# Enterprise NX -01 Refit



## Trekkriffic (Mar 20, 2007)

*Enterprise NX -01 Refit --WIP Thread*

Here's my next project...


NX-01 Refit Box by trekriffic, on Flickr

I plan to build it mostly OOTB with the exception of adding lights. Wish me luck with that!


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## crowe-t (Jul 30, 2010)

I'll be following this one! I really like the refit version of this ship, it just looks more like an Enterprise.


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## Dr. Brad (Oct 5, 1999)

I'm looking forward to seeing what you do with the lights! Keep us posted!


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## barrydancer (Aug 28, 2009)

Good luck. If it's anything like your other builds it should look amazing! I've got it's original configuration big sister to do if I ever finish my current project.

I think I may be one of the few that prefers the original NX to the refit, though.


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## Trekkriffic (Mar 20, 2007)

Just about finished drilling out the windows in the upper and lower saucer halves. The really fun ones will be the oblong ones along the saucer rim sections. I'll be using a very small drill bit in my pinvise along with a new #11 blade and jeweller's files for those so will be delicate work but they need to be perfectly shaped which they will be if I have any talent at all. 
In regards to other things, I've already identified one alteration I plan to make and that involves the saucer deflector. I plan to replace it with long range sensors as an upgrade; so my version is a refit of the refit. Or does a sensor system upgrade constitute a refit? Maybe not but the idea is the original deflector was left in place until the new, more powerful deflector system could be tested with the new secondary hull in place. After a successful test run with the new systems and following a breakthrough in sensor technology the now obsolete, redundant saucer deflector was replaced with a new, more powerful forward sensor array. That's my story anyway. I think the look of the new sensors will be pretty familiar when you guys see it.


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## barrydancer (Aug 28, 2009)

If you're interested, the rationale from Doug Drexler for two deflectors is that the new secondary hull can be jettisoned in case of an emergency. After that happens, the ship can then continue on in its original configuration, hence the need to keep the redundant saucer deflector.


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## harristotle (Aug 7, 2008)

I cannot wait to watch you build this!


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## Trekkriffic (Mar 20, 2007)

Thanks for the comments.


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## Trekkriffic (Mar 20, 2007)

barrydancer said:


> If you're interested, the rationale from Doug Drexler for two deflectors is that the new secondary hull can be jettisoned in case of an emergency. After that happens, the ship can then continue on in its original configuration, hence the need to keep the redundant saucer deflector.


Sounds reasonable although I don't recall seeing a saucer deflector on any of the later Enterprises that were capable of saucer separation. I'm wondering since the primary hull would not be traveling at warp speeds if deflector shields alone would offer enough protection from space dust and debris rather than needing a full blown deflector dish. If this were true it would help explain why the NX-01 might need a second deflector dish since at the time of the first refit deflector shields didn't exist; the NX only had energized hull plating. I'm going to modify my story a bit to cover all bases, the upgraded long range sensors had the ability to be reconfigured in an emergency to act as a deflector array; not so powerful as the larger secondary hull deflector but enough to protect the ship at sublight speeds. This would explain why we didn't see a redundant deflector dish on the Constitution class Enterprise; assuming you agree with my notion that those three round ports on the bow are long range sensors. Honestly, I think you guys will really like what I have planned.


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## DCH10664 (Jul 16, 2012)

Well here's another Trekkriffic build I will be watching closely! I really like the NX-01 refit. Not that I totally disliked the NX-01 design. But I prefer refit design. It's such a shame it never made it on screen. 
And not that I totally disliked the aztecing on this ship. But I think if I ever get around to doing this model. I'm going for a paint job that is much closer to the TOS 1701. 
Looking forward to seeing how you trick out this one ! :thumbsup:


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## BWolfe (Sep 24, 2013)

DCH10664 said:


> Well here's another Trekkriffic build I will be watching closely! I really like the NX-01 refit. Not that I totally disliked the NX-01 design. But I prefer refit design. It's such a shame it never made it on screen.
> And not that I totally disliked the aztecing on this ship. But I think if I ever get around to doing this model. I'm going for a paint job that is much closer to the TOS 1701.
> Looking forward to seeing how you trick out this one ! :thumbsup:


TOS style paint job is what the instructions for this model calls for, no azteking. I look forward to seeing this build-up.


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## Trekkriffic (Mar 20, 2007)

BWolfe said:


> TOS style paint job is what the instructions for this model calls for, no azteking. I look forward to seeing this build-up.


Yeah. I don't think I will go totally TOS style with the hull color. I'm thinking some subtle paneling (not full blown aztec though) in darker and lighter grey tones with an overrall light to medium grey base color. I'd overspray the paneling with a thinned mixture of the basecolor (maybe mix with Floquil Flat Base) to make it very subtle Then an overspray of a transparent metallic pearl. The final clearcoat would be semi-gloss over Dullcote. What I'm shooting for is something in between the metallic silver azteced hull of the NX-01 and the basic uniformly grey tones of the TOS ship. I might even add some subtle weathering since my ship will already have been in service long enough for a second refit (the long range sensors).


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## barrydancer (Aug 28, 2009)

Trekkriffic said:


> Sounds reasonable although I don't recall seeing a saucer deflector on any of the later Enterprises that were capable of saucer separation. I'm wondering since the primary hull would not be traveling at warp speeds if deflector shields alone would offer enough protection from space dust and debris rather than needing a full blown deflector dish. If this were true it would help explain why the NX-01 might need a second deflector dish since at the time of the first refit deflector shields didn't exist; the NX only had energized hull plating. I'm going to modify my story a bit to cover all bases, the upgraded long range sensors had the ability to be reconfigured in an emergency to act as a deflector array; not so powerful as the larger secondary hull deflector but enough to protect the ship at sublight speeds. This would explain why we didn't see a redundant deflector dish on the Constitution class Enterprise; assuming you agree with my notion that those three round ports on the bow are long range sensors. Honestly, I think you guys will really like what I have planned.


With the NX, it's more secondary hull separation than saucer separation. Apparently the ship also keeps its original warp core in the saucer, so if the secondary hull is jettisoned, she can still cruise along like we always saw in seasons 1-4 and would need her original deflector.

But, I'd say you're right about there being other ways to mimic the effect of a navigational deflector. Look at the Miranda Class. It obviously doesn't have a deflector like the Constitution, Excelsior, etc., but it has to have to have some system that mimics it. Let's say later variants refits of the NX could do this without having the traditional dish.


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## BWolfe (Sep 24, 2013)

barrydancer said:


> With the NX, it's more secondary hull separation than saucer separation. Apparently the ship also keeps its original warp core in the saucer, so if the secondary hull is jettisoned, she can still cruise along like we always saw in seasons 1-4 and would need her original deflector.
> 
> But, I'd say you're right about there being other ways to mimic the effect of a navigational deflector. Look at the Miranda Class. It obviously doesn't have a deflector like the Constitution, Excelsior, etc., but it has to have to have some system that mimics it. Let's say later variants refits of the NX could do this without having the traditional dish.


Actually, the warp core in the original NX-01 is located between the pontonns at the aft end of the ship. In the Refit, the warp core module is moved to the aft section of the secondary hull, According to info from Doug Drexler, the warp core module is designed to be easily replaceable as upgrades are made to systems and the module is ejectable in case of emergencies. The module is highlighted by the red ovals in the pics below.


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## barrydancer (Aug 28, 2009)

BWolfe said:


> Actually, the warp core in the original NX-01 is located between the pontonns at the aft end of the ship. In the Refit, the warp core module is moved to the aft section of the secondary hull, According to info from Doug Drexler, the warp core module is designed to be easily replaceable as upgrades are made to systems and the module is ejectable in case of emergencies. The module is highlighted by the red ovals in the pics below.


That's not the warp core, but rather something they're calling a "symetrical warp field governor," which regulates the field at higher speeds, according to Memory Alpha. Somehow, when the secondary hull gets jettisoned, the governor pops back into its original place. The refit has two cores/engines. The original in the saucer and a newer one in the secondary hull.

Here's info on the refit from Drexler's Season Five Netflix Campaign Facebook page, https://www.facebook.com/notes/star-trek-enterprise-season-5-netflix-campaign/faq/673293089357030:

The NX Refit


The NX Refit, designed by Doug Drexler, and initially modeled by Pierre Drolet was meant to be the next logical progression in starship design. The ship boasts two warp engines, one in the Engineering section in the NX Saucer, and one, a more powerful one in the new Secondary or Engineering hull. The two engines do not run at the same time. One engine is always in a state of upgrade and repair, while the other is functioning, this allows for longer journeys and less time having to warp back to Earth for minor (or semi-major) repairs.


The Secondary hull may be jettisoned in case of a catastrophic emergency, and ceases to function as an independent part of the ship. This is a last case scenario, as the Secondary hull would then be a useless hunk of space debris, while the remainder of the ship, with the Warp nacelles could escape the situation and head back to friendly territory under low Warp or Impulse power. 


The need for a dual set of deflectors is thusly explained, in case of an emergency, the main portion of the ship would need it's original deflector array in order to function, also at the higher Warp speeds both deflectors could be used in tandem to provide better coverage.


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## BWolfe (Sep 24, 2013)

barrydancer said:


> That's not the warp core, but rather something they're calling a "symetrical warp field governor," which regulates the field at higher speeds, according to Memory Alpha. Somehow, when the secondary hull gets jettisoned, the governor pops back into its original place. The refit has two cores/engines. The original in the saucer and a newer one in the secondary hull.
> 
> Here's info on the refit from Drexler's Season Five Netflix Campaign Facebook page, https://www.facebook.com/notes/star-trek-enterprise-season-5-netflix-campaign/faq/673293089357030:
> 
> ...


I based my info on this blueprint from the old Drex Files site, apparently, they have re-designated what was originally the warp core in the original design.


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## Trekkriffic (Mar 20, 2007)

Well I still don't like the look of the redundant deflectors. I think I'll stick to my idea of replacing the one with the long range sensors that can be reconfigured for deflector duty in an emergency. There will be three sensors with the center one being reconfigurable. Just need to figure out how they'll look on the front rim of the saucer.


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## barrydancer (Aug 28, 2009)

Trekkriffic said:


> Well I still don't like the look of the redundant deflectors. I think I'll stick to my idea of replacing the one with the long range sensors that can be reconfigured for deflector duty in an emergency. There will be three sensors with the center one being reconfigurable. Just need to figure out how they'll look on the front rim of the saucer.


