!:thumbsup::thumbsup:


----------



## Frank2056

I've wanted to use one of Paul Lloyd's many LE designs. You should email him a picture when you're done.


----------



## Trekkriffic

*Today's updates...*

After masking the Ocean Grey panels I sealed everything with Future and gave her a coat of gloss black laquer and set aside to dry:


















The shrouds were given a coat of Bare Metal Silver over the dark grey masks:










Followed by masking the silver panels:










After sealing with Future the shrouds received a coat of Tamiya Medium Sea Grey:










After the black lacquer had dried I did a little masking over the black where I want some black stripes on the finished model:










I wanted to show this image as a reminder of what a great designer Matt Jefferis was. 
I always loved the low angle shot of the Enterprise between the nacelles and over the hump of the bridge looking forward into the unknown. 
This angle kind of reminds me of that:


----------



## Trekkriffic

To wrap up today's post here are some pics of the finished Scout Ship.
All that's left is a few layers of Dullcote:










































*Thanks for reading!*


----------



## Dr. Brad

This is just .... amazing! "Wow" doesn't do it justice!


----------



## harristotle

This is seriously awesome!!!


----------



## Trekkriffic

*Small update from yesterday and this morning...*

The model was sprayed with Tamiya Bare Metal Silver after the dark grey panel masks were sealed with Future. 
The silver really went on nicely over the gloss black :


























The ion engine wires were trimmed prior to soldering. I also started some of the masking for the silver panels:










Once the engines are wired in and glued to the hull it will be time to attach the shrouds. 
They are fairly rigid and will require some flexibility to slide into the slots in the hull.
I may end up having to heat them along their glue joints to get them to flex. 
This will be a delicate operation.

*Wish me luck!*


----------



## Dr. Brad

Good luck!


----------



## kenlee

"Once the engines are wired in and glued to the hull it will be time to attach the shrouds. 
They are fairly rigid and will require some flexibility to slide into the slots in the hull.
I may end up having to heat them along their glue joints to get them to flex. 
This will be a delicate operation.

Wish me luck!"

I did mine the same way, I glued the shrouds together, added a thin strip of styrene along the joint inside and was able to simply slide them into place with little fuss, just be careful that you don't scratch the paint.


----------



## harristotle

When I first posted I had only seen a few pics. I just went back and read the thread. Holy crap, your work never ceases to amaze me. Outstanding job and I can't wait to see the finished product!


----------



## Trekkriffic

harristotle said:


> When I first posted I had only seen a few pics. I just went back and read the thread. Holy crap, your work never ceases to amaze me. Outstanding job and I can't wait to see the finished product!


Thanks man! Wait'll you see the surprise I have in store for finishing the launch bay. You guys are going to crack up!


----------



## Trekkriffic

kenlee said:


> "Once the engines are wired in and glued to the hull it will be time to attach the shrouds.
> They are fairly rigid and will require some flexibility to slide into the slots in the hull.
> I may end up having to heat them along their glue joints to get them to flex.
> This will be a delicate operation.
> 
> Wish me luck!"
> 
> I did mine the same way, I glued the shrouds together, added a thin strip of styrene along the joint inside and was able to simply slide them into place with little fuss, just be careful that you don't scratch the paint.


You know Ken, I don't think I'll need to heat these up to get them to snap in place after all. I plan on sliding them into position like you did; for one thing, they need to slide backwards into the slot in the wing. I just filed out the inside edge of the wing slot to widen it just a little to accomodate the added thickness of reflective corrugated aluminum tape on the inside of the shrouds. First though, I'll place a few strips of aluminum foil tape in front of the slots where they will slide over the hull to protect it.


----------



## Lloyd Collins

Trekkriffic said:


> Wait'll you see the surprise I have in store for finishing the launch bay. You guys are going to crack up!


Get the glue ready for the cracks.:thumbsup:


----------



## Trekkriffic

*Today's updaste...*

Now that the hull is painted silver it's time to attach the ion engines and their shrouds to the hull...

First thing was to shorten the leads so as not to have a ton of wire to stuff inside the hull openings where the ion engine mounting tabs slide in. 
This was done and the ends of the wires were stripped and pre-tinned for soldering:










After soldering the power was turned on to see if the engines still lit up:










Oh yeah... they still lit up! 

After brushing on some Liquid Electrical Tape to the solder joints and letting it dry for 15 minutes or so, I broke out a bottle of Locktite "Professional Liquid" Super Glue to attach the ion engines to the hull. 
Never used it before but it said it dries fast and it did! 
No kicker needed with this stuff:










I removed the cardboard paint masks and slid the shrouds into place laying strips of aluminum foil tape down where they would slide over the hull and into their slots. 
The tape was to protect the silver paint from scratching. 
Here's the Leif after the shrouds were locked down with Locktite applied carefully along the top slots to get the tabs to stay down in their slots. 
I think I was getting some pushback from all the wiring inside the hull along the sides of the launch bay. 
Once I dabbed on a little of the Locktite though and forced the shrouds down tight to the hull it only took about 5 seconds for the glue to cure. 
I didn't need to glue the tabs in lower slots at all:










I did a quick light test with the engines powered up inside their shrouds:


















I have to say I'm pretty pleased with how they look. 

Once I've finished painting the hull I'll attach the brass PE engine grills to the front and back of the shrouds. 
They are painted silver and will look awesome with the engines lit up behind them. 

Now to finish masking the silver panels...

*Thanks again for reading!*


----------



## harristotle

This is looking great! I can't wait to see it with the grills, that will add a lot to the overall appearance I think.


----------



## Dr. Brad

I'm looking forward to seeing the light-up test with the grills. I've not been sure whether including them will look good or not. But, if you think it will, it probably will!


----------



## electric indigo

Aargh! Pull off the masking tape already - the tension is killing me.


----------



## Trekkriffic

electric indigo said:


> Aargh! Pull off the masking tape already - the tension is killing me.


:jest:

Oh it's not time for that yet. I've got to finish the silver panel masking then lay on a coat of Tamiya Medium Sea Grey. Then I'll pull off the masks and give her an overall coat of some shade of light grey thinned down so as not to obliterate all the paneling. Then I'm seriously considering giving her an overall coat of transparent pearl metallic followed by decals, glosscote, and a couple coats of Dullcote.


----------



## Trekkriffic

Frank2056 said:


> I've wanted to use one of Paul Lloyd's many LE designs. You should email him a picture when you're done.



