# Daedalus-class scratchbuilds



## Photoman77 (Feb 7, 2014)

Here are a few shots of my Daedalus-class U.S.S. Horizon. And hats off to Matt Jeffries, btw. 

I have built three so far, and they improve as I learn. Parts include PVC pipe, plastic baby-rattles and wood. I am working in (approximately) 1/350 and 1/175 scales.

The warp nacelle hydrogen collectors are really gumball machine prize containers and the inner domes are round x-mas tree ornaments spray-painted gold and red with chrome auto pinstripes for impeller blades.

I don't have a paint sprayer, so I rely on rattle cans. I am hoping Tamiya as-5 Luftwaffe blue is a good color for Trek ships, but I need help/advice on this matter, as I can't afford to order a bunch of colors to try out.


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## Trekkriffic (Mar 20, 2007)

Tamiya AS-26 Light Ghost Grey would be a good choice.


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## Photoman77 (Feb 7, 2014)

I agree it would. Doesn't it have a bit of a blue tint as well?


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## TIEbomber1967 (May 21, 2012)

These are neat! An excellent scratch build using found materials and PVC. I've wanted to use PVC for builds before but since it's mostly used for plumbing, it doesn't come in a wide enough variety of diameters and thicknesses.
Good Job. What scale is the finished ship in the last photo?


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## Shaw (Jan 9, 2005)

I now have eight cans of Tamiya AS-5 Luftwaffe Light Blue for both the Phase II Enterprise and the TOS 11 foot Enterprise and I'm using Tamiya AS-26 Light Ghost Grey and Tamiya AS-25 Dark Ghost Grey for highlights/accents on those models (with Tamiya AS-29 Green Grey for the leading edge of the dorsal on the TOS Enterprise).

This is based on a comparison with a color sample of Behr UL220-15 Frozen Pond which was shown to be a good match for the color of the 1/350 kit (which was intended to match the original model's color).

To be sure I did a test on some spare parts I had to see how the color worked… this is a test of Tamiya AS-5 Luftwaffe Light Blue with weathering, gridlines and some decals next to a color sample of Behr UL220-15 Frozen Pond…








It was after that color test I was sold. I went back and bought seven more cans of the stuff. :thumbsup:


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## Photoman77 (Feb 7, 2014)

TIEbomber1967 said:


> These are neat! An excellent scratch build using found materials and PVC. I've wanted to use PVC for builds before but since it's mostly used for plumbing, it doesn't come in a wide enough variety of diameters and thicknesses.
> Good Job. What scale is the finished ship in the last photo?


As best I can determine from my research the finished one is 1/350 scale. It is about 16" long, with a 4" sphere, 2" secondary hull, and 1" nacelles. The one under construction is scaled up to 32" long.


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## Photoman77 (Feb 7, 2014)

Shaw said:


> I now have eight cans of Tamiya AS-5 Luftwaffe Light Blue for both the Phase II Enterprise and the TOS 11 foot Enterprise and I'm using Tamiya AS-26 Light Ghost Grey and Tamiya AS-25 Dark Ghost Grey for highlights/accents on those models (with Tamiya AS-29 Green Grey for the leading edge of the dorsal on the TOS Enterprise).
> 
> This is based on a comparison with a color sample of Behr UL220-15 Frozen Pond which was shown to be a good match for the color of the 1/350 kit (which was intended to match the original model's color).
> 
> ...



Wow, Shaw. THAT is a big help! I think I'll follow your lead there. Thank YOU!!


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## Manatee Dream (Jan 2, 2014)

Great pictures. Daedalus is a really neat design, would like to see more representation.


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## Photoman77 (Feb 7, 2014)

I really like it, too. And since you cant buy a kit of it, I opted to use PVC. And it is possible to match the proportions and dimensions correctly that way, just using available resources from googling "USS Horizon" or USS "Daedalus"


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## Carl_G (Jun 30, 2012)

Oooh, shiny! As a Daedalus fanboy (ya, we exist) I approve of this thread. 

FYI, you can use the external fuel tank and boosters from Revell's 144-scale space shuttle kit for the main hull and nacelles in case you don't want to start _completely _from scratch.


