# 1:1000 first pilot Enterprise



## MartyS (Mar 11, 2014)

I've decided my first model painted with an airbrush will be the 1:1000 pilot Enterprise.

Any good painting guides out there for the first pilot ship?

Is this still the consensus?

Gold spikes on the nacelles
Silver spike on the deflector dish
Bronze dish

Color of the fins behind the dish? Still copper?


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## larskseme (Sep 2, 2014)

Sorry, MartyS, but I have no information, but had to reply. I'm just looking forward to what you're going to be able to do with an *airbrush*, after watching so many of your incredible hand painted (again, I say, HAND PAINTED!) builds.


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## Milton Fox Racing (May 27, 2014)

Be interesting to see the outcome as well! :lurk5:


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## MartyS (Mar 11, 2014)

Hmmm, I've read a few places saying to sand off the bump at the base of the landing gear triangle. So that part was added onto the vacuformed shell later on? I would think after all these years there would be some cracking along the seam but it still looks like a solid part in all the pictures I've seen...


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## Steve H (Feb 8, 2009)

MartyS said:


> Hmmm, I've read a few places saying to sand off the bump at the base of the landing gear triangle. So that part was added onto the vacuformed shell later on? I would think after all these years there would be some cracking along the seam but it still looks like a solid part in all the pictures I've seen...


But is it glued on? It could easily be screwed on, added when they did the lighting modifications. 

I mean, PROBABLY not but I agree that if that is a glued on piece it's done a remarkable job of staying on with no separation or anything. 

Heck, do we even know what that bump was made of? Wood? Plastic? metal?


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## Gregatron (Mar 29, 2008)

MartyS said:


> I've decided my first model painted with an airbrush will be the 1:1000 pilot Enterprise.
> 
> Any good painting guides out there for the first pilot ship?
> 
> ...


Gold nacelle spikes, silver dish spike, dark copper dish, lighter copper/gold rings behind the dish.


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## MartyS (Mar 11, 2014)

Thanks Gregatron.

At the gluing sub assemblies and filling seams stage.

Got a bunch of paint in from Amazon, I'll be practicing some more with that before doing any painting on the model. Well, actually I have an old beat up 1:1000 TOS Enterprise I have been using for paint testing since before building my 1:350 big E, so I'll be doing some practicing on that as well...


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## MartyS (Mar 11, 2014)

Well, I'm going to need to work on seams way more than I'm used to when hand painting. Airbrushing shows off every tiny defect in the surface....

But I do like how easy it is to get a nice smooth coat, would have taken me 2 nights building up very thin brushed on layers to get to where this is after 20 minutes of airbrushing:


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## MartyS (Mar 11, 2014)

Still mostly working on seams, if I was hand painting they would be filled in with paint by now... :grin2: 

On the 3rd round (fill, sand, paint, fill, sand, paint, fill, sand, paint....)

What I have so far:


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## Trekkriffic (Mar 20, 2007)

Stunningly good work going into this.


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## MartyS (Mar 11, 2014)

Think I'm done with seams, unless I do some touching up when the nacelles go on...

Mixed up some grey, white, and 2 different blues for the dorsal and bolt cover:










Now I have to decide on what color to paint the trenches on the nacelles.


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## larskseme (Sep 2, 2014)

She looks great! Enjoying watching another of your builds.


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## MartyS (Mar 11, 2014)

Thanks guys for the compliments.

Going to try perlescent silver to simulate a shiny clear plastic on the domes. I know the domes are already clear plastic but they have been sanded and painted, wasn't thinking ahead enough in that area, should have masked them at the start. On each model I do like to do one thing a little different so that will be it for this Enterprise. 

I'm now thinking I need to get a real airbrush, already starting to have some issues with this $30 one. Still one or 2 things left to try on the list of tricks to make a cheap airbrush work better but I might as well just get something that will hold up better under hours of use.


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## Trekkriffic (Mar 20, 2007)

MartyS said:


> Thanks guys for the compliments.
> Going to try pearlescent silver to simulate a shiny clear plastic on the domes.


Which domes are you referring to Marty? The saucer domes?
Because your bussard domes look great. I'd leave them alone if it were me.


