# Doing a refit down under...



## AJ-1701 (May 10, 2008)

Please forgive me if this is seems to overstate things and ramble on. And I certainly don't want to come across like I'm telling people how to suck eggs. It’s just that for me anyway a build like this needs more than a simple ‘This is what I got now it’s finished and here are some pics…’ kind of thread. I mean no disrespect to those that have shown theirs that way when I say this.

To begin with this was a build I told myself and people I know that I wasn't going to start till the New Year ( I don’t think the wife really believed that bit as she dutifully nodded and said “Ok honey”) even though I got it via evil bay some months back including the PTN models pe set. But those nagging little voices kept at me over the last 6 weeks or so... Thus with resolve now fully collapsed I found myself with paint, glue, plastic etc in hand. This is the first build I have done that I actually haven’t force feed myself on when sitting at the work desk!! Over the last few months though I have been collating reference material along with acquiring extra parts, templates and decals needed for the job. So I will say thanks now to Randy over at VoodooFX for the Navigation Circuit Board kit, Lou for the great second edition version of Aztec dummy sheets, DLM for their accurising parts, Raist3001 and Trekmodeler who’s home pages are a great resource for points n tips points for how to tackle the task of painting her (the last count I had on painting tests was eight not to mention the deep searching here in oz for good paint that’ll give the pearly sheen…) and there are the two threads here at HT started by Gunstar1 and Capt Locknar which where & are also good to feed from as well as guiding me to various links and resource potential. Along with Arthur Pendragons pdf templates and instructions I downloaded through the Starship Modeler’s site for the extra panels/aztecing. Then last but not least is the job that Paul Olsen did on the original filming hero. All of the above will help (hopefully) a sod like me get a better looking model with by the end.

Well, as it was for most of you blokes who have aready done theirs. It was obvious even before having the model that I was going to light it, hence the kit from Randy and as per some tips from the always heplfull people on here I got onto a mob in china for about 200 leds cheap as chips. I also ordered some clear tubing from Plastruct for lighting the nacelles, about 10 meters of small red and black wire and a 100 or so resistors from Dick Smiths. My idea is to have each led with its own resistor so that they can all be wired to the one power source in parallel with the exception being the navigation and strobe light kit. So with a lighting plan drawn up along with some added info unashamedly copied from the web that pretty much took care of the electrics.

Next was the painting plan… I did more Googling to find this link when doing some ground work through Gunstar1’s thread… http://www.olsenart.com/strek.html It looks like its pretty much the full story from Paul Olsen on what where when and how he did on the STTMP Enterprise. He even offers a section at the end on how best to do the job. So with all that info, scribbled, copied and downloaded I didn’t even think twice about ordering a set of the previously mentioned updated Aztec Dummy sheets. But what I also needed was some frisket film to do all the subliminal and extra paneling. Let me tell ya this stuff is a mongrel to find over here. However with many megabytes of yet more googling and trawling through the web I found a good source in a South Australian art supply shop. And they even had a range of acrylic pearlescent and model paints that work well in the airbrush. With the arrival of these I set to mixing the base and secondary colours and doing some more test which are so much more promising than earlier attempts. So that’s the painting plan pretty much done… Well maybe a couple more tests… 

So with all the preliminary stuff sorted it’s onto the build…Ok… what I have found out is that this kit *really is *a big build!! And I thought the Seaview was a challenge…

First and foremost was to black out the interior after cleaning and prepping it with flat black and then over spray that with a white primer/undercoat to help with light leaks and even out the light source from the leds. Praise be to the rattle cans. After that I left it alone for a couple of days so the paint could fully cure. These are the usual pics of said process. 
















When I kicked off the actual build I started with the pylons and where they fix to the strong back these I hit with my little grinder to make a channel for the wiring and I also ground out part of the dorsal mount area on the secondary hull to accommodate the wiring from the saucer section and two leds used in the dorsal illumination. Then I assembled the pylons, sides and the strong back to complete the top half of the main secondary hull and left it so the glue could cure off before I filled and sanded the seams and some ugly gaps where the pylons sit on the strong back…
IMG]http://i244.photobucket.com/albums/gg27/AJ-1701/Refit%20Enterprise/Picture04.jpg[/IMG]
I then moved onto the nacelles, to date though I have only fully completed one with all the lighting mounted inside. I borrowed Randy’s idea about the leds in the clear polycarbonate tube. Though not as defined as a small cathode tube they still worked a beauty and fit in better with the whole wire n power side of my build. Again the seams were a bit of a mongrel... I just put it down to the kit being a little old and maybe some heat n storage issues. Once it was assembled and all the lights tested and retested I then wired it thru the pylon and glued in place. With any obvious light leaks to be corrected with the primer respray and finish coats. 








It was only then I realized I forgot to do some wip pics of how I did the lighting. I’ll catch up on those with the next one…

Giving myself a break from the nacelles I decided to work on some the interiors. The first one was the arboretum. Before I added some of the little people from the pe set I tweaked it with some green flock, kitty litter, fine sand and some bits of grey foam plucked from a piece of old egg crate foam packing I had laying around. I also replaced some of those round trees with bits of fine florest wire and some multi strand wire I use for the electrics brushed them with glue and sprinkled in flock for some variety. I also went and painted the walls to give a mural effect running off the main area and then realized that the pe set has the detailed walls in it. Doh!!








As fro the clear roof panel I painted the main beams and conduits grey before dry brushing black over them and the assorted conduiting and then applying a coat of floor polish on both sides. 








I don’t plan on using clear blue or blue gel on the window cause I think it’s a shame to hide such a nice little insert detail. 

The next thing on the list is the Shuttle bay... Stay tuned 

Cheers,

Alec :wave:


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## Auroranut (Jan 12, 2008)

Looking great AJ!! I love the job you've done on the arboretum.:thumbsup::thumbsup::thumbsup:
I've been given this kit to build as a commission from my doctor. I don't have to light it, but I do need to apply the azteking and weather it. I'll be following your build mate.

Chris.


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## StarshipClass (Aug 13, 2003)

Good golly! Beautiful work! That arboretum looks like a painting! SHWEEEET!

One thing, though, why are your pics upside down? :jest:


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## SteveR (Aug 7, 2005)

My brother-in-law had a refit down under. Got it in Sweden.

(Nice arboretum!)


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## AJ-1701 (May 10, 2008)

Thanks guys.  

It's funny how a simple piece can eat up so much time yet still be fun to do. :thumbsup: You can't really tell in the pic but the majority of the crew in there I did in the same colours as for TWOK - not a big fan of the one peice jumpsuits - I plan on doing somthing similar in the officer lounge as well and for you professer I'll try to remember to turn the camera upside down... :devil: (maybe thats why I have so much trouble getting my pics to work???) 

