# Cadet Series STTMP Set-1/2500 Scale



## Trekkriffic (Mar 20, 2007)

Now that my 5 month slog on the Klingon Bird-of-Prey is over with, I thought it might be nice to tackle something a bit smaller and less complicated so off with the shrinkwrap and let's have at it...



















I picked this kit up at the local _Michaels _ craft store with a 50% off coupon so it cost me around 11 bucks. A great deal and made me glad I was patient and didn't pay the LHS price when this kit was first issued. 

Parts trees molded in white and green:










If this was a straight from the box build I could probably finish all three ships in a month. With my propensity for making modifications it will probably be more like a month apiece. 

Once I have the first ship together and painted I'll post a pic of the decals.

Stay fresh everyone!


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## Lloyd Collins (Sep 25, 2004)

You, build straight out of the box...never will happen!


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## irocer (Aug 22, 2000)

What does the decal sheet look like?


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## TIEbomber1967 (May 21, 2012)

Did you check out the iHobby Expo coverage on CultTVman's site?
http://culttvman.com/main/ihobbyexpo-2014-round-2-updates-part-1/
Apparently the cadet ships will be repackaged in a single pre-painted package called "Ships of the Line". From the looks of the packaging, it will most likely be the smaller ships that get this treatment (no Enterprise C, D, or E), but who knows.
I think it's a great idea, and hopefully we'll see different paint schemes. Not simply the Enterprise and Reliant, but battle damaged Enterprise and Reliant. Not just the K'tinga, but the TMP K'tinga and the Kronos One. The Klingon D-7 and the Romulan Battlecruiser (the klingon ship w/Romulan markings). The TOS Enterprise and the battle damaged Constellation.
I'm hoping they will be fairly affordable (less than $15). We'll have to wait and see.


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## marcnoonan (Oct 2, 2014)

I've gotta say that, although I've seen a really great build up of this set, I'm disappointed that such a large company takes the easy option of decals over details. I have Scifiskunkworks Avenger (Reliant) and the level of detail on that makes the model far superior in my eyes. I also used to have Cozmo Heavy Industires Reliant which again is full of detail but I guess small time GK'ers just put more of their heart into the models.

Will Cadet models just come with a "wrap" in future where everyone will have to become experts in using hairdryers rather than paint guns/brushes I wonder?

Just my 2p

Marc


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## Trekkriffic (Mar 20, 2007)

marcnoonan said:


> I've gotta say that, although I've seen a really great build up of this set, I'm disappointed that such a large company takes the easy option of decals over details. I have Scifiskunkworks Avenger (Reliant) and the level of detail on that makes the model far superior in my eyes. I also used to have Cozmo Heavy Industires Reliant which again is full of detail but I guess small time GK'ers just put more of their heart into the models.
> 
> Will Cadet models just come with a "wrap" in future where everyone will have to become experts in using hairdryers rather than paint guns/brushes I wonder?
> 
> ...


Frankly, I think it would be hard to reproduce some of the smaller details without the decals and this includes the aztec paneling. My main problem with decals is the contrast with the white of the hull, at least for ships like the Reliant and Refit (and any other ships that are basically white). The decals tend to really stand out. On the Refit and Reliant builds I'm going to try and mute the decals somewhat using white pastel chalk riubed in over a matte coat. Using Tamiya pastels should give me better control than trying to airbrush a layer of thinned white paint over the decals. For one thing, I might want to leave the pennants and ships registry alone while toning down the gridlines and aztecing; easily done by rubbing away the chalk where I don't want it. Not as easy with paint.


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## marcnoonan (Oct 2, 2014)

Hi Trek,

All the grid lines are there on the SFS models with most of the windows except the saucer section but yes, I can fully understand that even Michael Angelo would have problems with painting the Aztecing. It just seems that nowadays producers seem to take the easy option of just decals rather than a combination of the two, although I do appreciate that these are cheaper kits. 