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## MartyS (Mar 11, 2014)

Trekkriffic said:


> Which domes are you referring to Marty? The saucer domes?


Yes, the saucer domes. I was going to paint them white but then decided to base the model on the delivery photos from '64, so am stuck trying to use paint to simulate clear plastic.

Here's what the perlescent silver looks like:


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## Steve H (Feb 8, 2009)

I dunno, that silver looks a little too bold for the look I think you're shooting for.

I'm thinking you might get closer if you were to put a wash of white over that. I'd practice that on some scrap part first however.

If only there was such a thing as a way to take a clear lacquer and add a white tint to that, but I don't think that's possible.


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## robn1 (Nov 17, 2012)

It might look good to paint it white then mist over it with the silver, a thin mist that barely shows up.


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## Steve H (Feb 8, 2009)

robn1 said:


> It might look good to paint it white then mist over it with the silver, a thin mist that barely shows up.


If I'm interpreting correctly, his current airbrush may not have fine enough control to do that. It IS an idea worth trying and would look better than my suggestion. I only suggested the paint/wash idea because he's used to brushes and that might fall more towards his comfort zone. 

Otherwise, what? Pry off the clear domes on the saucer, strip them and glue them back on? That's gonna damage the surrounding paint, I'd think. 

I was also thinking of suggesting giving those top/bottom domes a shot of a color flop (prismatic) paint but that stuff is tricky.

The build and paint look really nice so far, I'd hate to see it ruined.


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## MartyS (Mar 11, 2014)

Actually, a thin coat of translucent black might give the mirrorish look I was thinking of when trying the silver. I've got some test parts that already have the silver on them so I can test a few things.

I'm not that unhappy with the silver, the camera flash makes it stand out more than it does in normal light.

Got the triangles painted. And the nacelles maybe done, not sure if the gray is too dark and I should go over it with a thin coat of hull color, some pictures show those areas pretty dark, others lighter, I'll dry fit everything tomorrow and see if I like how it looks.


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## Gregatron (Mar 29, 2008)

That gray accent color looks too dark. I'd suggest misting some of the hull base color over it to make it less intense, unless you intend to repaint it. Or leave it as it is! The accent color was a bit more subtle on the filming model(s).


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## MartyS (Mar 11, 2014)

Black over the silver did the trick, this is more the look I was thinking of:











I'll decide if I'm going to lighten up the nacelle accents tomorrow, I do have to go over the inclined edges of the trenches to tone them down (lighten them up...).


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## Steve H (Feb 8, 2009)

Does look better, good job!

I'm in the camp that thinks the dark gray is a little too dark but I think that leans more towards just personal preference.


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## MartyS (Mar 11, 2014)

Looking at those delivery pictures again and I did tone down the accents on the nacelles, a lot. Was fighting the airbrush a bit, but I think I won, this has been an interesting learning experience.

I'm seriously considering 3D printing the wooden stand it was delivered with....
It shouldn't be that hard to design in FreeCAD.

Anyway, dry fit picts:


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## MartyS (Mar 11, 2014)

Put a light coat of hull color over the dorsal to tone that down a bit, and 3D printed a wooden stand replica:










Pulled it off the build plate too soon causing that warp, I'll try a hair dryer to warm it back up and flatten it.

Edit: The hair dryer worked to flatten out the warping:


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## MartyS (Mar 11, 2014)

It's 99% done, just have to practice on my junk model before spraying a satin finish on it.


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## Steve H (Feb 8, 2009)

The top and bottom domes on the saucer turned out great! The entire build is really nice. It's interesting to me how the original bridge dome really looks odd now, how it seems to almost overwhelm the top of the saucer.


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## MartyS (Mar 11, 2014)

Yeah, that small extra bit of dome makes the whole saucer look top heavy. 
If they never changed it would we still see it that way? 

Looking at the opening shot of The Cage again I noticed I forgot the squares on the sides of the bridge, they are in the decals of the kit so I added them. The instruction sheet doesn't list them for the first pilot for some reason.


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## MartyS (Mar 11, 2014)

Just ordered an Iwata HP-C+ airbrush... Hopefully no more spitting and inconsistent amount of paint when you pull back the trigger.

