# 1:2500 NCC-1701-C has the blues



## Fozzie (May 25, 2009)

I have been working my way through the 1/2500 series of _Enterprise _models recently re-released by AMT/Round 2. Having the ships in scale to one another is something I have always wanted and, while 1/2500 is a bit on the smallish size, I am enjoying the builds. So far I have completed Kirk's TOS NCC-1701, Picard's 1701-D, and, most recently, the 1701-C from "Yesterday's Enterprise".

Since the 1701-D build has been chronicled quite a bit here, I wanted to comment on the 1701-C, as I have not seen a whole lot written about the most recent release of the 1/2500 version of this _Enterprise_. I feel compelled to point out that I consider myself an average model builder at best, so consider the source when taking any of the advice included below.

I re-watched "Yesterday's Enterprise" before starting the build and decided the ship had a decidedly blue cast to it, rather than a gray skin. The studio model might not have been that color but I wanted to build what I saw on the screen. To that end, I ended up air-brushing on a coat of Model Master 2131 Flanker Medium Blue over a base coat of Tamiya gray primer. At first I thought the color was a tad too dark but then I applied the decals and knew that I had nailed it. It looks fantastic!









_The "finished" model minus a few decals. It also still needs a
shot of dull coat._

The build itself is simple. It is a snap together kit, but I glued everything together. Some cleaning up of seams (particularly on the warp nacelles) will be necessary.

Detail painting was limited to the red nacelle caps, the blue grilles on the sides of the warp engines, the deflector dish, the phaser strips, the bottom saucer sensor dome, and the bridge. I originally did not paint the yellow vertical grilles near the nacelle caps because there were decals for those areas, but the decals were far too small to cover the grilles properly so I ended up going back and painting those too. You may want to paint the shuttle bay as well because the included decal for that also doesn't fit correctly. (I found this out too late to do anything about it.) At this scale I decided not to bother painting the tiny navigation and running lights which are presented as raised detail on the kit. It probably wouldn't be too hard though if you chose to do that.

The parts fit together reasonably well with the exception of the "retaining adapter" used to provide a mounting hole. I had to trim that down to get the two halves of the hull to fit around it without leaving a seam. Even so, it is an ugly part that simply doesn't fit well. Fortunately, being on the bottom, it will be hidden from view when the model is on display.

The original release of this kit did not include the extensive decals Round 2 included. This brings us to the problem of extensive "skin" decal application over a model not originally designed for it. The raised grid lines over the majority of the model's skin grab at the decals and make them very difficult to move at times. The best solution I could come up with was to literally flood the applications sites with water, position the decals, then use a paper towel to wick away the excess water. Even so, it is imperative that the large circular decals that go on the upper and lower saucer be cut into 6-8 pie wedge shapes before applying or you won't have a prayer of getting them down correctly. For the lower one, I used the five lifeboats on the front of the saucer to line the first decal wedge up and then worked my way around the circle. That worked well. Before applying the upper ring, I made cuts in the decals where the phaser strips were so that the decal would sit better. I used the forward phaser strip as a guide to putting the first wedge decal down into the proper position. (As careful as I was, the decals didn't quite come together in the back, leaving a small line of basecoat showing in the rear of the saucer. Since it is perfectly centered it doesn't look too bad, but it does make me grimace when I see it.)

You'll want to apply some Micro-Sol when you're done. I probably don't need to add that these decals can be somewhat fragile at times, so be careful.

You'll have to decal the kit in sub-assemblies (saucer, secondary hull, warp nacelles) because it is impossible to get some of the decals on otherwise. Some decals, like the lower ring decal, actually overlap into the areas where parts connect (why?). The decals for the neck of the ship are also problematic.