I'll do that Frank! BTW I got that package you sent me. 
Man are those guys small! I had no idea how small 1/500 scale was. Now to figure out how to make some clear helmets and oxygen tanks.


----------



## Frank2056

Trekkriffic said:


> Man are those guys small! I had no idea how small 1/500 scale was. Now to figure out how to make some clear helmets and oxygen tanks.


Don't use "Friendly Plastic" - it ended up decapitating both of ensigns who were volunteered. Try a tiny drop of white glue instead.


----------



## Trekkriffic

Frank2056 said:


> Don't use "Friendly Plastic" - it ended up decapitating both of ensigns who were volunteered. Try a tiny drop of white glue instead.


I had something like that in mind but I was thinking about dipping their heads in a drop of my thicker Gorilla superglue to make the helmets.


----------



## Lloyd Collins

Then they would be astronauts from the Planet of the Apes.


----------



## Trekkriffic

Lloyd Collins said:


> Then they would be astronauts from the Planet of the Apes.


:thumbsup:


----------



## Trekkriffic

*Progress continues...*

Frank2056 was kind enough to send me these 1/500 scale Preiser figures:










I'm going to postulate that the Leif has force field technology that would allow crewmen to occupy an open launch bay without the need for space suits. 
Alternatively, I might go ahead and have them in some kind of environmental suits in the bay; perhaps playing 3-on-3 basketball with the doors open... call it "hoops under the stars" or something. 

Anyway, back to the Leif...

I decided that since the nose of the scout ship had a black anti-glare panel in front of the windows the Leif would too so I masked off the upper nose shield in preparation for spraying with Testors flat black enamel:










The anti-glare panel after painting:










I also think it appropriate that, as the Leif is part of the Strategic Space Command which evolved from the Strategic Air Command, it should have something in common with the aircraft of the latter. 
As seen in the photo below the black nose panel was a common characteritic of Strategic Air Command aircraft:










Here is the ship after finsihing all the masking of the silver panels:


























(cont'd)


----------



## Trekkriffic

I added some strip styrene just inside the engine shroud openings so when I glue the photo-etch grills in place there will be something to glue to where the grills meet the rounded hull:










Test fit with one of the forward grills:










The "glue strip" is painted silver and should also help block any light from bleeding thru when the engines are lit up.

Here's the ship now after I sprayed her with an overall coat of Tamiya Medium Sea Grey:










Next up... removing the masks!

*Thanks for reading!*


----------



## harristotle

As always looks great. Can't wait to see it lit up with the masks removed! I really like the idea of an anti glare panel.


----------



## Lloyd Collins




----------



## walsing

This has to be one the most fun to watch builds I have seen on this board!


----------



## TrekFX

With the tape still on, the surface relief looks like Greg Jein's 4-foot Enterprise-D!


----------



## Trekkriffic

TrekFX said:


> With the tape still on, the surface relief looks like Greg Jein's 4-foot Enterprise-D!


Yes. I see what you mean. 

Well all of the masks are off now. Some small issues with paint bleed I need to touch up. Photos to come shortly.


----------



## Lloyd Collins

The mask is off, and photos coming? OK, it is almost Halloween, just give warnings! So I get to see you without that hideous mask on. I'm scared!

OH! I reread the post...the model masks...never mind.:devil:.....:lol:


----------



## Dr. Brad

Can't wait! Are we there yet? Are we there yet?


----------



## Trekkriffic

*The Leif Ericson... UNMASKED!*

It took like 3 hours to remove most if not all of the masks and finish the touchups. 
I left the black nose panel masked as well as the upper tips of the wings which are be black as well. 
I also left the silver vents on the sides of the shrouds masked. They may end up being steel. 
I may spray the black wingtips with an overspray of the finishing coats to mute the black; still haven't decided on that but I think black might look nice on the tailfins to tie in with the black on the nose. 
Anyway here are the pics...

Top:










Bottom:










Side:










Forward top:










Forward bottom:










Rear top:










Rear bottom:










Before I airbrush the final unifying coats I'm going to do some experimentation and spray a piece of thin styrene sheet with the 3 colors medium sea grey, ocean grey, and silver) and try out overspraying with a mix of primarily thinned down light grey; I say primarily since I'm thinking light grey mixed with a little steel for a metallic look. 

*See ya!*


----------



## Dr. Brad

This ought to look great when you put on the "unifying" coats as you call them.


----------



## Trekkriffic

Well I finally got my camera software loaded onto my new Win 7 laptop. Should finish experimenting with a custom mix for the overcoats this weekend and be able to airbrush the final hull coats. Then I'll have some more pics to post before I do the decaling.


----------



## Lloyd Collins

Don't paint the model, you will mess it up! Have I scared you?
Looking forward to see the results of the custom mix.:wave:


That burning smell, is just Windows 7 rejecting the camera software, nothing to worry about.:freak:


----------



## Trekkriffic

*Well wonder of wonders Windows 7 did not reject the picture download from my camera so... here are some new pics...*

After spraying the hull with a mix of Testors Ghost Grey, Camouflage Grey, and Gloss Clear enamel thinned about 70/30 with thinner I set it aside to dry and worked on the Preiser figuresn Frank2056 had so kindly provided.

I decided that I'd show them in spacesuits so I cut tiny rectangular bits of Evergreen strip and glued them to their backs to approximate oxygen tanks. Then I painted them silver and made helmets from white glue applied withn a toothpick. I stood them up on foam tape while they dried:



















Next day I went back to the Leif. The overspray I'd airbrushed on allowed the darker paneling to show thru (very subtly) but the silver panels were basically gone. Interestingly, the layers of paint I'd applied for the panels left behind raised edges even though I'd given the hull an overall light sanding once the masking tape was removed. It actually gave the smooth hull surface a nice texture like armor plating. It also served as a guide for me to go back with brushes and touch up the silver panels keeping the paint confined within the raised borders. 

Here's the paint mix I used- 1 part Ghost Grey, 1 part Camouflage Grey, 2 parts Steel, and thinner. This was dry-brushed on to good subtle effect:










The upper hull and lower hulls after brushing the steel grey panels:



















Stern of the Leif with Crew figures in the foreground for size comparison. These little guys are only about 5/32" tall:










Once the panel retouch is finished I'll give her an overspray with this:










I think it's going to be pretty close to the look of the Leif in this image when I'm done:










*Thanks for reading everyone!*


----------



## harristotle

Honestly, I was a little skeptical of this paint job from the pics before the coats you just applied. BUT now seeing this, it looks outstanding! I love following your builds :thumbsup:


----------



## JGG1701

Steve, I hope you realize that you have brought model building *up* *to* *a* *whole* *new* *level*.:thumbsup:


----------



## Captain April

Which is a nice way of saying you've made the rest of us look like blithering idiots.