Think I'll install the .5mm nozzle in the cheap airbrush and use it for light blocking and clear coating. Stuff that doesn't need precision.

Might also go crazy and buy one of those cutting machines, to cut vinyl masks. Haven't quite convinced myself it would be worth it...


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## Richard Baker (Aug 8, 2006)

If you can export your masks to an EPS file most local sign companies can cut your masks for a couple of bucks. We do it all the time and with scrap vinyl we rarely charge.

Love your build up- the display stand really looks the part!


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## Steve H (Feb 8, 2009)

MartyS said:


> Just ordered an Iwata HP-C+ airbrush... Hopefully no more spitting and inconsistent amount of paint when you pull back the trigger.
> 
> Think I'll install the .5mm nozzle in the cheap airbrush and use it for light blocking and clear coating. Stuff that doesn't need precision.
> 
> Might also go crazy and buy one of those cutting machines, to cut vinyl masks. Haven't quite convinced myself it would be worth it...


I would lean towards upgrading your airbrush suite before plunking down cash for a cutting machine. Mind, you may well find all kinds of uses for that besides just cutting masks so that a consideration, but yeah, you've got a new airbrush on the way, how's your compressor? Have you thought about getting an air tank? They're not too expensive at a place like Harbor Freight. The bonus of using a tank is no compressor noise. (I've never heard a truly silent compressor but maybe the Japanese found a way  ).


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## MartyS (Mar 11, 2014)

Steve H said:


> how's your compressor? Have you thought about getting an air tank?


I got the compressor way before the airbrush, a 4 gallon 1HP one for doing other random stuff. With a 25 foot hose I can put it in the closed off half of the basement, the airbrush regulator and water trap are attached to my model making desk. When using 15 psi on the brush I can work for probably 20 minutes before it turns on for a minute, with it on the other side of the wall I don't mind the noise.


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## MartyS (Mar 11, 2014)

Richard Baker said:


> Love your build up- the display stand really looks the part!


Thanks, FYI: I scaled down an 6 foot long 2X12 and 3/4 inch plywood and it looks about right (dividing by 12 since the 1:1000 model is about 1:12 the size of the 11 foot model). I did forget that 2x lumber is smaller than 2 inches, so the plank does look a little fat.


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## MartyS (Mar 11, 2014)

And here she is 100% done:










I made that stand just to play around with but I think I'm going to use it for the model's normal display stand.

And just to show the color change in the bridge dome when reflecting head on:


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## Gregatron (Mar 29, 2008)

Looks great!


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## Steve H (Feb 8, 2009)

Very nice job.

I do wish there was a way to get the 'story', the thinking, the logic used for the markings. I can see the 'origin point' in cold-war aircraft but of course on a different scale. I wish we could know what purpose Jefferies had, if only in his own mind and regardless of Roddenberry and pure art design reasons. Were those yellow boxes with red outlines port and starboard hatches over weapons mounts? Were they maneuvering rocket locations? What about the gray 'walkway' bands? There seems to be something that could be a door on the front of the bridge dome- cover for a sensor? a weapon? an emergency exit? And then of course there's all the mysterious colored shapes on the belly of the Engineering hull. Fans have built up mythology about them over the decades of course and I'm sure the primary reason is "something to break up the hull and make it interesting, we won't see much of them anyway", right? But you can't help but wonder.


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## JGG1701 (Nov 9, 2004)

Beautiful!
-Jim G.G.


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## Richard Baker (Aug 8, 2006)

Steve H said:


> Very nice job.
> 
> I do wish there was a way to get the 'story', the thinking, the logic used for the markings. I can see the 'origin point' in cold-war aircraft but of course on a different scale. I wish we could know what purpose Jefferies had, if only in his own mind and regardless of Roddenberry and pure art design reasons. Were those yellow boxes with red outlines port and starboard hatches over weapons mounts? Were they maneuvering rocket locations? What about the gray 'walkway' bands? There seems to be something that could be a door on the front of the bridge dome- cover for a sensor? a weapon? an emergency exit? And then of course there's all the mysterious colored shapes on the belly of the Engineering hull. Fans have built up mythology about them over the decades of course and I'm sure the primary reason is "something to break up the hull and make it interesting, we won't see much of them anyway", right? But you can't help but wonder.


