# AMT Excelsior build-up?



## Fozzie (May 25, 2009)

Anyone know of a good build-up diary of the AMT _U.S.S. Excelsior_ kit anywhere on the web?


----------



## Magesblood (May 12, 2008)

http://www.starshipmodeler.com/trek/excl.htm

http://www.starshipmodeler.com/trek/XCEL_ENT.HTM

http://www.starshipmodeler.com/trek/kl_excel.htm

Hope those help you out in some small way.

Is there anything specific you wanted to know about the kit?

Here's some tips off the top of my head:

I like to sand smooth the belly. That might just be me though.

The really small detail on the nacelle pylons. Forget about painting them - you can't. Get the aftermarket decals. 

An aftermarket replacement saucer/neck is available in case you don't like how the neck builds from the kit. And the sauce is much more accurate than the kit's.

You have like three ways to paint the nacelles - the clear ribbed parts. Silver, black or blue. I've seen them all in one incarnation or another. The clear tops are generally accepted to be light blue and gray.

Assemble and paint in stages. There are some details you won't be able to reach after assembly. There's a oblong ribbed part (comes in two pieces in the kit you have to glue together that go under the nacelle pylons) that you need to paint black prior to further assembly. The bulkhead behind the shuttlebay is another example.


----------



## Fozzie (May 25, 2009)

Thanks for the links. I'll check those out...!



Magesblood said:


> Is there anything specific you wanted to know about the kit?


Nothing specific. It's just that every kit has its own quirks and problems and I find it helpful to learn from the experiences of others. Saves me from making some costly mistakes sometimes. And, it's just plain interesting!

Again, thanks for the links.


----------



## Magesblood (May 12, 2008)

as far as I know or remember, there aren't any issues with the kit other than a few inaccuracies. The pylons might need to be straightened using the hot water method. Other than that, makes for a simple and fun build. Oh, and the stupid neck.


----------



## Trekkriffic (Mar 20, 2007)

Don's Light and Magic makes a nice detail set for the Excelsior and Ent-B variant:








I used it when I reworked my Excelsior some time back. I also recommend getting DLM's decal set:









I added some evergreen and greeblies to the underslung hangar/cargo bay under the secondary hull too:


----------



## Fozzie (May 25, 2009)

I got a decal set from PNT, but looking at the builds that Magesblood pointed me to, I can see where there are lots of other things that can be done to enhance this model (and a fair number of _gotchas!_ I'll try to avoid).

I'm definitely going to have to do a little more research before I go much further. (All I did last night was remove the sprues and sand down the spurs.)


----------



## Fozzie (May 25, 2009)

Trekkriffic said:


> I added some evergreen and greeblies to the underslung hangar/cargo bay under the secondary hull too:


That looks great!


----------



## Trekkriffic (Mar 20, 2007)

One other thing I recommend is reinforcing the joints where the saucer connects to the dorsal and warp pylon housing connects to the secondary hull. If you don't strengthen them the saucer and warp pylon assembly will tend to pop off as you can only glue the edges of the parts. I cut a section of sheet styrene to fit just inside the top of the dorsal flush with the underside of the saucer and coated it liberally with styrene cement. You can even drill a few holes in line with each other in both pieces and insert styrene pegs for even more strength before clamping the two pieces together with rubber bands. For the oblong opening in the secondary hull I arranged 3 short sections of hollow styrene rectangular rod and glued them across the opening inside the hull. If you position them just right you can get a nice snug fit. Then I cut an oblong piece of sheet styrene to fit flush with the bottiom of the pylon housing and glued that with styrene cement to the cross pieces in the secondary hull. Clamp tight with rubber bands and let dry for a day and that baby ain't never comin' apart on ya!
While you're at it putty and sand the rim of the saucer to remove the odd kit-molded steps. AVES would work well for this.


----------



## Trekkriffic (Mar 20, 2007)

Fozzie said:


> That looks great!


Thanks! Here's how mine looks after using DLM's parts and decals:
http://i146.photobucket.com/albums/r259/Trekriffic/New Ships 03-03-07/Excelsior-AMT5.jpg
http://i146.photobucket.com/albums/r259/Trekriffic/New Ships 03-03-07/Excelsior-AMT6.jpg
http://i146.photobucket.com/albums/r259/Trekriffic/New Ships 03-03-07/Excelsior-AMT1.jpg
http://i146.photobucket.com/albums/r259/Trekriffic/New Ships 03-03-07/Excelsior-AMT2.jpg
http://i146.photobucket.com/albums/r259/Trekriffic/New Ships 03-03-07/Excelsior-AMT3.jpg


----------



## Fozzie (May 25, 2009)

Trekkriffic said:


> Thanks! Here's how mine looks after using DLM's parts and decals:


NICE! Looks very crisp! And now I think I know what color my stand is going to be...