----------



## Lloyd Collins

Steve *really* enjoys building models.









Here is a shot of Steve's first wiring job that was to go in a model, until he realized it would not fit. Times change.:thumbsup:


----------



## Trekkriffic

Lloyd Collins said:


> Steve *really* enjoys building models.
> Here is a shot of Steve's first wiring job that was to go in a model, until he realized it would not fit. Times change.:thumbsup:


Yes I do reaaaaaally enjoy building models. I find it to be a form of meditation for me; a way to block everything out and concentrate on being "in the moment". As far as the wiring goes, the amount of wire depicted in the photo is almost exactly the amount of wire inside this model. How could this be you ask? Simple. I used the Tardis effect.


----------



## Lloyd Collins

Then you are "*THE MAN!"*


----------



## Trekkriffic

So at the gym yesterday I was watching the basketball players and have determined that the average basketball is about the same diameter as the height of a human head. So in the case of my crewmen that would be about 1/32".


----------



## Trekkriffic

harristotle said:


> Honestly, I was a little skeptical of this paint job from the pics before the coats you just applied. BUT now seeing this, it looks outstanding! I love following your builds :thumbsup:


Oh yeah. For me anyway my best paint jobs often look like crap until you see the finished product. I mean, anyone looking at the WIP pics of my 1/1000 Enterprise would agree with that!


----------



## Trekkriffic

*Today's update...*

After another few days of drying time it was time for spraying the Gloss Pearl Clearcoat.

Here she is in my paintbooth ready for spraying:










And after a couple of passes with the pearl:


























I still need to spray the underside. 
Then I'll give her one more shot of pearl on top, or not; actually she looks about right in the photos as far as muting the plating goes. 
Once that pearl dries I'll apply the decals before sealing with Glosscote followed by 2-3 coats of Dullcote to tone down the gloss. 

Then I need to address what's going on in the launch bay. 

*See ya!*

:wave:


----------



## Paulbo

I really like how the overspray has muted out the paneling. Very nice.


----------



## harristotle

Absolutely beautiful! :thumbsup:


----------



## Trekkriffic

harristotle said:


> Absolutely beautiful! :thumbsup:


The pearl is quite beautiful. 
Sitting in my garage... the light from the garage door windows streaming across her... she glows...


----------



## Trekkriffic

Primed the base today. It will be black oversprayed with the transparent pearl metallic. I am also going to paint and glue the brass nameplates from Paulbo's photo-etch set to the sides.


----------



## Paulbo

Trekkriffic said:


> ...glue the brass nameplates from Paulbo's photo-etch set to the sides.


Which set did you decide to go with? The box lettering or the decals?


----------



## Steve H

It makes me think of the interplay of aluminum and titanium on the B-36 bomber. That's gonna be fantastic!


----------



## Trekkriffic

Paulbo said:


> Which set did you decide to go with? The box lettering or the decals?


Wow! Thanks for the question Paul. It made me think-"Decal? What does he mean? I'm talking about photo-etch". Then I looked at the decal sheet and see that the larger of the two sets of "SSC Leif Ericson" decals could be trimmed to fit into the recessed letters of the brass SSC Leif Ericson nameplate from your set! Cool! If you hadn't asked the question I would have just tried to paint the letters. Sweet! I'm painting the nameplate bare metal silver and will use the SSC Leif Ericson decals with the symbol that looks like an atom. :thumbsup:


----------



## Trekkriffic

So yesterday I removed the masking tape from the windows very carefully so as avoid cracking off any of the many layers of paint that form the window frames. I was generally succesful partly because I used my tubular round and oval brass masking tape punches that I'd made previously to cut out the round and oval tape masks. They worked pretty well pressing them down on top of the paint covered tape to cut thru the paint layers so when the tape was pried loose it left a clean frame. I still had a few where some of the paint came off where I didn't want it to so today I've gone back and remasked the windows, sealed with Future, then dobbed on some Mr Surfacer around the window frames. Now I'll go back with some of my mix of camo grey, ghost grey and either steel or aluminum (depending on whether I'm painting over a light or dark panel) and paint over the Mr Surfacer. Once that dries the windows will get one more shot of Pearl. Then it will be decal time. 

While the paint dries I'll work on the base.


----------



## Paulbo

Trekkriffic said:


> Wow! Thanks for the question Paul. It made me think-"Decal? What does he mean? I'm talking about photo-etch". Then I looked at the decal sheet and see that the larger of the two sets of "SSC Leif Ericson" decals could be trimmed to fit into the recessed letters of the brass SSC Leif Ericson nameplate from your set! Cool! If you hadn't asked the question I would have just tried to paint the letters. Sweet! I'm painting the nameplate bare metal silver and will use the SSC Leif Ericson decals with the symbol that looks like an atom. :thumbsup:


To be truthful, I hadn't remembered that I'd scaled them to fit (I did?!). 

I couldn't decide which version I should include, so I did both. Definitely double-check the sizing.

BTW - I gained a whole new appreciation for the atom/helmet emblem as I made the etch. It is very intricate in its simplicity, if that makes sense.


----------



## Trekkriffic

Paulbo said:


> To be truthful, I hadn't remembered that I'd scaled them to fit (I did?!).
> 
> I couldn't decide which version I should include, so I did both. Definitely double-check the sizing.
> 
> BTW - I gained a whole new appreciation for the atom/helmet emblem as I made the etch. It is very intricate in its simplicity, if that makes sense.


Well Paul it turns out the decal letters weren't scaled to fit the nameplate after all. I thought they might be close enough but nope. So I ended up spraying the nameplate with Tamiya silver and painting the letters with flat black enamel by hand. The larger SSC "atom" insignia decal DID fit however!


----------



## Paulbo

Drat! Wish I'd thought to make them the same size.


----------



## Trekkriffic

No worries Paul. It looks fine painted on too.

