# TOS U.S.S. Constellation 1/1000



## Gregatron (Mar 29, 2008)

In order to get more practice in for my Ultimate 1/1000 TOS _Enterprise_, and to scatch an itch I've had for quite some time, I've decided to build the TOS _Constellation_ in 1/1000, using the Polar Lights snap-kit.

Of course, the model used in "The Doomsday Machine" was an AMT kit. I *could* use the Round 2 repop as the basis for this build, but:

A) The mold changes since the 60s issue would make the build somewhat inaccurate.

B) I'd like to have a build that's in-scale with my slowly growing 1/1000 fleet.


What to do, then? The 1/1000 kit is very accurate to the 11-foot _Enterprise_, and lacks many of the AMT kit's wonky shapes and details (or lack thereof).

Therefore, I've decided to split the difference. I'll keep the basic look and proportions of the 1/1000 kit, but detail and modifiy it to make it more in-step with the AMT kit. As it happens, many details of the AMT kit are match the pilot versions of the _Enterprise_, which helps justify this approach.

My studies of the AMT _Constellation_ used in the show also reveal that more went into it than some believe. It's surprisingly well-detailed, with painted(?) windows, greeblies stuffed into the damaged areas, and a nice weathering scheme that certainly didn't come from a mere lighter being used on the model. And, while I'm not entirely sure about this, it almost looks like the AMT saucer's raised gridlines may have been removed for the _Constellation_. Any thoughts on that?

Here's a breakdown of my plan:

SAUCER: 
* Use JT-Graphics' resin Bridge-B/C deck replacement, which is modeled after the AMT kit.

* Fill in navigation light holes and add tiny marker lights, as on the first pilot _Enterprise_.

* Fill in the groove on the linear accelerator's raised rib.

* Remove the three tabs from the lower sensor dome's base (as on the pilot Enterprise and AMT model.


SECONDARY HULL:

* Sand down a pilot-era deflector dish to a "medium" size (in-between pilot and production), and fill in the outermost grooved ring. Also install further out from the hull, as on the old AMT kit.

* Sand down and reshape the hangar beacon light to match the AMT kit.

NACELLES:

* Use the production 1/1000 nacelles, but cut the front tabs off of the production intercoolers, and use a sanded-smooth pilot-era rear endcap for the port nacelle.

OVERALL:

* I've already carefully studied the damage areas on the original model, and have marked them on my model with a Sharpie for removal.

* Will add interior greeblies and bits to the damages areas to echo the AMT model, while trying to stay a bit more in-scale.

* Will use a pilot-era color scheme, with a very muted blue-gray for the dorsal and linear accelerator, and the gold-copper engine pylon vents.

* May or may not pencil on a grid for the saucer, depending on whether the AMT _Constellation_ had its grid removed.

* Will use the various graphics and technical markings that didn't appear on the AMT model.

* Will use David Shaw's excellent recreations of the AMT name/registry numbers and pennants. I've already scaled-down and printed out the custom decals for this.

* Will conform the windows pattern decals to the AMT model, for the most part.



So, essentially, this model will be a compromise--a slightly idealized version of the _Constellation_ that still pays homage to the AMT kit used in the show. Technically, in-universe, the _Constellation_ should look just like the production _Enterprise_, but this approach is a bit more fun, and the final model will more closely resemble what we saw on-screen.

Here's where we're at so far--a test fit of the model, with the areas marked for removal:


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## Captain_April (Oct 20, 2002)

You could base you model on the remastered Constellation, it too was modified to look like the AMT.


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## Gregatron (Mar 29, 2008)

Nope. The Remastered _Constellation_ was just a reuse of the Remastered CG _Enterprise_, with the damage added.


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## Paulbo (Sep 16, 2004)

I may have misunderstood some of what you meant above, but will you be filling the grooves on the side of the secondary hull, just behind the two boxes at the deflector?

Sounds like quite the ambitious project!

