# Cadet Series Ships



## MartyS (Mar 11, 2014)

Started on the motion picture set, here's some scale comparison shots to the TOS set:



















Didn't know the K'tinga was smaller than the D7, too lazy to look it up to see if it's true...

Not sure how I'm going to attack the refit and Reliant after I get the base coat of very light grey done (first thin coat on them in the pictures). Currently thinking of putting the decals on and then painting in the stuff they don't add color to.


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## Opus Penguin (Apr 19, 2004)

I believe the K'tinga is slightly smaller than the D7. These pictures look accurate. Great job on them!


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## Trekkriffic (Mar 20, 2007)

Nice to see side-by-sides but what about the TOS Romulan Bird-of-Prey? Any pics of that?


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## MartyS (Mar 11, 2014)

Trekkriffic said:


> Nice to see side-by-sides but what about the TOS Romulan Bird-of-Prey? Any pics of that?


See my build thread from back in May, bunch of pictures in post #10:

http://www.hobbytalk.com/bbs1/showthread.php?t=417506


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## Trekkriffic (Mar 20, 2007)

MartyS said:


> See my build thread from back in May, bunch of pictures in post #10:
> 
> http://www.hobbytalk.com/bbs1/showthread.php?t=417506


Thanks! I had forgotten about that post although I did comment in it! :lol:


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## MartyS (Mar 11, 2014)

I think this is all the painting I'm going to do on my Reliant before putting the decals on:










Got the seams on the big E refit pretty well taken care of:


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## MartyS (Mar 11, 2014)

These decals are proving to be fairly frustrating, breaking easily, not softening up much with setting solutions. Soaking them several minutes longer than normal seems to help some at the start.

I've got the top of the main hull done:


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## MartyS (Mar 11, 2014)

And the torpedo launcher is on:


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## Trekkriffic (Mar 20, 2007)

There is a real art to massaging these decals that's for sure.


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## MartyS (Mar 11, 2014)

My Reliant is pretty much done, might do a few more details and touch ups but not much more.

Big tip for anyone building this, on the bottom saucer decal cut the name area out, that's the weak section and it will break there. Also the outboard nacelle decals have a section that wraps around the top, it's a bit long and can go over the inboard decal too far.

Not super happy with how some of the decals went on, but after the build frustration wears off I'm sure I won't mind them as much, normal eyesight views don't look as bad as the magnified views in pictures or when building under the magnifier.

Some pictures:










































On to the Refit Enterprise....


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## ClubTepes (Jul 31, 2002)

Opus Penguin said:


> I believe the K'tinga is slightly smaller than the D7. These pictures look accurate. Great job on them!


D-7 - 226m?
vs.
K'Tinga - 214m.

If I remember correctly.


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## MartyS (Mar 11, 2014)

And here I thought the decals for the Reliant were frustrating, the ones for the refit E are generating quite a loathing..........

The secondary hull has many decals that could have been combined, I don't understand why they were split up into tiny bits the way they are?


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## Trekkriffic (Mar 20, 2007)

Deleted post...


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## Trekkriffic (Mar 20, 2007)

MartyS said:


> And here I thought the decals for the Reliant were frustrating, the ones for the refit E are generating quite a loathing..........
> 
> The secondary hull has many decals that could have been combined, I don't understand why they were split up into tiny bits the way they are?


Generally I find it easier to apply decals in sections rather than having one large one. Less chance of the decal tearing or folding over on itself. It also makes it easier to squish out any water trapped underneath. 

What gets me are the decals that are missing. Like decals for the impulse engines or the bussard intakes. Or the upper and lower domes on the back of the secondary hill. Sheesh! For my own Reliant, I've been spending time the past few days just adding other markings shown on the studio model that aren't included in the decal sheet. I make them out of my leftover "other kit" decals. I'll post some pics later in my build thread. 

Since you're working on the Refit now I might build the K't'inga next.


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## MartyS (Mar 11, 2014)

Trekkriffic said:


> Generally I find it easier to apply decals in sections rather than having one large one. Less chance of the decal tearing or folding over on itself. It also makes it easier to squish out any water trapped underneath.


Nothing large about the ones for the secondary hull, where they could have added 1/8 inch to the end of one decal they instead make a separate 1/8 inch square one. Would have looked a lot better and helped with alignment to have one decal instead of 2.

Realized too late that many of the refit decals are designed to be put on before attaching certain parts together. The lower saucer decal is the worst case, with parts of it meant to go under the neck so I should have trimmed those areas away before putting it on. I guess that is the answer to why some of the tiny decals are split, a single decal would go over seam lines.



> Since you're working on the Refit now I might build the K't'inga next.


I think I might be done with this kit, the fun vs. frustration ratio just isn't worth it. I'll put the few remaining decals on the refit and not do anything with the K'Tinga as far as painting. Leave that raw plastic.

If it wasn't for all the reports of inaccuracies in the 1:1000 Reliant decals I would have been working on that instead... 

I have a spare 1:1000 botany bay, might try to 3D print the missing pods and do a fully loaded version of that. That would be a fun project...


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## MartyS (Mar 11, 2014)

Did a few touch ups here and there and am done with this set.

They look fine several feet away, look closer and not so great.

Pictures of these and the TOS set:





































Not sure I'll ever do more with the K'Tinga, maybe someday I'll put the decals on. I don't really have any great affection for that ship anyway...

You know, Shaw's Phase II really does look way more like a refit that the one from the movies. Having them side by side, and small enough to take them both in easily, the refit doesn't look like it could have any reused parts from the TOS Enterprise.


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## Richard Baker (Aug 8, 2006)

You have a great collection there! Cadet scale is a bit small for me but those really turned out great.

The movie Refit matched the general configuration of the TOS but every proportion was changed so there are no common elements. IIRC they stated somewhere that while it did not use the same structures the original ones were refabricated and used in the new ship so it was not a true 'keel up' build.


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## MartyS (Mar 11, 2014)

*3 Es*

Picked up a cadet series D just for scale, doing a quick build, nothing fancy, not even using paint, just art markers and decals.

So far 2 decals were sized wrong, one didn't account for a curve and came up short, the other was too long but easily cut in the middle and made shorter. The decals on the nacelles were tricky, had a few breaks there, but the rest are not that bad. And they are not as brittle as the ones in the motion picture set so that makes positioning without tearing so much nicer.

Thought this was funny:


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## MartyS (Mar 11, 2014)

*3 finished 1701s*

With all the decals a quick and dirty build of the cadet scale 1701-D still took at least 12 hours.
Found a few more decals with problems, several that simply didn't match the curve of the neck, so the front side of the neck looks bad.

This is the first Star Trek ship that I like better on screen than in my hands. It certainly doesn't look that great from the top or bottom, come to think of it, I don't think I can remember them ever filming it that way....

Anyway, here it is with the first 2 1701s, the jokes about a 1:350 1701D really make sense when you see them like this:


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## MartyS (Mar 11, 2014)

Printed out some landing gear triangles and windows for the nacelle pylons at 1:2500 scale. Really adds a lot to the model to have them...

Really wish I could print white decals, that would be the only way I would do the 3 round lights on each side, would look strange with them in black.


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## Trek Ace (Jul 8, 2001)

You can add the round ports using model railroad dry transfers.


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## MartyS (Mar 11, 2014)

I had success printing out white numbers for my sub model by using the Testors white decal paper and printing black rectangles with the numbers in white:










I then went in with a micro brush and painted hull color on the edges of the decal to blend it in.

If I can get my printer to print a passable match to the hull color on my little TOS Enterprise I may get those 3 round lights on it after all.


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