That sounds cool. It'll give it a more TOS appearance, too. You could go really crazy and change the whole angle of the saucer edge to match the Constitution class. :dude:


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## Trekkriffic (Mar 20, 2007)

barrydancer said:


> You could go really crazy and change the whole angle of the saucer edge to match the Constitution class. :dude:


Oh now let's not get too carried away! :jest:

Seriously, I wanted to thank you and BWolfe for all your input. 
I've learned things I never knew before about the NX-01 refit. 
You guys are awesome! :thumbsup:


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## harristotle (Aug 7, 2008)

It's about time for some more pictures isn't it?


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## Trekkriffic (Mar 20, 2007)

harristotle said:


> It's about time for some more pictures isn't it?


Yep. And away we go!

First off I drilled out the round and slotted window ports using a pinvise. The round ports will be filled with fiber-optic strands:

IMG_6096 by trekriffic, on Flickr

There were some smaller holes I drilled out for spotlights over hatches, atop the bridge superstructure, on the nacelle pontoon shoulders, and so forth. 
I actually bent the drill bit a tad on purpose as I drilled to impart a downward angle to the hole above the hatch doors. I'm hoping this will help the fiber cast a glow down in front of the hatch this way:

IMG_6097 by trekriffic, on Flickr

Some of the windows after I drilled, carved, and filed away any scrappy remnants with an exacto knife:

IMG_6098 by trekriffic, on Flickr

The neck peg that fits into the underside of the primary hull got filed out in the engineering hull upper halves. This is to allow for passage of wires into the saucer from the power jack which I'll locate in the secondary hull:

IMG_6099 by trekriffic, on Flickr

Holes for those little red and blue lights located in the recessed front of the dorsal cowling got drilled out. The outer two will be red on each side while the innermost one will be blue:

IMG_6100 by trekriffic, on Flickr

The observation room located at the rear of the primary hull was a bit of work. I cut the peg off the dome that slides into a tunnel in the lower part that has the three window ports and substituted clear round acrylic rod, the better to transmit light. I also carved out a slot about 2/3 of the way aroud the rim of the tiny dome facing the stern. Then I glued the dome to the top of the clear rod and glued in 2 tiny bits of styrene strip into the slot equally spaced to frame the openings and form 3 narrow windows at the base of the dome. You can see the strips sticking out before I trimmed them flush inthe pic. Then I drilled holes thru the lower 3 windows and squared them up as best I could using files and an exacto knife. FO strands were then heated to bloom the ends and fed thru the three lower window ports:

IMG_6101 by trekriffic, on Flickr

Styrene strip was cut to form the lower frames of the 2 outboard windows. A tiny dollop of CA was dropped into the 3 slotted openings in the dome and the lower windows. 
Still some work to do but it's coming along:

IMG_6107 by trekriffic, on Flickr

(cont'd)


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## Trekkriffic (Mar 20, 2007)

The fiber stands from the inside:

IMG_6108 by trekriffic, on Flickr

I started gluing the saucer rim segments into the lower hull. I had to remove some plastic in order not to block the light from entering the slotted windows:

IMG_6102 by trekriffic, on Flickr

Likewise channels were carved out of the individual segments where the slotted windows were located to allow light to reach them:

IMG_6103 by trekriffic, on Flickr

After gluing the segments in on the port side you can see how the light shines thru now:

IMG_6104 by trekriffic, on Flickr

Here's how the rim walls look from the inside:

IMG_6106 by trekriffic, on Flickr

Once I finish gluing the rest of the rim segments in place and come up with an idea for the three long range sensors that will be replacing the deflector dish in the saucer I'll spray the inside surfaces with Tamiya primer, lightblock with black enamel, then spray on a coat of gloss white. 
Then I'll run some electrical wiring and figure out what I'm doing with the LEDs before I run the rest of the fiber. 

More to come...


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## harristotle (Aug 7, 2008)

Looking great, thank you for the pics  I'm excited to see this build with such an attention to detail. 

Two questions for you... first, where do you get replacement pin vice bits? I break them from time to time and hate having to buy an entire set of them to replace them. If I could get like 20 of the same size I'd be a happy camper. 

Second one is, did you run into issues using the CA glue by the FO?


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## Trekkriffic (Mar 20, 2007)

harristotle said:


> Looking great, thank you for the pics  I'm excited to see this build with such an attention to detail.
> 
> Two questions for you... first, where do you get replacement pin vice bits? I break them from time to time and hate having to buy an entire set of them to replace them. If I could get like 20 of the same size I'd be a happy camper.
> 
> Second one is, did you run into issues using the CA glue by the FO?


Hobbytown USA used to sell micro drill bits by the piece. You can find them online too. Micro-Mark sells them in packs of 6 for 8 to 9 dollars a pack. 

The CA I placed into the observation windows at the back of the saucer only contacted the bloomed end of the fiber. On the inside I would use something like 5 minute epoxy. CA is not good for use to secure plastic fiber as it makes it very brittle.


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## barrydancer (Aug 28, 2009)

Trekkriffic said:


> Oh now let's not get too carried away! :jest:
> 
> Seriously, I wanted to thank you and BWolfe for all your input.
> I've learned things I never knew before about the NX-01 refit.
> You guys are awesome! :thumbsup:


You're welcome. I love the NX-01. If you ignore that it had to be built off the Akira, it's one of the most unique designs in the franchise to me.

Looking at the pics you posted, what's a pin vise? Like a little manual drill?


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## Trekkriffic (Mar 20, 2007)

barrydancer said:


> Looking at the pics you posted, what's a pin vise? Like a little manual drill?


Yes. It's basically a hollow knurled cylinder that accomodates one or two double-ended collets for a variety of drill sizes. Some have round or flattened knobs that turn on one end and rest in your palm as you twist.


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## barrydancer (Aug 28, 2009)

Trekkriffic said:


> Yes. It's basically a hollow knurled cylinder that accomodates one or two double-ended collets for a variety of drill sizes. Some have round or flattened knobs that turn on one end and rest in your palm as you twist.


Cool, thanks. I'll probably have to get myself one of those. I just got this from my sister in law, and have been trying to figure out how to get a drill bit tiny enough to drill out the windows.


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## Trekkriffic (Mar 20, 2007)

Orchard Supply Hardware sells X-ACTO. You can get a set of 20 micro drill bits that come in a round base with a plastic bell jar type cover. They aren't cheap though. 
Or check out Micro-Mark's website under drills and pinvises.

I build the clear Yamaguchi kit years ago and christened it the USS Excalibur. Here's a pic:


Ambassor Class Excalibur by trekriffic, on Flickr


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## barrydancer (Aug 28, 2009)

Trekkriffic said:


> Orchard Supply Hardware sells X-ACTO. You can get a set of 20 micro drill bits that come in a round base with a plastic bell jar type cover. They aren't cheap though.
> Or check out Micro-Mark's website under drills and pinvises.
> 
> I build the clear Yamaguchi kit years ago and christened it the USS Excalibur. Here's a pic:
> ...


Thanks, again. I'll check those out. Unless Santa also brings me a K'tinga, the Ent-C is the next kit I'll build and I want to light it. It doesn't look like it will be easy to get wires up into the nacelles.


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## Trekkriffic (Mar 20, 2007)

barrydancer said:


> Thanks, again. I'll check those out. Unless Santa also brings me a K'tinga, the Ent-C is the next kit I'll build and I want to light it. It doesn't look like it will be easy to get wires up into the nacelles.


Yes. You'll need to carve out channels in the pylon "wings" to feed the wires up into the nacelles. Shouldn't be too tough though since the wings are molded in upper and lower halves and you can do your carving on the inside of the hull. When I built my D the wings were one piece so I had to carve channels on the outside of the hull and then fill them in and sand smooth to make them invisible.


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## harristotle (Aug 7, 2008)

Trekkriffic said:


> Hobbytown USA used to sell micro drill bits by the piece. You can find them online too. Micro-Mark sells them in packs of 6 for 8 to 9 dollars a pack.
> 
> The CA I placed into the observation windows at the back of the saucer only contacted the bloomed end of the fiber. On the inside I would use something like 5 minute epoxy. *CA is not good for use to secure plastic fiber as it makes it very brittle.*


That's why I was asking. I used to use CA glue ALL the time for models, but I hardly use it at all now that I'm lighting them. 



barrydancer said:


> Thanks, again. I'll check those out. Unless Santa also brings me a K'tinga, the Ent-C is the next kit I'll build and I want to light it. It doesn't look like it will be easy to get wires up into the nacelles.


Definitely get a pin vice set. You can get full sets for like $15-$20 off of ebay. 

As far as FO goes you can get spools of different sizes. I got mine from these guys, http://thefiberopticstore.com/FOS-mainpage.htm 

And with the wiring, like Trekriffic said, carve channels in the pylons then fill them after you run the wires. On my 1/2500 Refit, the wiring I used is called magnet wire and is so fine that I ran it along the edges of the pylons and you can't even tell it's there.


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## Trekkriffic (Mar 20, 2007)

Anyway folks... back to the topic at hand...

Last night's progress...

Drilled out the holes in the clear kit part for the long range sensors:

IMG_6110 by trekriffic, on Flickr

Cut three pieces of aluminum tubing and glued them in with CA:

IMG_6113 by trekriffic, on Flickr

I think this will work:

IMG_6114 by trekriffic, on Flickr

I made a nice discovery. I could use sections cut from the sprue from the clear parts tree from the 1/350 scale TOS Enterprise kit (the one that had the little round bussard flasher bulbs and some of the other tinier clear bits) to insert into the sensor tubes. It is just the right diameter.


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## H.Erickson (Sep 1, 2005)

Awesome work! Really looking forward to your updates.


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## BWolfe (Sep 24, 2013)

Looking good so far. I have been looking through the renderings of the Enterprise on the facebook Enterprise Season Five site and it appears that they are going for a subtle aztec pattern done in shades of gray for the hull of this ship.


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## Trekkriffic (Mar 20, 2007)

BWolfe said:


> Looking good so far. I have been looking through the renderings of the Enterprise on the facebook Enterprise Season Five site and it appears that they are going for a subtle aztec pattern done in shades of gray for the hull of this ship.