I've got about 90% of the pe parts on the shuttle bay walls and took some screen caps from the dvd to try n get the colour scheme working. But that in itself is a challenge when the matte paintings are slightly different colour shades and tempretures to the superimposed live footage :drunk: on the plus side I think I've even found a way to get the elevator tubes to glow 

Cheers,

Alec :wave:


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## AJ-1701 (May 10, 2008)

Auroranut said:


> Looking great AJ!! I love the job you've done on the arboretum.:thumbsup::thumbsup::thumbsup:
> I've been given this kit to build as a commission from my doctor. I don't have to light it, but I do need to apply the azteking and weather it. I'll be following your build mate.
> 
> Chris.


G'day mate. 

Have a good read on the stuff Paul Olsen wrote at his web site. For me it along with Raist3001 home page stuff really stops the over thinking process.

Cheers,

Alec :wave:


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## Raist3001 (Oct 23, 2003)

Your off to a great start Alec. Looking forward to future updates


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## AJ-1701 (May 10, 2008)

Raist3001 said:


> Your off to a great start Alec. Looking forward to future updates


thanks mate  here's hoping it turns out as good as yours :thumbsup:


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## AJ-1701 (May 10, 2008)

What a week or two...

New first grandson :woohoo: and losing a piece of the build!!!! But with the generousity of a fellw board member the latter is under control :thumbsup:

Ok on with the WIP The one accomplishment is the completion of the shuttle and cargo bay. The whole assembly took just under 2 weeks with about 2-3 hrs a nite. I'm not sure if the colours are true canon but they worked well for me  Also for the first time I have tried a decal setting agent. Some how I knew that the cargo hold doors decals were gonna give me grief so I decided to try out the stuff to help them and me out.
















Although they aren't very easily seen I used the extras from the pe set that I got to help with enhancements such as extra roo beams/girders handrails, cargo pods and even some little people.

As I mentioned in an above post I worked out a way I was going to light the turbo shaft tubes. I pretty much fitted them inplace after painting them and when the glue had dried I dremmeled out some of the roof and floor where they sat to hold some 5mm leds. These should also also help in lighting for the windows on the secondary hull too.
















I also decided to keep the extras to a minimum in the whole assembly so that most of the work could be seen with out a cluttered look. I know the shuttle craft is strickly from ST-5 I just liked to think that they were always around and it is a shuttle bay after all. 

The colours I used are an off white for the walls and main shuttle - it's actually the bottom hull colour from my seaview which I just lightened and tweeked a bit. the floor is a custom mixed light to mid grey, the cargo bay areas are tamiyas light grey and the beams and supperts are GW foundation paint Astronomican Grey. The turbo shafts are done with GW foundation Chardon Granite and them brushed over with Tamiyas flat clear to help diffuse the light better. I also brushed on the flat clear over all the clear roof/lighting panels. And although you can't really see them the cargo pods are biege with the ribbing highlited in black.

Sorry for the soft images on a coupleof the pics I'll try to post up some better ones latter.


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## AJ-1701 (May 10, 2008)

Now with the shuttle bay pretty much done I set to work on adding the lighting to the secondary hull assemblies. Todate I have fixed in both strobe lights on the bottom hull. However I had to do some major surgery to a couple of the 3mm leds for the stobes cause of space restrictions. For both the strobes under and above the shuttle bay I ground them down to just about 1 1/2mm above the lighting filliment.








Then using a sharp exacto I carefully removed the little light lug from the main clear piece that is normally used. Inserted the lug into the little hole in the hull and supaglued the reshaped led in place over it.









I also just slightly filed out the holes for the nacelle pylons lighting and then glued in place 2 x 3mm leds as well as mounting one 5mm led for the main dorsel hull lighting and 2 x 5mm leds for the ambient warm lighting effect at the rear of the dorsel assembly. These I painted in a mix of flesh and clear flat to subdue the lights as they are meant to be a softer warm glow.
















As an after thought I drilled out and set in place two red 3mm leds for the torpedo launchers. These I am planning to wire up to a twin led flasher board with adjustable trim pots so I can slow down the flash cylcle that I'm hoping I can successfuly wire up on an independant switch. I know some sort of capaciter would proberbly give a more realist look. But with my still very novice electonic skills this to me is a good comprimise. 









Did I mention that I took for granted what a big build/job this model is  

Cheers,

Alec :wave:


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## AJ-1701 (May 10, 2008)

*all the hard yakka so far is worth it...*

Todate I have now completed and added extra 3mm white leds to the shuttle bay sub assembly alaong with some foil and sprayed gloss white inside the two hull assemblies to help bounce the light a bit more. I have already said I added all the strobe lights and now i ahve also added the window pieces onto all the secondary hull assemblies. 
















Glued in the aboretum and afore mentioned shuttle bay and completed the extra internal lighing








And then prior to glueing it all together I had to light block the window beams on the aboretum view ports. This I did by first masking the clear areas and then painting the back of them silver be before aplying the interior colours. The same process was done for the exterior side of them. 








Oh and there is also some serious wire and cable managment :freak:
Then with yet another light test when the glue dried this is about where it is at at the presant time. I still have work to do on some lighting to tone it down a bit. This will most likely be just using several coats of clear flat to diffuse and dull down the glare to help keep it all in scale.

















Cheers,

Alec. :wave:


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## Steve Mavronis (Oct 14, 2001)

Very nice, keep up the good work!


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## 1711rob (Mar 15, 2006)

Looking good :thumbsup:


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## Model Man (Oct 1, 2007)

MY refit sits in it's box and glares at me to start it. Frankly, I'm scared. Seeing how you've done so far is taking some of the edge off. Thanks!


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## SJF (Dec 3, 1999)

Looking great! I love the step by step pictures for the lighting, as well as the painting and assembly. Good job on the arboretum and shuttle bay, too. 

Sean


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## Ductapeforever (Mar 6, 2008)

What a wonderful job! Do let me know when your parts arrive, as I'm curious how long it takes to get there. Hope you had a "Fair Dinkum Holiday".
Herb


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## AJ-1701 (May 10, 2008)

Thank you one and all gentlemen. 

Herb I'll give you the heads up when it turns up. On average things take between 10-15 days top get here from the US. Yeah it's been a good break - we had a barbie xmas lunch with my family and played some back yard cricket. 

