# 1960's era Enterprise build



## RSN (Jul 29, 2008)

Started my Enterprise I got off E-Bay for about $20.00 a while back. I think it is a second issue with the lights and orange domes. Needs a LOT of TLC!! 

The first shot shows the bridge and B/C deck. Didn't need to do much on the B/C portion except round over the port side a bit more. I extended the height of the bridge just a bit so I could recontour it and make it more of a dome. (I used a part from the Millenium Falcon landing gear from my spare parts box!) lost the two lights on the sides so I will have to replicate them. 

Next is the new clear dome I created using one of the engine domes from the PL 1/1000 Enterprise.

The third picture shows the deflector dish mounted closer to the hull. It is a bit larger than it should be for the production version, but I think I may go with it. I want to keep as much "Out of the Box" as possible.

Four and Five are of the lower portion of the primary hull with an altered profile. I cut off the kit lower sensor mounting and recontoured the bottom to give it a more rounded look, as opposed to the point the original looked like. I then made a new sensor platform and lower dome, again out of a 1/1000 engine from PL. This one is from the pilot version and will have a small bead placed in the opening. The dimples got filled with plastic plugs and sanded smooth and I also sanded down the windows and raised circles and rescribed new rings.


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## RSN (Jul 29, 2008)

One last shot for now and a few questions. 

Here is one engine glued and the seams sanded smooth for thr most part. It is not easy keeping them in round when sanding! Also in the picture are the three new, longer, clamps (?) for the front of the engines. I taped down a strip of thin styrene around the front of the nacelle and then laminated 3 more layers on top. When done I cut the new pieces to width and they match the curve of the engine!

One big question I have is, do I really need to keep the gridlines on the top of the primary hull in order to position the registry properly? If I was using the old style decals, I would need a guide, but I am going to get after market markings that are already curved. Any input from those who have built her recently would be appreciated. Been about 20 years since I last put one together. It is fun building one again that is like the first one I built "Back in the Day"!

Next up is marking off the top edge of the lower portion of the primary hull and removing about i/8 of an inch to thin it down. This is what I determined to be one of the biggest problems with the proportions of the AMT kit. The last one I built, I reduced the height and it really made the model look more like the filming miniature.

Progress will be slow as the pain allows me to work on her. Most days I push it aside and make some progress so, more soon!


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## Shaw (Jan 9, 2005)

RSN said:


> One big question I have is, do I really need to keep the gridlines on the top of the primary hull in order to position the registry properly? If I was using the old style decals, I would need a guide, but I am going to get after market markings that are already curved. Any input from those who have built her recently would be appreciated. Been about 20 years since I last put one together. It is fun building one again that is like the first one I built "Back in the Day"!


I wouldn't think you'd need the grid... even if you weren't using ones that come curved. For my Enterprise and Republic I made a paper template that I taped to the surface of the primary hull as a guide that sorta looked like this...








I then cut all of the letters/numbers of the registry as close to the edges as I could and hand placed them on the models. I was happy with the results I got.

On my 1966 AMT Enterprise I'll be going with my recreated decals, so the name and registry will be one piece (like how the kit originally came when first produced), and I pretty much know where it'll be placed on the top of the primary hull.

Best of luck with your build... it looks like you're off to a great start! :thumbsup:


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## RSN (Jul 29, 2008)

Thank you Shaw for the template, it will help no matter which way I go with the gridlines.

I have to tell you, your builds have inspired me to make this kit into something beyond what is in the box. It is fun to look at pictures from others and then push your own skills beyond what you thought you could do. That is what this forum is all about!

I wish I could use the original decals, to keep the build as "'60's" as possible, but truth be told, they look like if I put them in water there could be an explosion..........very brown and "icky" looking!


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## Trekkriffic (Mar 20, 2007)

Interesting. I never heard about the primary hull being too thick before. 

Neat idea for remaking the "flux constrictors" laminating styrene sheet so they conform to the curve of the nacelle. When I built my small box 18" kit years ago I laminated two pieces of .040 styrene sheet, filed the front and back edge angles, then heated the pieces with a heat gun and pressed them down on a metal broom handle that was the same diameter as the nacelle to mold them to the proper curvature. My fingers got singed a little.


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## RSN (Jul 29, 2008)

Trekkriffic said:


> Interesting. I never heard about the primary hull being too thick before.
> 
> Neat idea for remaking the "flux constrictors" laminating styrene sheet so they conform to the curve of the nacelle. When I built my small box 18" kit years ago I laminated two pieces of .040 styrene sheet, filed the front and back edge angles, then heated the pieces with a heat gun and pressed them down on a metal broom handle that was the same diameter as the nacelle to mold them to the proper curvature. My fingers got singed a little.