That's sounds a lot like what I'm thinking of doing although I may over spray some panels with transparent silver pearl metallic. It will still turn out looking Grey after a few shots of Dull Cote though but that would give you a very subtle paneling scheme.


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## Trekkriffic (Mar 20, 2007)

Figure I should past an update. Nothing too sexy to report.. let's see...

I drilled a hole thru the display rod mounting tube and used AVES to mount a power jack in the secondary hull. I used a size K plug and jack:


IMG_6115 by trekriffic, on Flickr


IMG_6117 by trekriffic, on Flickr

This way the ship will be removeable from the stand.

A channel was carved into the lower half of the pirmary hull wings for wires to passs thru into the nacelles:


IMG_6120 by trekriffic, on Flickr

I wrapped some masking tape arohnd the 3 clear rods I inserted and glued into the forward sensor tubes before spraying the interior of the primary hull with Testors flat black enamel followed by white Krylon:


IMG_6119 by trekriffic, on Flickr

Masking tape was removed. I also masked a couple of rectangles on either side of the center sensor. After painting the black and white layers on the back of the clear piece I 
removed the masks and glued a couple of pieces of photo-etch mesh to the backside:


IMG_6123 by trekriffic, on Flickr

These panels will be lit with a blue tint.

I found a vinyl cylnder in my misc parts stash that was the perfect diameter to fit around the lower sensor dome opening. About 100 holes were drilled into the cylinder for lower primary hull fibers to be inserted before I glued it in palce with 5-minute epoxy. A 5MM Superbright (5000mcd) white LED will be mounted facing downward above the fiber ends into the lower saucer dome. Before I glue the LED in place though I'll place a cotton ball inside the sensor dome for light diffusion:


IMG_6124 by trekriffic, on Flickr

The clear impulse engine parts were glued into the lower primary hull openings. They will be masked, light blocked, and backed with either a cut section of blue plastic (salvaged from a used Glide floss dispenser) or a piece of transparent blue film. I haven' decided which will look best yet. A white LED will provide illumination on each side. I'll do the same thing with the smaller engine vents further forward on the rear perimeter of the saucer itself although those will be lit by ambient light only:


IMG_6126 by trekriffic, on Flickr

Finally, holes were drilled thru the hull at the base of the pylons in the lower half of the primary hull pontoons. The same was done for the winglets that glue in between the secondary hull and the primary hull pontoons above them. These will get fibers for the upper and lower winglet spotlights that shine upwards along the outboard faces of the pylons:


IMG_6127 by trekriffic, on Flickr


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## harristotle (Aug 7, 2008)

I love the little containment box for the FO in the saucer!


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## Trekkriffic (Mar 20, 2007)

Made some more progress on the LEDs in the lower saucer...

Two white LEDs were mounted with 470 ohm resistors behind the blue panels between the long range sensors. The sensors will glow with a nice bright cool white with blue screened panels in between:


IMG_6130 by trekriffic, on Flickr

30 AWG solid kynar wires were glued into the trenches for lighting the nacelles. You can also see the fiber installed for the upper pylon spot. Also visible is the black Tulip fabric paint I brushed on to light block and frame the clear impulse engine ports:


IMG_6132 by trekriffic, on Flickr

Wiring in progress. The circuits will all run all run off a 12V DC wall adapter.

The red and green running lights are clear flashing 2mm LEDs wired in series to flash in sync with each other using a 330 ohm resistor. 
Some plastic had to be removed from both the upper and lower saucer halves where the flashers were mounted so the halves would close. 
I painted them with transparent Testors red and green. I also painted the tiny clear plastic kit running light inserts with the same paint on their inside surfaces. 
Adhesive foil was wrapped around the barrel of each flasher leaving only the tip exposed. 
Black Tulip paint was also brushed where the wire legs extend out the base of each LED for light blocking:


IMG_6133 by trekriffic, on Flickr

Light test. Everything lights up thankfully:


IMG_6135 by trekriffic, on Flickr

Close up of the blue 2mm LEDs I am using to light the impulse engines. 
I used foil tape for additional light blocking and reflectance. I used leftover soft foam packing sheet material from the 1/350 scale TOS Enterprise kit for light diffusion:


IMG_6136 by trekriffic, on Flickr

I need to run fibers from the rim windows and spotlights in the lower saucer to the 5mm ultrabright (7000 mcd not 5000 mcd as I sated earlier) white LED in the center. Then I need to wire a couple of 2mm LEDs to the upper saucer. One will flash for the strobe behind the bridge dome. Then I can glue the saucer halves together and fix any external light leaks of which there are a few. 

Thanks for reading!


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## Trekkriffic (Mar 20, 2007)

OK. Time for another update I guess... if anyone is still following this thread lol. 

Spent a day just working on the fiber runs...remember to get plenty of fiber for modelling regularity...

For the lower saucer only the rim windows and lower spots will have fibers running to the center LED "tower". The rest of the round ports closer in will get short fiber strands that will just pick up ambient light:


IMG_6140 by trekriffic, on Flickr

The upper saucer LEDs were wired up. The one on the left is a flasher for the strobe behind the bridge dome and red and green flashers at the top rear of the nacelles; I'll run fibers up both pylons and into the nacelles for those. The LED on the right will light the spots on the upper saucer. The rest of the windows will have fiber strands inserted in them to catch the light from the central LED below in the lower saucer half. Two conductor wire will be soldered to the leads and fed thru the hole in the lower saucer into the secondary hull for power from the jack there:


IMG_6142 by trekriffic, on Flickr

I used Tamiya Basic putty around the rear saucer observation/control tower. It will look nice once I finish cleaning up with sanding sticks and needle files:


IMG_6144 by trekriffic, on Flickr

Once the saucer halves are glued together there will be a LOT of light inside.

I'm making a modification to the secondary hull deflector dish housing. 
First I cut loose the central disc where the dish support shaft mounts. 
Then I sprayed it, the dish, and the rear portion of the dish spike with Alclad copper:


IMG_6138 by trekriffic, on Flickr

I cut a round piece of clear styrene to fit inside the deflector cowling and sprayed it with Testors transparent blue on the backside:


IMG_6139 by trekriffic, on Flickr

I trimmed some tiny squares from the fret of some leftover photo-etch brass and glued them around the edge of the center disc. This took over an hour using tweezers and CA glue:


IMG_6145 by trekriffic, on Flickr

The center disc with it's brass ribs was dropped into the back of the cowling and glued with water-based super glue (it says it's super glue but it's really thick white glue). It will dry clear:


IMG_6148 by trekriffic, on Flickr


IMG_6151 by trekriffic, on Flickr


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## Trekkriffic (Mar 20, 2007)

Backlighting test of the modified deflector housing. 
It was a bit of a chore to get the blue disc to the right shape as the housing is not exactly round as you can see here:


IMG_6150 by trekriffic, on Flickr

So I need to finish inserting the rest of the fiber strands and glue the saucer halves together. 
Then more seam filling and sanding. 
I've got some ideas for nacelle lighting to work on too. 

See ya later!


----------



## barrydancer (Aug 28, 2009)

Trekkriffic said:


>




How did you do the red and blue spots on the upper center saucer? Fiber optic with some red and blue paint on the ends?


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## Trekkriffic (Mar 20, 2007)

barrydancer said:


> How did you do the red and blue spots on the upper center saucer? Fiber optic with some red and blue paint on the ends?


Yep. I cut them off about 1/2" long and brushed with 2-3 coats of Testors transparent blue and red enamel decanted from the rattle cans. They glow really well with the light from the Ultrabright center LED in the lower saucer.


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## Trekkriffic (Mar 20, 2007)

barrydancer said:


> How did you do the red and blue spots on the upper center saucer? Fiber optic with some red and blue paint on the ends?


Yep. I cut them off about 1/2" long and brushed with 2-3 coats of Testors transparent blue and red enamel decanted from the rattle cans. They glow really well with the light from the Ultrabright center LED in the lower saucer. 

I'm thinking about installing a clear dome in the upper saucer in place of the solid oval dome. Since this is a refit of the refit I figure it would represent another step, along with the three long range sensors in the saucer bow, in the evolution towards the Constitution class.


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## Dr. Brad (Oct 5, 1999)

This is great! I'm really enjoying this thread. Thanks for documenting your build!


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## Trekkriffic (Mar 20, 2007)

OK guys...More photos to share...

Lower secondary hull LEDs:


IMG_6159 by trekriffic, on Flickr

Light test: 

The LED in the very front is a 2mm blue LED to illuminate the back of the deflector housing. I cut a round piece of thin styrene sheet and covered it in Duck brand white reflective tape before gluing the LED in with CA. Getting the disc to fit required removal of a locator tab at the front of the hull which was easy with my dremel grinder bit. The LED shines forward thru a round disc 
of translucent foam padding glued to the back inside of the deflector housing with white (super) glue. This material came from the box my mother-in-law's new Panasonic phone came wrapped in. When I unpacked the phone and saw the bag the base unit came wrapped in I thought it would make for great diffusion material and it sure did. 
The LED in back of it on the other side of the power jack is a 2mm white LED cut and desoldered from a Christmas tree light string I bought some years ago at Target. The two LEDs are connected in series thru a 330 ohm resistor and soldered directly to the coaxial power jack contacts:


IMG_6155 by trekriffic, on Flickr

The upper saucer with wiring all soldered in and fiber optics in place and glued in with "super" glue (white glue as previously mentioned). The wire leads have all been dobbed with globs of 5-minute epoxy for strain relief. Some of the fiber strands were taped down with Scotch transparent tape after insertion:


IMG_6156 by trekriffic, on Flickr

Upper secondary hull LED ready for soldering to the lower secondary hull power jack. This is a white LED that will shine upwards underneath the main warp core module to light the blue deflection crystal in the center of it. I'm using one of the small round transparent blue bussard dome lighting inserts from the 1/350 TOS Enterprise kit for this rather than the clear kit part. This LED also lights the fibers running to the lower pylon spotlights and a porthole in the side of the hull at the aft edge of the pylons. I also ran some fibers up into the neck to better illuminate the round ports and the oblong windows located at the front of the neck up close to the bottom of the saucer:


IMG_6158 by trekriffic, on Flickr


Wiring harnesses for upper and lower saucer lights. These will be soldered to the coaxial power jack (positive red wires to the center of the jack and negative black wires to the outermost jack contact to match the polarity of the 12V DC wall adapter power coupling) and fed up thru the hole I made in the dorsal connecting tab before being soldered to the wire leads in the saucer halves. This was a change from my original plan of feeding the wires down from the saucer halves into the secondary hull, soldering the leads to the power jack, then gluing the secondary hull halves together. So what I'm doing now is the reverse of that:


IMG_6160 by trekriffic, on Flickr

After a minor feat of modeling intrepidity and legerdemain (all the wires and fibers made for a tight fit) I managed to solder all the leads and feed the saucer/nacelle lighting harnesses up and thru the connecting dorsal. I then applied Testors styrene cement to the rim of the lower secondary hull and the back of the deflector housing which fits into slots at the front of the hull. I then gave it a manly squeeze with my manhands but eventually got tired and clamped the sucker into my hobby vice to dry:


IMG_6161 by trekriffic, on Flickr

I did a light test with the power plugged in and all went well. I can see some minor light leaks around the base of the deflector housing which I'll need to fill with putty before applying more paint. The plan is to shoot the hull exterior with black lacquer followed by silver. Then I'll mask off some panels all over the ship before shooting with a medium gray color. That's all I'm going to say about the exterior painting plans for now. The rest I'll leave for you all to ponder as you sip eggnog next to a warm fire this Chistmas Eve...because I know how you guys are and you love to ponder things like that...