I know what you mean Model Man even after all the notes and research I still kept looking at that big box with all those bits thinking this really is a recipe to make a bloke a little nervous 

No worries SJF for me it's the kind of build that needs some narrative I'm not trying to bragg about the best way it should be done (well maybe a little) infact I may not be doing it the right way anyway :drunk::tongue:

1711Rob I just hope mine comes out as good as yours and Steve it sure is work :freak: but at least its the fun kind. :woohoo:

Cheers,

Alec.:wave:


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## AJ-1701 (May 10, 2008)

I've been a bit quiet on it over the last few days but I have managed to work on the main deflector assembly. I wasn't sure which method I would use to light it up here I found the use of two many leds here just about made a torch!!! And since I am trying to keep all my lighting toned down and subdued to work in scale with the kit I ended up with plan "B" Like every one else I used a clear flat on the dish both inside and out. When that was dry I went over the centre of the dishes back side in future to help throw the light 








I then painted the little lines white and blocked out the back of it with the small section using first the final hull colour and then going over that with some silver. An carefully applying the hull colour to the outside areas as well.








Now for the blue led... Using a normal led behind the dish didn't give the look I wanted it was too blue and no soft spot in the centre. so I did some surgery on one of the 5mm blue leds I have. I ground it down to a couple of millimeters above the filiment and with a thinned white I painted the now flat top. I then mixed some RAF blue with some future and painted that over the remainder of the led. 








After a light test I still wasn't keen on the light so I cut out some foil and lined inside the dish housing. This really helped to bounce the light. 
















All in all I'm pretty happy with the final result of the lighting in behind the dish.

For the small orange lights on the four poles of the main housing I drilled two small 1mm holes to try and line up with the clear inserts. 








I then took some 3mm white leds and dipped them into some gloss orange straight from thr bottle hung them upside down for a day then glued and wired them in place. so that the orange light shines thru the holes and then out tru the clear pieces.









I have since glued the assembly in place on the seconday hull only after connecting all the wireing in place and then testing it all again. What I did realise too late!!! Is that I forgot to light block the strobe in the center of the bottom hull. I have only done static test but I realised that it bounces a bit of light around inside the completed assembly... DOH!!! I'm hoping that the fact that it will only be a quick strobe and that the main lighting will be on will disguise my goof. The only thing I have done since then is some more seam and filler work on it tonite.

cheers,

Alec :wave:


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## Prowler901 (Jun 27, 2005)

Thanks for the updates Alec. I really like the affect you've achieved on the deflector dish. It is among the best I've seen.


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## AJ-1701 (May 10, 2008)

Prowler901 said:


> Thanks for the updates Alec. I really like the affect you've achieved on the deflector dish. It is among the best I've seen.


Yor welcome and thanks. 

Sometimes I think I obsess to much over stuff but when I see the finished result. I give myself a bit of a pat on the back and know it was worth it. And it's even better when some one else tells you its a good job.

Cheers,

Alec. :wave:


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## Raist3001 (Oct 23, 2003)

Great Job Alec. That deflector dish looks awesome


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## GT350R_Modeler (Sep 6, 2005)

Raist3001 said:


> Great Job Alec. That deflector dish looks awesome


+1 Awesome job. Still trying to find the time to start yet another one myself.


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## AJ-1701 (May 10, 2008)

Raist3001 said:


> Great Job Alec. That deflector dish looks awesome





zenomorp said:


> +1 Awesome job. Still trying to find the time to start yet another one myself.


Thanks guys. 

I'm very pleased with how it looks too  But this being new years eve here I don't think I'm gonna get much of anything done on it tonite & tomorrow :hat: but ya never know... 

hope every one has a good new year.

Cheers,

Alec.


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## AJ-1701 (May 10, 2008)

*Just a quick update... All blurb no pics.*

I've finished filling and sanding the assembled secondary hull and sub assemblies and decided to start the masking stage ready for painting. However after starting to punch out some window masks I remebered that the Aztec Dummy sheets came with window masks :drunk: One can never have enough hole punching practice  I have also started the extra friskit film stencils for the added aztecing and detailing which I have cut from Aurthur Pendrgons you-beaut downloadable pdfs. My plan is to use the frisket in three differant stencils: one each for blue, gold and red coloured paneling with blue having the most panels cut out and red having the least, so I have a few to do... :freak: 

Once I've primed the hull it'll be overcoated in the pale blue pearl base coat then with each of the stencils in the respective pearl finish before the final main aztec templates and top coat colour. This method has turned out well in some of the paint tests I have done with some hand cut (dodgy) aztecing. I know that Paul Olsen did many layers of these and the main aztecing but I reckon for the models scale what I plan will still look cool. As it stands now it will most likely be the end of the week before any real colour hits the hull from the airbrush. :drunk:

Cheers,

Alec. :wave:


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## AJ-1701 (May 10, 2008)

*my source of pearl and basic colours*

I only touched on these in my first post but I thought I should clarify what paints I inted to actually use. Not being a fan of enamels this is what I found to do my pearl colours and for me it's even made in australia. Sorry for the lack of picks it is just easier to post up the links.
http://www.matisse.com.au/pages/Product.htm
The irredescant compound from thier mediums is great and mixes down with any acrylic paint or ink and just to make sure it goes thru my airbrush without adding too much water I also got the MM3 Surface tension breaker mixed 1 part to 9 parts water then use that as the thinning agent for the paint in the airbrush. The mix is great for cleaning out the airbrush too. I also decided use the derivan minis as well and I've found they cover well are nice and opaque, have a dead flat finish without having that chalky gritty feel and they mix well with future too. The floor of my shuttle bay was done with their Confederate grey and white. Except for the engineering green I'll be pretty much using the minis for the grey/blue greys on the rest of the build.

Ok thats enough prattle for now.

Cheers,

Alec.:wave:


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## AJ-1701 (May 10, 2008)

*Finally some colour on the hull*

Well its taken a bit but I finally have some colour on the thus far completed assembly. Over the last couple of weeks I've applied the afore mentioned primer, sanded then reprimed and began applying the undercoat and base colour. The undercoat is actually the main aztec colour I mixed. It's kind of pale grey/green with a hint of blue and a touch of the irradescant medium mixed in. I used some flat tamiya white on the deflector housing to highlite the contrast of the base colour.








This I then left to dry for a couple of days before applying the pearl-blue over that. The pearl blue came out a bit stronger than what I wanted so I lightly over sprayed that with a flat white pearl mix to tone it back. Again I left it sit for a few days before I began applying the minor blue,gold amd red hull plateing. The only change to my origional scheme was to add an extra set of the flat white pearl hull plateing.
Here are some of the afore mentioned frisket sheets done for the coloured hull plates








This is how the white blue and gold plateing effect come out. As you can see in the shot there is a definet blue reflected back but yet in another shot with a stronger light source the blue fades in nicely... 








