# Refit Strongbacks and Nav Deflector areas



## CaptDistraction (Feb 1, 2005)

Hey, I just wanted to gather up as many pics of what people have done with this region to see what the different paint selections look like on the model. 

If you've built it or seen one, post pics! 

I'm personally building a refit/1701. The color selections I am picking are going to be a very light offwhite grey with maybe 10% of engineering green mixed in. I don't want the color to have much saturation, and a lot of the strongbacks and neck/nav def. areas are much darker than what we see both on screen and on the model. I think I had read somewhere that to make something look "believable", the smaller scale it is, the lighter colors you should use. 

However, to each his own, and I just want to see what people have done so far.


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## lizzybus (Jun 18, 2005)

I've used Arthur's awesome decals for these sections...but i admit to slightly increasing the green ratio in Paitshop Pro.....looks really nice though!

Rich


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## ArthurPendragon (Jan 4, 2004)

That decals are not mine, but from Matt Fletcher's kind efforts.

After that, we had word from Andrew Probert, confirming that the front of the "neck" was always blue gray, even at the time of ST-TMP... so don't use decal #9 (I made it green...).


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## caesar4u (Apr 13, 2005)

Hi guys,

For a Star Trek II and Star Trek III Enterprise is the strongback the same on the ship or are there differances ? Thomas told us that there are some sectioned of the Search for Spock Enterprise that were repainted aside from battle damage that was not there for Wrath of Khan, not the whole ship however as in Wrath of Khan. 

Thomas indicated on his site that for TMP Enterprise "engineering green" it was actually blue green, any thoughts on this ?

Appreciate your thoughts, also would appreciate feedback on this topic on the current paint of the miniature:

http://www.hobbytalk.com/bbs1/showthread.php?t=147116

Thanks guys


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## Ruckdog (Jan 17, 2006)

I like the way that a buy named Marc King did his refit. There is a article about it over on Cluttvman's website. Here is a picture of his nav dish area/strongback:

http://www.culttvman.com/marc_king_s_refit__part_4_pics_3.html

He has acheived a subtle effect that I like very much.


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## klgonsneedbotox (Jun 8, 2005)

I like that too...but I think I like Krako's decals (color) better. Each has a nice subtle look.

Scale effect does come into play a little bit. The PL Refit is roughly 1/2 the size of the actual E. I don't know how that should factor into "lightening" the color selection, but it should have some affect.

Anybody know if there are any general scale effect rules to follow?


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## Chuck_P.R. (Jun 8, 2003)

ArthurPendragon said:


> That decals are not mine, but from Matt Fletcher's kind efforts.
> 
> After that, we had word from Andrew Probert, confirming that the front of the "neck" was always blue gray, even at the time of ST-TMP... so don't use decal #9 (I made it green...).


I made them all blue-gray via photoshop.

Anybody else can do the same.

I wrote the instructions in Matt's decal thread but here ya' go again in case you want to try them on decal #9:

*Found a way to turn the green decals to what looks like a perfect shade of blue for those of you who prefer the blue and don't care that some of the shapes in the 1701-A blue are a little different then the original refit.

I plan on doing mine as a straight 1701 but with blue instead of green. Just can't rationalize that green color no matter how many pics I see of it.

Anyhow, if you have Photoshop Elements choose "Enhance" from the upper menu, go down to and highlight "Adjust Color," slide rightward and downward to "Color Variations." 

Once there choose "Increase Blue" and click okay. Then repeat one more time.

There ya' go!*


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## colhero (May 18, 2006)

*PL-Refit Deflector and Strongback detail*

Here are some pics of my work to date. I made direct comparison shots and studied them till I finally got CLOSE ENOUGH with the colors. I have not yet seen a buildup out there that is exact and most are way off. 

I referenced the photos of the retired A in the Smithsonian and from Cloudster as well as many other sources. The colors look diffrent in different light, sometimes greener or bluer. A flash with little ambient incandescent lite makes it look greener. 

Also, too many people out there think the sides of the deflector housing (where the insignia begins) are dark colored. If you look at enough reference photos you see that is not the case and is only an effect of the lighting.

Let me know what you think!


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## CaptDistraction (Feb 1, 2005)

Wow, that's pretty good, what was the process to get the shading on the strongback itself done? I've been thinking hard on how to tackle that one since its more than just two colors.