The last models I added decals to were my Warhammer 40K marines (about 25years ago and as they were painted black the decals always "showed" but your idea is sound, hope it works out for you. I think the main reason I prefer details over decals is that I want to spray all my models in Alclad II Chrome so they are more like Picards gold Enterprises rather than the screen ships but although I hand painted for years I've never airbrushed and with some very expensive models in my collection I guess I scared to mess them up. The first Trek models I bought were the 3 piece Enterprise chrome set which kinda set a precident....I like shiny shiny lol.

Cheers

Marc


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## Trekkriffic (Mar 20, 2007)

I could definitely see the advantage of fine molded on detailing over decals for any ships with bright metallic finishes.

I took a pic of the decals along with some more build pics. I'll post them up later.


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## ViperRecon (Aug 3, 2010)

marcnoonan said:


> I've gotta say that, although I've seen a really great build up of this set, I'm disappointed that such a large company takes the easy option of decals over details.


It's not only that, it's also that even though the gridlines, aztec paneling and registry/pin-striping are all done graphically (so errors would presumably be easy to fix) the stock decals for Reliant STILL propogate the errors that first popped up in the 1/537 version of the kit. Check the location of the grid lines and pin striping relative to the two sensors on top of the saucer on either side of the B/C deck... Even when graphics are substituted for physical detail, the detail depicted can be incorrect (at least the 1/1000 Reliant seems to have addressed this particular issue).

Mark in Okinawa


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## Shado1980 (Jul 15, 2009)

Here's my Cadet Series Reliant I finished about 2 months ago. As you can see, the red pennant stripes on the saucer don't quite line up with the sensor "things" on either side of the bridge, but it was close enough for me. The aztecing decal also doesn't follow the angle of the break between the saucer and rear hull. I had a second set of decals and thought of cutting thin wedges of aztecing to fill the gaps, but I decided "good enough" and was pretty happy with the overall result.

PS: the base is an overturned Model T pickup bed with styrene bits added :thumbsup:


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## ViperRecon (Aug 3, 2010)

Nice build! I was kindof hoping for some aftermarket decals for this set to help correct some of the issues but I'm not aware of any being released yet...

Mark in Okinawa


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## Trekkriffic (Mar 20, 2007)

Here is the decal sheet:

IMG_8148 by trekriffic, on Flickr

The instructions were pretty straightforward:

IMG_8142 by trekriffic, on Flickr

Finished gluing the Reliant's subsections together:

IMG_8141 by trekriffic, on Flickr

IMG_8143 by trekriffic, on Flickr

Tamiya putty was smeared on to fill seams:

IMG_8149 by trekriffic, on Flickr

I like using these sanding sticks I found at Hobby Lobby:

IMG_8153 by trekriffic, on Flickr

Stern of saucer was glued into saucer/secondary hull and clamped to dry:

IMG_8156 by trekriffic, on Flickr


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## Trekkriffic (Mar 20, 2007)

Subsections were primed:

IMG_8170 by trekriffic, on Flickr

I glued an Evergreen tube into the underside of the secondary hull already for a metal mounting rod to insert into. Got these wooden circles at _Michaels_ to make the bases:

IMG_8172 by trekriffic, on Flickr

The model has been sprayed with Tamiya white lacquer. Next up is painting the details before decaling. I'll do the decals before gluing the subsections together to make things easier.


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## Trekkriffic (Mar 20, 2007)

Shado1980 said:


> Here's my Cadet Series Reliant I finished about 2 months ago. As you can see, the red pennant stripes on the saucer don't quite line up with the sensor "things" on either side of the bridge, but it was close enough for me. The aztecing decal also doesn't follow the angle of the break between the saucer and rear hull. I had a second set of decals and thought of cutting thin wedges of aztecing to fill the gaps, but I decided "good enough" and was pretty happy with the overall result.
> 
> PS: the base is an overturned Model T pickup bed with styrene bits added :thumbsup:


Nice job on that Shado!