Oh... oh... almost forgot to mention... the wife and I were doing some shopping at the mall today and she got me the 2014 Ships of the Line calendar. 
I was so excited to see the NX-01 Refit (artwork by Doug Drexler) featured for one of the months. How cool is that?!!!


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## Trekkriffic (Mar 20, 2007)

Hope everyone had a nice Christmas holiday! Here's the latest...

I installed the clear inserts (previously tinted blue) into the inboard halves of the warp nacelles with CA. 
I also removed the locator pin and socket from the front of each nacelle half to allow for mounting a bussard LED. 
The outer halves were light blocked after filling in the sizeable gaps on the top and bottom of the inserts with putty:


IMG_6162 by trekriffic, on Flickr

AVES was packed in around the clear blue grills:


IMG_6167 by trekriffic, on Flickr

The stand was constructed...

I used hollow brass tubing in place of the solid metal rod from the kit. 
This required a slight enlargement of the mounting tube in the base which I did using a drill press. 
Wires from a vinyl rubber jacketed female power jack (provided with the power supply I got from Modeler's Brand Hobby Supplies:http://modelersbrand.com/) were fed up into the tube from below then the jack was mounted in a hole drilled and filed out in the base using AVES:


IMG_6163 by trekriffic, on Flickr

The base with a size K power plug atop the tube. I'll need to sand around the power coupling (may need some more puttying first) then paint it black. 
I may try the splatter technique too with some white paint I saw another modeller use with his domed base. 
His was done by accident but it turned out looking like the base had stars on it which was a pretty neat effect:


IMG_6164 by trekriffic, on Flickr


IMG_6166 by trekriffic, on Flickr

The brass tube had to be filed out a bit to accomodate the plug but that was no big deal.
Care had to be taken with the plug to make sure the center contact didn't touch the outer brass tube and create a short circuit. 
Once I was sure I had a good circuit after soldering the wires I glued it in with 5-minute epoxy. 

The secondary hull shown masked off and plugged onto the stand after puttying with AVES, sanding, then priming and light blocking with Testors flat black. 
You can't see the blue deflector dish ring glowing with the mask on but, trust me, the effect is really cool:


IMG_6165 by trekriffic, on Flickr

I fashioned a translucent bridge dome by slicing off the top of one of the unused kit bussard domes. 
I'm using the domes with the holes in the center for the bussard spikes so had 2 domes without holes (for the original NX-01 version) I could put to other uses. 
I must have dropped this sucker on the floor about a half dozen times while sanding it. 
The dome was sprayed with white Tamiya Fine Surface Primer to give it a nice even glow when lit:


IMG_6168 by trekriffic, on Flickr

The top of the solid kit dome was glued on after I sanded the top of it flat to make it the base of the new bridge dome and drilled a hole thru the center to allow light to shine thru from below. 
I masked over the hole with Tamiya tape prior to priming and light blocking the saucer exterior:


IMG_6170 by trekriffic, on Flickr

Take care everyone!


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## Trekkriffic (Mar 20, 2007)

More work...


Got the lower saucer attached to the secondary hull. Man what a crappy fit. Major gap at the front of the connecting dorsal; I tried to force it closed with CA glue but it wouldn't stay shut so I used AVES to fill it. Also noticed the two oblong windows at the very front of the dorsal each side weren't very well lit from the LED below and to the rear behind the power jack. Probably too many wires in the way. So I drilled a hole thru from the lower saucer into the top of the dorsal and fitted it with a white lighthouse LED. The windows light up nice now. Here's a pic after soldering the leads to the lower saucer wires. You can see how bright the lighthouse LED is behind the main led in the center; looks like the center of the Milky Way:


IMG_6171 by trekriffic, on Flickr

After soldering the upper saucer leads I glued the saucer halves together and clamped with clothes pins for the most part:


IMG_6174 by trekriffic, on Flickr

She lights up great! Got some puttying to do and more light blocking but overall I'm pleased with the illumination level:


IMG_6176 by trekriffic, on Flickr

Oh man I loves me some impulse engines!


IMG_6178 by trekriffic, on Flickr

Profile:


IMG_6181 by trekriffic, on Flickr

Current state of my workbench. Neater than it's been in a while. Got a new three drawer organizer at Walmart yesterday and set it on the lefthand side of the drafting table next to my big cart:


IMG_6183 by trekriffic, on Flickr

Now begins work on the warp nacelles in earnest...

Take it easy guys!


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## Trekkriffic (Mar 20, 2007)

Progress over New Years...

We ended up spending New Year's Eve and half New Year's Day with my mother-in-law so finding modeling time was tough but I got one warp engine done and the second is wired and just needs the other half of the nacelle attached...

For the blue nacelle trench lights I used these little lighthouse style LEDs. I had to trim off the barrel and press them into the trench in the cover that replaces the clear part in the outer nacelle halves for the refit version of the NX:


IMG_6204 by trekriffic, on Flickr

Three LEDs fit in the trench wired in series (negative leg to positive leg). I spaced them so they sit behind the three cavities where the reactor control loops legs are inserted so they didn't sit directly behind the clear blue panels and create hot spots:


IMG_6207 by trekriffic, on Flickr

The three trench LED's were wired in series to a round bussard LED. I calculated needing a 1 ohm resistor for the circuit but didn't have one so just went without it and it lit up fine:


IMG_6203 by trekriffic, on Flickr


IMG_6202 by trekriffic, on Flickr

I glued the other half of the nacelle in place afer backing the blue tinted clear panels with diffusion material and got a nice, even blue glow from the white LED's:


IMG_6210 by trekriffic, on Flickr

On another note, I just love this little mini-spatula tool my dentist gave me. It's great for applying and smoothing AVES sculpting putty:


IMG_6190 by trekriffic, on Flickr

Comments WELCOME!!!


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## Manatee Dream (Jan 2, 2014)

Really enjoying this process. The lighting looks fantastic, I was worried it would end up being too bright. Cant wait to see the next update.


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## harristotle (Aug 7, 2008)

Progressing fantastically! This build is peaking my interest in the NX-01.


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## Fernando Mureb (Nov 12, 2006)

I had missed this fabulous thread!! Fabulous job as always Trekkriffic!! :thumbsup:


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## Trekkriffic (Mar 20, 2007)

Thanks guys! This is a great kit even with some of the atrocious seams you have to fill; chiefly around the impulse engines and the connecting dorsal. As if that wasn't enough, I've made a lot of special modifications myself.

Here's a pic of the diffusion material I put behind the nacelle panels to even out the glow from the LED's:


IMG_6211 by trekriffic, on Flickr

The fiber for the rear flasher on the nacelles was glued in with 5-minute epoxy. I used tape to hold the fiber in a vertical postition as the epoxy dried:


IMG_6215 by trekriffic, on Flickr

After some cleanup with files and sanding sticks I finished masking off with Tamiya tape and Microscale liquid mask before giving her a shot of Duplicolor automotive primer:


IMG_6218 by trekriffic, on Flickr


IMG_6219 by trekriffic, on Flickr


IMG_6222 by trekriffic, on Flickr

Tomorrow I'll give her a shot of black. That should take care of any remaining light leaks. Then she gets a coat of silver.


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## harristotle (Aug 7, 2008)

This is looking amazing!


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## Carl_G (Jun 30, 2012)

Awesome stuff!

Did you find there was a lot of gaps around the impulse pontoons? I'm building mine and I find I need a _ton _of putty.


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## Trekkriffic (Mar 20, 2007)

Carl_G said:


> Awesome stuff!
> 
> Did you find there was a lot of gaps around the impulse pontoons? I'm building mine and I find I need a _ton _of putty.


Yeah. The triangular gaps along the outboard edges of the impulse engine vents were probably the worst gaps in the kit. I filled them with AVES and feathered the putty into the base of the upper nacelle struts with my mini-spatula tool and a micro-brush before sanding.

Spent most of the weekend looking after my wife who got a really bad headcold over the weekend. It was her birthday too so spent most of the time watching TV with her in bed getting caught up on some of our DVR'd mini-series. Talk about rotten timing; sick on her birthday!
I was able to get in a little modelling time though doing some pointing up of seams and gaps that showed up after priming. 
Amazing what shows up when the primer goes on. I had a major clump of dried AVES putty on top of the starboard nacelle endcap that had to be scraped off; the AVES was so close to the grey color of the kit plastic that I didn't even notice it before.


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## Trekkriffic (Mar 20, 2007)

So after more work cleaning up the seams on the nacelles I finally called it good and gave her a spray of Tamiya Gloss Black lacquer:


IMG_6226 by trekriffic, on Flickr


IMG_6225 by trekriffic, on Flickr


IMG_6223 by trekriffic, on Flickr

Once this dries I'll shoot her with Tamiya Bare Metal Silver. Got a fresh can of it on Monday.


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## Trekkriffic (Mar 20, 2007)

Just shot her with silver and see a few areas along the saucer rim that need filling with more putty! 
Arghhhhh! For such a small model this is turning out to be a real PITA! The Big Enterprise was a breeze compared to this wee beastie!
I also need to glue the reactor control loops into the nacelle trenches.