I hadn't actually applied the gold plateing when I took this shot









The one thing I got right was the effect of the colours against the pearlescant blue. :woohoo: I can actually see the colours soften and fade when the model is rolled away from the strong light I use above my desk. When I figure out how to get a good video of this I'll post it up. 

I plan on adding the red plateing tommorrow. I also still have more templates to do for the middle section of the secondary hull when I get more ink for my printer  And each thing I do teaches me more about my airbrushing skills... Struth what a way to learn 

Cheers,

Alec. :wave:


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## CaliOkie (Dec 31, 2007)

Great buildup. Your results reveal the importance of planning and preparation. Knowing what you are going to do and then getting ready to do it is 90% of the effort. Model building is a nice mix of artistic sensibility and technical know-how.

I'll be looking forward to more pictures. So far, this has been very helpful.


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## BruceDownunder (Aug 25, 2008)

Excellent stuff, Alex.
I'm almost tempted to get this out of storage - but the FMMF is taking up all of my time these days. 

Cheers,

b


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## AJ-1701 (May 10, 2008)

*a little confused...*

I maybe should put this in the painting the refit thread but it's part of my wip so here is where it goes...  And I may be stressing a bit over naught here (actually more over this build than many others I've done) 

In between doing more frisket for the extra panel detail I've been racking my ageing grey matter and testing the limits of my frustration trying to seek the right colours for the deflector housing, strongback and nacelle pylons, the bridge as well as on b & c decks etc. Most of what I've seen on the net regarding these areas seems to be for the 1701-A and virtually all other discusions are on the atzteking. I have seen some good pics of finished builds but a lot of colours seem very strong and the odd one a bit to bold for me.

So how accurate is the painting guide?? For example, the duck egg blue that is suggested from the paint guide seems a tad to intense for the scale. And any screen caps I've done or seen the ship is in obvious low light situations. I hadn't actually considered doing pre tests on these colours thinking they'd be fairly straight forward. I did sit down last night and applied some test colours straight from the pots I intend to use and then wrote out some formulas based on those and my own minds eye for visualizing the mix of those colours.

Cheers,

Alec. :wave:


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## AJ-1701 (May 10, 2008)

Ductapeforever said:


> What a wonderful job! Do let me know when your parts arrive, as I'm curious how long it takes to get there. Hope you had a "Fair Dinkum Holiday".
> Herb


Not sure if you got my pm Herb but they turned up about 2 weeks ago in the post.

Thanks again for the parts.

Cheers

Alec. :wave:


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## Model Man (Oct 1, 2007)

Well, my trepidation concerning the electronics work on this build has firmly abated and your work has me eager to get back into my electronics pipeline! Now I'm only terrified of the exterior paint work! 

Wonderful job, Alec.


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## Ductapeforever (Mar 6, 2008)

Got your PM, and I'm glad your project is up and running. By the By, Top Sort Mate ! She's a little bewdy !

Herb


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## AJ-1701 (May 10, 2008)

*Hooray!! One target goal scanned, phasered and knocked off.*

No worries Herb and yes she is looking a beaut too :thumbsup: Thanks also Model Man. I'm enjoying the video diaries on your builds too. :thumbsup: 

This update is via works pc and internet.  I have taken some snaps and a small video to show off the paneling but I've been so wrapped in painting that I haven't been on the pc at home.

So... After almost 3 weeks with an ave of 2-3 hours per night, I actually finished the azteking detail. There were some scary moments when I realized that my gold and red panels were more opaque than I actually wanted.:drunk:

So not only is my understanding of electrics improving but my airbrushing skills are on the rise too.  But I digress... 

After spending about 8 hours :freak: appling the vinyl templates from Aztek Dummy over the frisket paneling I did I then put on two coats of the off white colour I mixed let it dry over night before removing the vinyls. It was then I had the scary moments with the red and gold aztek detailing. daunted but feeling reasonably confident I cut out a dozen or so mixed size rectangle and strips of blue masking tape, downsized the tip on my airbrush and set about applying varying intesities of the top coat. I then used all the blue tape pieces to define some of the main azteks patterns with the blue pearlescant base that had been lost with the touch ups. After all that was done I gently sanded it with 1200 wet n dry before I oversprayed it all with a mist of the off white to soften the contrasts a bit more. After letting it dry again overnight and feeling kind of proud with myself and more confident I decided to start on the grey colours for the pylon triangle grills, the front of the nacelles and around the flux chillers. Thanks to some usefull tips and suggestions from other members here I came to the realization that the colours I need would need to be 'invented'. So taking some modeling license that is just what I did.

I gotta say I'm more than happy with the first grey I mixed. Which was equal parts of Tamiyas Sky Blue and Light Grey all measured with some cheap plastic seringes I got from the local chemist. Why I hadn't thought of using these to measure paint out before is beyond me...


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## AJ-1701 (May 10, 2008)

Alrighty then...

As promised here are some pics of the progress so far. As I mentioned in the previous post the colours are subjective with some modelers lisence. So please be nice to me  I've no video pics though it didn't turn out... tooo blurryy... For those who are curious I use one of those energy saver lights equal to 100W rated at a daylight light temp at my work station.

Almost done with those top templates from Lou over at Aztec Dummy.








Past midnight at this stage and my mind and body demanded sleep!!








Two days later... All the templates are now on as is the first coat...
IMG]http://i244.photobucket.com/albums/gg27/AJ-1701/Refit%20Enterprise/Picture061.jpg[/IMG]
Below are two shots with and without the flash... with the second coat and subduing of the red n gold panel detail done and also after a marathon effort put in last night till the early AMs:freak: If you look close enough you can see the aztecing on the deflector housing. And yes the gold n red panels are still quite visable in some areas but I can live happilly with that.
















And last but not least some closer shots of the detail...

















I kind of freaked last night whith the colours on the deflector housing... But this morning when I checked out the job I did and I was actually very pleased with the blend of colours.


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## julianmaurice (Jan 31, 2009)

OMG - That is so awesome, I have been blinded by its awesomeness!!!!


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## AJ-1701 (May 10, 2008)

julianmaurice said:


> OMG - That is so awesome, I have been blinded by its awesomeness!!!!


Thanks mate. :thumbsup: Though not perfect in some things it is an awsome kit to do.


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## Maritain (Jan 16, 2008)

I really like the greys in it, very nice all around!


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## SteveR (Aug 7, 2005)

Nice work around the nav deflector. Subtle. :thumbsup:


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## SJF (Dec 3, 1999)

The nav deflector shot almost looks like a picture of the real ship (or at least the filming model). Nice work on the paint job on it overall. 