----------



## Magesblood (May 12, 2008)

that's another point I wanted to make. Ditch the stand in favor of something else like a brass rod or something. The stock stand obscures way too much of the model.


----------



## Trekkriffic (Mar 20, 2007)

Magesblood said:


> that's another point I wanted to make. Ditch the stand in favor of something else like a brass rod or something. The stock stand obscures way too much of the model.


True enough; however, the cradle stand does look nice in gloss black with about 4-5 coats of transparent pearl metallic sprayed over it. One thing I might do myself would be to drill a hole thru the underside of the secondary hull into the cutout and insert a short length of hollow evergreen rod so I can then insert a 1/16" diameter brass rod. This would work well for photographing the model.


----------



## irishtrek (Sep 17, 2005)

The bulge atop the pylon top is to far back and needs to be moved forward a little bit so it's centered right.
And the forward photon tubes should have a very small hole in them.


----------



## Fozzie (May 25, 2009)

Magesblood said:


> that's another point I wanted to make. Ditch the stand in favor of something else like a brass rod or something. The stock stand obscures way too much of the model.


I picked up some brass rod today for another project, but bought enough to do this model too just in case.


----------



## SDF-3 (Mar 15, 2010)

I think the stand looks fine, don't change it. The model is excellent!


----------



## Trekkriffic (Mar 20, 2007)

My suggestion would be to mount a tube in the bottom of the secondary hull about an inch or so in from the cutout opening so the tube can pass thru the hull and into the hangar/cargo structure inside the cutout. Then drill a mating hole into the kit stand where a short piece (1/2"?) of brass rod could be inserted to fit into the tube in the hull, making sure to position the rod properly so when the ship rests on the stand it sits level. This will help solve the problem of the model sliding backwards off the stand cradle which it's prone to do. This gives one the added luxury of placing the model on a longer piece of brass rod mounted in a wood block or clamped in a bench vise for photographing. So you end up with the best of both worlds.
And that's about all I have to say about that!


----------



## Fozzie (May 25, 2009)

The gaps around the impulse engine shroud on this thing are huge...


----------



## Magesblood (May 12, 2008)

forgot about that part.


----------



## irishtrek (Sep 17, 2005)

irishtrek said:


> The bulge atop the pylon top is to far back and needs to be moved forward a little bit so it's centered right.
> And the forward photon tubes should have a very small hole in them.


Correction, the bulge is too far forward and the 'wings' for the pylon assembly need to be centered.


----------



## Fozzie (May 25, 2009)

I can't find any good reference shots to answer this...was the bridge on the _Excelsior _painted that champagne gold color that the 1701-A bridge was painted? The box shows it white but I don't put much stock in that.

Also, the phasers on the top of the saucer have raised rectangles around the pairs, but the ones on the bottom do not. Odd.

Finally, there are raised bumps on the bottom of the saucer the same size as the phaser bumps, but they are singles...not in pairs. Anyone know what those are and how they should be painted? There are 5 of them and they are set closer to the edge of the saucer than the phasers are.


----------



## Magesblood (May 12, 2008)

silver, aluminum, steel - basically white metal


----------



## Fozzie (May 25, 2009)

Magesblood said:


> silver, aluminum, steel - basically white metal


Which question are you answering? The one about the bridge, or the 5 "bumps" on the bottom of the saucer...?


----------



## holt32 (Nov 5, 2009)

The bumps around the edge of the saucer are wrong cut them off and on the studio model there is no champagne gold.


----------



## Magesblood (May 12, 2008)

oh. The bridge is silver.


----------



## Dr. Gonzo (Oct 3, 2000)

Fozzie said:


> I can't find any good reference shots to answer this...was the bridge on the _Excelsior _painted that champagne gold color that the 1701-A bridge was painted? The box shows it white but I don't put much stock in that.
> 
> Also, the phasers on the top of the saucer have raised rectangles around the pairs, but the ones on the bottom do not. Odd.
> 
> Finally, there are raised bumps on the bottom of the saucer the same size as the phaser bumps, but they are singles...not in pairs. Anyone know what those are and how they should be painted? There are 5 of them and they are set closer to the edge of the saucer than the phasers are.


The bumps need to go. In fact, the entire lower primary hull needs to go. Picking up the correction kit at starship modeler is recommended. However, if you're planning on making do with the kit as is then those bumps need to be sanded off and replaced with small rectangular shapes. These rectangles should be located at the end of every other gridline starting from the first grid on either side of the neck.