I did some more reading about the insignia and it turns out what I called an "atom" is more properly a stylized Viking helmet in the center of the atomic symbol. 
Each SSC ship had it's own emblem and this one was particluar to the Leif. 
This is all part of my research into how to place the various decals on the model to correspond with that seen on aircraft of the Strategic Air Command. 
I've basically got it figured out now. One thing I'm seriously consideringis though is painting the nose phaser projector black rather than silver or steel. 
I've already got a black panel on the upper nose shield itself (very SAC) but I think a black nosecone might look really nice especially since I've seen aircraft with black noses in several phiotos from the 60's. 
The one downside woudl be that, when photographing against a black "space" backdrop, the black nosecone might tend to disappear so I'm a little up in the air about what to do right now. 
I may just leave it as is which is more of an aluminum color. 
But black would look so... menacing! 

On another note, I finshed the crewmen in their silver spacesuits. I even manged to paint the back and tops of their helmets silver while leaving the fronts clear so you can see the fleshtone paint on their faces; if you have a magnifying glass that is. 
I even made an arm with a tiny basketball attached for one of them. There is just enough space in the launch bay for them to stand behind the scout ship when it's in the bay.


----------



## harristotle

Trekkriffic said:


> No worries Paul. It looks fine painted on too.
> 
> I did some more reading about the insignia and it turns out what I called an "atom" is more properly a stylized Viking helmet in the center of the atomic symbol.
> Each SSC ship had it's own emblem and this one was particluar to the Leif.
> This is all part of my research into how to place the various decals on the model to correspond with that seen on aircraft of the Strategic Air Command.
> I've basically got it figured out now. One thing I'm seriously consideringis though is painting the nose phaser projector black rather than silver or steel.
> I've already got a black panel on the upper nose shield itself (very SAC) but I think a black nosecone might look really nice especially since I've seen aircraft with black noses in several phiotos from the 60's.
> The one downside woudl be that, when photographing against a black "space" backdrop, the black nosecone might tend to disappear so I'm a little up in the air about what to do right now.
> I may just leave it as is which is more of an aluminum color.
> But black would look so... menacing!
> 
> *On another note, I finshed the crewmen in their silver spacesuits. I even manged to paint the back and tops of their helmets silver while leaving the fronts clear so you can see the fleshtone paint on their faces; if you have a magnifying glass that is.
> I even made an arm with a tiny basketball attached for one of them. There is just enough space in the launch bay for them to stand behind the scout ship when it's in the bay.*


I vote leaving it aluminum. 

It never happened unless there's pictures


----------



## DCH10664

Is this the same model ship they sell under the name "Interplanetary UFO Mystery Ship" and is made of glow in the dark plastic ??? Just curious.


----------



## Trekkriffic

DCH10664 said:


> Is this the same model ship they sell under the name "Interplanetary UFO Mystery Ship" and is made of glow in the dark plastic ??? Just curious.


Yes. Same ship. It was recently reissued under the original Leif Ericson name.


----------



## Trekkriffic

*Pics from this past weekend...*

Here are the nampelates included in the ParaGrafix PE set:










Paul gives you two of each. I only ended up using one of the SSC Leif Ericson plates.

Here's the stand and nameplates primed. I primed both plates since I hadn't made up my mind on which one to use yet:










The stand after spraying with Testors flat black enamel and sealing with Krylon Clear Satin acrylic spray. The nameplate was sprayed with Tamiya silver; the recessed lettering was painted with thinned Testors black enamel; the emblem is a decal cut from the kit decal sheet:










The ship as she looks right now:










The ion engines aglow. I really like the look of the corrugated aluminum foil inside the shrouds:










I know, I know, I still need to attach the PE engine grills front and back. Please don't shoot me... yet! 

The launch bay with lights on and the floor decal in place:










Running the fiber to each landing light around the edges was a pain but well worth the trouble I think.
I need to touch up the circle in the center with my mechanical pencil once I've sealed with Glosscote and sprayed with Dullcote. 
Then I'll seal the pencil with Dullcote. There is a hole in the floor in the center of the circle with a short tube udnerneath the floor into which a brass wire inserted in the underside of the scout ship will slide. This will keep the scout ship from sliding around inside the bay. 
There will also be two other mounting holes atop each tower at either end of the bay for inserting a longer wire when I want to display the scout shp in flight over the bay. 

*More to come... 
as if I need to tell you guys that!*


----------



## Paulbo

Fantastic! The corrugated material inside the engines is super - adds a whole new level of realism (subtle, but dramatic at the same time).

The fourth shot (the whole ship, sitting in the box) looks great. I really like the black accents on the nose and winglet tips.


----------



## harristotle

Looks amazing! It's great to see it all lit up now. :thumbsup:


----------



## DCH10664

If I'm not mistaken, I built a model of this many years ago as a kid. Though it certainly didn't look like this when I was finished. What you have here isn't a model at all. It's a work of art !! And you've inspired me to order myself one of these today. I know I don't have the skills to do what you have done here. But it should still be a fun build.


----------



## StarshipClass

Trekkriffic said:


>


I like the basketball court in the hangar bay. Makes sense that the crew would need a place for some recreation.:thumbsup:


----------



## Trekkriffic

*Some pics from yesterday evening...*

After spraying the launch bay with Glosscote to seal the decals a shot of Dullcote was applied. Then I took an HB pencil and some Evergreen tubing-the same diameter as that penciled on center circle-and used the tubing as a guide to redraw the mssing section of the center circle. That did the trick. Afterward I sealed the pencil with another shot of Dullcote:










This morning I went back and gave the yellow/black decal in the center a good coat of Future. I want to protect the decal as much as possible from getting scratched when inserting the brass wire from the scout ship.

The sensor array I'd finished weeks ago was inserted over the bridge with the fiber strand facing back to the center forward facing LED:


























I used a rhinestone on top with tiny metal pins cropped and inserted around the edges. The round ports you see in the center of the angled facets actually do light up when the ship is powered up.

The impulse engines were unmasked. Here they are lit up:










Overall, I'm pretty satisfied with how they turned out.

*Thanks for reading! Comments welcome as always!*


----------



## Joe Brown

That is AWESOME! :thumbsup:


----------



## walsing

Beautiful! Can't wait to see those little figures in there!


