# AMT Klingon battle cruiser tos Reissue kit build



## spocks beard (Mar 21, 2007)

These are a few non completed pictures of the POLAR LIGHTS/AMT Star Trek Klingon Battle Cruiser reissue kit i am recently working on.

The first coat of TAMIYA Green Gray spray has been applied, And am letting it dry overnight before applying the TAMIYA light ghost gray to the top of the hull for the two toned effect that was on the original filming miniuture. (Until just a few years ago, I never knew about that two toned finish on the original filming model.)

Actually, To me the seldom seen battlecruiser on TOS looked a light bluish gray on film, But was actually painted what i believe to be a Purplish gray/Celery green combo from the pictures i have seen of Gene roddenberry's personal model. But this lighter paint scheme will acomplish the look i am trying to acheave

I'll upload more higher quality pics of this build as i finish the paint & Decal applications.

I'm really digging the new ball and socket display base for this revised kit, The parts fit of the kit was very nice, With minimum putty/sanding involved.
In fact, This ship can still be assembled and painted without putty/sanding if desired & Will still display very nicely.

Thank's for looking, And will post more completed better lighted pics sometime tommorow evening.:thumbsup:


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## StarshipClass (Aug 13, 2003)

Great kit and a great build! :thumbsup:


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## spocks beard (Mar 21, 2007)

PerfesserCoffee said:


> Great kit and a great build! :thumbsup:


Thank you!
I just finished adding the two tone finish on the kit, And will be adding the decals and protective coat this evening.

I'm getting ready to upload a few pictures of the ship with the finished paint configuration, And will toy with the camera tonight after the decals are applied
To try and get some better quality shots to show the color as it really looks in person.:thumbsup:

Here is the first of a few pre decaled pics. I'm going to photo final pics of the ship in front of a darker background this evenining.


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## spocks beard (Mar 21, 2007)

.


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## spocks beard (Mar 21, 2007)

Here she is decals applied and sealed with dulcoat.

A lot of these decals i don't remember from the original filming minuiture, Or from that old AMT kit i had in the early 1970's, So only applied the one's i remember.

I don't have photoshop to mess around with to create a space backdrop, So just experimented with some camera settings and placed the ship in front of the black backdrop i normally have my big Enterprise placed.

As far as the colors i used, They are Tamiya spray's -Light Ghost gray and Gray green for the bottom half of the ship.

It was a blast working on this old kit, and thank's to POLAR LIGHTS for reissuing it along with the cool revised ball and socket base & The old style box art!

That box brought back a lot of memories.:thumbsup::thumbsup:

Will post a few updated pics now, And more as i have time,.
Thanks for viewing, And all comments welcome.


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## spocks beard (Mar 21, 2007)

a few more.


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## Cloudminder (Mar 4, 2009)

Nice work!


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## spocks beard (Mar 21, 2007)

Thank you very much!


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## Trekkriffic (Mar 20, 2007)

Loved this kit as a kid. It was a real treat to build the reissue as an adult. Your work is great! Nicely done!


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## irishtrek (Sep 17, 2005)

Great looking build you got there Spock!!!
On a down note the original filming model had NO chrome on it and it was originaly just one color, grey.


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## Trek Ace (Jul 8, 2001)

Actually, the original filming model DID have chrome on it (adhesive mylar) and was painted grey and pale green.


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## irishtrek (Sep 17, 2005)

Trek Ace said:


> Actually, the original filming model DID have chrome on it (adhesive mylar) and was painted grey and pale green.


Got any pix???


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## spocks beard (Mar 21, 2007)

irishtrek said:


> Great looking build you got there Spock!!!
> On a down note the original filming model had NO chrome on it and it was originaly just one color, grey.


Thanks everyone for the positive comments on this build!

irishtrek, Thanks for the kind words, And you may be right about the filming model having no chrome.

Actually i am not a fan of chrome pieces included with kits, Unless they are used for model car kits.

There were actually a couple of chrome parts i did not even put on the kit as it made it look to much like a hotrod:tongue:

As far as the filming model being all one color, That is what i always thought until i came across a few shots of the ship that was in Gene Roddenberry's possesion.

I will try and dig at least one of them up when i find it.
There are i believe two filming models in existence.
One owned by Mathew Jeffries, And the other given to Gene Roddenberry.

I don't believe Roddenberry's model was ever used for filming.( Only Jeffries.)

But the ship in fact was painted dark purple gray top/ Green bottom.
Since the ship was not shot at a lot of different angles during the original series, The few shots of the ship on film look a medium gray.