I think one of the reasons I really like the classic Enterprise is that we really do not know exactly what everything does or where it is located. It represents a much higher level of technology and engineering, with some equipment installed to address situations or functions way beyond our current knowledge. IMO, the Refit Enterprise went too far in explaining everything, while we probably know which each greebly and hatch is for, it somehow makes the ship seem more pedestrian. The TOS E, with the minimal Nacelle pylons and mysterious glows and hatches to me seems higher tech,,,

This is difficult for me because I am hardware orientated- a movie or show my disappoint on multiple levels, but if has a great ship then all is forgiven. I guess I enjoy the mental elbow room to speculate when things are not defined down to the rivet.

BTW- I think your plywood stand replica is absolutely perfect for your build. The whole purpose was to match the ship as delivered. If it were me I would consider even going further and making a base for the stand to sit on which would look like the street & curb or perhaps a studio floor.


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## Steve H (Feb 8, 2009)

Well, let's see. I'm horrible with math, but given the 11 foot size of the miniature, and we have a kit in 1/1000 scale (of the 'actual' ship), what scale is the kit in regards to the miniature?

My gut is telling me maybe 1/16 scale. My gut is often confused. it's also telling me I want hamburger and macaroni for lunch. 

(it would be too nice if it worked out to 1/24 scale because brother, the options for dioramas are just too amazing to ignore.  )


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## MartyS (Mar 11, 2014)

Steve H said:


> Well, let's see. I'm horrible with math, but given the 11 foot size of the miniature, and we have a kit in 1/1000 scale (of the 'actual' ship), what scale is the kit in regards to the miniature?
> 
> My gut is telling me maybe 1/16 scale. My gut is often confused. it's also telling me I want hamburger and macaroni for lunch.
> 
> (it would be too nice if it worked out to 1/24 scale because brother, the options for dioramas are just too amazing to ignore.  )


I already did the math to make the stand.

The 11 footer is just over 1:82 scale, so 1000/82=12.2, so it's 1:12 scale in relation to the 11 footer. If you wanted to build a diorama of the studio around the ship 1 foot = 1 inch. There is quite a bit of stuff out there in 1:12 scale or one inch scale it's sometimes called.


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## Steve H (Feb 8, 2009)

MartyS said:


> I already did the math to make the stand.
> 
> The 11 footer is just over 1:82 scale, so 1000/82=12.2, so it's 1:12 scale in relation to the 11 footer. If you wanted to build a diorama of the studio around the ship 1 foot = 1 inch. There is quite a bit of stuff out there in 1:12 scale or one inch scale it's sometimes called.


I've also seen it called 'six inch scale' which puts it about the size of the Hasbro Marvel Legends figures, the Hasbro Star Wars Black 6 inch figures, and Bandai's Star Wars figure kits. 

Plus of course just an insane amount of figures from the Japanese animation community. That would just be weird. Fun, but weird.


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## MartyS (Mar 11, 2014)

Yes, a six inch tall figure would be about the right scale for a grip or cameraman.


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## KUROK (Feb 2, 2004)

Nice job!


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## MartyS (Mar 11, 2014)

Wish I had cut the window decals for deck 2, those back 2 windows should be more in line with the front 4. Oh well. That's the problem with having my computer on the 2nd floor and painting in the basement, in my apartment I'd have the pictures up on the computer while building right next to it....

Got my new airbrush, wow, so much better control, I mean way more control, and it will be way easier to clean or even just switch colors. It was good to start on the cheap one, I put the .5mm nozzle in that one and will use it for when a little spitting or lack of fine control doesn't matter.


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## scotpens (Sep 6, 2003)

Richard Baker said:


> . . . I think your plywood stand replica is absolutely perfect for your build. The whole purpose was to match the ship as delivered. If it were me I would consider even going further and making a base for the stand to sit on which would look like the street & curb . . .


Then all you'd need would be scale figures of Richard Datin, Vern Sion, Mel Keys and Volmer Jensen!