The laminating worked great on the first three, the second three are in the process of gluing up now.

As for the hull thickness, never saw it documented, I just tried it years ago on my last build and darned if it just didn't look more in proportion. I am working off a screen cap from the show that has the primary hull in the perfect profile. I scaled it to the exact diamiter of the kit from bow to stern and the height of the 11 footer is nearly identical to just the height of the lower portion of the primary hull part. The thickness of the top hull it just too much and makes it look to thick overall compared to the studio original. So I will sand off the excess and that should do it.

If I were brave, I would sand from the bottom and remove the lip around the underside, but I am afraid too much needs to be removed from there and you run the risk of sanding through the part, so the lip stays!


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## MadCap Romanian (Oct 29, 2005)

Wow! that's amazing! I just recently came into one of these kits, but mine is really rough, being built in the 1960's sometime. I'll be watching this post for inspiration on my build!


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## publiusr (Jul 27, 2006)

I really like that lower saucer dome.

I wonder if the i/1000 Pilot bridge could nest atop/within the the AMT bridge, perched above it...


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## crowe-t (Jul 30, 2010)

RSN, Very nice work so far!

I'm currently working on a newer Round 2 AMT 18" TOS E and also have a couple of the 'long box' tooled kits I plan to build in the future. I'm sure I'll get some nice ideas from watching your build.

Mike.


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## RSN (Jul 29, 2008)

crowe-t said:


> RSN, Very nice work so far!
> 
> I'm currently working on a newer Round 2 AMT 18" TOS E and also have a couple of the 'long box' tooled kits I plan to build in the future. I'm sure I'll get some nice ideas from watching your build.
> 
> Mike.


Thak you much. Got some more work done this week, despite the pain in my hands that will be my "New Noraml". 

I worked on the front orange engine domes, first cutting off the "clamps" that were too small and installing the new ones I fabricated. I also created artwork for the fan blades and cut them out and glued them inside the domes. The orange plastic is cloudy enough to give a pretty good "Warp" effect without lighting.

I also sanded down the profile of the deflector dish. I didn't decrease it in diameter, but I did eliminate the extra lip adound the outer edge. This gives the part a better look to the filming miniature.

Did a little work on the upper primary hull, eliminating some gridlines and drilling out holes to locate the running lights in. 

The top of the neck on the secondary hull got some spacers glued up on it and sanded to profile to eliminate the built in sag of the primary hull that was originally part of the kit.

I'll try to get some pictures up today or tomorrow on last weeks progress.


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## publiusr (Jul 27, 2006)

I have a warm place in my heart for this era kit. Most aftermarket folks did work to make the AMT kit look like the 11 footer. I myself wish for pieces that made re-pop kits look like the long box version--to be true to the model.

The AMT kit was perfect for little hands to grasp. The 1/350 is for adults. The AMT wasn't a toy, so my late father said--but I used it as one. It had its own grace.

My Dad spent a lot of time on an older AMT, with smooth end nacelle caps (no ball) and I took it to my Grandmothers house. My Mom said I'd break it.

I didn't.

My cousin Donny showed up, and I went to hide it. Then my Mom piped up and said I should share it.

The little munchkin shattered it in a million pieces.

I learned a long time ago that I wasn't meant to have anything.


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## RSN (Jul 29, 2008)

OK, here are some pictures of my progress. It is not much, a lot of the last few weeks has been sanding seams down and window and grid lines off.

The first two are of the modified deflector dish. I had already brought it closer to the hull, here I have eliminated the large lip around the outer edge and sanded it smooth. As it is now, the dish is too small for the pilot versions and a bit too big for the production version, but I want as much of the original kit to come through, so I will be leaving it as it is now.

The next two shots show the front end caps for the engines. I drew up some art on the computer to represent the fan blades and ran them out on cardstock. After cutting them out I glued them to the interior of the orange kit part. With the already clouded plastic, it gives a pretty good effect for a model that will have no lights. Also in these images you can see the new, longer, clamps I fabricated.

The last picture is of the now smooth upper primary hull with the running lights drilled out. I am going to omit the smaller ones since I never really noticed them on TV watching it. Just my personal choice.

Today I masked off the 1/16 of an inch on the edge of the lower half of the primary hull. This needs to be removed in order to get the proprtions right once the top section is glued in place. I will be doing a lot more sanding in the coming days!! Once done, it will be matted with the neck pylon that I shimmed up at the front edge, to get rid of the built in droop of the primary hull.


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## StarshipClass (Aug 13, 2003)

^^The Bussard domes look great! With some of the recent examples of the 1960's version of the AMT 1701, I find that I very much prefer the B/C deck shape over the one that came out on later version model kits. The first one I build in the early 1970's had that earlier B/C deck. It has a much nicer shape to it.