Thanks again guys for the complements!:thumbsup:

Here we go, These first two pics are what i believe to be one of the filming models.
It may be Gene Roddenberry's model.

I think the one displayed at the Smithsonian was Matthew Jeffries, And was repainted all gray.
The last photo is a caption from TOS, And as you can see, It looks a light to medium gray due to the way it showed up on film.



There does seem to be a bit of dulled down chrome on the top half of the engineering section of the ship, So it may be time to break out the dullcoat.:dude:




here is the filming model as it looked on TOS.
Colors look washed out.


A few more shots of my kit.


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## Trek Ace (Jul 8, 2001)

The photos of the Klingon ship model you are showing are not of the original color scheme, but rather a repaint with exaggerated colors that happened when the model was borrowed back from the Smithsonian to be molded and tested for Phase II/TMP. Afterward, it was repainted an overall gray color by Ed Miarecki and returned to the Smithsonian. 

The original colors were far more subtle. There was also no purple in the color scheme, but the model was lit on stage with both violet and cyan gels (top and bottom) which did give the impression of a purplish tone to the grey.


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## spocks beard (Mar 21, 2007)

Trek Ace said:


> The photos of the Klingon ship model you are showing are not of the original color scheme, but rather a repaint with exaggerated colors that happened when the model was borrowed back from the Smithsonian to be molded and tested for Phase II/TMP. Afterward, it was repainted an overall gray color by Ed Miarecki and returned to the Smithsonian.
> 
> The original colors were far more subtle. There was also no purple in the color scheme, but the model was lit on stage with both violet and cyan gels (top and bottom) which did give the impression of a purplish tone to the grey.


I stand corrected.
Thank you Trek Ace.

So from the updated info on the original filming model i posted, These are in fact photo's of one of the Klingon models after a repaint for the Phase 2 series.

I know my kit color is not screen accurate, But had assumed the color scheme was darker on top, Lighter on the bottom.

Do you know if both of those screen models were actually painted a light gray overall and NOT a two tone color?

Still a lot to learn about these old filming minuitures.
Any more info alway's welcome my freind.:thumbsup:


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## GordonMitchell (Feb 12, 2009)

I have an original issue of this kit complete with lights part built and after seeing this I might just hunt it down(in the loft somewhere)and finish her with the courtesy she is due,lights were grain of wheat and only in the command and torpedo area,switch and battery compartment are in the engine area at rear,never released in the UK,and the Enterprise was only saucer dome lights in the UK,I have both Saucer and saucer/nacelle light versions,not lit Klingon and saucer only light version of Enterprise were available in the UK under the Aurora banner along with Mr Spock about 1969 into middle 70's,kits are coming upto that 50th anniversary along with the original series..........this is making me feel old...lol
cheers,
Gordon


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## Zathros (Dec 21, 2000)

*Funny , I just took out an old boxed one of these from the 1970's that I got in a lot of kits I bought about 15 years ago, and it was assembled then pulled apart..I just restored it so far repainting it a light gray overall as I remember it from the show, and had to fabricate my own base. All I need to do now is apply the decals I bought from Culttvman. So far, its coming along pretty good

Z*


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## irishtrek (Sep 17, 2005)

Trek Ace, I do remember reading somewhere that the filming model had been repainted a 2 tone color scheme of grey and green, I think it was the old IDIC page web site. In fact I've printed out a couple of articles on the D-7.
Do you all recall the Star Trek poster books from the '70s??? I recently came across the issue of the 11 footer and the Klingon models being donated to the Smithsonian and I grabbed them for reference purposes.
Spock, I know it's too late to strip the chrome but did you know that if you put any chromed pieces in bleach the chrome will come off the plastic???


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## spocks beard (Mar 21, 2007)

GordonMitchell said:


> I have an original issue of this kit complete with lights part built and after seeing this I might just hunt it down(in the loft somewhere)and finish her with the courtesy she is due,lights were grain of wheat and only in the command and torpedo area,switch and battery compartment are in the engine area at rear,never released in the UK,and the Enterprise was only saucer dome lights in the UK,I have both Saucer and saucer/nacelle light versions,not lit Klingon and saucer only light version of Enterprise were available in the UK under the Aurora banner along with Mr Spock about 1969 into middle 70's,kits are coming upto that 50th anniversary along with the original series..........this is making me feel old...lol
> cheers,
> Gordon


Yes please do hunt down and finish that kit my friend.
I would love to see completed pics of an original issue Battlecruiser with the lights.