Sean


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## AJ-1701 (May 10, 2008)

Thanks guys. 

Well I completed the strongback last night :woohoo: and redid the nacelle fronts cause I missed half the detail on the first run :freak: I also did the vertical section on the dorsal above the torpedo section. I reckon that I'll pretty much be done with the bluey greeny/greys on the build tonite.  So I can then start on all the other hull detailing, gloss coat it, apply the decals then dull coat it all before I remove all the window and running light masks so by this weekend 

Cheers,

Alec. :wave:


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## AJ-1701 (May 10, 2008)

*Another update...*

I missed my deadline on the completion of the engineering sub assembly by a day or so... 

After completeing (well almost) the extra detailing I glossed over it with micro gloss and then taking over the dinning room table for the weekend I started on the decals. Sooo many little black and red dots, triangles and things as markings on the hull and nacelles. My method of decal application is the same method I used for the shuttle bay decals. Start by adding a drop or two of weldbond pva glue to the water and using decal set where I plan to place the decal and the reapplying the decal set after it to help it set itself more smoothly on the model and hopefully give it that painted look. 
















I said almost before because I felt that the deflector and strongback needed some extra detail and as for the grey section on the top of the dorsel I was going to do this when I had the saucer section attached but changed my mind... So out came the ol trusty blue tape, ruler and sharp knife resulting in some templates to add the extra detail. I am really starting to enjoy the added airbrushing skills I've learned from this build








The rest of the pics are just to show some of the lighting detail after all the widow masks were removed and a coat of clear flat was applied of it. The only thing that didn't come out right was the blue on the deflector and nacelles in the pics. They are actually not that bright and washed on the actual model...
















Now I know I may not have done the aztecing as beautifally as Paul Olsen and not in the stricktest canon but I'm pretty stoked at the finish I got. 








The camera dosn't do it many favors but the whole hull has that mother of pearl type of look in a geometric pattern. There is a nice and very subtle flip flop effect to it all and I am so very happy with the Aztec Dummy templates. Thanks to Lou's effort mine was radicaly reduced. :thumbsup:
And as for taking lisence I know that the base of the nacelle pylons are not done in the strong back colours... I did that in error but I ended up liking the look as it gives all the greys on the pylons a good merging/starting point and as mentioned earlier the colours are pretty much subjective hence why they are a bit richer.

Cheers,

Alec. :wave:


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## Magesblood (May 12, 2008)

no no no, you've got it all wrong mate!

here's the corrected "down under" version of the refit:


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## Prowler901 (Jun 27, 2005)

Alec,

You have every right to be stoked. She's looking awesome! :thumbsup: Can't wait to see the finished product. Good Work Mate!

Todd


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## AJ-1701 (May 10, 2008)

Magesblood said:


> no no no, you've got it all wrong mate!
> 
> here's the corrected "down under" version of the refit:


Ahhh... that explains why I've been getting headaches n bloodshot eyes... I've been working upside down  and I was blaming too much coffee and lack of sleep 

:jest:


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## 1711rob (Mar 15, 2006)

Man.. nice work looks good ! :thumbsup:


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## AJ-1701 (May 10, 2008)

Thanks Todd. :thumbsup:

I'm giving myself a few days break before I start on the saucer build up and lighting logistics. Especialy the light blocking :freak: which wasn't as good as it should've been on the build so far  but hell the learning from those little things is what makes it more funner :thumbsup: I do know I'm not looking forward to those window inserts :drunk: they look a bit ordinary in the dry fit tests.  

Cheers,

Alec. :wave:


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## Ductapeforever (Mar 6, 2008)

Alec,
Use a product called Micro Krystal Clear in place of the window inserts. It is a liquid substance with the consistancy of white school Elmar's type glue. Apply it with the end of a toothpick into the pre-drilled holes "after" you paint. No masking and it dries as it states "krystal Clear".
Herb


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## AJ-1701 (May 10, 2008)

Thanks Herb.

I have a bottle I which I have used on a couple of builds to do just that. And I'll have to use it on a couple of inserts that didn't take with the glue and fell inside it when I removed the masks. 

Cheers,

Alec. :wave:


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## AJ-1701 (May 10, 2008)

*Pass the saucer please...*

After a couple of days break I started on the saucer section this week-end. 

The first thing was to grind out a hole through the dorsel mount for the wires. Then change over the grinding bit for a cutting disc and start to cut/grind away the inner rim on the top part of the saucer assembly and the joining posts n pins from both hull pieces. 








I only took out the parts where the windows would be for two reasons... The first reason was simply one of maintaing some structural integraty and the second was simply using the remaing rim/supprts to help as light blocking cause I was too lazy to make light boxes for each window section, except for the impulse crystal which will have a light box to prevent the blue led to bleed out into the rest of the saucer. As you can see in the picture I then went and painted some flat black over all the cut away sections. So there shouldnt be any light bleeding tru the plastic.

Today using some rattle cans I primed and undercoated both sections... But for the first time that I can recall I had an application goof on the top hull with the undercoat.  I thought I gave myself enough time to dry between coats. It was dry to touch but with the higher humidity it was still curing underneath. So with another coat applied the solvent reacted on about a third of the top hull and resulted in some grainy orange peel. The good thing  was that it wasn't a bad reaction and was fairly easy to sand off with some 240 wet n dry along with some work to scribe out the clogged panel lines :drunk: 

Ahh well ya live n learn. 

Cheers,

Alec.:wave:


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## fxshop (May 19, 2004)

*Doing A Refit Down Under*

Alec, YOU ROCK! Your refit project looks outstanding!
Nice Job! keep up the build.

Randy Neubert
VoodooFX


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## AJ-1701 (May 10, 2008)

fxshop said:


> Alec, YOU ROCK! Your refit project looks outstanding!
> Nice Job! keep up the build.
> 
> Randy Neubert
> VoodooFX


Thank you sir :thumbsup: And I must say thanks for the tips and help on the electrical side you've given me too. 

There's not much to report at the moment as I have been spending the last week doing the friskets for the extra panel detailing on the saucer. me and my No11 knife have become very close this past week 

Cheers,

Alec. :wave:


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## AJ-1701 (May 10, 2008)

The good wife left me to my devices today as she went off to do her thing...  So without much prompting I hit my work desk. I finished off the last of the frisket templates last night so today was a paint day. 








The first thing to be done was apply the second base coat of the pale blue pearl over the pale green/grey main aztec colour which I had already applied over the undercoat last week end.