----------



## harristotle

I feel like a broken record commenting on your work lol, but as always it's amazing! I love to see new pictures of your progress. I'm looking forward to when I've got a little more time and the money to give this whole lighting thing a try. You've been an inspiration :thumbsup:


----------



## Trekkriffic

harristotle said:


> I feel like a broken record commenting on your work lol, but as always it's amazing! I love to see new pictures of your progress. I'm looking forward to when I've got a little more time and the money to give this whole lighting thing a try. You've been an inspiration :thumbsup:


Thanks man! I've been at this hobby for over 45 years with about a 10 year break in my 30's. You'd think I'd know just about every trick there is by now but the great thing is, I still learn new things every day! :thumbsup:


----------



## Trekkriffic

:roll:*Today's Update...*

At lunch today, I finally got around to installling the engine shroud grills.

Forward grills:

























Stern grills:









Stern grills and impulse engines:









Here are a couple of pics of the wing mounted laser cannons. I got lucky and caught the red and green flashers when they were lit up too:

















Next post will show the launch bay with basketball goals installed!


----------



## Trekkriffic

*I know Paulbo will get a kick out of these pics...*

Basketball goals!

















If you look closely at the sidewall windows in the pic above you can see the silhouette of a crewman behind one of the windows. 
I should have the crewmen playing two-on-two basketball (with one spectator) in their spacesuits for the next post.

Launch bay with scout ship:

















The scout was sprayed with pearl like the Leif. 
I didn't want the windows, nose panel, and hatch to be pearl so I brushed on some liquid masking fluid beforehand. 
Once the pearl coat dried I sprayed with some Dullcote for a flat finish. 

Neck windows port and starboard:

















The bow phaser projector lit up:









After looking at this pic I did a little cleanup inside the phaser barrel with a rasp so it's nice and round in there now. 

The Leif on her stand and ready for decals:









You can't see it in this pic but I glued a piece of black felt to the top of the stand to prevent scratching the underside of the ship.

*Thanks for hanging in! We're almost there!*


----------



## Paulbo

Trekkriffic said:


> *I know Paulbo will get a kick out of these pics...*
> 
> Basketball goals!...


You're right! Those baskets are just fantastic.


----------



## Trekkriffic

Last pic... nightwatch...


----------



## harristotle

YES! Looking wonderful! :thumbsup:


----------



## edward 2

it looks very good, that dark paint makes it look far better than the glow in dark model.


----------



## Frank2056

The LE is looking fantastic, Steve! Everything from the engine PE to the subdued/realistic internal lighting. Great job on the figures too!


----------



## Trekkriffic

Thanks for the comments everyone.

Spent some more time on the scoutship yesterday. 
I wanted to jazz up the stern of the ship a little by adding engine bells so I took some 1/16" diameter aluminum tubing and cut off about a half inch length to fit in my dremel's chuck. 
Then I spun it while shaping it with my pointy scribing tool and needle file. 
I ended up with two 1/16" long or so tapered engine bells which I sawed off using my miter saw and glued on top of the original kit exhaust openings.

Here's how she looked before:










And after:


















It's a nice little improvement don't you think?


Here's a shot of the underside showing the black gear wells which were made from some leftover black decal material out of my stash:










Moving on...

The PE grills had some small gaps around their edges where I glued them to the shroud plastic so I filled them with AVES. 
Once the AVES dries I brushed on some Tamiya silver leaf around the edges and let dry. 

Decaling went well with some minor tweaks needed to get some of the stern decals to fit. 
I used MicroSet under the decals to snug them down followed by MicroSOL on top:










One nice thing was the uppermost decal on the stern had a squarish spot right in the middle that I could punch out and fit right over the red stern light in the top center of the stern plate. 
Serendipity to be sure and it looks great IMO.
The wings got the "UNITED STATES" decals starboard side on top and port side on the bottom. 
The number "8121" can be seen fuzzily on the opposite wing surfaces top and bottom. 
I went with this number as an homage to Matt Jefferies who base born on 8-12-21. 

The upper surface and sides of the neck and shrouds got their decals:










I had to modify the red stripes framing the launch bay, shortening the ones front and back and using the excess to extend the stripes on the sides of the bay opening. 
Nothing I'm sure you guys haven't had to do from time to time.

Today I'll finish up the decaling and let dry overnight. 
Then I'll seal the decals with Glosscote followed by a shot of DullcoteThen I'll do a little weathering. 
After that, more Dullcote to seal and, if it's too flat, I'll hit her with Krylon clear Matte spray which is more like a Testors satin finish to my eye. 
Later on today or tomorrow I'll add the crew figures to the bay. 
I'm thinking of using a clear water based craft glue made by Elmer's to glue their feet to the floor of the bay rather than CA. 
Lastly, I'll dab the windows with Future to make them glossy again. 
Then it'll be time for finished pics.

Thanks for reading!


----------



## Paulbo

Those tiny engine bells are insane! Excellent.


----------



## Trekkriffic

*Today's pics...*

Space hoops...

Brass wire used to apply CA to feet after initial positioning with tweezers.I changed my mind about the Elmer's: 











Cadet takes a foul shot playing half-court basketball in the open bay under the stars...


























With VEGA scout ship:


















The VEGA vacates the bay for departmental league games. 
It has also, on ocassion, rescued overzealous players who underestimated the strength of their jumps and left the bay entirely on overzealous dunk attempts! After three such incidents the Captain issued an order that "Space Jams" would only be allowed with the doors closed...


----------



## Paulbo

Perfect! Of COURSE they're in silver space suits


----------



## JGG1701

*Beautiful* workmanship Steve! Beautiful.
-Jim


----------



## Dr. Brad

Just .... wow! This sets the bar so high for this model, I'm not sure if anyone will surpass it!


----------



## harristotle

SOOOO cool! I can't wait to see the finished product!


----------



## walsing

Amazing and ingenious work! Shooting the hoops in low or zero G would be a hoot!


----------



## Trekkriffic

walsing said:


> Amazing and ingenious work! Shooting the hoops in low or zero G would be a hoot!


Yeah. Can you imagine? Full court dunks! Spectacular but dangerous with the doors open.

Regarding artificial gravity on the Leif, I envision something where the gravity field is uniformly distributed within the confines of the ship floor to ceiling so that anyone or anything within that space would be experiencing one G of gravity. The same would hold true in the launch bay with the doors closed. Once the doors are opened though the gravity field is confined to the floor and it's strength decreases as you rise above it to a point where, more than say 10 feet or so above the floor, you are almost weighless so any upward momentum could easily carry you right up and out of the bay.


----------



## JGG1701

I hope they are wearing these..........

-Jim


----------



## Frank2056

That bay looks amazing! I guess pushing an opponent into deep space or turning off their air supply would be considered a foul.