I had an old original issue MANY years ago as a child, And just did not have the skills yet to make anything decent out of it but a glue bomb.

I do remember it having those cut out windows, And the little crude grain of wheat light kit also.

I never knew that the early Trek kits released in the UK were released under the AURORA logo.:thumbsup:


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## spocks beard (Mar 21, 2007)

irishtrek said:


> Trek Ace, I do remember reading somewhere that the filming model had been repainted a 2 tone color scheme of grey and green, I think it was the old IDIC page web site. In fact I've printed out a couple of articles on the D-7.
> Do you all recall the Star Trek poster books from the '70s??? I recently came across the issue of the 11 footer and the Klingon models being donated to the Smithsonian and I grabbed them for reference purposes.
> Spock, I know it's too late to strip the chrome but did you know that if you put any chromed pieces in bleach the chrome will come off the plastic???


No, That is what is cool about this forum..I learn something new every day.:thumbsup:

Thanks for the tips on removing that chrome irishtrek, It's appreciated!
As far as those two chrome strips attached to the top engine room section, Not much chance on removing them without damaging the kit, So may very well just dullcoat a bit.

From what i can see of the original ship, It looked like dulled down chrome/Silver anyway.

The two chrome dohickey's on each side of the neck boom are NOT glued on yet.

During assembly, They seemed to snap in place so did not glue .
After going over further refferance pics, I'll most likely hit those parts with some of my remaining Gray/Green Tamiya spray.

Will post more photo's of the ship after this little fix.

CHEERS!
Cheers!


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## spocks beard (Mar 21, 2007)

Zathros said:


> *Funny , I just took out an old boxed one of these from the 1970's that I got in a lot of kits I bought about 15 years ago, and it was assembled then pulled apart..I just restored it so far repainting it a light gray overall as I remember it from the show, and had to fabricate my own base. All I need to do now is apply the decals I bought from Culttvman. So far, its coming along pretty good
> 
> Z*


Great work on that old kit & Fabricating a new base for it Zathros!
It's been so long that i even forget what the older issue Kilingon Battlecruiser kit
display bases looked like.

I seem to remember them being a type of cradle desine, Or was that the older AMT Enterprise kits?

What shade of gray did you use? It looks fine actually without the two tone paint scheme.:thumbsup:


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## spocks beard (Mar 21, 2007)

watch as the Hot Rod Klingon BattleCruiser fresh from it's Engine overhaul and recently added chrome valve covers Speeds of into deep space in search of new worlds to overtake:tongue:


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## irishtrek (Sep 17, 2005)

I remember reading that when AMT was awarded the contract to do Trek kits they went and made not 1 but 2 Klingon models both the same size about 3 feet long, 1 for the studio and the other for them selves and that's the one this model kit is based on.


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## spocks beard (Mar 21, 2007)

irishtrek said:


> I remember reading that when AMT was awarded the contract to do Trek kits they went and made not 1 but 2 Klingon models both the same size about 3 feet long, 1 for the studio and the other for them selves and that's the one this model kit is based on.


My take on it is that AMT did in fact manufacture 2 larger scale Klingon ships, each the same size based on Mathew Jeffries plans,But each slightly different cosmetic wize.(Not sure exactly what the cosmetic differances were.)

The one that Matt Jeffries recieved from AMT was the one that was filmed for the handfull of TOS episodes, And Gene Roddenberry recieved the second non filmed version after the series ended.

I always thought Mathew Jeffries filming model was the one donated to the smithsonian & Repainted a monotoned gray finish for display & Roddenberry's ship eventually went into the hands of a private collector.

I seem to remember reading that Roddenberry's model had never been repainted and retained what was supposedly a light green/Gray two toned finish which even Icon's assumed was the correct paint scheme when they released their version.

From the few low quality photo's posted to the net, And unless there is someone that actually saw Roddenberry's model in person, Who knows?

I am not the expert on these old studio props, So i based my paint on what i beleived to be correct, wether right or wrong after viewing a few photo's of one of the studio models.

That's what is so hard about trying to acurately paint these kits to faithfully match some of these older studio models.

If a person actually has access to an unaltered studio model, Than yes..Otherwise it is very hard.
Again, I have only ever seen a few low Quality pictures on the net of one of the ships painted the two tone gray/green.:thumbsup:

On a side note, I would love to know TOS Romulan Bird of prey filming model's fate.
Destroyed?