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## Manatee Dream (Jan 2, 2014)

Trekkriffic said:


> Just shot her with silver and see a few areas along the saucer rim that need filling with more putty!
> Arghhhhh! For such a small model this is turning out to be a real PITA! The Big Enterprise was a breeze compared to this wee beastie!
> I also need to glue the reactor control loops into the nacelle trenches.


It is turning out great though! I also never thought Id see the day someone would look more favorably on the 1/350 than a smaller model!


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## stryker (May 29, 2012)

It really looks great Trek! Keep the pictures coming!


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## Trekkriffic (Mar 20, 2007)

Finished puttying the gaps on the rim and did a little more cleanup to the grooves. Plugged her in with the room lights off and noticed some minor light leakage still around the flashers and in the nacelle trenches so gave them a brushing of black Tulip paint. That stuff really does the trick. Now I need to give her another shot of silver.


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## Trekkriffic (Mar 20, 2007)

Manatee Dream said:


> It is turning out great though! I also never thought Id see the day someone would look more favorably on the 1/350 than a smaller model!


A lot of the time smaller models can be harder to work on than larger models-just ask "haristotle" how easy it's been to light the 1/2500 Enterprise kits. 
This model was a snap together kit (poor fitting at that) not meant to be lit and a lot of work went into removing locator pins and carving channels for wiring not to mention having to solder all the wires, fix gaps, and customize the stand. With that in mind, you begin to see how building a kit like the 1/350 which is engineered to be lit and fits together extremely well, with an optional plug and play lighting kit available for it, might be considerably less of a challenge to build, at least for an experienced modeller like myself.


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## Manatee Dream (Jan 2, 2014)

I guess that would be true in every case-its hard to scale down electrical equipment, meaning less room. Seeing people light these tiny models is fun though, great tiny feats of engineering in space constrained areas.


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## Trekkriffic (Mar 20, 2007)

Here are a few pics after spraying the model with Tamiya Bare Metal Silver. I was a little worried but it went on fine over the areas I lightblocked from the outside with the Tulip paint:


IMG_6227 by trekriffic, on Flickr


IMG_6228 by trekriffic, on Flickr


IMG_6229 by trekriffic, on Flickr


IMG_6231 by trekriffic, on Flickr


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## harristotle (Aug 7, 2008)

Seriously, that is beautiful! I can't wait to see it lit up :thumbsup:


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## Trekkriffic (Mar 20, 2007)

At the risk of sounding cliche... It's gonna light up like a gol'darned Christmas Tree! 
Seriously, it should be quite impressive on camera against a space backdrop.
Right now I'm laying down tiny squares of Tamiya tape all over the ship. 
Then she'll get her Imperial Japanese Navy Sky Grey basecoat. 
Then I remove the tape to reveal the silver panels.


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## harristotle (Aug 7, 2008)

Trekkriffic said:


> At the risk of sounding cliche, it's gonna light up like a gol'darned Christmas Tree!
> It should be quiote impressive on camera against a space backdrop.
> Right now I'm laying down tiny squares of Tamiya tape all over the ship.
> Then she'll get her Imperial Japanese Navy Sky Grey basecoat.
> Then I remove the tape to reveal the silver panels.


It's gonna look awesome! I need to try and find a clear resin 1/2500 NX-01 for my lighted set.


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## Dr. Brad (Oct 5, 1999)

Trekkriffic said:


> At the risk of sounding cliche... It's gonna light up like a gol'darned Christmas Tree!
> Seriously, it should be quite impressive on camera against a space backdrop.
> Right now I'm laying down tiny squares of Tamiya tape all over the ship.
> Then she'll get her Imperial Japanese Navy Sky Grey basecoat.
> Then I remove the tape to reveal the silver panels.


Can't wait to see it!


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## Trekkriffic (Mar 20, 2007)

*The tale o the tape...*


This is a pic from a few days go. 
Applying all these little bits of tape is the most tedious part of the build. 
The pattern is random for each side but is mirrored from one side to the other:


IMG_6233 by trekriffic, on Flickr

From time to time I find little specks of dried putty under the coat of silver paint. 
After removing it I have to respray the Tamiya silver. 
Luckily it's lacquer so dries within minutes and I can continue masking. 

As of today, I have completed the upper saucer:


IMG_6234 by trekriffic, on Flickr

Now I start on the underside.
Hopefully I'll be all done with the masking by end of next week at the rate it's going. 
Pray for me...


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## DCH10664 (Jul 16, 2012)

You Sir, have patience far beyond that of a mortal man ! I would need a bottle of Prozac and a fifth of Jack before I even considered doing all that masking ! :freak:


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## Trekkriffic (Mar 20, 2007)

*Short update...*

*Finished the lower saucer:*


IMG_6235 by trekriffic, on Flickr

*And the dorsal:*


IMG_6240 by trekriffic, on Flickr


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## Chrisisall (May 12, 2011)

Eager to see the final result...


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## Trekkriffic (Mar 20, 2007)

*Slowly grinding along... masked the upper secondary hull and the outside of the starboard pylons...*


IMG_6245 by trekriffic, on Flickr


IMG_6243 by trekriffic, on Flickr

*The other pylon should go faster. Then the nacelles and lastly the underside of the secondary hull.*


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## Chrisisall (May 12, 2011)

Oh my.... that's a lot of work...


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## Trekkriffic (Mar 20, 2007)

Chrisisall said:


> Oh my.... that's a lot of work...


No kidding man!


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## harristotle (Aug 7, 2008)

Yay an update! Are we there yet???


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## Trekkriffic (Mar 20, 2007)

Just found out Acreation came out with an aztec set for this kit. And it's ON SALE! Oh well, too late now. Besides, I have a hunch those would look better over a base of aluminum metallizer meaning the model would have the same metallic finish as the original NX-01. Mine will have an overall light grey tone with underlying muted silver panels. Not so complex as the aztec decals to be sure but mine is not a true aztec pattern to begin with. My ship will be UNIQUE!


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## Chrisisall (May 12, 2011)

YES! :thumbsup:


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## Trekkriffic (Mar 20, 2007)

Quick update...

Got the wings and pontoons masked off. Just need to finish the nacelles and lower secondary hul. Those should go pretty quick... I hope...


IMG_6246 by trekriffic, on Flickr


IMG_6248 by trekriffic, on Flickr

Something neat happened when I flipped my SOTL calendar over for February and saw this:


IMG_6253 by trekriffic, on Flickr

Very cool! Doug Drexler's box art appeared, only this time the ships are over a planet battling Romulans. I was stoked! Then I noticed a feature of his rendering that would look good on my build so I cut a couple of short pieces of half-round Evergreen rod, rounded the ends, and glued them into the large emplty slots on the outboard edge at the upper wing joint of each nacelle:


IMG_6251 by trekriffic, on Flickr

Just need to glue a rectangular bit in the center of each slot now to look like the calendar. 

More to come!


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## harristotle (Aug 7, 2008)

We want more, we want more! :hat:


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## Trekkriffic (Mar 20, 2007)

At last! Finished the masking! 


IMG_6254 by trekriffic, on Flickr


IMG_6256 by trekriffic, on Flickr


IMG_6259 by trekriffic, on Flickr


IMG_6261 by trekriffic, on Flickr

I went ahead and brushed on some MM Titanium metalizer on the endcaps and a strip behind the bussard dome as an underpaint layer. Big deal, the next coat I airbrushed mostly covered it up. 
Here it is after airbrushing with MM Steel metalizer:


IMG_6267 by trekriffic, on Flickr

After a half hour I shot her with Tamiya AS-11 Medium Sea Grey:


IMG_6268 by trekriffic, on Flickr

Next I'll mask off panels for some of the Medium Sea Grey. Then when that's dry I'll remove all the masks and airbrush with a thinned mix of Testors Insignia White and IJN Sky Grey enamel so the panels are just visible underneath. Then I'll go back and retouch the endcaps, bussard stripe, nacelle trenches and other areas with a darker grey for accents. 
The scalloped panel under the front of the nacelles and the the front of the dorsal will get painted a more light to medium grey color, maybe mix in some MM Hellblau for the dorsal.
Still deciding on the mixing ratio for these accent colors.


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## Chrisisall (May 12, 2011)

In the words of Zorah, you're a dedicated man.


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## Griffworks (Jun 24, 2002)

Lookin' fantastic! That's a whole lot of masking, which has stalled me on several projects over the years. Good on ya for sticking to it, as well as a great eye for picking up that detail off of the calendar. :thumbsup:


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## Carl_G (Jun 30, 2012)

So you're both painting hull panels and applying Aztec decals? Going all out!


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## Trekkriffic (Mar 20, 2007)

Carl_G said:


> So you're both painting hull panels and applying Aztec decals? Going all out!


No decals. All the paneling is painted. It wii be subtle though. I want the first impression to be of a light grey ship with the understated paneling just visible upon closer inspection. I want a unique look that will trick the eye into thinking this is a pretty big ship!


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## harristotle (Aug 7, 2008)

Trekkriffic said:


> No decals. All the paneling is painted. It wii be subtle though. I want the first impression to be of a light grey ship with the understated paneling just visible upon closer inspection. I want a unique look that will trick the eye into thinking this is a pretty big ship!


I cannot wait to see the result of this!


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## Trekkriffic (Mar 20, 2007)

harristotle said:


> I cannot wait to see the result of this!


You and me both brutha! 

It's been slow going with outside distractions slowing my progress but I've just about finished the last of the second round of masking. 
Just need to finish the lower secondary hull, the pylons, and the nacelles but that should go pretty quick compared to the slog that was the saucer...


IMG_6276 by trekriffic, on Flickr


IMG_6278 by trekriffic, on Flickr


IMG_6280 by trekriffic, on Flickr


IMG_6281 by trekriffic, on Flickr


IMG_6282 by trekriffic, on Flickr

I got a pack of Testors trim tape at Michaels for 40% off with my coupon. Woohoo! 
Came in 3 sizes, 2 of which were narrower than my Tamiya tape sizes. 
I can see where the Testors would be nice for masking pinstripes; it's a little stiffer than the Tamiya brand so would lay down nice and straight more readily. 
Where Tamiya has it beat is in flexibility, it lays down MUCH better over irregular and curved surfaces. 
Still, I have been putting it to good use over the flatter sections. 

By this weekend I should be ready to airbrush the first layer of the hull basecoat. 
Then it will time to peel off all the panel masks (Yay!) and hit her with some thinned hull color to blend and mute the paneling.