----------



## Trekkriffic

Well I finished the weathering with black pastel chalk over a coat of Dullcote then sealed with another shot of Dullcote. 
I gotta say I am pretty good at the subtle streaking thing. The Leif is capable of atmospheric enrty so it is absolutely appropriate that she bear some evidence of that. 
It's amazing how the pastel chalk muted and blended all the grey and silver hull paneling.
Applying the pastel chalk with a moistened sponge applicator then rubbing with a soft cloth really gave the hull a nice patina-somewhere between steel and titanium. 
She looks altogether menacing. 

I also gave the launch bay floor a thick coat of Future which made the drops of CA visible at the feet of the basketball players disappear.
I may just leave it glossy; it looks kind of neat with light reflecting off of it rather than having a flat finish. 

I have some pics of the weathering process to post. 
Can't wait to show you guys!


----------



## Trekkriffic

Weathering pics...

I use Tamiya Weathering Master pastel chalks. The color on the container says "Gunmetal".

Applying the chalk with a moist foam makeup applicator:









Rubbing with an old dry handiwipe. For nooks and crannies I use a microbrush and q-tip. If the weathering looks too heavy it's easily wiped off with a little water:









After weathering:

















































The chalk is sealed with another coat of Dullcote. 
Today I'll go back and touch up the windows and impulse engines with Future.


----------



## harristotle

Every time I think it can't get better you find a way to prove me wrong!


----------



## Trekkriffic

Well I finished her up at lunch today. Brushed on some Testors chrome paint to the little diddly-bobs (pinheads) on the forward sensor array. I even added a touch of chrome to the tops of the crewmen's helmets. They really pop now. The scout looks great in the bay with its shiny floor. Here are a few pics of the finished ship to hold you over until I can take better ones this weekend with better lighting and backdrops...


----------



## Paulbo

Congratulations on completing a fantastic build! :thumbsup:


----------



## hubert

One of the reasons I love coming to this site. I get giddy every time I see an update to your thread. Congratulations. Love the weathering!


----------



## harristotle

hubert said:


> One of the reasons I love coming to this site. I get giddy every time I see an update to your thread. Congratulations. Love the weathering!


I second that! :thumbsup:


----------



## Trekkriffic

In preparation for taking the "good" pics I decided I wanted something other than the kit stand for shooting purposes so I rigged up an aluminum tube with a DC power plug on one end wired to a power jack on the other:









The "power stick", if I may call it that, is clamped in my portable vise which is mounted to a heavy wooden block. The battery box plugs into the power jack wired to the stick. Here's a picture of the setup:









With the lights lowered I turned on the juice. Success! 

















I also took a second plastic tube that fits over the aluminum stick and painted it bright green for when I take the greenscreen pics. 
I plan on taking a few pics on the stand with a neutral backdrop, some against my black starfield, and some against my greenscreen in case any artists out there want to do some composites; unfortunately, I don't have any software like Photoshop myself so I'm hoping someone out there would like to collaborate. I plan to make a short video too.


----------



## Paulbo

You said you were done! 

Nice idea with the longer stand "stick".


----------



## Trekkriffic

Paulbo said:


> You said you were done!
> 
> Nice idea with the longer stand "stick".


Thanks! The "stick" will work well for the green screen images. I've already gotten an email from a graphic artist in Holland who wants to try his hand at creating some composites with the Leif. Woohoo! :thumbsup:


----------



## Trekkriffic

Lloyd Collins over on The Tholian Web forum just posted these images he did playing around with Windows Paint...

Over the Moon









Escape









Not bad, not bad at all Lloyd!


----------



## Lloyd Collins

Steve, thanks! I hope to see the graphic artist in Holland's work, if it is done.


----------



## Trekkriffic

*Hey there! So this weekend I took 143 finished photos and 1 video. I had to stop when my battery ran down. Here's a sample from the "space" pics... I'll be posting more tomorrow...*


----------



## Lloyd Collins

WOW! They look awesome! The ship in space, looks like scenes from a movie. The second shot reminds me of a scene from STII, of the Reliant.


----------



## Dr. Brad

Love it! And when I look at those pics, I think "Gerry Anderson!" I hope you take that as a compliment!


----------



## electric indigo

Any date for the airing of the pilot episode yet?


----------



## harristotle

This looks absolutely amazing! I can't wait to see more pictures. You are an artist!


----------



## Trekkriffic

harristotle said:


> This looks absolutely amazing! I can't wait to see more pictures. You are an artist!


Thanks man! Here are some more pics in space...


----------



## Trekkriffic

And yet MORE spacey pics...


----------



## Trekkriffic

Pics on the stand against a neutral backdrop...


----------



## Trekkriffic




----------



## Trekkriffic

Stern Detail:









Impulse Engine Glow:









Bridge Detail:


















Ion Engines:

















Into the Unknown:


----------



## Fozzie

Some of those shots look like movie stills. Outstanding job on both the ship and the photography.

That straight down shot over the shuttle bay is especially convincing.


----------



## Dr. Brad

This is so .... GOOD! Man, I know that if I ever build up mine, it won't measure up to this...


----------



## hubert

Fozzie said:


> Some of those shots look like movie stills. Outstanding job on both the ship and the photography.
> 
> That straight down shot over the shuttle bay is especially convincing.


Or box art. Breathtaking.


----------



## TIEbomber1967

harristotle said:


> This looks absolutely amazing! I can't wait to see more pictures. You are an artist!


This was posted before the latest pics, but it still remains true. This is art.
This thread must continue, more pictures, more praise, what a great job on a 40+ year old design!
I love it.


----------



## Trekkriffic

You guys are making me blush. I sent 11 of my 55 green screen pics to my new artist friend in Holland to play around with. He's good with photoshop and his website attests to that. So I can definitely state there will be more pics to come!


----------



## MykTurk

Best Leif EVER!!! Super nice job!:thumbsup:


----------



## Trekkriffic

MykTurk said:


> Best Leif EVER!!! Super nice job!:thumbsup:


Thanks a lot!


----------



## Griffworks

Beautiful work! Fan-freakin'-tastic detail! 

Thanks for sharing! :thumbsup:


----------



## DCH10664

just curious, what are the scale of the figures you used in the basketball court ??


----------



## Trekkriffic

DCH10664 said:


> just curious, what are the scale of the figures you used in the basketball court ??


According to Frank Henriquez, who donated them to the cause, they are 1/500 scale.