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## spocks beard (Mar 21, 2007)

Thank you irishtrek for mentioning the chrome parts on my build.
After going back and looking at the photo's and inspecting the ship in person, The chrome parts do tend to make the model look a bit toyish.

So i shot a bit of dullcoat to the pieces to tone down the gleem of that chrome,And it looks much better.

In fact with AMT retooling the kit to look more screen acurate, I am surprised they still included the old chrome parts of the original kit.

Here are a few newer shots of the ship after the dullcoat, And am very happy with the results.

The camera flash still makes the parts glisten a bit, But in person they are in fact looking like dulled Aluminum. (No more is this ship going to look like a hotrod.


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## spocks beard (Mar 21, 2007)

Another dechromed shot.


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## spocks beard (Mar 21, 2007)

I just stumbled on this webpage, And it may shed a little light on those two TOS Klingon filming models.

It looks like an interesting read, And am just starting to read through it.
Looks like a few unreleased studio photo's as well..But again low quality.

http://en.memory-alpha.org/wiki/D7_class_model


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## irishtrek (Sep 17, 2005)

Spock, in an earlier post you mentioned a couple of chrome pieces that you excluded from you build, and if they're the ones I'm thinking of there are 4 and in the original AMT release they went on the sides of the warp nacelles. Any way that could be one of the cosmetic differences between the model built for the studio and the one AMT built for themselves.
As for what happened to the RBOP is any ones guess because it just disappeared for the reason and that's why the Klingon ship was used in the episode The Enterprise Incident posing as a Romulan ship.
And I can see a difference with the dullcoat on there.


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## Bwain no more (May 18, 2005)

I had the poster book and recall learning about the two tone finish there. IIRC one of the photos of the Klingon ship showed a small piece of piano wire still attached to the model from filming. Paul Newitt's Assembly Manual two also mentioned the two tone paint (and gave suggestions for duplication of same.)
Back in '91 the Smithsonian displayed this miniature in a plexi case next to the K'tinga which was a MUCH larger model. Lighting in the museum was HORRIBLE and using the flash resulted in worthless photos, BUT...I do remember the two tone paint and I remember the Klingon three prong emblem having a WHITE circle background (as on the Estes decal sheet) rather than yellow as on the AMT. Also, I think the model was closer to two feet in length, MAYBE thirty inches, but smaller than three feet. I think the K'tinga (which I believe was on loan) was around five feet, maybe six. I remember seeing all the etched brass ship cranes, etc that had been added for
"Undiscovered Country" left their natural color. Man, I WISH I had taken some faster film that day so I could have shot usable pics!
Tom


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## Scott1768 (Jul 19, 2011)

Here are some pretty nice photos of the original shooting miniature (thanks, if I'm not mistaken, to Gary Kerr):


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## BWolfe (Sep 24, 2013)

spocks beard said:


> Great work on that old kit & Fabricating a new base for it Zathros!
> It's been so long that i even forget what the older issue Kilingon Battlecruiser kit
> display bases looked like.
> 
> ...


The models of The Klingon ship I built in the 1970's had an "N" shaped support made of three rods and a flat rectangular base, it was a worse design for a base than the "sawhorse" base for the Enterprise.


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## Trekkriffic (Mar 20, 2007)

Nice job and I like the grey paint scheme too. When I built my D7 reissue I went with the paint scheme shown in the GK photos with a light blue green underneath and violet grey on top although I toned down the violet quite a bit. The interesting thing is when I photographed the model against a black backdrop it looks grey like we saw on screen. The green and violet really wash out.


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## irishtrek (Sep 17, 2005)

Way back when the Enterprise, D-7 and the Romulan BOP had a display base that was a triangle along with a vertical support and it wasn't until tears later AMT began putting these kit out with different display stands.


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## spocks beard (Mar 21, 2007)

irishtrek said:


> Spock, in an earlier post you mentioned a couple of chrome pieces that you excluded from you build, and if they're the ones I'm thinking of there are 4 and in the original AMT release they went on the sides of the warp nacelles. Any way that could be one of the cosmetic differences between the model built for the studio and the one AMT built for themselves.
> As for what happened to the RBOP is any ones guess because it just disappeared for the reason and that's why the Klingon ship was used in the episode The Enterprise Incident posing as a Romulan ship.
> And I can see a difference with the dullcoat on there.


You are correct.:thumbsup:
Those 4 chrome pieces i neglected to install to the kit were originally to be glued to each side of the warp engines of the ship.