Note: A word about the replacement "Enterprise" decal. If you're going to apply the correctly spelled replacement decal, make sure you trim it closely to the letters because it is not like the kit decals and the carrier film is not already trimmed. If you don't trim it, you'll be applying a large rectangle which--if yours is like mine--will have some lines on the edge marking where it was supposed to be cut from a large sheet of these decals. Not noticing this caused me to have to try and trim it after it was wet, which caused me to lose the last 2 letters which I had to then get from the original sheet. Sadly, they don't exactly match so the lettering looks a little funny if you look at it closely.​


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## Trekkriffic (Mar 20, 2007)

Nice job on your build and a nice write up about the work and effort you put into it. I built the same model years ago using aftermarket decals from Absolute Models and followed many of the same steps you did with one exception being mine was fully assembled before decaling. Here's a pic:
http://i146.photobucket.com/albums/r259/Trekriffic/New Ships 03-09-08/EntC1-2500AMT3shipset003.jpg

Looking forward to seeing more pics of your very cool Ent-C.
:thumbsup::thumbsup:


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## holt32 (Nov 5, 2009)

Looks great and fozzie the studio model did have a lot of blue on it your model looks spot on to my eyes. How about some more pics.


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## James Tiberius (Oct 23, 2007)

looks great!


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## Fozzie (May 25, 2009)

A couple more shots. Ignore the glare as I still need to hit it with dull coat.









_The grid lines on this model are really prominent. Way out of scale._










_This shot was meant to show how well the base color works with
the decals. Really nice._​


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## BolianAdmiral (Feb 24, 2009)

You did a great job with this! Your model actually adheres to what the studio model looks like, so you got the colors spot-on.


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## Fozzie (May 25, 2009)

BolianAdmiral said:


> You did a great job with this! Your model actually adheres to what the studio model looks like, so you got the colors spot-on.


Thanks. I consider this a warm up for doing the larger scale version when it is repopped later this year.


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## Fraley1701 (Sep 3, 2003)

Very nice work! You did a great job with the decals!!! :thumbsup:


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## getter weevil (May 20, 2010)

Do you think grid lines on the ent -c in this scale should be sanded off the model or left on? Or maybe sanded down a little bit to make them less prominent?

I have been decaling the Enterprise A in 2500 scale and removing the raised lines made decal application easier.


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## Fozzie (May 25, 2009)

I wouldn't sand them off. They're a part of the look of that ship and the decals don't have any of that detail in them so you'd lose some of the look of the ship.

That being said, they definitely DO make putting the decals on more challenging--sometimes a LOT more challenging. Once the decal is in its proper place, however, you hit it with some Micro Sol and they lay down across the grid lines pretty well.

I'm very anxious to work on this particular ship in a bigger scale.


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## charonjr (Mar 27, 2000)

If accurizing either scale model of the C, one should consider the reverse angle flange that is missing from the circumference of the lower saucer. Currently, it's represented as a flat ring that the lower saucer sets into. The lower saucer actually needs spacers to set it out a bit and the angled portion built up from its rim to the upper saucer rim with putty. Unless someone wants to make an aftermarket resin piece?

Note that in all low angle shots of the model in the episode and in person, that the lower saucer rim appears to vanish part way around the model. This is due to the fact that it is at a slight angle and not flat.


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## Fraley1701 (Sep 3, 2003)

charonjr said:


> If accurizing either scale model of the C, one should consider the reverse angle flange that is missing from the circumference of the lower saucer. Currently, it's represented as a flat ring that the lower saucer sets into. The lower saucer actually needs spacers to set it out a bit and the angled portion built up from its rim to the upper saucer rim with putty. Unless someone wants to make an aftermarket resin piece?
> 
> Note that in all low angle shots of the model in the episode and in person, that the lower saucer rim appears to vanish part way around the model. This is due to the fact that it is at a slight angle and not flat.


Fozzie, I apologize in advance if by responding to this post I am further hi-jacking your original thread. I realize the original topic is not concerned with accurizing the Enterprise C. However, charonjr has brought up something I am not entirely certain about.

Are you referencing the aft part of the neck where it meets the saucer? I am unclear as to which part you call the reverse angle flange and I don't have my model of the Enterprise C in front of me to see what is missing. Can you post a pic to illustrate? I am aware of some differences in this area between the Enterprise C studio model and when it was later modified for the Yamaguchi. 

Thanks,
Marc


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## irishtrek (Sep 17, 2005)

Nice balance of the paint job applied to the filming model and the way it looked onscreen.:thumbsup:


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