Speaking of scale, Lloyd Collins over on The Tholian Web forums did this composite of the Leif alongside the Enterprise (ala Space Seed) which I think gives you a pretty accurate idea of its size...










You'll find a link to my PhotoBucket album there with all the in-progress and finished pics.

For members here who you really like my build of this great model please consider joining The Tholian Web forum and casting a vote for the Leif in the Model Contest there. Voting starts Dec 1. Here's a link to the contest thread where you can view all the entries:

http://thetholianweb.com/phpbb/viewtopic.php?f=71&t=2006

I'm a global admin there so, if you do decide to join "The Web" as we like to call it, send me a PM here and I'll make sure to approve your membership request myself.


----------



## Frank2056

Steve,
You did a fantastic job with this kit! I'm jealous.

The figures are from the Preiser 89500 passers-by set.


----------



## DCH10664

Just for the sake of discussion,.... After seeing the Leif alongside the Enterprise. Would you think that the Leif would have a crew of maybe half of what the Enterprise has ?? Say maybe 200, give or take.
And as a compliment, let me say that I really never liked the Leif Ericson ship much at all, until I seen your build. You have really brought this ship to life. And now I'm thinking of ordering one myself.


----------



## Captain April

Trekkriffic said:


> According to Frank Henriquez, who donated them to the cause, they are 1/500 scale.
> 
> Speaking of scale, Lloyd Collins over on The Tholian Web forums did this composite of the Leif alongside the Enterprise (ala Space Seed) which I think gives you a pretty accurate idea of its size...


DY-1000, perhaps?


----------



## Trekkriffic

DCH10664 said:


> Just for the sake of discussion,.... After seeing the Leif alongside the Enterprise. Would you think that the Leif would have a crew of maybe half of what the Enterprise has ?? Say maybe 200, give or take.


According to the "Background Information On The Leif Ericson And The Strategic Space Command Series" included on the back of the kit insruction sheet...

"From it's headquarters on Earth, SSC directs all activities in space, which it has divided up into Sectors (incredibly vast areas covering millions of square miles). Each Sector is assigned a Galactic Expeditionary Force, whose job is to explore, open trade with friendly aliens, and establish earth colonies on new worlds. Each GEF is therefore a rather large fleet, with a wide varfiety of spacecraft. These include strictly military-type ships, such as light and heavy destroyers and cruisers; freighters and specialized supply ships; research, repair, and hospital ships; colony transports; etc.

Each GEF is also assigned one Ranger Squadron, composed of four Galactic Cruisers modified for the Explorer Class. The LEIF ERICSON is this type of ship, and is a member of Ranger Squadron Omega Delta. Here sister ships are the VASCO DE GAMMA, MARCO POLO, and JOHN GLENN.

The Rangers are heavily armed, have *a crew of 85 men (including seven Midshipmen)*, and are each equipped with two fighter-interceptor scout ships. Ranger ships are capable of galactic travel, and are powered by two highly-advanced ion drive engines.The Squadron's mission is to operate far ahead of the main fleet, spreading out and penetrating the unknown area ahead."

This last bit sounds like descriptions of the Enterprise's mission to me...

"Each Ranger ship therefore operates as an independent unit with a variety of duties and capabilities,which include exporation, mapping, reconnaissance, minerological research, biological studies, routine patrol, and (when necessary) combat operations against hostile alien forces."


----------



## Frank2056

Trekkriffic said:


> ...spreading out and penetrating the unknown area ahead."
> 
> This last bit sounds like descriptions of the Enterprise's mission to me...


No, that sounds like Kirk's mission to me.

OK, I'll get my hat and coat. I'll show myself out. Good day!


----------



## Trekkriffic

Frank2056 said:


> No, that sounds like Kirk's mission to me.
> 
> OK, I'll get my hat and coat. I'll show myself out. Good day!







Good one Frank!


----------



## Spockr

Man-O-Man! I haven't visited this post for a while an my how far you've come. What a convincing job. Your long labors really paid off. The main color along with the aztek layers and weathering add to the very realistic feel of this ship. Great work on the lighting details too. An all around contest worthy build.

Excellent workmanship Sir!

:thumbsup::thumbsup::thumbsup::thumbsup::thumbsup:

Regards
Matt


----------



## DCH10664

Trekkriffic said:


> According to the "Background Information On The Leif Ericson And The Strategic Space Command Series" included on the back of the kit insruction sheet...
> 
> "From it's headquarters on Earth, SSC directs all activities in space, which it has divided up into Sectors (incredibly vast areas covering millions of square miles). Each Sector is assigned a Galactic Expeditionary Force, whose job is to explore, open trade with friendly aliens, and establish earth colonies on new worlds. Each GEF is therefore a rather large fleet, with a wide varfiety of spacecraft. These include strictly military-type ships, such as light and heavy destroyers and cruisers; freighters and specialized supply ships; research, repair, and hospital ships; colony transports; etc.
> 
> Each GEF is also assigned one Ranger Squadron, composed of four Galactic Cruisers modified for the Explorer Class. The LEIF ERICSON is this type of ship, and is a member of Ranger Squadron Omega Delta. Here sister ships are the VASCO DE GAMMA, MARCO POLO, and JOHN GLENN.
> 
> The Rangers are heavily armed, have *a crew of 85 men (including seven Midshipmen)*, and are each equipped with two fighter-interceptor scout ships. Ranger ships are capable of galactic travel, and are powered by two highly-advanced ion drive engines.The Squadron's mission is to operate far ahead of the main fleet, spreading out and penetrating the unknown area ahead."
> 
> This last bit sounds like descriptions of the Enterprise's mission to me...
> 
> "Each Ranger ship therefore operates as an independent unit with a variety of duties and capabilities,which include exporation, mapping, reconnaissance, minerological research, biological studies, routine patrol, and (when necessary) combat operations against hostile alien forces."


I'm surprised the number of crew members isn't much higher. Just judging from the scale of the figures and the size of the windows. I would have expected a crew of 200 or more. But it's their story, and I guess they can write it however they wish, lol. Any info on the overall length and width of the ship ???


----------



## Trekkriffic

DCH10664 said:


> I'm surprised the number of crew members isn't much higher. Just judging from the scale of the figures and the size of the windows. I would have expected a crew of 200 or more. But it's their story, and I guess they can write it however they wish, lol. Any info on the overall length and width of the ship ???