Obviously when AMT retooled the kit, They left off the original guides that were originally molded on the sides of those warp engines for the chrome to attach properly.

While assembling this revised kit, I was unfammiliar with the placement of those pieces also due to the instructions being pretty vague.
But heck, We don't need no stinking instructions for these kits.:freak:

Actually after now seeing some photo's of the older AMT version of the kit i can just glue the pieces to the engines without that molded guide anyway with some testors crazy glue.:thumbsup:


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## spocks beard (Mar 21, 2007)

Trekkriffic said:


> Nice job and I like the grey paint scheme too. When I built my D7 reissue I went with the paint scheme shown in the GK photos with a light blue green underneath and violet grey on top although I toned down the violet quite a bit. The interesting thing is when I photographed the model against a black backdrop it looks grey like we saw on screen. The green and violet really wash out.


Thank you Trekkriffic, Yes i saw completed pix of your build..You did one beautiful job on your kit.:thumbsup::thumbsup:


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## spocks beard (Mar 21, 2007)

Trekkriffic said:


> Nice job and I like the grey paint scheme too. When I built my D7 reissue I went with the paint scheme shown in the GK photos with a light blue green underneath and violet grey on top although I toned down the violet quite a bit. The interesting thing is when I photographed the model against a black backdrop it looks grey like we saw on screen. The green and violet really wash out.


Due to your brilliant attention to detail no doubt.:thumbsup:
I actually only ever saw that first college of pix from that GK set, And in those first 3 photo's it looked to me like the ship was a light gray/Gray green scheme.






I also came across this picture of what i beleive to be the ICONS issue of the ship to which i think they had access to an original filming model.
Sorry the picture quality is terrible.



Another shot of my ship, The lower half of the ship looks a sea gray here, But actually veiwing in person looks much more green to the eye.


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## Trekkriffic (Mar 20, 2007)

spocks beard said:


> Due to your brilliant attention to detail no doubt.:thumbsup:


Why thank you...




spocks beard said:


> Another shot of my ship, The lower half of the ship looks a sea gray here, But actually veiwing in person looks much more green to the eye.


Same with mine. You can see the green quite plainly here in daylight:
IMG_3884 by trekriffic, on Flickr

But not so much here:
IMG_3905 by trekriffic, on Flickr

Which proves the point that it's all in the lighting. 

Anyway, don't mean to hijack your thread. I just love sharing my enthusiasm for this design this design with others of a similar mindset.


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## spocks beard (Mar 21, 2007)

Trekkriffic said:


> Why thank you...
> 
> 
> 
> ...


No problem.
Feel free to post as many pix of your build as you want.

Actually, I'm glad you posted that frontal photo of your ship, As it looks like i neglected to apply that little decal above the photon tube mouth piece!:thumbsup:


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## Trekkriffic (Mar 20, 2007)

spocks beard said:


> No problem.
> Feel free to post as many pix of your build as you want.


Well, since you asked, here's one more... 

IMG_3910 by trekriffic, on Flickr


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## spocks beard (Mar 21, 2007)

Beautiful work!:thumbsup:
here are a few stills feom the 1974 Cartoon series of Trek featuring the Klingon ship.

Notice the color scheme has been reversed, And the photon tube is mounted on the outside of the mouth piece.

This was exactly how i mounted the chrome photon tube on my old Klingon ship.
Maby filmation based their Klingon Battlecruiser artwork on a child's rendition.


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## Bwain no more (May 18, 2005)

From the green tint of the rectangular windows on the head and the oversize
"pips" on the bridge, I would say Filmation DEFINITELY based their rendition on the AMT kit. And they ALSO left those four chromed pieces off the nacelles.
Tom


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## irishtrek (Sep 17, 2005)

spocks beard said:


> You are correct.:thumbsup:
> Those 4 chrome pieces i neglected to install to the kit were originally to be glued to each side of the warp engines of the ship.
> 
> Obviously when AMT retooled the kit, They left off the original guides that were originally molded on the sides of those warp engines for the chrome to attach properly.
> ...


those 4 chromed pieces were not on the filming model which is probably why R2 left them off the instructions when the 'accurized' the kit.
Spock in your post above you quote something about the filming model but you only go so far before posting your pix. Where is that from??? 
Also the pic of some one holding the filming model with gloved hands is from a page of the Star Trek poster book which was published back in the mid '70s and I had forgotten all about the 2 colors it had been painted, I never should have gotten rid of those books.


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## Richard Baker (Aug 8, 2006)

Some wonderful information in this thread!