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## colhero (May 18, 2006)

*PL-Refit Deflector and Strongback detail*

Thanks for the compliment. Actually I originally painted the strongback with Lite Blue but it was too dark, so I decided to make my own decals on the computer. I used to be a professional draftsman and studied the photos carefully. After probably 25 hrs work, I finally was satisfied with the colors on the strongback and deflector. Heres a couple more shots. 

Post yer pics everyone! :thumbsup:


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## colhero (May 18, 2006)

*PL-Refit Deflector and Strongback detail*

more shots: the complex areas are decals: deflector, strongback and sides of neck


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## colhero (May 18, 2006)

Sorry im a posting maniac... I just found this site tonite and am pretty psyched! Actually for the strongback, I realized when I painted it (before going to decals) that all 3 colors are only shades of the same light blue. When I painted, I held the can farther away and sprayed only lightly for the lightest shade, then closer and longer for the darker shades.

here's another comparison and theres a couple more pics in my gallery.

Also, I found another site that has pics of the retired miniature check it out!
http://www.flickr.com/photos/[email protected]/page3/


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## caesar4u (Apr 13, 2005)

Welcome Colhero !

Any interesting tid bits you could share for an accurate ST II and ST III Enterprise would be greatly appreciated.

Also an accurate ST IV The Voyage Home enterprise with engineering gren and blue


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## Garbaron (Apr 23, 2004)

WOW Colhero
That’s fantastic work! And thank you very much for the side by side pictures of the Studio model next to the PL Refit. For me those comparison pictures proof how accurate PL replicated the studio model.

For example this one is an almost perfect match:
http://www.hobbytalk.com/bbs1/attachment.php?attachmentid=29836
(you are a little cheater are you? you shot the starboard side and mirrored it to make that comparison. Only the starboard side has five view ports in front of the docking port)


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## SteveR (Aug 7, 2005)

Good eye, Colhero! That's dead on. :thumbsup:


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## StarshipClass (Aug 13, 2003)

Fantastic stuff! You honor us with your presence, sir!


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## ArthurPendragon (Jan 4, 2004)

colhero said:


> more shots: the complex areas are decals: deflector, strongback and sides of neck



Great work ! You too have observed that the deflector housing area (the area above and below the silver starfleet pennant) is not "blue", but shades of grey.

I did the same with my decals for the ERTL 1/537 Ent refit:

http://www.starshipmodeler.com/tech/cz_mask.htm

(scroll down to "USS Enterprise A detail decals")


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## The Trekmodeler (Jul 21, 2005)

colhero said:


> more shots: the complex areas are decals: deflector, strongback and sides of neck


That is absolutely phenomenal work! Next to Garbaron's ERTL 1701-A, your PL refit has the most accurate paint scheme I've seen to date. If I had access to your decals, I certainly would have used them on mine. Would you ever consider making decals like them available?

Thanks for the pics too. Since the studio mini's true color scheme is quite difficult for me to make out most of the time, I'll know where to go for support reference. :thumbsup: 

Here is the last one I did. Aside from my colors being way too dark, the pattern on the fore front part of the deflector housing is wrong, not mention the colors on the rear part of the deflector housing. I won't be making the same mistakes on the next one.  Thanks again for the pics!

http://i16.photobucket.com/albums/b31/trekmodeler/PL%201701-A/000_4715.jpg

http://i16.photobucket.com/albums/b31/trekmodeler/PL%201701-A/000_4714tt.jpg

http://i16.photobucket.com/albums/b31/trekmodeler/PL%201701-A/000_4709re.jpg

http://i16.photobucket.com/albums/b31/trekmodeler/PL%201701-A/000_4705re.jpg

http://i16.photobucket.com/albums/b31/trekmodeler/PL%201701-A/000_4689re.jpg

http://i16.photobucket.com/albums/b31/trekmodeler/PL%201701-A/000_4720re.jpg

http://i16.photobucket.com/albums/b31/trekmodeler/PL%201701-A/000_4686re.jpg

http://i16.photobucket.com/albums/b31/trekmodeler/PL%201701-A/000_4703re.jpg


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## colhero (May 18, 2006)

Thanks much everyone for the compliments! Its an honor to get verification from other obsessed Starship builders like yourselves...