Hmmm. I wonder if anyone will "back date" the upcoming 1:350 so it matches the AMT :freak:


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## Gregatron (Mar 29, 2008)

Paulbo said:


> I may have misunderstood some of what you meant above, but will you be filling the grooves on the side of the secondary hull, just behind the two boxes at the deflector?
> 
> Sounds like quite the ambitious project!
> 
> Hmmm. I wonder if anyone will "back date" the upcoming 1:350 so it matches the AMT :freak:



Oh, yeah--forgot to mention that I already removed the raised detail behind the boxes.


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## Gregatron (Mar 29, 2008)

Been getting some work done on this. Dremeled out the damaged areas, and began adding guts (as with the tiny brass rods in the exposed starboard nacelle pylon.

Also sanded down a pilot-era deflector dish to AMT proportions, and filled the outermost scribed ring.

J.T.'s aftermarket bridge piece is a great representation of the AMT kit, and really adds an authentic look to the smaller 1/1000 model.


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## Trekkriffic (Mar 20, 2007)

I like what I'm seeing so far. The pylon damage looks very good from what I can see.


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## Larva (Jun 8, 2005)

What a great project! Love the effort you're taking to make it look like the AMT kit.


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## MadCap Romanian (Oct 29, 2005)

Looks awesome! Just wondering why you put the decals on before painting the model though.


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## Gregatron (Mar 29, 2008)

Those are just the stickers that come with the kit, not decals. They've helped as a reference point for getting the battle-damage added in just the right places.

Plus, it makes the incomplete model look a little more complete!

I'll be removing the stickers soon, once I really get into construction. Most of the parts are being held together without glue, for now.


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## WarpCore Breach (Apr 27, 2005)

That looks like a great start. I did a larger version for the 18" TOS _Enterprise _using the old Thomas Models conversion kit.

Keep up the great work! :thumbsup:


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## BolianAdmiral (Feb 24, 2009)

Great start, man... I'll be keeping track of this!


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## Shaw (Jan 9, 2005)

This is looking great! When I saw the thread title I was half expecting a TOS-R version, it never occurred to me that you could replicate the TOS version this well at this scale. Great ingenuity! :thumbsup:


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## Gregatron (Mar 29, 2008)

Yeah, it would be great to do a full-on AMT build of the ship, but the 1/1000 approach will allow this build to fit into my growing 1/1000 fleet, while still paying homage to the original AMT kit.

Essentially, this is the _Constellation_ with another layer or two of detailing that wasn't on the AMT model--the more 11-footer-accurate proportions, the extra technical markings and hatches, etc.


But I'll be sticking to the AMT's window patterns, and, as noted, will be using Shaw's great recreations of the original registry and pennant decals. And certain key AMT details, like the bridge structure and the mid-size delfector dish that sticks out pretty far from the hull, will be employed here.

I still haven't decided if I'll add the three dimples to the lower saucer. Maybe not, since that area was never shown on TV, although the AMT model certainly had the dimples.

And, as noted, since the AMT kit is fairly close to the first pilot _Enterprise_ in terms of detailing (with a few production-era bits here and there, like the inboard nacelle grilles), the color scheme will lean in that direction (albeit with a much more muted blue-gray for the dorsal and bolt cover).


Essentially, my _Constellation_ will represent a pilot-era ship that hasn't been fully refitted to production-era specs, and which also has a few unique tweaks of its own (like the bridge and B/C deck).

Certainly, the in-universe _Constellation_ "really" is identical to the production _Enterprise_ (as in the Remastered episode), but this compromise build of mine is something of an attempt reconcile what we know with what we actually saw on-screen.



My appreciation for the original model has grown greatly during my research for this project. They certainly didn't just grab an AMT kit and burn it with a lighter. It appears that they did sand the saucer grid off, and took pains to make the model a reasonable match with the _Enterprise_ (judging by the gold-copper nacelle pylon vents, it would seem the 3-foot _Enterprise_ was used as the main reference source for the _Constellation_).