My only objection to the accurized D-7 repop is that R2 removed some details which I really liked. They were not on the final filming model (which was why they were removed) but they were on the original Matt Jefferies design sketch he submitted to AMT. The original kit did follow his sketch and had them, but the big miniature they made for the show did not have them.


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## spocks beard (Mar 21, 2007)

irishtrek said:


> those 4 chromed pieces were not on the filming model which is probably why R2 left them off the instructions when the 'accurized' the kit.
> Spock in your post above you quote something about the filming model but you only go so far before posting your pix. Where is that from???
> Also the pic of some one holding the filming model with gloved hands is from a page of the Star Trek poster book which was published back in the mid '70s and I had forgotten all about the 2 colors it had been painted, I never should have gotten rid of those books.


Yikes!
Sorry, I'm starting to loose track of some of the reply's i have submitted to this thread.:freak:

irishtrek, That smaller pic of the gloved hand holding the NASM minuiture in that collage of pix was just a random incomplete photo i upped from the net.

I did not have the complete article to post. Sorry.
Just posted the pix to show the original color scheme of the Stephen Poe model.:thumbsup:

Speaking of those Star Trek Poster books, I did have one issue from around 1975/1976. It opened up to a large poster of a still of the Enterprise from the Episode The Tholian web.Very cool!:thumbsup:


Mathew Jeffries was truly a GENIUS designer and TOS Klingon Battlecruiser is probably my 3rd all time favorite sci-fi spaceship.
The first two bein the Jupiter 2, And TOS Enterprise.

Also glad they didn't go overboard updating the STTMP Klingon ship.

Here are a few pix of my build after applying those last couple of decals to the front of the kit.
While being far from accurately painted to match the original, Am very happy with the results.

Cool retro box as well, Thanks POLAR LIGHTS!


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## spocks beard (Mar 21, 2007)

I recently dug this photo up of what looks to be another shot of the original model being filmed at the studio.

Notice the purple lighting thrown onto the model. (Either that, Or the top really did have quite a bit of violet in the paint.)


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## Trek Ace (Jul 8, 2001)

Trek Ace said:


> The original colors were far more subtle. There was also no purple in the color scheme, but the model was lit on stage with both violet and cyan gels (top and bottom) which did give the impression of a purplish tone to the grey.


Like I said.


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## PauliusLiekis (Feb 16, 2015)

Nice job!


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## djnick66 (May 2, 2008)

Very nice job. These aren't easy to build. I finished one last year using an original kit (wtih the clear green parts) because I wanted to add lights.










The colors vary depending on lighting


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## spocks beard (Mar 21, 2007)

djnick66 said:


> Very nice job. These aren't easy to build. I finished one last year using an original kit (wtih the clear green parts) because I wanted to add lights.
> 
> 
> 
> ...


Brilliant work sir!
You pretty much nailed the correct color scheme on your build.

Looks GREAT lit up, And you did excellent seam work on that bad boy.:thumbsup:

I'll bet if you compared the older Klingon kit with this newer revised kit your kits plastic is WAY more heavier and sturdier then the feather weight plastic of the new kit.
(I was sweating bullits while assembling the neck boom to the ships main hull and the plastic of the neck actually twisted a bit!:freak

Did you airbrush on the hull colors? If not, What spray paint colors & Brand? I used Tamiya spray in the rattle cans, And while i am proud of how it turned out..I wish i could have found a spray with a bit more green tint to it.

I used Tamiya Gray Green for the bottom hull color, And Tamiya light Ghost gray for the top hull detailing.

Like you said, The colors do vary depending on lighting..And Camera adjustment.

In person my ship reveals a little more green than my pix reveal, But after being shot with a camera that green is really washed out to an almost Olive Gray.

I have to play around with more lighting and camera settings, Then i'll post more photo's.

Thank you & Everyone else at the forum for the kind words regarding this build!:thumbsup:


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## WOI (Jun 28, 2012)

Now that's smart use of recycling.


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## spocks beard (Mar 21, 2007)

a few more pix.
Earlier i had said the kit parts of this revised kit were a little flimsy.

But after assembly, It is a very sturdy display model.
I love the ball & socket display base included for this new release.:thumbsup:


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## djnick66 (May 2, 2008)

I have the reissue but actually didn't like the mold modifications so I bought an original issue off eBay. You can get them for $10-$15 if you shop around. Note that at some point, the clear parts have gotten lost and the last issues have some funny opaque replacements that look like turn signals from a model car kit thrown in. I wanted to use some of the little chrome doo dads too for old time sake. 