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## Photoman77 (Feb 7, 2014)

I wanted to light them using a three dollar string of miniature x-mas lights, rather than a $200 light kit and electricians' certificate, but opted for reflective tape for the windows. This works surprisingly well, especially during flash photography, as you can see in the last pic.


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## Photoman77 (Feb 7, 2014)

*A Photo Update:*

Additional weathering, striping, windows and better pictures coming....


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## harristotle (Aug 7, 2008)

Never really been a fan of spherical primary hulls, though from an engineering standpoint it is more logical, you are doing an excellent job with this!


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## modelmaker 2001 (Sep 6, 2007)

Here is my own partly scratch/partly kit bashed "Deadelus/ Horizon" class starship. I used Tamiya AS-5 spray paint. The decals came from the 1/1000 scale USS Enterprise

http://www.flickr.com/photos/[email protected]/12623155185/

http://www.flickr.com/photos/[email protected]/12623594184/in/photostream/

http://www.flickr.com/photos/[email protected]/12623276683/in/photostream/

http://www.flickr.com/photos/[email protected]/12623280353/in/photostream/

It was based on this design by Matt Jeffries;

http://www.flickr.com/photos/[email protected]/12623410903/


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## Photoman77 (Feb 7, 2014)

modelmaker 2001 said:


> Here is my own partly scratch/partly kit bashed "Deadelus/ Horizon" class starship. I used Tamiya AS-5 spray paint. The decals came from the 1/1000 scale USS Enterprise
> 
> http://www.flickr.com/photos/[email protected]/12623155185/
> 
> ...


Sweet! Love the color!:wave:


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## Carl_G (Jun 30, 2012)

Very cool, *modelmaker*! Reminds me a bit of this concept art:

http://www.majhost.com/gallery/davidsinn/SCIFI/ST/Daedalus/daedalus-aethernaut.jpg


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## modelmaker 2001 (Sep 6, 2007)

Thank you. I'm thinking of making pre-TOS variations of other starships, especially those that appear to have hull numbers older than the NCC-1701 Enterprise. Grissom, for example, is NCC-638, and I suspect that what we saw in Star Trek III is a rebuilt version of a much older research/survey vessel, perhaps similar to the SS Beagle mentioned in TOS "Bread and Circuses."


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## Photoman77 (Feb 7, 2014)

*Update*

Finished my 32" Daedalus-Horizon build. It's not strictly accurate, but I'm getting better. Would love some opinions of it...


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## Photoman77 (Feb 7, 2014)

A pic of the ship:


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## Fozzie (May 25, 2009)

I think you did a great job on it! She really looks good in that last photo...I like the paint job you gave it, in particular.


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## harristotle (Aug 7, 2008)

Outstanding job! :thumbsup:


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## Photoman77 (Feb 7, 2014)

modelmaker 2001 said:


> Thank you. I'm thinking of making pre-TOS variations of other starships, especially those that appear to have hull numbers older than the NCC-1701 Enterprise. Grissom, for example, is NCC-638, and I suspect that what we saw in Star Trek III is a rebuilt version of a much older research/survey vessel, perhaps similar to the SS Beagle mentioned in TOS "Bread and Circuses."


I like that idea a lot


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## Photoman77 (Feb 7, 2014)

Thanks Fozzie & Harris


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## Photoman77 (Feb 7, 2014)

Here are some more:


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## Photoman77 (Feb 7, 2014)

*Two more of mine:*

I don't have any registry decals, so I had to settle for simple pinstripes. Hope to get some decals one day.


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## Photoman77 (Feb 7, 2014)

*Last pics for now:*

This is my small collection thus far. 1/175 and 1/350 U.S.S. Horizons along with a 1/1000 PL Enterprise for comparison.

The two scratchbuilt Horizons are painted with Krylon pewter grey.

I also have a 1/350 Enterprise under construction, and have labored to decide what paint to use on it. The pic of it pretty well illustrates the ambiguous nature of the mysteriously troublesome and hard to identify paint color of the ship, which has resulted in hundreds of pages of debate on the net. Photographed both with and without a flash, the same bare plastic of the model looks different from its refection in a mirror.

Note: The saucer and nacelles have been primed and sanded, but the secondary hull remains untouched bare plastic. The ship's refection in the mirror appears to be the more accurate appearance of the kit plastic to my eye. Weird.

I plan to paint the model Tamiya AS-5 Luftwaffe blue..


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