Nothing "official". What I can do is measure the dimensions of the model and multiply by 500. That should be close. I'll do that when I get home from work and post the figures.


----------



## Trekkriffic

Spockr said:


> Man-O-Man! I haven't visited this post for a while an my how far you've come. What a convincing job. Your long labors really paid off. The main color along with the aztek layers and weathering add to the very realistic feel of this ship. Great work on the lighting details too. An all around contest worthy build.
> 
> Excellent workmanship Sir!
> 
> :thumbsup::thumbsup::thumbsup::thumbsup::thumbsup:
> 
> Regards
> Matt


Thanks a lot! You are very kind. She turned out pretty well. As far as contest worthy... I don't know. The model isn't perfect but I didn't expect it to be with all the modifications I did to add lighting and such. Still, who knows, it might get an honorable mention.


----------



## Lloyd Collins

Trekkriffic said:


> As far as contest worthy... I don't know. The model isn't perfect but I didn't expect it to be with all the modifications I did to add lighting and such. Still, who knows, it might get an honorable mention.


Then I have a chance in the contest at The Tholian Web! I better finish my model.:thumbsup:.....


----------



## DCH10664

Trekkriffic said:


> Thanks a lot! You are very kind. She turned out pretty well. As far as contest worthy... I don't know. The model isn't perfect but I didn't expect it to be with all the modifications I did to add lighting and such. Still, who knows, it might get an honorable mention.


If this isn't contest worthy, I can't imagine what would be. You guys must have some seriously high standards. From what I see, this thing is nothing short of being a work of art !!


----------



## Lloyd Collins

DCH10664 said:


> You guys must have some seriously high standards.


It's the swimsuit part that is the breaker in the contest.:jest:


----------



## Trekkriffic

Lloyd Collins said:


> It's the swimsuit part that is the breaker in the contest.:jest:


Well she does have a beautifully long neck and well rounded shoulders.


----------



## Frank2056

Steve,
It doesn't look like you used the 1/500 Smurfette from the figure set. Have her doing a space walk in her space bikini... that'll get you a Platinum for sure (the ship deserves a Gold medal right now).


----------



## Trekkriffic

Frank2056 said:


> Steve,
> It doesn't look like you used the 1/500 Smurfette from the figure set. Have her doing a space walk in her space bikini... that'll get you a Platinum for sure (the ship deserves a Gold medal right now).


You must mean the one that looked like it was in a skirt? Yes. I used her but I trimmed off her skirt and cut a slit between her thighs with an exacto knife so she had pant legs like the others in their spacesuits. There were 6 figures in the set you sent me but one of them disintegrated when I tried to pry it loose from the double sided foam tape after I primed it with Mr Surfacer. It was the one standing straight with arms at its sides and legs together.


----------



## Trekkriffic

Trekkriffic said:


> Nothing "official". What I can do is measure the dimensions of the model and multiply by 500. That should be close. I'll do that when I get home from work and post the figures.


OK. Based on measurements taken off the model and mulitiplied by 500 I came up with the following rough estimates for this ship:

Overall:
Length (Nose to back of wings): 562'
Width (across winglets): 291'
Height (bottom of stern plate to top of upper winglet):88'

Base of neck at shoulders:
Height: 52' 
Width: 72'

Launch Bay:
Width: 72'
Length: 105'

Main hull:
Width: 115'

Bridge Tower (Not including sensor array):
Height:26' 
Width at base: 20'
Width at top below bridge windows: 15'


----------



## Patron Zero

Trekkriffic said:


> OK. Based on measurements taken off the model and mulitiplied by 500 I came up with the following rough estimates for this ship:
> 
> Overall:
> Length (Nose to back of wings): 562'
> Width (across winglets): 291'
> Height (bottom of stern plate to top of upper winglet):88'
> 
> Base of neck at shoulders:
> Height: 52'
> Width: 72'
> 
> Launch Bay:
> Width: 72'
> Length: 105'
> 
> Main hull:
> Width: 115'
> 
> Bridge Tower (Not including sensor array):
> Height:26'
> Width at base: 20'
> Width at top below bridge windows: 15'



Silly question but has anyone ever worked out the 'tonnage' for inclusion of the Ericson into the Traveller role playing game ?


----------



## Joe Brown

I've never juggled the High Guard numbers for the Leif into Traveller specs, but, there is a Excel template for doing just that:

http://www.downport.com/amv/software/hgs.html

Remember that Traveller rules are not necessarily followed for some of the GDW-canon ship designs; neither the _Arrival Vengeance_ or the _Kinunir _can be made to precisely "fit" the rules. Ergo, fudging is virtually required.

Here's one version of the Leif in Traveller:
http://www.travellerrpg.com/CotI/Discuss/showthread.php?t=21335 

Personally, I think that the deck-plan versions of the Leif that Cozmo built are crazy awesome cool:
http://www.hobbytalk.com/bbs1/showthread.php?t=311302

Another major point: the Traveller universe encompasses many tech levels and versions of reality. The Leif is effectively a stand-alone product that allows the builder to say anything they want as it's 'official' background - so you can have it your own way!


----------



## Trekkriffic

Joe Brown said:


> I've never juggled the High Guard numbers for the Leif into Traveller specs, but, there is a Excel template for doing just that:
> 
> http://www.downport.com/amv/software/hgs.html
> 
> Remember that Traveller rules are not necessarily followed for some of the GDW-canon ship designs; neither the _Arrival Vengeance_ or the _Kinunir _can be made to precisely "fit" the rules. Ergo, fudging is virtually required.
> 
> Here's one version of the Leif in Traveller:
> http://www.travellerrpg.com/CotI/Discuss/showthread.php?t=21335
> 
> Personally, I think that the deck-plan versions of the Leif that Cozmo built are crazy awesome cool:
> http://www.hobbytalk.com/bbs1/showthread.php?t=311302
> 
> Another major point: the Traveller universe encompasses many tech levels and versions of reality. The Leif is effectively a stand-alone product that allows the builder to say anything they want as it's 'official' background - so you can have it your own way!


Wow! Those interiors by Cozmo are awesome! :thumbsup:


----------



## Trekkriffic

Normally I'm not one to resurrect such an old thread but I recently found a video I made of this build but had forgotten about.
I downloaded it today and thought I'd share it. It's not the greatest video, my wife jumps in at one point with an update on the Oakland Raiders game, but it does show off some nice features of the model (including a sticky shuttle bay door)...


----------

