# Enterprise NX-01 1:10 Scale Helm Station



## Atlanthia (Jan 24, 2013)

*Star Trek Enterprise NX-01 Bridge Scratch Build 1:10 Scale FINISHED!*

*[EDIT] since starting this build back in December, I have decided to scratch build the whole bridge and do away with the Art Asylum parts completely. It also allows me to build the refitted bridge, which negates that nasty flooring they used in the first series.*

Frustration doesn't come close to describing what I felt when, after buying all the available Art Asylum Broken Bow Deluxe bridge sets, I discovered that they pulled the plug before putting the final piece - Mayweather's Helm Station into production. So, after having already invested in the three available pieces, I have decided to complete the set myself. 

I have taken measurements from the available bridge plans online and I have also used the two promotional pictures that AA released, which I have also listed here:

 

These two pictures actually help a lot as they contain certain things that are easily measurable, such as the figure, the chair and most importantly, the centre screen console. The chair and centre console are the same as the ones used on Reed's and T'pol's Stations.
As for the base, the flooring is patterned and recurring patterns can also be measured. The surface is a texture of raised dots, in uniform rows, and by measuring their spacings on one of the other set pieces, I found that there are 10 dots per inch, (or 100 dots per square inch.) Thankfully, the AA promotional pics above are of a clear enough resolution that I can count the dots to give me an accurate width and length for the base platform. 



















I noticed quite quickly that the AA helm had quite a few inaccuracies: the console slope isn't steep enough, the supporting pillar wasn't accurate at the base etc, so I am also trying to iron out those issues, too. It really comes down to a balance between available images and what is realistically achievable with plastic and glue.


















For the moment, (see picture below,) my Helm is too far to the left. This is simply because it is taped in place to,allow me to take pictures and check alignments etc. when the supporting pedastool is completed, only half of it will be on the base.


















Well I hope this is of interest to some of you at least, and I welcome your comments, questions and critiques. In the meantime, I shall endeavour to push the build forward.
Thanks for looking in.


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## TonyT (Oct 19, 2013)

Wow, cool project!!


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## BWolfe (Sep 24, 2013)

That is the one cool thing about being a model builder, when the toy companies do not give us the toys that we want, we can make our own.


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## aeryn43 (Sep 23, 2009)

Wow Atlanthia,
Great minds think alike!....I have a 3d cad design I drew up to build this missing piece. My plan was to create a paper model first, then convert to plastic.
But like the TOS 1/8 bridge it has been shelved whilst I try and finish other projects.
Not the best of images...


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## Atlanthia (Jan 24, 2013)

Thank you for the positive feedback guys! Aeryn, that looks great! I hope you do pursue it, having said that, like you, I would live to get back to my TOS 1/10 bridge build.

A very good evening/morning to you all! I have managed to make considerable progress since my last update. The helm console is now correctly positioned, as the support podium is now pretty much constructed. 


I have been fastidiously studying reference photos and I believe I have recreated it to an acceptable level of screen accuracy.



There are still a lot of panelling details to add but that will come after I have finished the remaining construction and filled with and sanded the Milliput. Looking good though.


I also found time to scratch build the helm seat, which involved a few hours heating plastic sheet and rod in hot water. I also scratch built 90% of the slide rail it is mounted on. Hopefully, I will finish the rail off tomorrow. 



The seat does slide, just like the original.



It also swivels like the original. It's all in the detail!


Here's a peek under the seat at the mechanism. Simple but effective.


All in all, I think it is starting to shape up pretty well, and I am looking forward to Milliputting and then sanding this thing into shape!


Well, that's about it for this installment. Thanks for looking in and I hope you enjoyed my update. 
More soon!


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## Gemini1999 (Sep 25, 2008)

I like this!

I have the 3 original Broken Bow sets as well - I was very disappointed that Mayweather's station wasn't realeased. I'm happy to see that someone is going to have one!


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## SJF (Dec 3, 1999)

Wow, I had no idea they cancelled the series before the last piece was released. That's not nice....:freak:

But you're doing a great job with this. Looking forward to seeing Travis get his station. :thumbsup:

Sean


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## whiskeyrat (May 7, 2012)

Really great scratchbuilding, very impressive!


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## Atlanthia (Jan 24, 2013)

SJF said:


> Wow, I had no idea they cancelled the series before the last piece was released. That's not nice....:freak:
> 
> But you're doing a great job with this. Looking forward to seeing Travis get his station. :thumbsup:
> 
> Sean


Thanks, Sean!  I don't think they cancelled the TV series - just the action figures, as they bombed and Art Asylum reportedly took a huge hit and cut their losses. Still, their loss is our gain! I am receiving a lot of interest from people who, like me, are missing this piece, so I may consider moulding and casting it if there is enough concrete interest. This is not a sales pitch! Just feedback on the reaction of members both here and elsewhere. I don't want to break any rules or be disrespectful to the forum. Come to think of it, what ARE the Forum rules about making stuff and selling it; just so I know?



whiskeyrat said:


> Really great scratchbuilding, very impressive!