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## colhero (May 18, 2006)

I applaud your effort so far sir! Lookin forward to seeing this baby leave spacedock...


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## Trekkriffic (Mar 20, 2007)

OK folks I spent about 4 hours removing all the various bits of masking tape with tweezers over the last 3 days. I will need a neck massage from the cat this evening. Yeah... riiiight...

First though here's the wee beastie (Do I sound like one of our UK brethren?) oversprayed with Imperial Japanese Navy Sky Grey:


IMG_6288 by trekriffic, on Flickr

After de-masking:


IMG_6299 by trekriffic, on Flickr


IMG_6300 by trekriffic, on Flickr


IMG_6301 by trekriffic, on Flickr


IMG_6303 by trekriffic, on Flickr


IMG_6306 by trekriffic, on Flickr


IMG_6307 by trekriffic, on Flickr


IMG_6310 by trekriffic, on Flickr


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## Chrisisall (May 12, 2011)

Trek, that's awesome beyond words! In THAT scale??? OMG.:freak:


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## Trekkriffic (Mar 20, 2007)

IMG_6311 by trekriffic, on Flickr

The only masks I left on this ship are the ones on the engines (warp and impulse), the hole where the matter/antimatter reactor pod crystal fits on the backend of the secondary hull, the blue deflector dish ring (the one I scratch-built), the bow sensors (also a scratch-build), the bottom saucer dome, the hole for under the top dome I made, and the warp bussards. 

Here's a cool tool. These little polishing sticks are like a chamois on a stick. They work well for getting into tight places . I'm using this one to knock down the rough borders left after mask removal:


IMG_6298 by trekriffic, on Flickr

After I've given the whole hull a nice going over with polishing pads and sticks to smooth out any remainig rough tape borders she'll get her final coat of thinned hull color to blend and mute all that paneling.


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## harristotle (Aug 7, 2008)

Words don't do justice how beautiful that turned out!


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## Chrisisall (May 12, 2011)

harristotle said:


> Words don't do justice how beautiful that turned out!


Right? 
That's why his name is...
*Trekkriffic!*


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## Trekkriffic (Mar 20, 2007)

So not a lot to show for this update but here goes anyway...

I wanted to brighten the longer windows along the saucer rim so I inserted 2 fibers, each about half inch long, into each window opening to grab some light from nearer the center of the saucer. 
I pushed them in so the ends sat just inside the opening:


IMG_6323 by trekriffic, on Flickr

I then cut little teeny window panes out of clear styrene sheet:


IMG_6326 by trekriffic, on Flickr

I glued each window pane into the opening with Elmers clear craft glue:


IMG_6325 by trekriffic, on Flickr

Yeah...I like the illumination level better now:


IMG_6330 by trekriffic, on Flickr


IMG_6331 by trekriffic, on Flickr

I love the little blue and red lights at the front of the cowl:


IMG_6333 by trekriffic, on Flickr

The view from above. I trimmed off the fibers on the upper saucer and did some cleanup on each one:


IMG_6358 by trekriffic, on Flickr

Keep in mind I still haven't gotten around to spraying her with her final grey coat yet.


----------



## harristotle (Aug 7, 2008)

Window panes!? You're nuts! Love watching this build, the results just keep getting better. The paint job is beautiful so far.


----------



## Chrisisall (May 12, 2011)

This is crazy beautiful work!!


----------



## Trekkriffic (Mar 20, 2007)

After the window panes glue dried I repainted around the rim windows with IJN Sky Grey. While that dried, I finally around to installing a slide switch into the base so I could just leave the power adapter plugged into it and turn the power on and off with the switch...

First I opene a slot in the domed base by drillign 4 holes in each corner then framing the eventual opening with Dymo label tape. Then I used a scribing tool to score the plastic using the tape as a guide:


IMG_6336 by trekriffic, on Flickr

The slot was finished off using my xacto knife and files. Then I drilled holes either end of the slot for mounting miniature nuts and bolts to hold the slide switch in place. After that I cut one of the wires from the adapter harness and extended the leads before soldering them to the switch. I ran out of liquid insulation so I dobbed the solder joints with rubber cement:


IMG_6337 by trekriffic, on Flickr

The switch after installation:


IMG_6340 by trekriffic, on Flickr


IMG_6341 by trekriffic, on Flickr

Another thing I'll be doing is adding some struts to the long range sensors in the bow. I just want to add a little more detail there. These leftover bridge rails from the ParaGrafix 1/350 TOS Enterprise PE set should work nicely:


IMG_6342 by trekriffic, on Flickr

Anyway, that's it for this weekend's report. Hope you guys had a nice one yourselves!


----------



## Chrisisall (May 12, 2011)

STOP!!! You're killing me here! This is awesome!


----------



## Trekkriffic (Mar 20, 2007)

Chrisisall said:


> STOP!!! You're killing me here! This is awesome!


Too late! I'm on a roll now.

You know I meant to tell you guys... At some point I came to love this ship. I think it has to do with having a physical model at a point where you can turn it in your hands and view it from all angles. After awhile you find the beauty shot angles and it hits you that it's really a cool design. Not surprisingly it's best angles share much in common with the original series Enterprise which only serves to endear it to me even more. It reminds me of my favorite ship; I can hardly wait to uncover the three bow sensors, add the upper saucer dome, the deflector dish, and the buzzard spikes. She will truly look like an early Grey Lady then!


----------



## Zombie_61 (Apr 21, 2004)

Trekkriffic said:


> ...At some point I came to love this ship. I think it has to do with having a physical model at a point where you can turn it in your hands and view it from all angles. After awhile you find the beauty shot angles and it hits you that it's really a cool design. Not surprisingly it's best angles share much in common with the original series Enterprise which only serves to endear it to me even more. It reminds me of my favorite ship...


I've liked the design of the NX-01 since I first saw it, even though I do tend to agree with those who think it looks more "futuristic" and/or "advanced" than the TOS Enterprise. But I _really_ like the design of the Refit version, and wish they would have used it in the series. I'm still undecided about whether I'll paint mine like Mr. Drexler's artwork, or attempt a TOS livery (when I get around to it, that is).

Even though I haven't posted in this thread until now, I have been keeping up with your progress. At this point I can only echo all of the compliments you've already received, except to say I'm very pleased to see your lighting is scale-appropriate and that your build-up won't be another overly-lit "Discoprise"; not that I expected anything less from you. I'm looking forward to your continued progress and seeing the finished product!


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## DCH10664 (Jul 16, 2012)

I like the NX-01 design fairly well. But this is one of the rare occasions where I prefer the refit version to the original. I've never been a huge fan of aztecing. And that's not to say that I hate it. But with the NX-01, for my taste, it was a bit too much "in your face"(for lack of a better phrase).
But you have done an amazing job of blending in the aztecing and making it much more subtle. I love it !!! And I have a much easier time accepting your model, as it is painted, as being an early version of the 1701. Looks Great !!


----------



## Trekkriffic (Mar 20, 2007)

Forgot this pic:


IMG_6335 by trekriffic, on Flickr

None of the implulse engines or nacelle trench lights have been unmasked yet. I also haven't unmasked the windows in the observation room above the hangar bays in the rear of the saucer or trimmed the fibers over the hangar bay doors.


----------



## Trekkriffic (Mar 20, 2007)

OK. Got some work done last night and at lunch today...

If you recall I pulled the leftover ParaGrafix 1/350 TOS Enterprise photo-etch brass sheet out of the bin and concluded I could do something with the bridge rails:


IMG_6342 by trekriffic, on Flickr

I discovered that the distance between the legs of the rails matched exactly the width of the slot at the bow of the NX-01. So, after cutting them loose from the fret and bending the legs together to form a triangle, I ended up with six struts that I glued into the slot to meet the sides of each sensor cylinder at an angle:


IMG_6363 by trekriffic, on Flickr

After painting with Testors steel and dry brushing the struts with aluminum:


IMG_6370 by trekriffic, on Flickr

They add a little more interest to the array I think. Once I remove the tape covering the illuminated blue panels between the sensors (with the PE screen visible behind the panels) and the tape covering the cylinders themselves it should look pretty neat with the sensor array all lit up. The cylinders are aluminum tubing which should look nice too once the tape is off and I've cleaned up any paint leftover from around the tubes. 

In preparation for applying the final coat of hull color I punched out some tape using a nail set and grabbed each tiny disc with my fine point tweezers:


IMG_6365 by trekriffic, on Flickr

Here you can see them going onto to each port that I had previously trimmed and cleaned up on the upper saucer:


IMG_6366 by trekriffic, on Flickr

Something that caught my eye with the excellent image of the Refit from the February SOTL calendar were these three blue lights on the stern:


IMG_6373 by trekriffic, on Flickr

I liked the look of those so I have drilled out three holes into which I will insert .020 dia fiber once I'm done with painting. After drilling I was pleased to note there is plenty of light to light the fiber strands inside the aft end of the ship; light that comes from the LED I mounted under the blue crystal atop the matter/antimatter pod:


IMG_6374 by trekriffic, on Flickr

So got to finish the rest of the window masking and she'll be ready for her final coat of paint; final except for the accent colors I'll apply. 

Thanks for reading!


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## Chrisisall (May 12, 2011)

My God man!


----------



## harristotle (Aug 7, 2008)

I so love watching your builds progress!


----------



## Trekkriffic (Mar 20, 2007)

Shot her with a 60/40 mix of IJN Sky Grey and Floquil Flat Base thinned with airbrush thinner. The upper saucer went on a little too heavy and needed a little sanding afterwards to bring back some of the paneling so after drying overnight I used some 600 grit on it this morning. Then I used a fairly wide soft brush and some more of the airbrush mix thinned even more and almost dry brushed it on to smooth everything out to a grey uniform texture but with the paneling still faintly visible underneath. I haven't done any fiber snipping or finish sanding to the rest of the ship yet so it's at the very early stages of how the hull will eventually look so don't worry if you see some rough masking edges. I will probably shoot her with Dullcote after more light sanding and touchup (and applying the secondary accent colors-can't forget that) and then apply some gunmetal and silver weathering pastels. So this Grey Lady is still very much a WIP:


IMG_6375 by trekriffic, on Flickr


IMG_6376 by trekriffic, on Flickr


IMG_6377 by trekriffic, on Flickr


IMG_6378 by trekriffic, on Flickr


IMG_6381 by trekriffic, on Flickr


IMG_6382 by trekriffic, on Flickr


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## H.Erickson (Sep 1, 2005)

Really really nice!