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## Shado1980 (Jul 15, 2009)

Trekkriffic said:


> Nice job on that Shado!


Thanks! I've been having a lot of fun with 1/2500 scale.


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## MartyS (Mar 11, 2014)

I also just started on this set, but starting with the Enterprise.
Should have started with the Reliant, the seam around the nacelle pylons on top of the secondary hull is not fun....

Funny, this is the same as the TOS kit in the sense that the Klingon ship seems to have the most fine details in the mold.


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## Trekkriffic (Mar 20, 2007)

Update...

Masked off the areas around the bussard intakes:

Masking for Painting Bussards by trekriffic, on Flickr

After painting with flat black the tape was removed. Some minor cleanup was done using an extra fine microbrush and some thinner. 
Here is one all done:

Bussard Vents after Painting by trekriffic, on Flickr

After the black paint dried I masked off around the areas where the light blue gray paint would go:

Masking and Painting Frot and Rear of Nacelles by trekriffic, on Flickr

One thing I noticed missing from the kit part was this trench along the centerline at the rear of the torpedo launcher so I carved one out and added the little finlike bits in the center:

Trenching by trekriffic, on Flickr

After painting, the subassemblies were given a brushing with Future prior to decaling:

Subassemblies Painted and Futured by trekriffic, on Flickr

Decals were cut out and applied using Micro Set and Micro SOl. A microbrush is handy for proper positioning. Once in place, excess solution was soaked up using a cotton swab:

Micro Set and SOL by trekriffic, on Flickr

Sometimes I find it easier to apply the decal if I slice it into smaller sections:

Decal Application by trekriffic, on Flickr

Nacelles all done. All decals were sealed with Future:

Warp Engines Decaled by trekriffic, on Flickr


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## Trekkriffic (Mar 20, 2007)

Subassemblies were glued together using CA. A rubber band held the rollbar tightly in position as the glue cured:

Subassemblies Glued Together by trekriffic, on Flickr

I allowed the glue to dry for an hour or so then I went in with Milliput and filled in any gaps around the nacelle brackets and the main hull. The putty dried overnight. Today or tomorrow I'll finish the rest of the decals.


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## MartyS (Mar 11, 2014)

Nice job on the bussard collectors, I was really hoping they would be in the decals. Not sure I am going to do them on mine, way too tiny for my big fingers.


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## Trekkriffic (Mar 20, 2007)

MartyS said:


> Nice job on the bussard collectors, I was really hoping they would be in the decals. Not sure I am going to do them on mine, way too tiny for my big fingers.


Do you have any black decals leftover from other builds? You could trim them to fit the bussard vents. I've learned never to throw away unused decals. For one thing, I have a lot of unused black numbers and letters leftover from my old 18" Enterprise kit. All the registries for the original 12 Constitution class ships. I have cut sections out of several letters and numbers; wherever I needed a small black decal. I just used some leftover decals from my old AMT 1/2500 Enterprise kits on this build. These were the original TOS to E Enterprise kits issued years ago before the Cadet series kits came out. I never used the kit decals opting to go with Absolute Models decals instead which included the panel lines and aztecing as well as ship's registry and pennants. So I have a lot of 1/2500 scale starship decals to play around with.


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## MartyS (Mar 11, 2014)

Trekkriffic said:


> Do you have any black decals leftover from other builds? You could trim them to fit the bussard vents.


No, but I could print some, that's what I did for all the missing stuff on the TOS Enterprise and they came out pretty well. Or I may try using a fine tip sharpie....

These decals are kicking my butt, I'll post about that in my build thread.


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## Trekkriffic (Mar 20, 2007)

Update...

I spent the last few days going over the Reliant in fine detail and adding striping, markings, and other stuff to match the studio model. For instance, there were a lot of tiny markings on the stern that were left off the decal sheet that I was able to add using my leftover decal stash. So I'm finally happy with this ship. She's about as good as I can make her without adding lights which is something I will leave to the more intrepid (or insane- no offense to you harristotle) modellers among us. 