Thank you, whiskeyrat. I'm happy it is of interest to people


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## Xenodyssey (Aug 27, 2008)

I love your work so far. What a great idea.


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## Atlanthia (Jan 24, 2013)

Xenodyssey said:


> I love your work so far. What a great idea.


Thank you Xenodyssey! I appreciate your taking the time to comment 

Good evening, everyone :wave: 
Here is a quick update on my progress. After what seems like an eternity of detail sanding the Milliput to give nice crisp edges etc, I managed to finally complete all the panel detailing. I have also been working on other parts, such as the "gear shift", hand rails and details that cannot be made from styrene sheet. I love Milliput! 
Anyway, the parts that have been made by sculpting will also be moulded and cast in plastic resin
and attached at the end.
so, here are a few pictures to let you all see for yourselves how it is looking. Hope you like it!







As always, thankyou for looking in and all comments / critiques are welcome!


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## TonyT (Oct 19, 2013)

Looks great! Nice work!


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## Gemini1999 (Sep 25, 2008)

This is so cool! I can't wait to see how it turns out...


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## Atlanthia (Jan 24, 2013)

Thank you, Gents! A bit of feedback makes all the difference!


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## Atlanthia (Jan 24, 2013)

Evening, All!
I have finally managed to push the helm station forward tonight, if only a little. I have nearly finished the cutting and applying of all the console buttons. It's not 100% accurate but it's pretty close! I have also resized all the graphics, in preperation for printing them out and sticking them into position. 

It's nice to finally start getting a little detail on this piece....





I will try to get the graphics printed tomorrow to see how they look. 
More soon!


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## SteveR (Aug 7, 2005)

That's great work! Inspiring! :thumbsup:


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## Atlanthia (Jan 24, 2013)

Okay, the wife laid down the law today so little to no model making. Instead, getting the Christmas decorations from the attic, and top to bottom house work so everything is up to her standards...


I did get the "gear shift" assembled and roughly painted up though...


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## Atlanthia (Jan 24, 2013)

Okay, so I am encountering some significant problems with the Helm Construction, notably, trying to reproduce the flooring texture that appears on all the other pieces. The problem is that every time I cast from the mould the finished resin piece is full of bubbles. They are clinging to all those little holes in the mould no matter how slow I pour. So, until I can resolve the issue I have put it to one side and directed my mind elsewhere. Now, I have stated, I think, quite clearly that it is not my intention to build anything other than the Helm station but if I ever did, it would probably look a lot like this. 



I just can't help myself, can I !!!???  It was just grating on my nerves that the platforms for T'Pol's and Reeds stations were too narrow front to back so I built a new one to the correct size.....and then I made the floor tracks for the chair to slide in....




So pretty soon, I had the back walls bashed out and I started on the rear console.





This is actually T'pols console but She's without a head at the moment so I set it up on the other side of the bridge. Here's a detail shot. 


So, to stop me going down this crazy route, building ANOTHER 3.5 foot wide bridge, can someone please help me to solve my flooring issue??? 
:lol:


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## Steve H (Feb 8, 2009)

That is so cool. Mind, I'm not a big 'Enterprise' fan as a Star Trek show but there's no denying some great imagination went into the art direction. Blah blah blah. 

Others will likely have better ideas, but I'm thinking you need a Vacuum Chamber to help drive out the bubbles. Use a slower cure resin and find some way, say a dome and a flat, smooth surface, build a chamber. Hose to a vacuum cleaner..I'm doing a terrible job explaining. The point is, if you reduce air pressure around your mold the bubbles will migrate faster out of the resin. I suspect doing a search for 'vacuum chamber' will net results. It needn't cost much. 

(BTW, I am in awe of your work. You and Fozzie should get together on a ST:TMP Bridge.  )


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## Fozzie (May 25, 2009)

That looks great, Atlanthia! Look at the angles on that thing! That couldn't have been easy...


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## Atlanthia (Jan 24, 2013)

Thank you, Guys! Fozzie, when my work is half as good as yours I will be a happy man indeed!

Small update: I have decided to go for the Season 4 Refitted bridge so that means a lot of revisions to work already carried out. to that end, I have been cutting holes where necessary and building new button panels etc as required. More on that soon.
Here are a few pics of my general progress.

The left hand door and wall surround is all but finished. I just need to add the small button panels etc.





Different view and tighter shot



You can see more panel windows have been cut and framed



Here's an arial view finish with.