And it appears that they did indeed take the time to add bits of tubing and greeblies into the damaged areas (along with weathering the model), as opposed to just melting the plastic with a lighter. They even painted in the windows!

Despite being a low-budget solution that substituted for the hoped-for "real" model, it seems that more work went into the original _Constellation_ than most people realize.


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## Gregatron (Mar 29, 2008)

Began adding the actual damaged areas to the saucer, by stuffing them with crumpled tinfoil(!), bits of styrene, and various small and medium brass rods.

It's surprisingly effective for such a simple assortment of items, and I'm sure it'll look great when painted and weathered. The overall effect should simulate badly melted and warped internal guts and decks, with various bits and pieces sticking out of the chaos.

I'm treading the line between adding properly-scaled interior details, and remaining true to the crude look of the original model. 

I'm also taking pains to carefully replicate the specific greeblies and such that were stuffed into the original--like the positioning of the small rods sticking out of the holes blasted into the saucer.


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## Gregatron (Mar 29, 2008)

Finished adding greeblies and glued the saucer halves together.


I've been planning out the decal application in advance, and have stumbled upon a problem.

While I've scaled down Shaw's excellent recreations of the original art to 1/1000--which makes them a perfect match with the Polar Lights kit's pennants, saucer registries, and impulse engines--when scaled and printed at 40%, the windows are a problem. 

First off, the reliefed windows themselves on the AMT kit were way too big for the scale, and quite inaccurate.

Playing around, I scaled Shaw's AMT-accurate window patterns down to 30%, which makes most of them a proportionately close match to the 1/1000 kit's decals. The majority of the windows are very close to the same size as the kit decals, and look in-scale.

However, the AMT kit had inconsistent window sizes, and so they're not all the same size. Close enough, though. The big problem, though, is spacing. For isolated areas like the B/C deck, saucer rim, and lower saucer, the 30% AMT window decals will be a perfect match.

But for the nacelle pylons, dorsal and the secondary hull-- at 30%--the window spacing is just not wide enough (although the dorsal is close). As a result, the secondary hull windows cover too small an area. Rather than stretching from the mid-pennant region back to underneath the pylons, they don't even make it to the pylons.

The reason for this, of course, is that the AMT kit's pylons were positioned more forward, toward the dorsal. The real model's--and the 1/1000 kit's pylons--are further aft. Thus, correctly-scaled windows do not appear to cover enough area because of the slightly different configuration of the PL kit vs. the AMT.

The same effect occurs _even with the 40% decals_. I'd rather not use these, however, since the windows are too honkin' big for the scale, even if they'd be proportionate to a theoretical 1/1000 AMT kit.

So, I think the only solution is to deviately slightly from the traditional AMT window pattern and trim up the windows so as to better space them out across the secondary hull and pylons. The dorsal may be fine as-is, though. We'll see.


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## Gregatron (Mar 29, 2008)

Working on seam-filling now.

Upon further investigation, it almost looks like crumpled tinfoil was used for the damaged innards on the original model--so I guess I really am going authentic on this one!


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## guartho (May 4, 2004)

One of the things I'm working on when I get my hobby desk back up and running is the replacement for that ship. I'm making a TOS-esque Constellation class Constellation on the assumption that the first ship of that class was named after its Constitution class predecessor. I'm thinking that probably only one or two, if any, were built TOS style before the class was updated to the refit Enterprise "specs."

ETA: which I guess doesn't have as much to do with this thread as I thought. Lol.


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## Gregatron (Mar 29, 2008)

No worries--it's a very cool idea. Has anyone ever done a TOS-style _Constellation_-class before? I've never seen one.


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## James Tiberius (Oct 23, 2007)

I'm scratch building one as we speak










sorry for the messy work space/godzilla


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## Gregatron (Mar 29, 2008)

Attached the inboard nacelles, while being sure to precisely replicate the skewed angle of the port nacelle. Seam-filling continues.