Moving right along...

I took the three circular wooden bases and placed one on a sheet of paper where I traced the circumference onto it. Then I cut out the circle and folded it into fourths to locate the center. I then poked a hole thru the center of the paper into the center of each base; then I used a 1/16" drill bit to drill out the holes for the brass stand tubes:

Stands Drilled by trekriffic, on Flickr

The bases were taped to sticks using double sided foam tape making them easier to manipulate when painting. Then I primed them with Krylon primer before giving them a couple of coats of Krylon gloss black lacquer:

Stands Painted by trekriffic, on Flickr

To reduce the extreme glossiness of Future on the model, I sprayed her with a coat of Dullcote. She now has a semi-gloss to matte finish which I prefer for photography purposes:

Reliant Gets Flat Coat by trekriffic, on Flickr

One down, two to go. The bases got a final coat of Future for added protection:

Model Bases by trekriffic, on Flickr


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## Al Loew (Jul 3, 2008)

Outstanding job on the Reliant, sir!


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## Trekkriffic (Mar 20, 2007)

Next ship...

The Refit is molded in white which is nice since the Refit is white in the films. Not that that matters much since I will be priming it anyway. 

Here's a closeup of just the Refit parts:

Refit sprue by trekriffic, on Flickr

The next thing to check out are the decals:

Decal Sheet by trekriffic, on Flickr

Moving along, here are the instructions. Not too many of these but you have to pay attention to trap part 5 between parts 3 and 4 before assembling 3 and 4 together:

Instruction sheet by trekriffic, on Flickr

One of the first things I did was to sand off the printing on the inside of the lower saucer. Maybe overkill but these parts are fairly thin and I didn't want to risk bright light shining thru the plastic from the top of the saucer and thru the bottom making the lettering visible from the outside. Honestly though, this would probably be more of an issue if I were lighting the model which I'm not :

Manufacturer printing by trekriffic, on Flickr

The models don't come with mounting points for stands. Indeed, no stands are included with the kit. So I made my own mounting tube out of Evergreen styrene tubing and glued it into one half of the secondary hull after filing out a trough in the underside of both hull halves:

Mounting tube by trekriffic, on Flickr

The saucer halves were glued together. Tamiya Basic polyester putty was smeared around the rim to fill any remaining seam gaps of which there were hardly any:

Saucer rim puttied by trekriffic, on Flickr

The nacelle pylon strongback was glued into one secondary hull half. Afterward the hull halves were glued together and the seams were filled with putty and sanded smooth:

G-clamp by trekriffic, on Flickr


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## Trekkriffic (Mar 20, 2007)

The saucer rim was sanded smooth revealing no gaps along the top seam:

Saucer rim by trekriffic, on Flickr

The completed saucer, secondary hull, and nacelle subassemblies were primed using a can of Tamiya grey lacquer spray primer: 

Subassemblies by trekriffic, on Flickr

Primed secondary hull. No open seams!

Upper secondary hull by trekriffic, on Flickr

Secondary hull seam by trekriffic, on Flickr

After spray painting the saucer and other subassemblies using Tamiya flat white lacquer and sealing with Future gloss clear acrylic coating, detail painting begins using ModelMaster and Testors enamels. I do most of this painting before applying the decals. These were colors not called out in the instructions and not on the decal sheet. I referred to photos of the actual Refit studio model that I had printed off the internet for guidance on colors:

Upper saucer details by trekriffic, on Flickr

The bridge dome is a mix of aluminum and flat white. The curved area under the front of the dome at the front of the bridge deck is a mix of gold and aluminum, the light blue half circle and border around the base of the bridge was sky blue mixed with white painted on with a fine tipped brush. The dome on the back of the saucer is sky blue and navy blue grey with no white so it's a bit darker.