I know that Paul Olsen did the extra panel detailing after the main aztecing but I like the way the secondary hull turned out so thats how I'll be doing the saucer as well. One thing I want is to try and get the saucer to look a little warmer?? So I held back a bit on the blue and still dusted over it with the main colour I also tried to make the extra panel detail a little more subdued as well. It was a good day here for painting today, not to hot and not to humid so that along with the aid of Sandys hair dryer I was able to accomplish a far bit today in regards to painting. :woohoo: So tonight I started applying the Aztec Dummy templates on the saucer bottom over the coloured panel work. :drunk:








I just realised that in the last pic the extra paneling seems to fade away where the stronger light source hits the saucer. :woohoo:

Cheers,

Alec. :wave:


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## AJ-1701 (May 10, 2008)

*I can see the light at the worm-holes end...*

This past week has seen the completion (except for decals) on the lower saucer section. I was a bit dissapointed on how he azteking came out on this part of the build. The vinyls templates were great it was my painting that let me down along with my occasional bursts of impatience  After some carefull taping and recut templates I was able to salvage the initial result.
The following two pics are of the same section of the saucer taken under the same light source all I did was tilt the section away from the light. It's a little mutted but I'm fairly pleased with the end result.















After I had finished painting this part of the build I glued it onto the dorsel and began wirering and placing the lights. Some things I noted when testing my lights are a little annoying but it was my rashness and inexperiance that is at fault. Without realizing I had forgotten to shield a couple of the strobe leds... The result under power is that there can be seen a flashing backwash of light in some of the clear parts!!! 








Sorry about the quality of the above shot I was trying to get it with all the lights on...  Also every now and then my digital camera just dosen't want to play the game and it's still showing the deflector an lot brighter and the wrong shade of blue  than what it actually is... And as for the 4 panels under the saucer I know that they aren't really that tone of grey but again it was a bit of modelers lisence than actual canon refferance. I just felt that there needed to be some extra colour break up.

Cheers,

Alec. :wave:


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## Dale Jackson (Feb 25, 2009)

This is cool! I want to follow this progress, as I'm starting my refit build soon.


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## AJ-1701 (May 10, 2008)

Thanks mate 

So far its been the best :thumbsup::woohoo: & at times the worst :freak: modeling experiance I have had todate and one of the greatest learning curves to be had. But I wouldn't have it any other way :thumbsup:

Cheers,

Alec. :wave:


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## Prowler901 (Jun 27, 2005)

Wow! She's really coming along Alec. Great work on the paint job :thumbsup:


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## AJ-1701 (May 10, 2008)

Prowler901 said:


> Wow! She's really coming along Alec. Great work on the paint job :thumbsup:



Thanks Prowler  

The responses and compliments from you all are a bonus sweetner to the build. :thumbsup: 

This week I have a date with my exacto and friskets to start on the top saucer section detailing. More wee little pieces of paper for the wife to complain about  

Cheers,

Alec. :wave:


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## Disillusionist (Apr 19, 2003)

Oh yeah! We've found bits of frisket and tape in the living room, in the kitchen, even in the bed! Have fun though. It's looking really nice!:thumbsup:


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## AJ-1701 (May 10, 2008)

I just couldn't seem to get it together with the frisket templates this week. :drunk: So I decided to do the display base for a break. 
























I was origionaly just going to the name and registary number infront of the display stand on a piece of MDf cut to about an inch or so bigger than the dry-dock base. However on an after thought I decided to do a larger framed base just incase I had to move or transport the completed unit. I also decided to add the history collage with the addition of NX-01 before the TOS version As well as the main crew names, position and rank on smaller plagues at either side. As I haven't tried or got any home made decals I used printer paper with a flat finish sprayed over it but it went south :freak: and bled through when I applied the glue so I decided to try it on 180gm gloss photo paper. :thumbsup:

Cheers,

Alec. :wave:


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## Dale Jackson (Feb 25, 2009)

That's an awesome way of presenting the base! :thumbsup:


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## AJ-1701 (May 10, 2008)

Thanks Dale.


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## AJ-1701 (May 10, 2008)

*This is the last interior sub-assembly*

After I shot over a coat of my light blue pearl on the top saucer section I decided to finish the officers lounge. I did the floor/carpet in a biege and the seating in an orang/red with a contrast of a dark grey for the pillars and small tables. The moulded foliage was removed and replaced with an assortment of flock, tiny bits of crumbed foam, sand and some bits from my old texture box. I decided just to use three figures. The one with his hands on his hips is Kirk, you can't really tell in the pics but I painted his tunic open similar to how he wore it in TWOK. The stoic standing figure is my Spock and the one with his arms spread wide is Bones being emotional.  I also masked off the wall behind the projector screens before painting so I'm hoping that the wash of light from those in the bridge assembly will help show off the decals by backlighting them???

















Cheers,

Alec. :wave:


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## Dale Jackson (Feb 25, 2009)

This is great work!

Just curious is the officer's lounge, the area where the large windows are beneath the bridge, aft?

If so, why are we seeing the warp nacelle's if we are looking forward into the VIP or officer's lounge?
That would mean that the warp nacelle's are in front of the ship, no?

Unless I'm misunderstanding the installation, I haven't test fitted this part yet.

The scene in Star Trek the Motion Picture with Kirk and Spock and McCoy talking is actually, I believe, in the saucer section, aft, right side (as your looking at it from the rear) in the square window area (square window in rim of saucer just forward of the right warp nacelle). I don't believe they were having the conversation where Kirk was telling Spock to sit down - in the VIP area which is actually very large window area. That's my take on it.


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## Gunstar1 (Mar 1, 2007)

This discussion has come up before (and it was a long one I think) - it all boils down to conflicts of what was intended in the movie, what time, budget, and re-design did to the final continuity (or lack thereof) of the finished film. 

Here's the thread: http://www.hobbytalk.com/bbs1/showthread.php?t=111440&highlight=lounge+window

Enjoy the read!


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## CaliOkie (Dec 31, 2007)

Oh no, a can of worms . . . yes, the set built for that scene raises so many questions that can not be answered. Unfortunately, the digitally enhanced version further complicates the issue by showing a nacelle through that window.

Those windows on the starboard side in front of the nacelle are depicted first in the scene where the crew is gathered to view the wipe out of Epsilon 9 and reappear in the scene with Decker and Ilia in the "game room," which is basically a redress of the same set. Those windows are very large, cover two floors and actually match the windows on the rear starboard side of the saucer quite well.

No one is sure what that window in the "will you sit down" scene is supposed to be. Originally, it was designed to be the lounge area with a large set planned with four 12 foot windows in the rear . . . a model of that was built and is shown in the scene with the Vulcan shuttle docking . . . the original set was supposed to be like that. But, alas, someone in the budget office said "you want to spend how much for four 12 foot windows?" Someone else said "we could make it one 5 foot window!" 