Fit on the old kit was nothing to sing about. I use a good solvent type glue and built the kit up in sub assemblies. I did all the seam filling on the main body, engines, and head/neck first before joining them together to prevent anything from getting broken.

Probably the WORST joints are around the bulb/antenna pit/photon torpedo launcher, and the main hull front. The engines did not fit well either. 

The green paint was a Krylon spray from Wal Mart. I forget the actual name now... It could have been Celery or Pistachio. It was an awkward paint to use... it is not very opaque, and takes 5000 coats to cover. Plus it dries very very slowly. It took a week to dry. The grey is a mix of may be 50/50 of the little Testors 1/4 enamel paints Gloss Grey and Gloss Purple. I airbrushed this and it went on very nicely. I should have just mixed a light green the same way.

I used the base out of the reissue of the STTMP battle cruiser kit, but without the ball mount part. The LEDs are a very simple set up that run off a watch battery with a push button added to the base. Since my kit decals were shot, I ordered a set of aftermarket markings (they were of fair quality and accuracy)

I find painting the ST kits interesting... we know the filming miniatures were painted one way, so they would appear differently on film. So, do you paint the model to represent the on-screen appearance, or the miniature appearance? Or, a combination of the two. As a kid I painted all my ST kits silver or grey or white... and they were boring... But that is how they looked on TV.


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## spocks beard (Mar 21, 2007)

djnick66 said:


> I have the reissue but actually didn't like the mold modifications so I bought an original issue off eBay. You can get them for $10-$15 if you shop around. Note that at some point, the clear parts have gotten lost and the last issues have some funny opaque replacements that look like turn signals from a model car kit thrown in. I wanted to use some of the little chrome doo dads too for old time sake.
> 
> Fit on the old kit was nothing to sing about. I use a good solvent type glue and built the kit up in sub assemblies. I did all the seam filling on the main body, engines, and head/neck first before joining them together to prevent anything from getting broken.
> 
> ...


Thank's for the paint details on your kit djnick66
If i decide to do another Klingon ship in the future, I'll most likely look for that particular spray you used for the bottom hull section.;

As i mentioned Earlier, I had the original kit back in the early 1970's..And it was molded in black plastic.
As far as painting the hull went, i seem to remember applying Testor's bottled gloss blue with a brush to try and capture the look of the ship as it looked on the box.( Brush strokes and all.:freak


R.I.P Mr. Leonard Nimoy


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## djnick66 (May 2, 2008)

I never had a black Klingon Battle Cruiser but I think one I got as a kid (from Captain Company after about a 9 month wait) came in sky blue. I guess I built a fair amount of ST stuff as a kid, although they weren't really favorite models. I did build pretty much one of each kit though... Enterprise, Klingon, K-7, Romulan, etc. I was glad to see Round 2 bring the kits back, although I am not a fan of the altered Klingon ship so much. I do like the revised Romulan though.


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## BWolfe (Sep 24, 2013)

spocks beard said:


> I love the ball & socket display base included for this new release.:thumbsup:
> 
> 
> 
> (Looking at your ball and socket base with my best annoyed monkey look) I have never been able to get that ball and socket design to stay put and always wind up gluing it in place. Fantastic work on the model.


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## spocks beard (Mar 21, 2007)

BWolfe said:


> spocks beard said:
> 
> 
> > I love the ball & socket display base included for this new release.:thumbsup:
> ...


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## Phillip1 (Jul 24, 2009)

spocks beard,

You have done a really nice job on the D-7-congratulations! I always thought multi-color scheme and clean finish worked well to make this a great looking design.

Phillp1


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## spocks beard (Mar 21, 2007)

djnick66 said:


> I never had a black Klingon Battle Cruiser but I think one I got as a kid (from Captain Company after about a 9 month wait) came in sky blue. I guess I built a fair amount of ST stuff as a kid, although they weren't really favorite models. I did build pretty much one of each kit though... Enterprise, Klingon, K-7, Romulan, etc. I was glad to see Round 2 bring the kits back, although I am not a fan of the altered Klingon ship so much. I do like the revised Romulan though.


I was very young at the time that i had that Klingon Battlecruiser kit, But i do remember vividly it was molded in a heavy black plastic, With the Chrome pieces/Transparent green plastic detailing parts.

It had the cutout windows, And a couple of grain of wheat lights that i could not install. (Of course.)

This was around 1972, And was bought for me at a local drug store that had a reputation for having vintage kits laying on the shelves dating even back as far as the late 1960's.