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## Atlanthia (Jan 24, 2013)

I just bought an Art Asylum Caprica 6 figure on Ebay and I have to say, it is singularly, the worst figure they have ever made! so I have done the decent thing and set about turning it into something else....

I have decided to sculpt a mirror version of T'pol and once this is complete, I will try to mould and cast it in an assemblable way. Failing that, I will have a great one off figure! Here is where I am at:






I am using Millip[ut because it is easy to apply and goes off like rock. I will post again with the finished piece.


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## Atlanthia (Jan 24, 2013)

So now that the helm station has been rebuilt in kit form, the old 3/4 built one is redundant. I had the idea of using it as a mixing palette to match that bronzed colour of the other pieces. Each batch that i mixed and the quantities of each colour was noted and i put a dab of that colour next to it. Rather than waste the mixed paint, I used it to paint the old helm - one colour on each panel. so although no two colours match each other exactly, i had a really good test piece to finalise the closest colour to the original. I have also painted up what controls I did actually attach and I added some draft print displays to help bring it to life a little. I think I have pretty much nailed down the final colour and I will spray rather than brush it on. its a little sad that this one will end up in the trash but the new one is going to be so much better. Anyway here are a few pics to show you how it looked. PLEASE REMEMBER! this is NOT the piece you will be receiving. it is just to illustrate how the final stages are coming together. enjoy!


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## BOXIE (Apr 5, 2011)

Absolutely fracking amazing.Keep up the good work.


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## Fozzie (May 25, 2009)

That is absolutely gorgeous! You really knocked it out of the park there, Atlanthia!


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## Chrisisall (May 12, 2011)

*stunned silence*


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## Atlanthia (Jan 24, 2013)

Firstly, my apologies for the two weeks of absence. There are a few issues at this end that I don't really wish to bore you all with. Having said that, I have been having major issues with this build by way of fabricating it in the form of a kit. I could simply mold and cast every seperate piece and throw them in a box and send out a 250 piece jigsaw to you all but that would be a nightmare for you to build and it would leave me feeling like I shortchanged you all. As a result, I have been trying to "part build" the helm into sub sections and then mold those sections as a whole piece. This would cut it down to a kit of 20 or so pieces and will make construction much easier for everyone. Anyway, I am now FINALLY ready to pour some silicone and here are the mold boxes waiting in readiness:







I have really tried to get things as exact as is humanly possible, without computers and steel molds etc...

As for the pigments, it is not going to be possible for me to pre-colour the main sections due to the fact that I cannot mix the exact colour in enough resin in one go to pour before it would go off in the pot. if I do it in sections, there would be colour variation within each kit and that would really suck! I will do all the black parts in black probably grey for all the rest. 
hopefully another update in a couple of days!


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## Nova Mike (Apr 26, 2009)

Really looking fantastic, I am really looking forward to this kit to complete my bridge set. Thanks for all your time and patience.

Cheers!


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## Fozzie (May 25, 2009)

Looks great! Good luck with the molding. Should make some really sweet looking parts.


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## Atlanthia (Jan 24, 2013)

Well, what a turn up for the books!!! A bit longer away than I had hoped but divorces can do that :lol: had to find a place of my own, move all my belongings, find a place for everything and settle in before I could even think about setting up a workspace. That said, my life is my own, I eat what I want WHEN I want and every time I sit on the sofa I have total control of the TV and remote! 
Anyway, it's been a rough twelve months but I am finally seeing light at the end of the tunnel. So much so that this project is now steaming ahead again at full speed. I am almost ready to pour up the final moulds and have already pulled some castings from the finished ones, (see below). 
I am not holding anyone to the previous list, as times and circumstances change and it's been a year since then. Suffice to say that this started as purely a build thread and I want to keep it that way. To that end, I think the best thing to do is ask you to PM me if you still want one and that way we keep it off the thread.
Anyway, here's how the first pulls are looking. Apologies for the size of the pics. I will sort that out when I get to my laptop.



























It's good to be back!
Darren


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## Atlanthia (Jan 24, 2013)

More new parts coming out of their moulds for the first time. Now we're getting there!


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## Chrisisall (May 12, 2011)

Hi Darren! *waves*


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## SJF (Dec 3, 1999)

Hey, welcome back! :wave:

Sean


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## Fozzie (May 25, 2009)

Glad to see this project going forward!


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## KUROK (Feb 2, 2004)

Awesome project!


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## Atlanthia (Jan 24, 2013)

Thanks guys! 

Okay so the first part out of every new mold is slowly being assembled to check that everything fits together as it should. Progress is slowly being made and I am down to constructing the final few pieces which you see in white. Hopefully, I can wrap this up and start casting all the parts by the weekend. 
Here are some pics to show you all how it is shaping up.














































Let me know what you guys think.
Regards,
Darren


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## Chrisisall (May 12, 2011)

That's crazy detail.