If only someone in that production meeting had said "let's have no windows and set the scene in Kirk's quarters and save money on visual effects as well." Of course, then we wouldn't be having this discussion.


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## Dale Jackson (Feb 25, 2009)

CaliOkie said:


> Oh no, a can of worms . . . yes, the set built for that scene raises so many questions that can not be answered. Unfortunately, the digitally enhanced version further complicates the issue by showing a nacelle through that window.
> 
> Those windows on the starboard side in front of the nacelle are depicted first in the scene where the crew is gathered to view the wipe out of Epsilon 9 and reappear in the scene with Decker and Ilia in the "game room," which is basically a redress of the same set. Those windows are very large, cover two floors and actually match the windows on the rear starboard side of the saucer quite well.
> 
> ...


That's too funny, I'll have to look into that. 

Sorry for opening the can of worms


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## Dale Jackson (Feb 25, 2009)

After looking at the official Paramount plans and the model, I think PROUD JEFFERSONIAN is correct. The "Sit Down!" discussion is on the rear quarter of the saucer section next to the impulse drive - the place where those square windows are (probably 2 levels of lounge area officer/enlisted). They are windows in the scene of STTMP and not some elaborate projector screens, in my opinion. The right warp nacelle is closest and the left one farther away and the angle proves that they are in those "square windowed" lounge area - I would say not the VIP lounge but an officer's lounge (after all officers get the best everything being former USAF myself). 

So I'm going to have the large 12" window'd area is going to be the recreation deck where I'lia and Decker went - and it's also the area where you see out at the Vulcan shuttle docking.

Just my interpretation. Besides the "Will you please sit down" discussion was in a single story room, not a 2+ story room like the V'ger briefing and recreation deck (a redress of the V'ger briefing set) 

I won't hog AJ-1701's thread. 

Man alive, I'm 40 years old and acting like that kid on Galaxy Quest, how embarassing to find that out :freak:


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## AJ-1701 (May 10, 2008)

There is also the fact that when the piece is installed in the model you see bugger all of it  so I just decided that they were large screens, which is why I'm trying to backlite them. I also did the uniforms in TWOK style as I prefer that to the PJ suits they all wore in STMP.


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## Dale Jackson (Feb 25, 2009)

AJ-1701 said:


> There is also the fact that when the piece is installed in the model you see bugger all of it  so I just decided that they were large screens, which is why I'm trying to backlite them. I also did the uniforms in TWOK style as I prefer that to the PJ suits they all wore in STMP.


Yeah, I love the military style of uniforms of TWOK over TMP. But I'm going to do my first model (try to) do the bare metal alloy version of TMP. then I'm going to get a second PL kit when the new version 2 model comes out - that one, I'm going to do the damaged version of the Enterprise from Star Trek II/III.

You're doing a mighty nice job, did you get the lighting kit from trekmodeler or voodoo, or are you creating your own lighting?


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## AJ-1701 (May 10, 2008)

I'm basing my build around the years between STMP and TWOK. which is why I did the uniforms like that. Not to mention that its an easier way to explain if I decide to weather her down abit.  Unlike you Dale I don't think I would want to tackle another one of these :drunk: but good on you for wanting to do so:thumbsup: 

The lighting is all done by me and the school of self teaching  except for flasher board which is from Randy and the guys at VooDooFX :thumbsup:

Cheers,

Alec. :wave:


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## Prowler901 (Jun 27, 2005)

Nice looking officer's lounge there. The contrasting colors are great, and the plants look perfect. Inspiring work for sure. :thumbsup:


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## AJ-1701 (May 10, 2008)

Thanks Prowler901 

So in between staying motivated about the final frisket sheets and working out the final details on the saucer lighting. I decided in my wisdom (or lack there of ) to scratch up a rec deck. Trolling thru the dvd and checking out what Marc111 has done this is the basic floor plan I will be going with. Not true canon but it works for me.  How elaborate it will end up looking will depend greatly on my scratch skills :freak:









Have I mentioned how big this build is??? 

Cheers,

Alec. :wave:


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## BruceDownunder (Aug 25, 2008)

Looks great, Alec - though you may want to do a quick scale ref of those dumb-bells in the middle of the room... :freak:


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## Dale Jackson (Feb 25, 2009)

BruceDownunder said:


> Looks great, Alec - though you may want to do a quick scale ref of those dumb-bells in the middle of the room... :freak:


That was very funny!

But yes Alec, I'll be really excited to see what you scratch build :thumbsup:


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## AJ-1701 (May 10, 2008)

BruceDownunder said:


> Looks great, Alec - though you may want to do a quick scale ref of those dumb-bells in the middle of the room... :freak:


Thanks fellas.

But if I rescale them how are the security guys gonna do thier work outs


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## AJ-1701 (May 10, 2008)

All I need are to do some final touch ups and add some of the pe crew and my rec deck will be done. It did change alittle from the floor plan I drew up and the back wall is something I did on excel cause I was to lazy to scratch it up.  I know there was no botanical life on the rec deck I just did it to add some extra depth.... though it looks like I may have to trim down the tree beside the raised stage at the back.








I also pinched something I saw on marc111 site and added a framed picture of the oringional 'E' as well as the brass registry plate from the origional bridge to the front wall of the officers lounge.









Cheers,

Alec. :wave:

P.s 

Note to all dry dock workers one week shore leave is here by to be taken and all work to be halted during said time. ( in short I'm having a week away on leave before I start my new job. :thumbsup


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## Prowler901 (Jun 27, 2005)

Great work Alec. It looks terrific :thumbsup: Have a great and safe vacation. And, best of luck on the new job.


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## AJ-1701 (May 10, 2008)

*I can here that Jaws music...*

Things are getting close to completion now... For me this is a major and somewhat remarkable thing to actually spend this much time and effort on a build. 

So after remotivating myself to get back on the build after our holiday as well major frustration due to my recdeck which just wouldn't fit... That damn weird shape on the bottom saucer section... but I digress... So I did all the subpaneling on the top saucer hull then spent the next several nights applying the Aztek Dummy vinyls








Followed by the painting and decaling. As per the norm I used a couple of drops of weldbond with water for soaking the decals. Then several coats of Micro-Sol decal setting solution to and give them the painted look...















About this time I started bringing together the lighting for the saucer as well...















I decided to add some alfoil to the inside of the top section and leave the inside gloss white on the bottom piece. I'm hopeing this will give me a mix of light strenghts thru the windows. For me I just can't see that every window will be the same light value.

This is a shot of the officers lounge thru the large windows. 