It may have been a fluke to find that particular kit molded in black?
I don't know.

Not sure what color the very first issue kits were molded in.
Light gray?


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## charonjr (Mar 27, 2000)

I must be out of touch. I thought the re-issue modifications made this D7 completely accurate to the miniature. This is not the case?


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## Trekkriffic (Mar 20, 2007)

charonjr said:


> I must be out of touch. I thought the re-issue modifications made this D7 completely accurate to the miniature. This is not the case?


Hard to say. From what I have read it depends on which miniature you are talking about.


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## spocks beard (Mar 21, 2007)

Trekkriffic said:


> Hard to say. From what I have read it depends on which miniature you are talking about.


Phillip1, Thank you for the kind words regarding my rendition of this kit.
I agree with you regarding the clean non weathered look for this particular model, And i may have read somewhere that the original filming models were neither weathered or lighted.

Trekkriffic, You are correct.
There were two filming models built, And each model had certain cosmetic differances between them.

Not sure exactly what they were anymore.
However to my eyes, The revised addition seems to be more accurate to the original model used on TOS.


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## Trek Ace (Jul 8, 2001)

The Round 2 reissue is more accurate to the screen-used studio model. The original release was accurate to the original "tooling" model, with additional details that matched the original drawings.


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## irishtrek (Sep 17, 2005)

spocks beard said:


> Phillip1, Thank you for the kind words regarding my rendition of this kit.
> I agree with you regarding the clean non weathered look for this particular model, And i may have read somewhere that the original filming models were neither weathered or lighted.
> 
> Trekkriffic, You are correct.
> ...


Of the 2 that AMT built one went to the studio while AMT kept the other and that is the one AMT based their model kit on. If I remember correctly.


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## djnick66 (May 2, 2008)

The AMT kit had ribbed inserts on the front wing coves whereas at least the on screen miniature was smooth there. The AMT kit also had those funny "C" shaped side pipes on the base of the neck, which were also not on the filming miniature. Likewise, the kit had little chrome brackets on the engine pods that were in chrome. If you compare my build up to the OP's fine model you will see a lot of differences since I used an unaltered original version of the kit. The original kit too had a two piece grill on the front upper hull structure, with a chrome insert. The new kit rather crudely reworked that into one piece. The original kit's two clear "eyes" are now molded as little pimples on top of the bridge, and the clear side inserts are also gone and just molded into the bridge structure.

There is some confusion as to how the antenna sensor pit piece should fit. The kit part is rather poorly done and takes a lot of work to get blended in one way or another...


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## Hunch (Apr 6, 2003)

Nice work on the kit. Mine got destroyed when a woman threw her coat on it not knowing it was there! After months of hard work I just threw it out without even looking at it. Very sad.
Now if Polar would only put this out in 1/350...
K'tinga would be nice but the original would be best. I'm sure it would be a big seller.
Jim


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## spocks beard (Mar 21, 2007)

Hunch said:


> Nice work on the kit. Mine got destroyed when a woman threw her coat on it not knowing it was there! After months of hard work I just threw it out without even looking at it. Very sad.
> Now if Polar would only put this out in 1/350...
> K'tinga would be nice but the original would be best. I'm sure it would be a big seller.
> Jim


EEEEEEKKKKK!!
VERY sad indeed.

I agree, It would be extremely nice if Polar Lights would issue a 1/350 scale D7.
I guess it depends on how much the last two large scale Enterprise kits sold, And i'm sure they sold VERY well.

I'm not holding my breath though as they have already announced and canceled a few newer kits, And still no new news on that larger shuttle craft kit.

irishtrek, I think you are correct regarding AMT keeping that second filming model as referance for their production model kit.

From what i have read though, AMT did eventually give the model to Gene Roddenberry afterwards, And there were a few detail differances along the neck boom
That were not on the Matt Jeffries filming model.


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## Bwain no more (May 18, 2005)

Bear in mind that in the nearly three years since the 1/350 TOS was tooled, the cost of tooling has nearly TRIPLED. Frank (from Moebius) told me that since his '66 Batman was tooled (less than a year ago) the tooling for Robin will be at LEAST 25% more, and to bring the comparison home, sales for the sidekick (or alien ship) would be expected to be lower. BTW on top of that, VERY recently R2 liquidated ALOT of Trek kits (the AMT D7 among them; I scored one in the tin box for $10!!) A 350th D7 will be a VERY tough sell! 
Tom


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