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## trekfan (Dec 17, 2006)

Very cool, one of my favorite episodes! :thumbsup: Did you beef up the pylons to keep them from drooping over time? I know it's been blasted by the planet killer and it could be chalked up as battle damage. I remember my early AMT enterprise(s) engines would sag..., the testors glue I used would become brittle.  When they collapsed all the way, it gave me an excuse to build a slightly improved replacement. :thumbsup:


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## Gregatron (Mar 29, 2008)

The 1/1000 kit's pylons don't really have sag issues. And, in this case, it doesn't really matter!


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## Gregatron (Mar 29, 2008)

Well, I see that BHP is the latest to offer a resin conversion kit for the _Constellation_ in 1/1000. There have been a few, but they all feature detailing not seen on the original, so as to make it more "realistic" in terms of interior parts and decks.

I kinda prefer my way!


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## James Tiberius (Oct 23, 2007)

most people (like me) prefer to use approximations to make it look like it did on the tv show or close enough. I think what you're doing with all of the trek kits is cool, but hey 90% of people won't ever color the neck blue, or add small white lights that nobody will ever see on a 1k kit.

I would it would have been interesting if you had done the 1/650 kit to get a studio scale model out of it.


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## Landru (May 25, 2009)

James Tiberius said:


> most people (like me) prefer to use approximations to make it look like it did on the tv show or close enough. I think what you're doing with all of the trek kits is cool, but hey 90% of people won't ever color the neck blue, or add small white lights that nobody will ever see on a 1k kit.
> 
> I would it would have been interesting if you had done the 1/650 kit to get a studio scale model out of it.



Hey, remember that whole thing about there not being any visible grid lines on the TOS Enterprise a few years back?


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## James Tiberius (Oct 23, 2007)

except for the fact that they used the AMT model for the Constellation, then yeah, and even if he had to sand down the gridlines, thats what they did on the show!

regardless, it looks great!


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## starmanmm (Mar 19, 2000)

coming along just fine I see. :thumbsup:


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## Gregatron (Mar 29, 2008)

Added the guts and damage to the nacelles, and glued the nacelles together.


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## Gregatron (Mar 29, 2008)

And here's where we're at now:






































Special care has been taken to get the bits and pieces inside the blown-open nacelles to match the original model.


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## scottnkat (May 11, 2006)

really great job on this - I love the effort you're putting into it


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## Gregatron (Mar 29, 2008)

Been filling seams. Attached the rear beacon to the secondary hull, and sanded it nearly flat so as to resemble to original AMT model.

Should be ready for primer soon.


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## Gregatron (Mar 29, 2008)

First priming went well. Still a few seams to work on.


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## StarshipClass (Aug 13, 2003)

You're right about the foil. I think the model makers on the original show just glued in wads of aluminum foil and then chewed it up with an X-acto knife to give the impression of small scale bits and pieces. 

Excellent work on your version. Very authentic!!


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## Captain April (May 1, 2004)

So, ya think they did the blowtorch afterward?


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## Gregatron (Mar 29, 2008)

Second priming went well. Almost there.


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## Tim Nolan (Jul 9, 2008)

Wow. A lot of serious hacking to make the representation here! Nice work! It looks like it's coming along perfectly!! Keep posting those progress shots!


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## Gregatron (Mar 29, 2008)

Painted the deflector dish/rings (copper) and the upper and lower saucer domes (a very light gray). Will be ready for the base color soon.


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## Gregatron (Mar 29, 2008)

Laid down the base color--Flat Gull Gray, lightened up slightly with a bit of Flat White.


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## Gregatron (Mar 29, 2008)

Coming right along...

I decided to go with a very light gray-white for the upper and lower saucer domes. On the original model, they appear to have been painted the same gray-ish color as the rest of the model, but I wanted to go with something a little more consistent with the normal, illuminated _Enterprise_ look.

I considered making them look totally "unlit", but I figured that the sensor domes would be working again after the repair efforts seen in the episode.


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## Gregatron (Mar 29, 2008)

After a break, I'm back at this one.