You can just make them out in this pic:


And as mentioned before the phaser banks need to be sanded smooth to the hull.

As for the bridge, here's a couple shots of the actual studio model redressed as the Lakota:



And here is the smaller model made for the voyager episode "Flashback":



Two slightly different paint schemes. Pick which one you like best.

Take a look at my albums for more pics.
http://s955.photobucket.com/home/JMK_album/allalbums


----------



## Trekkriffic (Mar 20, 2007)

Real nice albums Dr. Gonzo. I saved the link to my favorites. Wish I'd had those Excelsior refit plans when I built my Ent-B; especially the drawing of the structure inside the main hangar bay. Still it didn't turn out too bad using the Lakota studio model pics posted in the hardware reference section on SSM which I see you have some of.
http://i146.photobucket.com/albums/r259/Trekriffic/Enterprise B/IMG_1120.jpg
http://i146.photobucket.com/albums/r259/Trekriffic/New Ships 03-03-07/EnterpriseB-AMT4.jpg
http://i146.photobucket.com/albums/r259/Trekriffic/New Ships 03-03-07/EnterpriseBBeautyShot.jpg


----------



## Dr. Gonzo (Oct 3, 2000)

Trekkriffic said:


> Real nice albums Dr. Gonzo. I saved the link to my favorites. Wish I'd had those Excelsior refit plans when I built my Ent-B; especially the drawing of the structure inside the main hangar bay. Still it didn't turn out too bad using the Lakota studio model pics posted in the hardware reference section on SSM which I see you have some of.
> http://i146.photobucket.com/albums/r259/Trekriffic/Enterprise B/IMG_1120.jpg
> http://i146.photobucket.com/albums/r259/Trekriffic/New Ships 03-03-07/EnterpriseB-AMT4.jpg
> http://i146.photobucket.com/albums/r259/Trekriffic/New Ships 03-03-07/EnterpriseBBeautyShot.jpg


It didn't turn out bad at all. I think I actually have a few shots of your kit in my albums somewhere. I was really impressed with what you did on the hanger bay and was saving them for future reference. Looking at the stock piece you did an amazing job with little to work with.

Those refit plans just popped up a few weeks ago and were taken down a day or two later. Not sure why but I was glad I saved them when I did. I am planning on attempting the hanger structure soon and if all goes well trying to cast them. Looking at pics of that area on the studio model makes my eyes cross :freak: but I'm hoping by using a combination of the plans and pics I can get a fairly accurate representation.


----------



## Dr. Gonzo (Oct 3, 2000)

For anyone interested I can give you a list of inaccuracies in the kit, big and small. At this scale a lot of them are probably left well enough alone but for the accuracy crazed they can drive you nuts.


----------



## ajmadison (Oct 18, 1999)

Definitely interested in the list. Though you didn't say how you'd like to deliver them. If you want an e-mail address, I can send it to you via PM.


----------



## irishtrek (Sep 17, 2005)

Another detail that needs to br corrected is the forward photon torpedoe tubes, they should at least be drilled out if not replaced with tubing to represnt more accurate tubes. As for the aft tubes DLM sells an after market resin set.


----------



## Trekkriffic (Mar 20, 2007)

I made my own photorp tubes for the rear of my B using evergreen and two sections cut off a drinking straw . This was before the resin replacment came out. 
http://i146.photobucket.com/albums/r259/Trekriffic/Enterprise B/IMG_1103.jpg
http://i146.photobucket.com/albums/r259/Trekriffic/New Ships 03-03-07/EnterpriseB-AMT5.jpg


----------



## Fozzie (May 25, 2009)

Thanks to everyone who has offered up pictures and information. This is great stuff! :thumbsup:


----------



## machgo (Feb 10, 2010)

Dr. Gonzo said:


> For anyone interested I can give you a list of inaccuracies in the kit, big and small. At this scale a lot of them are probably left well enough alone but for the accuracy crazed they can drive you nuts.


I'd be interested too--I have one in the mail coming to me.


----------



## Magesblood (May 12, 2008)

this thread (and the other twelve) have inspired me to tackle the one on my bench that I've had there for months.

Pressing forward no matter what ills befall it.

The neck is nearly seamless. Good enough. I primed and painted it. The paint is a metallic gray automotive paint. Looks really good. I'll post a pic soon. I might do that exact paint on the flux chillers (?)

Just masked where the neck goes on the secondary hull and primed the top. Waiting for it to dry and then flip and prime that side.


----------