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## Proper2 (Dec 8, 2010)

Man, does this bring back memories...


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## KUROK (Feb 2, 2004)

I love these old-school projects!


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## RSN (Jul 29, 2008)

PerfesserCoffee said:


> ^^The Bussard domes look great! With some of the recent examples of the 1960's version of the AMT 1701, I find that I very much prefer the B/C deck shape over the one that came out on later version model kits. The first one I build in the early 1970's had that earlier B/C deck. It has a much nicer shape to it.


Thank you, they came out looking better than I thought they would. 

I built so many of the later versions, I had forgotten how much more accurate the earlier kits were. The B/C deck looks great as is on the starboard side but the port side needed a bit of sanding, about 10 minutes, to recontour it to match the other profile.

Having a great time with this, trying to prove newer is not always better. There is still some life left in the old girl!!


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## robn1 (Nov 17, 2012)

I never had one of the early versions, never even seen one except in online photos, so I'm really enjoying seeing this build. It's looking great.

Since you aren't lighting it, you might try something I used to do to simulate lighting. For the domes, cut a disc from some foil, red or copper would look good. Or even some multicolored prismatic foil. And place the disc behind the dome. It'll reflect light and appear to be lit. I remember putting foil behind the red lens on my Black Hole Maximilian kit and the effect was pretty cool.


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## RSN (Jul 29, 2008)

robn1 said:


> I never had one of the early versions, never even seen one except in online photos, so I'm really enjoying seeing this build. It's looking great.
> 
> Since you aren't lighting it, you might try something I used to do to simulate lighting. For the domes, cut a disc from some foil, red or copper would look good. Or even some multicolored prismatic foil. And place the disc behind the dome. It'll reflect light and appear to be lit. I remember putting foil behind the red lens on my Black Hole Maximilian kit and the effect was pretty cool.


Thanks for that suggestion, I was thinking along those lines as well. For now there are just white disks in there and I was going to play around with what the final color is going to be.


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## StarshipClass (Aug 13, 2003)

RSN said:


> Thanks for that suggestion, I was thinking along those lines as well. For now there are just white disks in there and I was going to play around with what the final color is going to be.


I've had good luck with white reflective tape behind tinted clear plastic. Put a light on it and it lights up nice and even inside.


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## RSN (Jul 29, 2008)

A lot of work and a little bit of progress on the Lady in the past week or so.

The first picture shows the Primary Hull together. I sanded off about 1/32" from the height of the lower half, this now gives the hull the proper thickness and proportion when the top is glued on. Before joining them, I drilled out the holes for the running lights and inserted some clear, nonfunctioning LED's. The top two will be coated with clear red and clear green once final painting is done. The seam on the hull was then sanded smooth, so smooth that no filler was needed when I was done!!

The second shot is of the nacelle end caps. I found the perfect size ball to use in my stash of the old K'nex pieces my daughters used to play with. The magnets come in handy, (Just the right size to hold the Flying Sub in the Seaview docking bay!), but I never thought the balls would be useful. I cut a circle template with a center line into a sheet of plastic, then drew a center line up the back of the end cap. I bent the template to shape and lined up the center lines and drew the circle onto the part. Then I drilled out around the edges by hand, (I gotta get a Dremel some day!) and poped out the plug and smoothed the edges. They were still a bit rough, so I got out the Aves putty and ran it around the edges and into the holes. After hardening, it now holds the balls in place.

In the background you can see the secondary hull and the nacelles all dry fit and waiting for some attention! Still working on a new stand attachment using the original triangle stand. Got it figured out, I just have to go get a metal rod.

'til next time!!


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## crowe-t (Jul 30, 2010)

Excellent work on the saucer and end caps! :thumbsup:

BTW, did you add more taper to the edge of the saucer or is that just an illusion in the picture?


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## RSN (Jul 29, 2008)

crowe-t said:


> Excellent work on the saucer and end caps! :thumbsup:
> 
> BTW, did you add more taper to the edge of the saucer or is that just an illusion in the picture?


Thank you. It is a bit of both, when I was sanding the seam, I tried to give it more of an angle as well as a sharp edge at the top. To my eye, it didn't look that steep, but I guess I was looking too close, because it shows up in the picture. Like oil painting, it helps to just step back and look at your progress and take in the whole image.

I am liking your build as well!


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## publiusr (Jul 27, 2006)

It may not be strictly accurate, but that AMT saucer has a charm all its own.

I have memories of old window unit air conditioners, long days as a child spent dreaming, and healthy parents before they were struck down with health problems.


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## RSN (Jul 29, 2008)

publiusr said:


> It may not be strictly accurate, but that AMT saucer has a charm all its own.