Finished the painting--gave the model a subdued first pilot color scheme (faint blue-gray on the neck, etc.).

It's just a matter of fine tuning the detail painting of the damaged areas with Steel, Aluminum, and Rust, then a glosscoat, then decals, then weathering.


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## MadCap Romanian (Oct 29, 2005)

This gets better and better! Can't wait to see when it's done!


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## Robert Hargrave (Dec 4, 2003)

James Tiberius said:


> I'm scratch building one as we speak
> 
> 
> 
> ...


I'm sure your a lot further along on this project now, but an idea for cutting those top and bottom hull panels, when I built my 1:537 Constellation (see pic)
http://i758.photobucket.com/albums/xx226/booker1067/Constellation/003-1.jpg
After cementing 3 sheets of .040 styrene together and adding bracing to he joints, I drew the outline on the styrene and maked the center of the circular section then drilled a small hole just big enouth for a 2-56 screw to fit into. I mounted a block of wood in my drill press and drilled a companion hole in the wood that allowed a 1/4 inch overhand of the hull, I used scissors to cut away as much of the excess styrene as I could then placed a dremel cutting bit in the drill press, attached the styrene flat side down with the 2-56 screw holding it in place and now I was able to cut the circular section cleanly and clean the finished edge with a file and sand paper. Maybe a hint for your next build.


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## Gregatron (Mar 29, 2008)

Finished detail-painting the damaged areas, and applied glosscoat.

Just about ready for decaling.


My only big concern is the windows. Shaw's AMT repro decals, when printed at the proper scale, feature those way-too-big windows that the AMT kit had. Scaling them down makes them look better, but the patterns won't really go further than some 2/3 across the length of the secondary hull.

So, the secondary hull may look a little bare, window-wise.

Adding to this problem is the fact that the AMT secondary hull is proportionately shorter than the 1/1000 PL kit, and has the nacelle pylons mounted closer to the dorsal.

I'm way too far along now to remove a chunk of the secondary hull so as to move the pylons forward!


Also, I'm waffling on how much detail I should give this. Should I stick with the basic AMT markings, or add more production-style decals on the upper saucer, lower secondary hull, etc.? Hmmm.


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## Gregatron (Mar 29, 2008)

Applied all of Shaw's AMT-style decals. My home-printed decals went on well, although the Micro-Sol caused them to nearly disintegrate in some spots.


As it stands, the model has all of the basic AMT markings and windows, plus the impulse engine vents.

I'm kind of leaning toward this screen-accurate look. Can't decide if I want to add the other production-style markings and pinstripes. Certain areas look a little sparse, detail-wise.

I'm also wondering if I should add more windows to the secondary hull, since, as noted, the scaled-down AMT windows don't extend too far back.


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## Fozzie (May 25, 2009)

That looks better than what we saw onscreen. Great job! :thumbsup:


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## Gregatron (Mar 29, 2008)

_Captain's Log: Stardate 4202.1 Exceptionally heavy subspace interference still prevents our contacting Starfleet to inform them of the destroyed solar systems we have encountered. We are now entering system L-374. Science Officer Masada reports the fourth planet seems to be breaking up. We are going to investigate. _





























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## Fozzie (May 25, 2009)

Beautiful job all around. Love the emblem on the base. Congrats! :thumbsup:


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## Captain April (May 1, 2004)

Who wants to do some comparisons with screencaps?


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## JGG1701 (Nov 9, 2004)

How's this for starters?
*Excellent* job on the build BTW. :thumbsup:
-Jim


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## kangg7 (Jun 21, 2000)

That is simply amazing. Congrats on a job very well done.!!:thumbsup::thumbsup:

Model on!! :wave:

Dave


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## Dr. Brad (Oct 5, 1999)

That is terrific. Really great job! Well done!


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## Captain April (May 1, 2004)

I was thinking more along these lines...


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## Fozzie (May 25, 2009)

Nice companion shots, Captain April.

And, as for the model vs the screen model...DAMN! Great job! :thumbsup:


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