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## Fozzie (May 25, 2009)

That's friggin' amazing. Wow. Mightily impressed!


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## Atlanthia (Jan 24, 2013)

Wow! Sincerely, thank you guys! Iunfortunately, I don't have a vacuum pump or mold injection facilities so its inevitable that there will be small air bubbles in the casts. These were in the process of being filled when I took these photos. They are now all filled and sanded.


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## Atlanthia (Jan 24, 2013)

One part that did survive the first model (in the picture immediately below) was the chair.



I couldn't get a good enough bend so I turned t on its side and glued it to a piece of foam board at the correct angle, before moulding it. Problem solved.
Here is the first one all painted up. The one on the right is an Art Asylum for comparison. I want to make it absolutely clear that no part of this model has been moulded from anything but my own builds. Anyway, here are the results.





The textured flooring debacle is also almost at an end.


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## Atlanthia (Jan 24, 2013)

By the way, here is a little side project I am working on. All my pieces will have this installed but I stress that it is a personal project and your kits will not come with this upgrade. Anyway, I just thought you guys might like to see it. Hope you like it!


http://i1269.photobucket.com/albums/jj583/atlanthia/Mobile Uploads/20150518_232150_zpseyr49xqh.mp4


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## Fozzie (May 25, 2009)

You're doing amazing work, Atlanthia! :thumbsup:


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## Atlanthia (Jan 24, 2013)

Thanks, Fozzie!

Okay so here is where I am. Just the podium to finish off and we are there! I have a coat of grey primer on the model now and I have mixed the green/bronze colour to spray on top.













I never set out to sell this piece, just to build it to complete my set. I have no experience of building to sell and I have, at times, Been overwhelmed by this project. Now, however, I Iook at this and I can't believe that I made this. No computers, no 3D printers and no injection moulds etc. Just my craft knife and my rule! I'm happy with how this is coming together and I know that this is going to make a lot of people happy.
Back soon!


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## Atlanthia (Jan 24, 2013)

Pretty much finished this piece. This is how it looks painted. Just some screen decals to apply once printed and there you have it!


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## Chrisisall (May 12, 2011)

From scratch that's a big WOW!!!


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## Atlanthia (Jan 24, 2013)

Thank you, Chris. 

Well, after nearly two years, I can finally bring the curtain down on this build. it's been a rocky road but I got there in the end!
Here are the pics of the finished piece. 
































































Hope you enjoyed the thread and I look forward to your comments/critiques!

Darren


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## Fozzie (May 25, 2009)

Absolutely fabulous! The detail on that thing is amazing. It fits in perfectly with the rest of the bridge set. Hats off to you...great work!


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## portland182 (Jul 19, 2003)

Amazing!

How do I get one?

Jim


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## Atlanthia (Jan 24, 2013)

Fozzie said:


> Absolutely fabulous! The detail on that thing is amazing. It fits in perfectly with the rest of the bridge set. Hats off to you...great work!


Sincere thanks to you, Fozzie for sticking with this project. But now I am up to my eyes in casting and assembling!!! I have 20 plus confirmed orders already so its all hands to the pump!


portland182 said:


> Amazing!
> 
> How do I get one?
> 
> Jim


Many thanks, Jim. If you are serious, please feel free to P.M. me, mate


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## Havok69 (Nov 3, 2012)

But where's the blinky lights?


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## Atlanthia (Jan 24, 2013)

Havok69 said:


> But where's the blinky lights?


???? no blinky lights on this one Havok but it does have a working miniature monitor /screen: 

Here's the link:

http://s1269.photobucket.com/user/atlanthia/media/Mobile%20Uploads/20150719_184323_zpsdgylfagh.mp4.html


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## Fozzie (May 25, 2009)

Atlanthia said:


> ???? no blinky lights on this one Havok but it does have a working miniature monitor /screen:
> 
> Here's the link:
> 
> http://s1269.photobucket.com/user/atlanthia/media/Mobile%20Uploads/20150719_184323_zpsdgylfagh.mp4.html


Very cool! What did you use to do that?


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## Atlanthia (Jan 24, 2013)

I bought one of those 1.5" digital photo keyrings for about $3, loaded some pics on it and shoehorned it in there. Sometimes, cheap is good :lol:


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## Segnett (May 2, 2017)

I'd love to get a cast of this for myself and one for a buddy of mine. Anyone know if it's possible to get or contact Atlanthia?


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## paulej55 (Jun 25, 2013)

I agree, spectacular build, sorry I cam in late to this but I too would love to get one of these to complete my set. I do hope he is still making them.


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