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## Hunch (Apr 6, 2003)

Great job! I'm slllloooowwwly making one of these in 350 scale kinda for practice so that I know the ins and outs of the kit before I do the series one w/ all the bells and whistles (as those bells and whistles cost me lots of $$$ back in the day when I could afford it) and you seem to have nailed most of the odd things that I've spotted doing my research (not much on this ship, is there?) and staring at grainy photos till my eyes bled. It looks to me that you left some of the "hump" on the triangles on the saucer bottoms? Am I seeing things? 'cause when I blow up the pics there seems to be just a bit of pronouncement at the top of the triangle and none elsewhere. Trick of the light/shadow (if you sanded yours completely off this would be an indication of that)? I'm also still on the fence about the color of the rings under the front (radar? what do trekkies call it?) dish. The dish seems to be a different color than the rings underneath that appear gold. So hard to tell on these grainy old photos. 
Wonderful job all around!
Jim


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## MartyS (Mar 11, 2014)

Hunch said:


> It looks to me that you left some of the "hump" on the triangles on the saucer bottoms? Am I seeing things? 'cause when I blow up the pics there seems to be just a bit of pronouncement at the top of the triangle and none elsewhere. Trick of the light/shadow (if you sanded yours completely off this would be an indication of that)?


I couldn't decide between sanding off the bump and leaving it, so I ended up sanding it down but leaving a little raised flat rectangle. I never found the source of the idea that those bumps were added later. The bumps are hard to see even in photos of the production model when you know they are there, and I couldn't find any clear images of the underside of the first pilot saucer, so I split the difference and left a little raised area.



> I'm also still on the fence about the color of the rings under the front (radar? what do trekkies call it?) dish. The dish seems to be a different color than the rings underneath that appear gold. So hard to tell on these grainy old photos.


Yeah, depending on the angle and brightness of the light in photos the dish and rings behind it are all over the place. I was running out of copper paint so couldn't experiment much and made them both the same. Seems like maybe the dish was more bronze than copper, really hard to tell with the rings behind the dish. I didn't glue my dish in so I could still go back and mess with those colors someday.


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## Trekkriffic (Mar 20, 2007)

I like the wooden base- very much like the one seen in the photo of the model sitting on the street next to the curb. Your colors look just right too. A nice build alround.


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## larskseme (Sep 2, 2014)

She really turned out great! The wooden stand was a brilliant idea, as well.


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## MartyS (Mar 11, 2014)

Here it is out on the street (driveway...):










And a sneak peek at what I'm building next:










The red and green colors were paints I hadn't tried before, very slow drying so I did put too much down and caused some issues with the surface not being smooth.


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## robn1 (Nov 17, 2012)

That's some rough pavement, I hope they don't damage that great looking model driving on that.


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## Zombie_61 (Apr 21, 2004)

MartyS said:


> ...And a sneak peek at what I'm building next:


A cloaked Klingon Bird of Prey?


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## Steve H (Feb 8, 2009)

Ya know? It's really instructive. I look at the pics of the build on Page 3 and the ship is gray with a hint of blue, or that's how it looks. Then we get to the outdoor pic here on Page 4 and man, that looks way too blue!

The tricky, tricky world of the color gray.


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## Milton Fox Racing (May 27, 2014)

I am only on page 2, wish I could see into the future.


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## MartyS (Mar 11, 2014)

Steve H said:


> The tricky, tricky world of the color gray.


Don't forget camera white balance, automatic white balance never gets it quite right, often gets it quite wrong. To get it correct you've got to put a standard gray card in the shot and adjust the colors, I've done it with my DSLR but don't bother with the little point and shoot I use for quick shots.


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## Steve H (Feb 8, 2009)

Milton Fox Racing said:


> I am only on page 2, wish I could see into the future.


Urr? Different layout settings? Maybe 'classic' view allows fewer posts per page.


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## MartyS (Mar 11, 2014)

The number of posts per page can be changed in your profile, it's independent from the forum style.


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## Steve H (Feb 8, 2009)

MartyS said:


> The number of posts per page can be changed in your profile, it's independent from the forum style.


Ahhh, I never knew that! I guess I'm lazy and figure 'default' generally works best.


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