----------



## ProfKSergeev (Aug 29, 2003)

Nice work on a classy design. Toning down the aztec really helps sell the scale.


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## Trekkriffic (Mar 20, 2007)

ProfKSergeev said:


> Nice work on a classy design. Toning down the aztec really helps sell the scale.


Just wait. After the decaling I'll seal and hit her with Dullcote and some pastels. Just lightly to bring out certain details. And the lights! 
Wait'll you see her lit up in all her glory.


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## Trekkriffic (Mar 20, 2007)

Spet about 5 hours on her today...

Finished the sanding with 600 grit and any touchups with the hull color. 
Unmasked the forward sensors and blue navigational deflectors and touched up. 
Unmasked the bussard domes. 
Unmasked the impulse engines and nacelle trenches. 
Unmasked the secondary hull deflector shroud. 
Brushed on the accent colors-Testors aluminum, neutral grey, and medium grey. 
Installed the blue matter/antimatter pod crystal on the back of the secondary hull and the two little blue crystals on the upper saucer pontoons. 
Still need to install the bussard spikes and main deflector dish. 
I'll probably wait until I'm done decaling before installing those though.
I'm thinking about remaking the spikes uing tiny metal pins for the shafts so they would never break. 

Here you can see me poking the fibers into the 3 holes I drilled last time in the stern. I tinted them with Testors transparent blue last night:


IMG_6384 by trekriffic, on Flickr

And I took some pics with the lights on for you guys:


IMG_6386 by trekriffic, on Flickr


IMG_6388 by trekriffic, on Flickr



IMG_6394 by trekriffic, on Flickr

Here you can see the upper saucer dome glued on over the bridge:


IMG_6391 by trekriffic, on Flickr

Love those three little blue lights:


IMG_6393 by trekriffic, on Flickr

The nacelles light up really nice:


IMG_6397 by trekriffic, on Flickr

Obligatory blurry picture:


IMG_6400 by trekriffic, on Flickr

So she needs to dry overnight while I mull over modifying the spikes...


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## Chrisisall (May 12, 2011)

Oh, that's gorgeous....


----------



## StarshipClass (Aug 13, 2003)

Wow! You've really made that ship look "respectable." 

Great job and attention to detail at that scale--incredible work!!! :thumbsup:


----------



## Fozzie (May 25, 2009)

A fantastic build! That really looks great! I love the refit design and you really make it shine.


----------



## Trekkriffic (Mar 20, 2007)

Thanks guys! With the upgraded forward long range sensor/nav deflector array, bridge dome, and main deflector enhancements I'm considering calling this a year 5 or 6 refit. Any opinions?


----------



## sarah_bear_1701 (Mar 11, 2014)

Cool build,Trekkriffic. Insane detail for such a small kit. My husband showed me your TOS Enterprise build, and I was impressed as well. Great builds on this forum!


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## Trekkriffic (Mar 20, 2007)

sarah_bear_1701 said:


> Cool build,Trekkriffic. Insane detail for such a small kit. My husband showed me your TOS Enterprise build, and I was impressed as well. Great builds on this forum!


Thanks for the kind words. I'm a big fan of the TOS series Enterprise of course. Some of my mods to the kit were my attempt at an homage to it; in particular, the three sensors on the bow and the lit dome over the bridge. I just took Doug Drexler's idea that this design would serve as a logical bridge to the later Constitution class and extended the evolution a little further.


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## Trekkriffic (Mar 20, 2007)

Today I finsihed modifying the bussard spikes using .060 dia styrene rod and some piano wire I found in the back of my LHS next to the model railroading section...

First I drilled a hole in the end of the plastic rod, sanded an angle to form a cone on the end of the rod, sliced it off with my xacto knife (it was a teensy weensy cone with an even tinier hole in the center), slid it onto the piano wire and glued it in position with CA leaving a little wire sticking out the end. This is the tip of the new spike:


IMG_6404 by trekriffic, on Flickr

I sliced the old plastic spike shaft off the collar of the kit part and using the same bit in my pinvise I drilled a hole dead center and straight thru the part:


IMG_6402 by trekriffic, on Flickr

Then I had a spacy sandwhich for lunch:


Cheese sandwhich by trekriffic, on Flickr

After lunch I slid the piano wire with it's conical tip thru the collar and glued it with CA:


IMG_6406 by trekriffic, on Flickr

Here's the new steel shaft spike next to the old plastic spike:


IMG_6405 by trekriffic, on Flickr

And the two new spikes:


IMG_6412 by trekriffic, on Flickr


The piano wire is high tensile strength carbon steel and should never bend or break which was my concern with the flimsy plastic spikes. 

Next I'll do the same thing with the deflector dish spike.


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## Chrisisall (May 12, 2011)

Trek, you missed your calling as a heart or brain surgeon...


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## Dr. Brad (Oct 5, 1999)

Man, this is amazing! Continued great work!


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## Trekkriffic (Mar 20, 2007)

Thanks Chris! Thanks Doc!

Finished the deflector spike and painted the Bussard spikes with Alckad copper. The dflector spike is copper on the shaft and Tamiya Bare Metal Silver for the collar and spike. After the paints dried (ann hour?) I glued them to the bussards and main deflector housing ring with CA, Here are some pics. I also brush painted some more accent colors:


IMG_6428 by trekriffic, on Flickr


IMG_6440 by trekriffic, on Flickr


IMG_6441 by trekriffic, on Flickr

There is a nice blue glow reflecting off the back of the deflector dish. Because of the spokes I glued to the backside of the clear blue disc in the deflector housing there is a spoked pattern visible on the back of the deflector dish. Hard to see on camera but you can see it with the naked eye. 


IMG_6454 by trekriffic, on Flickr


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## Larva (Jun 8, 2005)

I love that treatment on the main deflector. Inspires me to do a similar treatment on my 350th scale E, albeit non canon for TOS.


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## Nova Mike (Apr 26, 2009)

Stunning work :thumbsup:


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## Trekkriffic (Mar 20, 2007)

Today I finished up cutting the tiny clear styrene window panes and installing them into the secondary hull. Got a few more things to do paintwise with the impulse engine frames and then she'll need to dry for a day or two before I hit her with Dullcote and start in with the pastel chalks.


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## Dr. Brad (Oct 5, 1999)

Hurry up!


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## Trekkriffic (Mar 20, 2007)

Today I decided I wanted to add some detail to those little secondary impulse engines on the back of the saucer, the ones that flank the pontoons. The kit detail was pretty poor, just a flat face with a rectangular opening with no fibers running to it that didn't light up very well, if at all:


IMG_6440Detail by trekriffic, on Flickr

First, I wanted more light to shine out the ports. So I drilled two holes next to each other in each opening. Then I worked the drill bit back and forth until the holes joined and became a slot. Cutting two fibers about 2 inches for each opening I tinted them blue and fed them into the openings until they were flush. I used canopy cement to glue them in. I have a big roll of transparent blue film that I cut two little rectangular pieces from and glued over the openings with Elmer's clear "super" glue. Then I cut a couple of pieces of paper thin sheet styrene to the shape of the face around each port and cut out a tiny rectangular opening. I glued these to the hull on each side. Then I added some greeblies to add more interest before painting everything with ModelMaster steel:


IMG_6465 by trekriffic, on Flickr

You can see the blue glow from the fiber strands in this pic:


IMG_6466 by trekriffic, on Flickr

You can see both of them glowing to the far left and right in this pic:


IMG_6470 by trekriffic, on Flickr

I can see they need a little more cleanup after viewing these pics in high resolution so I'll do a little more work on them before touching up with more steel. 

Tomorrow evening I should be able to shoot her with Dullcote prior to adding some pastel chalk effects. She's not going to look pristine as I have decided this ship is a year 7 refit. She's gonna show a little wear accordingly. 

Am I nuts for putting this much effort into such a small model? Perhaps, but, that's just the way I am. 
Hopefully, the members here have not grown as impatient with me as Dr. Brad. 
Do you all still even like me with my penchant for detailing the smallest things? I hope so. 
When in doubt, I console myself by remembering these words of positive self-affirmation from Stuart Smalley...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-DIETlxquzY&list=RD-DIETlxquzY


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## Larry523 (Feb 16, 2010)

To paraphrase from a TOS episode:

"You're either an obsessive crackpot who's escaped from his keeper, or Trekriffic, Modeler-extraordinaire!"

:thumbsup:


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## Dr. Brad (Oct 5, 1999)

Well, this just gets better and better! I am truly impressed. This would be amazing enough if you were doing all this work on a 1/350 version of this ship. But all this on a 1/1000 scale ship! Just amazing! I am so looking forward to the final pics!

P.S. You do I was kidding about the "hurry up" right?


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## Trekkriffic (Mar 20, 2007)

Dr. Brad said:


> P.S. You do I was kidding about the "hurry up" right?


Oh... yes... of course! :thumbsup:


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## Trekkriffic (Mar 20, 2007)

Larry523 said:


> To paraphrase from a TOS episode:
> 
> "You're either an obsessive crackpot who's escaped from his keeper, or Trekriffic, Modeler-extraordinaire!"
> 
> :thumbsup:


Thanks Larry!


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## Carl_G (Jun 30, 2012)

Trekkriffic said:


> Am I nuts for putting this much effort into such a small model?


To quote one of my favorite megalomaniacs, "the distance between insanity and genius is measured only by success." 

I still can't get over how nice the impulse engines turned out! That area of the model is such a hellacious mess...


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## Chrisisall (May 12, 2011)

Carl_G said:


> To quote one of my favorite megalomaniacs, "the distance between insanity and genius is measured only by success."


That's my third favourite Bond by the way...:thumbsup:


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## Trekkriffic (Mar 20, 2007)

Getting back to the impulse engines on the saucer I drilled a few holes in the round bit at the edge and inserted a 3 inch length of fiber. More detail on top of detail ya know. On the starboard round bit, I was off center with the drill so cut it off and replaced it before drilling again. That's why it is unpainted in this pic:


IMG_6474 by trekriffic, on Flickr

After retouching the paint I now have a tiny white light on the outboard of each exhaust vent. Kinda cool.