Not too sure about that assessment. My saucer is close to finished and it is now attached to the neck. Most of the proportions match the profile screencap from the show I printed out at the exact diameter of the kit. Picks later this week.


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## publiusr (Jul 27, 2006)

I hope to see more.


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## RSN (Jul 29, 2008)

publiusr said:


> I hope to see more.


Been a bit sidetracked with other projects. I need to get back to the old girl soon! :thumbsup:


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## djnick66 (May 2, 2008)

Please do ! This is one of my favorite kits.


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## RSN (Jul 29, 2008)

Well, I finally finished my project of turning an original long box '60's Enterprise into a better representation of the ship. As I originally said, I wanted to keep this as original as possible, but correct a few things to flex my building skills. My goal was to have a model that would look like it is still in the 1960's.

I am happy with my results and I am seriously glad I did this kit, rather than the new 1/350.


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## crowe-t (Jul 30, 2010)

Excellent job on this old kit! The modifications you made really improved the overall look.


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## RSN (Jul 29, 2008)

Here is a view from the rear. You can see the new dome I added over the hangar deck. Also a full profile.


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## RSN (Jul 29, 2008)

Two more for good measure!


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## RSN (Jul 29, 2008)

crowe-t said:


> Excellent job on this old kit! The modifications you made really improved the overall look.


Thank you sir! I have not gone into the level of detail as yours, which is awesome! I wanted to have some of the "vintage" look preserved, but there were something's I just couldn't let go!!


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## pagni (Mar 20, 1999)

Quite beautiful ! I've got a couple of these in box too... but I can't quite bring myself to do anything but build (eventually) the way they were intended to be built. This version was my first of many purchases throughout the years.


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## irishtrek (Sep 17, 2005)

RSN said:


> Here is a view from the rear. You can see the new dome I added over the hangar deck. Also a full profile.


 I think your Enterprise needs to be turned around because in that profile the nose looks to be drooping just a tad. And she looks gggrrreat!!!!


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## RSN (Jul 29, 2008)

irishtrek said:


> I think your Enterprise needs to be turned around because in that profile the nose looks to be drooping just a tad. And she looks gggrrreat!!!!


Sorry, but that is just an artifact of the photo, it is quite straight. :thumbsup:


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## drmcoy (Nov 18, 2004)

very nice. never seen one quite done this way -- sweet way to mod the original kit we all fell in love with so many years ago.


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## Wattanasiri (Aug 15, 2010)

Very nicely done!


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## RSN (Jul 29, 2008)

Thank you again for the kind words. As I have said, it does not take much to bring this kit more in line to an "accurate" Enterprise. A little sanding and some putty! The only things I added, that are not original to the kit are:

1) The balls on the rear of the nacelles. These were made using the metal balls from a Knex magnetic toy.
2) The dome over the Hangar Deck. This is simply a cut down LED mounted on a plastic ring.
3) The 3 finger clamps on the front of the engines. These were done by laminating strips of styrene around the engine until the proper thickness was achieved. They were then cut to width, conforming to the diameter of the nacelle and replaced the pieces I carefully removed from the front caps.
4) The interior engine detail. I used the clear orange kit part and inside added a disk covered with crinkled aluminum foil, (To simulate the mirror pieces of the filming miniature.) and added fan blades I created by printing out artwork on cardstock. These were cut out and glued into the clear end caps.
5) I added an extension to the top of the bridge to raise the height. For this I used part of the landing gear from the old MPC Millennium Falcon kit. It was then sanded to shape. The tiny lights on the sides of the bridge, that are on this original issue, were sanded off in this process so I replicated them with the hand controls from the turret of the Falcon kit. The upper dome was a cut down front end cap from the 1/1000 Enterprise.
6) I created a new lower sensor mount with a plastic disk and sheet styrene. The lower dome is another cut down front end cap from a 1/1000 Enterprise, only this one was a pilot version with the hole in it. The nib sticking out is Han Solo's head, from the same Millennium Falcon kit.
7) The navigation lights on the hull are clear LEDs, the top two are tinted with clear red and green.
8) The last non-stock addition were the decals. The only aftermarket thing on the kit.


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## Trekkriffic (Mar 20, 2007)

RSN said:


> Thank you again for the kind words. As I have said, it does not take much to bring this kit more in line to an "accurate" Enterprise. A little sanding and some putty! The only things I added, that are not original to the kit are:
> 
> 1) The balls on the rear of the nacelles. These were made using the metal balls from a Knex magnetic toy.
> 2) The dome over the Hangar Deck. This is simply a cut down LED mounted on a plastic ring.
> ...


I see what you mean. You hardly changed anything at all! 

Han Solo's head peeking out from the lower dome??? 
(Sulu voce) 
Oh my!


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