The frames are from the pe set with some blister pack trimmed to fit and held in place with Micro's Krystal Klear. Which I also ended up using for most of the windows on the saucer as the clear inserts just weren't going to play the game... The only annoying thing is that there appeard a 'smudge' on the window after applying some future!! I can only think it is a vapor reaction to the glue which I used.

I have now at the time of this post finished wiring in all the lights and for the main window lights I filed off the tops of the leds so the light was better diffused rather that the spot light effect from the standard led. I ended up using 40 plus leds for all the static lighting and 14 for the strobes and running lights. My plan is to now glue on the top of the saucer to the rest of her and the chase those ever persistant and somewhat inevitable light leaks that occur. :freak:

Thanks for looking so far. 

Alec. :wave:


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## Griffworks (Jun 24, 2002)

Man, this Refit of yours looks fantastic, Alec! I'd not popped my head in your thread for about a month and see what all I've missed! I don't think you were "lazy" when you used the decal for the back of the Rec Deck wall. What you came up with was inspired, IMNSHO. Wish I knew how to do what you've done there. 

Excellent work and I thank you kindly for sharing. She's gonna be one beautiful display piece when finished. :thumbsup:


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## AJ-1701 (May 10, 2008)

Thanks Griffworks 

The wall of the rec dek was kind of fun to do and it was just done with the old windows excell then copied to a paint programme. I'm just a bit ticked that it was all for naught... I got the two saucer sections glued together after some tense moments connecting the wiring for the lights in the top to the flasher board.








As for it being a beautifull display piece?? Well in a slightly humbled way I have to agree. even with the circle of clamps  And damn it if I was right about light leaks









But at the moment the weather here is fairly crappy and almost constant rain n showers so I'll have to wait before I can use the airbrush to clean up the leaks. 

Thanks again for the kind words.

Alec.


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## Prowler901 (Jun 27, 2005)

She's comin' right along Alec. Beautiful work indeed! :thumbsup: You must be proud 

Todd


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## AJ-1701 (May 10, 2008)

Thanks Todd.

Is it possable to be proud and frustrated...?? 

I had some grief cleaning up where the two halves of the saucer join...:drunk: I just couldn't seem to get the same look from the paint as the rest of her. But as I plan to do some weathering touches I'm hoping it won't be to much of an issue. I got the JT graphics sensor band decals on it tonite which I will hit with Micro-Sol setting solution tomorrow night. Then do some final touch ups and start the weathering process. which will mostly be some warp burns around the raised areas and some softer effects on the rest. 

Cheers,

Alec.


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## Prowler901 (Jun 27, 2005)

Yes, I believe it is possible 

May I ask why you decided to paint the upper and lower halves before assembly?
How did the sensor band decals go on? I've not seen them before. How many sections do they come in?

Regards,
Todd


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## AJ-1701 (May 10, 2008)

Prowler901 said:


> Yes, I believe it is possible
> 
> May I ask why you decided to paint the upper and lower halves before assembly?
> How did the sensor band decals go on? I've not seen them before. How many sections do they come in?
> ...


Origionaly it was due to the whole lighting thing and at the time it just seemed to be a better idea...  On hindsite doing the lighting then completing the saucer section would proberbly have been better but hey live n learn. And now that the sensor bands are on and dry it helped conceal the seam join issues. 

As for the said sensor band decals, they turned out pretty good. They come as four sections on the sheet and are pre curved. They fit a lot better when you put them on with the end of the curve pointing down but the way. I actually lost the instruction sheet that came with them so I had to wing it putting them on. http://www.culttvmanshop.com/shop/product.php?productid=16464&cat=268&page=2but I decided to cut the sheet in half to make it eight smaller sections. This made them a little easier to lay and position and they actaully give you extra lenght as well. As with most of the JT decals I have used they can be a bit fragile as they don't have the thick carrier film like some of the production ones. The good thing with that is they don't need much micro-sol decal set to make them finish off like they were painted.

Cheers,

Alec.


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## Model Man (Oct 1, 2007)

AJ-1701 said:


> On hindsight doing the lighting then completing the saucer section would probably have been better...


I was gonna ask about that, Alec. I don't wanna mask every last window, but it looks like there's no way around that fact?


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## Prowler901 (Jun 27, 2005)

Thanks for info Alec.  I continue to look forward to your updates.


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## AJ-1701 (May 10, 2008)

*For all it's worth... She is done!!*

After discussions with the other half I conceded to her wants of leaving the ship looking like she's straight out of drydock... Also for other reasons she needed some cheering up as well. 

So I now present a short video of the completed build.... 




Just for the record this build took me a little over 5 mths with an average of 3.5 hrs a night so when I said back in the begining it was a big build... Struth I reckon that was a bit of an understatement!!! I admit openly the whole process has been at times very daunting and frustrating :freak: build but at the same time a very rewarding task as well as a huge learning curve to increase my humble skills. Though my photography still needs some work 

Cheers,

Alec :wave:


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## Prowler901 (Jun 27, 2005)

Beautiful work Alec :thumbsup: I have really enjoyed following your build. Thanks for sharing it with us. What's next? 

Todd


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## AJ-1701 (May 10, 2008)

Thanks again Prowler  I need to do the LIS Chariot figures ( I just have to work out how too do penny parker :freak: ) and luggage then I might try to finish off a couple of 1/1000 TOS kit bashes or finish my 1999 Eagle, then my Enterprise 'E', then the FS1 then.... Ohhh the list goes on n on... 

Cheers,

Alec.


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## AJ-1701 (May 10, 2008)

Model Man said:


> I was gonna ask about that, Alec. I don't wanna mask every last window, but it looks like there's no way around that fact?


Or just leave them out and fill them in later with Krystal Klear. I don't think the amount of overspray from an airbrush would effect the leds. The other drama about doing the saucer in seperate halves is that it is easy to snap it off the dorsal neck, something I did twice 

If I were to do this kit again there are some things I would certainly do differantly but as they say... No vision is more perfect than 20-20 hindsite.


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## eagledocf15 (Nov 4, 2008)

*Can you provide any more photos and an update!*

Thanks


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## AJ-1701 (May 10, 2008)

Not much more to update I'm afraid as it is all done... This is the lnk to my album of the whole wip and finished job.

But thanks for having a look and asking 

Cheers,

Alec.

http://s244.photobucket.com/albums/gg27/AJ-1701/Refit Enterprise/


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## Fraley1701 (Sep 3, 2003)

I just finished reading your entire thread Alec! You did an amazing job on this project and I will definitely refer to your build when I do my own. :thumbsup:


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## AJ-1701 (May 10, 2008)

Thanks Fraley1701 I'm glad it can help with your build :thumbsup:

Cheers,

Alec.


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