Started in and finished the weathering yesterday. Took about an hour and a half. First I gave her two shots of Dullcote. Then I used sponge tipped makeup applicators to apply the pastels starting with silver. For smaller hard to reach areas I used a microbrush:


IMG_6477 by trekriffic, on Flickr

Then I rubbed the chalk into the finish using a cotton cloth. If I went overboard I removed the chalk by wetting the cloth or using a moist cotton swab to wipe it off:


IMG_6479 by trekriffic, on Flickr

After sealing the silver with more Dullcote I went at it with Gunmetal powder. Here's a shot of the upper saucer after a rub using the makeup applicator and before her rub down with the cloth:


IMG_6480 by trekriffic, on Flickr

After weathering and sealing with Dullcote:


IMG_6484 by trekriffic, on Flickr


IMG_6485 by trekriffic, on Flickr


IMG_6486 by trekriffic, on Flickr


IMG_6492 by trekriffic, on Flickr

Pastels are like fairy dust I think. Really quite miraculous the level of realism they impart. 
It's pretty neat to see something go from a toylike finish to something that looks like it's been in space for 7 years with a wave of the pastel magic wand.

Next step is Glosscoting before I apply decals!


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## Chrisisall (May 12, 2011)

You really are an artist man.:thumbsup:


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## harristotle (Aug 7, 2008)

What an amazing difference the pastels made to the appearance. Can't wait to see it all done!


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## Trekkriffic (Mar 20, 2007)

harristotle said:


> What an amazing difference the pastels made to the appearance. Can't wait to see it all done!


It really is amazing. Since the above pics were posted I found a few small things that needed a little more attention with stray bits of dried AVES to be removed and some rescribing done. These areas only showed up in the weathering stage oddly enough. I've fixed those spots now and repainted-just a few spots where the pontoons exit the saucer and you have those deep parallel lines scribed alround the pontoon right where the saucer rim meets them. 
I also went in with some Gunship Grey and drybrushed a few other areas to highlight and make them stand out a little more. Then after that dried I drybrushed the Gunship Grey with some more of the thinned IJN Sky Grey to reduce the contrast just a tad. 
Anyway, I sprayed her with Dullcote last night where I did the paint touchup and will reapply the pastels today. Then I'll shoot her with Glosscote, give her a quick going over with fine sandfing films to smooth out the finish (although it's pretty smooth as it is) then another shot of Glosscote before decal work begins.


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## Trekkriffic (Mar 20, 2007)

Finished Glosscoting her today. Gave her 2 coats:


Glossy001 by trekriffic, on Flickr


Glossy002 by trekriffic, on Flickr


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## Chrisisall (May 12, 2011)

...
no..
words...


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## Fozzie (May 25, 2009)

Knowing how small that kit is, I can't express strongly enough how impressed I am by what you've done with it. That is one heckuva beauty you've put together. :thumbsup:


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## Chrisisall (May 12, 2011)

Fozzie said:


> Knowing how small that kit is, I can't express strongly enough how impressed I am by what you've done with it. That is one heckuva beauty you've put together. :thumbsup:


He's a sorcerer, that one.


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## Trekkriffic (Mar 20, 2007)

Thanks guys!


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## Trekkriffic (Mar 20, 2007)

Finally! We have reached the decal stage! 

Here's my decaling station. I got this square votive candle holder at _Michaels_ to hold my bottles of Micro SOl and SET. They wedge in nice and tight. Yaaaay! No more tipped over bottles spilling the precious fluid all over my workbench!


IMG_6502 by trekriffic, on Flickr

I use these special flat-tipped tweezers to dip the declas:


IMG_6503 by trekriffic, on Flickr

I poked holes in the largest decals using my exacto knife to let any trapped air escape so as to avoid the dreaded silvering:


IMG_6504 by trekriffic, on Flickr

Upper saucer just about done. I added a few extra decals left over from the PL 1/1000 TOS Enterprise kit around the flashing formation lights:


IMG_6505 by trekriffic, on Flickr

The toughest spot to decal was under the back of the saucer where there are two shuttle bay doors-only the aftmost doors because the other two are covered by the back of the connecting dorsal. I decided it would be easiest to cut the decals that frame the doors into sections:


IMG_6506 by trekriffic, on Flickr

I placed the decals using fine tipped tweezers then used my dental tool to fine tune their positions. Once in place I gave them a gentle splash of MicroSOL using a microbrush:


IMG_6510 by trekriffic, on Flickr


IMG_6513 by trekriffic, on Flickr

I added numbers to the cargo bay doors at the aft end of the saucer using some leftover decals from another model kit:


IMG_6518 by trekriffic, on Flickr

For the observation dome windows top and bottom I cut tiny rectangles of white decal film so they look illuminated. And when I say tiny I mean tiny! 

Next I'll post a few post decal pics!


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## Trekkriffic (Mar 20, 2007)

Here are some pics I took just after finishing up the decals. I'll let her dry overnight before sealing everything with another shot of Glosscote. Then she'll get a few coats of Dullcote. After that I'll go back with a fine tipped brush and hit all the windows, engines, domes and such with Future to differentiate them from the matte finish of the hull:


IMG_6519 by trekriffic, on Flickr

I added a tiny "Ion Pod" to the lower sensor dome. Yet anotherm upgrade linking this Year 7 Refit to the NCC-1701 Grey Lady some 90 years later:


IMG_6521 by trekriffic, on Flickr


IMG_6522 by trekriffic, on Flickr

It's interesting how she takes on a steel gunmetal look with the lights down:


IMG_6525 by trekriffic, on Flickr 


IMG_6527 by trekriffic, on Flickr

Next weekend I'll set the camerra and lights up for some final pics!


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## Chrisisall (May 12, 2011)

To quote Apollo, Yahoo!


----------



## harristotle (Aug 7, 2008)

Wow, wow, wow! I love it, you're an artist good sir! I always learn something new watching your builds.


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## Dr. Brad (Oct 5, 1999)

I'm really looking forward to seeing the next set of pics! This is great!


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## Zombie_61 (Apr 21, 2004)

Trekkriffic said:


> ...I'll let her dry overnight before sealing everything with another shot of Glosscote. Then she'll get a few coats of Dullcote...


Is there a specific reason for using Glosscote before the Dullcote? I've used one or the other to seal decals to the surface of whichever model I'm working on, but not both.

And while I'm here, excellent work! In some of the earlier photos I thought the colors you used on the hull might be too light, but those "lights down" photos look spot on!


----------



## Trekkriffic (Mar 20, 2007)

Zombie_61 said:


> Is there a specific reason for using Glosscote before the Dullcote? I've used one or the other to seal decals to the surface of whichever model I'm working on, but not both.
> 
> And while I'm here, excellent work! In some of the earlier photos I thought the colors you used on the hull might be too light, but those "lights down" photos look spot on!


I usually go with Glosscote over decals if I've Glosscoted underneath. The decal film has a duller sheen than the adjacent undecaled hull so I want to bring the decals up to the same glossiness as the rest of the hull so I have a uniform level of gloss before reducing it with Dullcote. I've used this method on other builds and the decals end up looking painted on so long as there are no air bubbles to cause silvering. 

As far as the hull color goes I wanted the general impression to be of a grey ship as a presage to the grey of the later 1701 Enterprise. Use of the silver and gunmetal pastels shift the tones to metallic without being overly dark in low light. It's a pretty neat effect I think.


----------



## Zombie_61 (Apr 21, 2004)

Trekkriffic said:


> I usually go with Glosscote over decals if I've Glosscoted underneath. The decal film has a duller sheen than the adjacent undecaled hull so I want to bring the decals up to the same glossiness as the rest of the hull so I have a uniform level of gloss before reducing it with Dullcote. I've used this method on other builds and the decals end up looking painted on so long as there are no air bubbles to cause silvering.


Ah, that makes sense. Thanks!


----------



## SJF (Dec 3, 1999)

It looks great, but it looks absolutely gorgeous when lit up. Fantastic job! 

Sean


----------



## Trekkriffic (Mar 20, 2007)

Well she's finished. Has a nice matte look with shiny windows, bussards, domes, impulse engines, etc. They make a nice contrast with the flat hull when viewed at an angle to the light.


----------



## harristotle (Aug 7, 2008)

Trekkriffic said:


> Well she's finished. Has a nice matte look with shiny windows, bussards, domes, impulse engines, etc. They make a nice contrast with the flat hull when viewed at an angle to the light.


We wouldn't know, there aren't any pictures


----------



## Trekkriffic (Mar 20, 2007)

harristotle said:


> We wouldn't know, there aren't any pictures


You all have a rather rapacious appetite for photos it would seem. 
Well who am I to argue with that...

Rim window shine:


IMG_6555 by trekriffic, on Flickr

Bussard shine. May need one more coat of Future. 
My carbon steel shaft spikes look pretty good... and they are STRONG! 
I can say without reservation that I would have bent or broken off the plastic kit spikes any number of times over the past few weeks:


IMG_6556 by trekriffic, on Flickr

Round porthole shine. I did these using the white extra fine microbrush:


IMG_6560 by trekriffic, on Flickr

Impulse engine shine:


IMG_6565 by trekriffic, on Flickr

And just for ducks... closeups of powered up thingys glowing in low light ...


IMG_6569 by trekriffic, on Flickr


IMG_6570 by trekriffic, on Flickr

Man those impulse engines are bright! 


IMG_6575 by trekriffic, on Flickr

There... satisfied ??? No??!!!

OK... More to come this weekend assuming no interruptions from the life generic...


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## Chrisisall (May 12, 2011)

Way gooder.


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## harristotle (Aug 7, 2008)

The glossed windows are such a subtle difference with a powerful affect. Amazing job as always! Of course we're not satisfied  cannot wait to see the finished pics in all their glory.


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## Trekkriffic (Mar 20, 2007)

Took pics on Sunday. Here's a preview...


IMG_6744 by trekriffic, on Flickr

More images tomorrow guys!


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## Dr. Brad (Oct 5, 1999)

Beautiful! Must ... see ... more .... pictures!


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## Trekkriffic (Mar 20, 2007)

Dr. Brad said:


> Beautiful! Must ... see ... more .... pictures!


*OK Doc. Since SOMEBODY asked... 

Go here to see the finished pics please...

http://www.hobbytalk.com/bbs1/showthread.php?p=4756801#post4756801*


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## Chrisisall (May 12, 2011)

So nicely executed.


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