Actually, this is my 2nd PL Refit. The first one I did in silver cuz I didnt have the patience to do the research first and it looks like crap. But it was good experience for building the PL since it does have some interesting build challenges and this is the first kit Ive built in 10+ years. This will be the 10th Enterprise kit I've built since I was a wee lad. My AMT kit from 18 years ago looks ok but insultingly inaccurate!

One thing I have noticed in studying the pics of the retired A is that most of the shots are of the Port side. The few shots of her Starboard side reveal that the deflector coloring is faded on the Port side (from handling?) and darker on the Starboard. So the Starboard shots show the actual colors better and thats what I used for reference.

I also finally realized (like most of you have already) that the differences between 1701 and 1701-A are drastic. The strongback and deflector and belly of the secondary hull, all are very different. So, I have to change the nomenclature of my buildup to the A version for accuracy. I realized this mostly from the post TMP filming shots in B&W on Cloudster. Those B&W shots also showed me that the "lightning strike" patterns on the Nacelle Pylons COVER both sides of the pylons and are not random or sparse. They only look that way depending on lighting.


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## colhero (May 18, 2006)

also, keep in mind the close up shots from the movies (ie: "Wrath") were done using seperate miniatures and the paint schemes do not match the 7'er.


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## colhero (May 18, 2006)

Trek; Nice build and the lighting is baaad-aaass. Nice job on the strongback and good interpretation of the deflector colors. I could shoot you the.doc file I have with my decals. I actually printed mine on photo-quality sticker paper! It works fairly well, though with the curves, getting the shape of the decals just right took days. And when you adhere them, you get a few spots that would rise, but they are easily fixed by a thin slice from a sharp exacto.


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## colhero (May 18, 2006)

Art-Pen; from what i have seen, the perfect color combo for the deflector cowl is a lot like TrekModelers version only VERY WASHED OUT to the point of grey. The starboard side photos show the colors less faded and darker so you can make them out better. http://www.cloudster.com/Sets&Vehicles/STMPEnterprise/ColorPhotos/cSTMPent74.jpg and http://www.cloudster.com/Sets&Vehicles/STMPEnterprise/ColorPhotos/cSTMPent55.jpg

You can even see that the small rectangle in the middle of each quadrant of the cowl is (was) SOLID. The port side shots show the entire cowl more faded and is indicated by the fact that these rectangles look dark in the middle but lighter at the perimeter, unlike the starboard side in which they are solid color. http://www.cloudster.com/Sets&Vehicles/STMPEnterprise/ColorPhotos/cSTMPent32.jpg
http://www.cloudster.com/Sets&Vehicles/STMPEnterprise/ColorPhotos/cSTMPent50.jpg

The actual colors seem to be a very light brown-gold-tannish (bands) with very light blue-grey in the stern corners and blue grey details. Again, even the unfaded colors are VERY LIGHT. So light that the whole thing looks lite tan-grey and in some shots, you can barely tell a difference between the Def Cowl color and the Hull color! http://www.cloudster.com/Sets&Vehicles/STMPEnterprise/ColorPhotos/cSTMPent27.jpg
Actually, this last shot also indicates the the sides of the def cowl (where the Starfleet banner is) are the same color as the rest of the hull, base white, not dark or silver! A darker shade of white doesnt hurt there thats for sure or a LITE grey. 

Dont forget, these shots show the ship AFTER retirement and many years of aging and yellowing, etc. So i decided to make my build look like she just came out of spacedock. Besides, you're not going to see much "weathering" on a ship in a vacuum protected by deflectors!!!


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## caesar4u (Apr 13, 2005)

Hey Colhero,

How about some help for us that need help for an accurate Star Trek II, III and IV Enterprise. Would like to see the engine green strongback with blue gray as stated by perhaps the best source for this version:

http://www.culttvman.com/building_the_refit_enterprise_8.html

The "E" was repainted three times according to Bill George art director at ILM. The first time was for the second movie. The pearlescent color of the "E" made it very hard to shoot, it put holes in their mats, the lights would bounce off it. ILM took the model and completely repainted it. They replaced the pearlescent Aztec pattern with blue tinted white and blue light gray. The engine green was replaced by blue gray, but not all the engine green. Some of the engine green is still on there to-day. The third time it was repainted was after the battle damage. It is interesting to note they painted the "Reliant" the same colors as the second paint job on the "E". Here is a list by parts of the "E" 1701-A by section.

Appreciate your help and from the board.


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## colhero (May 18, 2006)

caesar4u; Im afraid I wont be too much help for those versions! Im an A guy (and TOS) to the core... and being the Hack that I am, I'm only now becomming knowledgable so am focused on only the A as seen in the most available reference shots; Smithsonian, IDIC, Cloudster... Actually, does that mean that she only looked like that in TMP 5-6??


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## caesar4u (Apr 13, 2005)

That's alright. If you think about it though, the original refit is the TOS and the A in one.

In answer to your question, yes. 

In Star Trek II the first repaint of the entire ship and in ST III some subsections were repainted.

ST IV the Voyage Home featured an engineering green scheme and blue, but apparently more blue than the Wrath of Khan strongback.

Unfortunatly, most are only interested it seems in the ST VI and TMP scheme.


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## colhero (May 18, 2006)

Thank you Caesar 4 your comments and knowledge! I have assimilated these facts and am slowly progressing from Hack to Expert... I posted my new gallery: http://mw469.photosite.com/Album1/


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## The Trekmodeler (Jul 21, 2005)

colhero said:


> Trek; Nice build and the lighting is baaad-aaass. Nice job on the strongback and good interpretation of the deflector colors. I could shoot you the.doc file I have with my decals. I actually printed mine on photo-quality sticker paper! It works fairly well, though with the curves, getting the shape of the decals just right took days. And when you adhere them, you get a few spots that would rise, but they are easily fixed by a thin slice from a sharp exacto.


That would be awesome colhero! Thanks so much. I'll PM you in a bit with my info.


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## colhero (May 18, 2006)

All; my decal sheet will be available for download soon with hints. ArthurPendragon will let us know where we can download them from. As I progress thru the build, I might be adding a few. Like the Blue-grey ring around the top of the bridge, which is so much easier and accurate than painting! On my first Big E I even made a decal for the Duck-Blue area at the base of the bridge and I might do that for my current build.
Another good thing about printing them on Sticker paper is that when they are replacable by carefully peeling off, sanding the area and re-applying.


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## ArthurPendragon (Jan 4, 2004)

Well... making it available for download will take some weeks.

If you need it right now, just PM me with your e-mail, and I´ll gladly send the files.


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## colhero (May 18, 2006)

Actually I spent about 8 hours in the last 2 days improving them. The color changes are maddeningly subtle, but there are a couple pattern details that were made more accurate. I'm also going to add a couple others to the sheet at some point soon. Heres atest shot


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## colhero (May 18, 2006)

My decal sheet for the A versiion is now available at Thomas Models site: http://thomasmodels.com/phpbb/viewt...8217aa00e9ed6f7

I also posted some new pics on my gallery at http://mw469.photosite.com/

:thumbsup:


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## justinleighty (Jan 13, 2003)

colhero said:


> My decal sheet for the A versiion is now available at Thomas Models site: http://thomasmodels.com/phpbb/viewt...8217aa00e9ed6f7
> 
> I also posted some new pics on my gallery at http://mw469.photosite.com/
> 
> :thumbsup:



Thanks for sharing! I downloaded those as soon as I saw them. Do they reflect the updates you said you were working on the last few days? If not, will Thomas update the file at the above link to reflect your updates/changes/additions?


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## SteveR (Aug 7, 2005)

colhero said:


> My decal sheet for the A versiion is now available at Thomas Models site: http://thomasmodels.com/phpbb/viewt...8217aa00e9ed6f7


Hmm ... I have trouble with that link, as the "..." is actually _within _ the URL here, not just indicated as visible text in the post. Can you edit to include the complete link after the "url=" text?

Thanks....


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## colhero (May 18, 2006)

http://thomasmodels.com/phpbb/viewtopic.php?t=259&sid=e04119e0aa1598ae66cc9508892a70d4


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## colhero (May 18, 2006)

Damn! The posting of the link abreviates it.
Go to http://thomasmodels.com/phpbb/index.php, then category Star Trek, thread = Refit Hull Graphics


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## SteveR (Aug 7, 2005)

colhero said:


> http://thomasmodels.com/phpbb/viewtopic.php?t=259&sid=e04119e0aa1598ae66cc9508892a70d4


That works, thanks!


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