See the photo below for the paints I used. :

Testors enamels by trekriffic, on Flickr

Left to right: Flat Black, Flat White, Copper, Aluminum, Gold, Sky Blue, and Navy Blue Grey. The little mixing cup came from _Michaels_ craft store and is perfect for mixing up small batches of paint. The lids seals well enough to prevent the paint from drying out too. 

Also in the photo above you can see detail painting on the front of the warp engines. Basically it was the same work I had done for the Reliant's nacelles. 

Detail painting on vertical fin on the rear of the nacelle:

Rear nacelle detail by trekriffic, on Flickr


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## Trekkriffic (Mar 20, 2007)

Front of the nacelle:

Forward nacelle detais by trekriffic, on Flickr

Lower sensor array dome painted with light blue mix and white in the center blended for a gentle color gradient.
Light blue mix painted to frame around the dorsal connecting point:

Lower sensor array by trekriffic, on Flickr

Shuttle bay doors brushed with aluminum:

Shuttle bay doors by trekriffic, on Flickr

I used my 1/1000 Refit for reference as well as the photos off the net:

Reference Model by trekriffic, on Flickr

With the saucer detail painting complete I started work on the decals...
First I used my xacto knife to remove the center of the lower saucer wallpaper decal where it goes over the sensor array. It's a blank area on the decal and it would just create a host of problems trying to get it to lay down over the raised hump of the array if I didn't cut that section out. 
The decal was then soaked in tepid water for a good 10-15 seconds or so:

Decal Soaking by trekriffic, on Flickr

As soon as it loosened from the backing paper I held the decal in position over the part and slid it off onto the underside of the saucer:

Decal Application by trekriffic, on Flickr

I like to wet the part before applying the decal. It helps keep the decal from sticking down right away so I have time to slide it around and get it positioned correctly:

Decal in Place by trekriffic, on Flickr

Unfortunately I was not careful enough and the decal tore in a couple of places as I tamped it down to get rid of any bubbles that formed under the decal film from trapped liquid. As the decal adhered more tightly to the surface and I continued pushing down to smooth it the film ripped. You can see the worst one in the photo below to the right of the NCC-1701. Initially i was able to re-wet the decal and push the edges together making the tear pretty much invisible; but then I made the mistake of brushing the decal with Solvaset which is like "nuclear" decal setting solution. It makes the decal stick down nice and tight but, unfortunately, it also causes it to shrink a little which was not good in this case. It caused a gap to open up between the two sections of the torn decal. Having soaked it with Solvaset the decal was on for good and re-wetting it was not an option to shift it. So, to hide the tear, I brushed it with Future first to seal it. After about 10 minutes the Future was dry. Using a fine tipped brush, I carefully brushed on some white and aluminum enamel paint to restore the aztec pattern and bridge the gap to hide the tear. Then I brushed on some liquid decal film and some more Future. It's still there but not as obvious now. So, not perfect, but the fact that it's on the underside of the saucer makes it less noticeable then if this had happened with the upper saucer decal. 

Tear Repair by trekriffic, on Flickr


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## Trekkriffic (Mar 20, 2007)

With the lower decal sorted as best I could do I moved on to another of my favorite activities... super detailing! 
This is where I use leftover decals from other kits to accurize the model so it more closely matches the look of the studio model we see on screen. 
In this case I found some black window decals:

Spare Decals from Leftover Decal Stash by trekriffic, on Flickr

The decals were cut and trimmed with an Xacto knife to fit the faces of the lower sensor array spotlights. Here they are in place:

Black Decals Applied by trekriffic, on Flickr

After sealing the faces with Future I found some old white decals in my stash and cut teeny tiny rectangular spotlights to lay in on top of the black decals:

Floodlights by trekriffic, on Flickr


I found the name "Enterprise" from the 1/350 Columbia shuttle decals that came with the 1/350 TOS Enterprise kit and laid it across the fantail. Who knew a 1/350 scale decal would fit on a 1/2500 scale Refit? But, it was just the right size. I also cut five tiny red rectangles from a red starship pennant decal and laid those in above the shuttle bay doors:

Stern Decals by trekriffic, on Flickr

The two tiny black rectangles atop the cowling and the three yellow stripes in front of the doors were also cut from leftover decals and applied:

More Stern Decals by trekriffic, on Flickr

The Refit after decaling: 

Cadet Refit Almost Done by trekriffic, on Flickr

The model was shot with a coat of Testors Dullcote clear matte lacquer to tone down the glossiness of the Future. This was followed by a coat of Testors Semi-Gloss clear lacquer from a rattle can to give the ship her final satin finish.


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## Trekkriffic (Mar 20, 2007)

Here's the Refit next to the Reliant:

Two Cadet Ships- Refit and Reliant by trekriffic, on Flickr

Two Cadet Ships- Refit and Reliant by trekriffic, on Flickr

Two Cadet Ships- Refit and Reliant by trekriffic, on Flickr

Some observations about his model...
The parts fit together pretty well and, as a retooling of the original 1/2500 Refit from the old AMT three ship Enterprise set, it was much more accurate and sharper in detail when compared to the earlier model. The decals were delicate and tore easily and were missing for some areas, most notably the bridge dome, impulse engine dome, lower sensor dome, the shuttle bay doors, the dorsal photon torpedo tubes, front and back faces of the dorsal and edges of the nacelle pylons,the front of the nacelles, and the ship's name on the fantail. All had to be painted or decaled using leftover decal material from my stash. Also, the decals for the pylons were oversized and has to be trimmed to fit. 

Next up... the Klingon K'tinga!


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## Lloyd Collins (Sep 25, 2004)

Excellent looking, Admiral! It is a shame about the decal troubles, but, you always fix any problem you run into so well.


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## Trekkriffic (Mar 20, 2007)

First things first, let's look at the instructions...

We have the basic exploded diagram showing what goes where. Fairly straightforward:

Cadet K'tinga WIP by trekriffic, on Flickr

Symbol Key and Color Chart:

Cadet K'tinga WIP by trekriffic, on Flickr

Paint and decal placement instructions:

Cadet K'tinga WIP by trekriffic, on Flickr 

OK. Now let's get to it...
I glued the one-piece command deck to the top of the "pod":

Cadet K'tinga WIP by trekriffic, on Flickr

The mounting tube for the display rod was cut and installed...

A pilot hole was drilled into the lower hull using a pinvise and micro drill bit. A round needle file would be used later to enlarge the hole to accomodate the display rod:

Cadet K'tinga WIP by trekriffic, on Flickr

A plastic mounting tube was aligned with the hole and glued into the lower hull using 5-minute epoxy. Later I would pack AVES Apoxy Sculpt around the tube for added strength:

Cadet K'tinga WIP by trekriffic, on Flickr

The various subassemblies were glued together. After puttying seams and joints with AVES the model was allowed to sit overnight for the putty to cure. Next day I did some minor scraping, filing, and sanding of any rough spots (there weren't many) before brushing the model with Mister Surfacer (a thick primer) to check for any cracks. Any remaining gaps were then filled with Tamiya Basic filler putty and/or Mister Surfacer before being sanded smooth again:

Cadet K'tinga WIP by trekriffic, on Flickr

Now for some fun stuff- super detailing! 

To start with I drilled out the mouth of the bow photon torpedo launcher which the kit represented as a flat indent in the lower command boom part. Then I cut a short piece of brass tubing angled on one end to match the slope of the command pod:

Cadet K'tinga WIP by trekriffic, on Flickr


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## Trekkriffic (Mar 20, 2007)

The brass tube was checked for flushness and glued into the command pod using CA glue:

Cadet K'tinga WIP by trekriffic, on Flickr

After puttying with Tamiya Basic putty and sanding we have a nice open torpedo tube:

Cadet K'tinga WIP by trekriffic, on Flickr

Next up... the bridge tower. In The Motion Picture, the dome has a trench around the perimeter near where the tower starts to curve to form the dome. In this trench can be seen window ports glowing with a red light. There are also four ribs above the trench spaced 90 degrees apart that meet roughly in the center at the top of the dome. I say roughly because there is some other stuff up there too, sensors of some kind I always thought. Anyway, here's what I'm talking about:

pb_klingon08 by trekriffic, on Flickr

So for this model I carved out the trench using an xacto saw blade and a needle file then added four strips of styrene 
to the top of the dome before gluing on a few greeblies to suggest the sensor array on top. I kept it fairly simple though since I found it hard to add very many tiny bits (attaching them with tweezers and CA) without it becoming a gluey mess and looking way out of scale. So I chose to "suggest" the shape of the sensor array:

Cadet K'tinga WIP by trekriffic, on Flickr

Cadet K'tinga WIP by trekriffic, on Flickr

The last super-detailng I did was to deepen the mouth of the stern photon torpedo tube using a mini drill and pinvise:

Cadet K'tinga WIP by trekriffic, on Flickr

Next we move on to painting!


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## Trekkriffic (Mar 20, 2007)

After spraying the K'tinga with a coat of Tamiya grey Fine Surface Primer, I mixed up a batch of Testors Olive Green lightening it up a bit using Flat White to use for my basecoat. As most of you know, generally speaking, as scales get smaller your paint tones need to get progressively lighter. Here I am brushing the mix onto the model:

Olive green is lightened up with a little white before being brushed on. I went a little lighter due to the small scale of this ship. by trekriffic, on Flickr

Basecoat finished. Here it is the next day after drying and brushing with Future to seal the paint:

Cadet K'tinga WIP by trekriffic, on Flickr

I then brushed in between the panels using a mix of Olive and Model Master Gunship Grey as I coudln't find Dark Olive at my LHS:

Cadet K'tinga WIP by trekriffic, on Flickr

The base of the neck and other panels were brushed with Medium Grey. The impulse engine vents were masked and painted red. Later on at the decaling stage I would apply some leftover red decal film over the vents so they would really pop:

Cadet K'tinga WIP by trekriffic, on Flickr

Once the paint dried I sealed with Future and applied the decals using MicroSol. Solvaset was used on the lower Klingon insignia decal to get it to lay down over the dome on the underside. After the decals dried I brushed with more Future to seal them and sprayed the whole ship with Dullcote. Then I shaded the hull using Tamiya Snow and Soot pastel chalks:

Cadet K'tinga WIP by trekriffic, on Flickr

Cadet K'tinga WIP by trekriffic, on Flickr

Cadet K'Tinga WIP by trekriffic, on Flickr

The chalks were applied with a microbrush and cotton swab then wiped off with a swab and rag. This helped to blend the hull colors and unify the finish. The chalks lightened the hull tones just a tad which was fine since another coat of Dullcote to seal the deal caused them to darken just a bit again.

Next the hard part... painting the windows and spotlights...


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## Trekkriffic (Mar 20, 2007)

I thought I'd taken a few photos of the window painting process but apparently I didn't so... let me just say that painting windows much smaller than a pinhead requires a very fine pointed brush and a very steady hand; especially when painting them on over the decals on the bow which were basically just black strips. To get the windows aligned properly I layed down strips of Tamiya tape to act as a guide being sure to strop the tape against my pant leg first to reduce it's stickiness as I was afraid the tape might pull up the decal otherwise. Then I dotted the windows one by one following still screen grabs of the K'tinga at the start of Star Trek The Motion Picture to make sure I got the grouping of the windows just right. Even as good as I am with a brush I still needed to go back afterwards and retouch the windows using a brush dipped in thinner and a very fine tipped cotton swab. After about 5 hours of this tedious work I was done with the paint. Then there were some strips of very thin black lines I cut from leftover Absolute Models decals which I layed down above and below the windows on the command deck, the two rows of windows on the face of the "sombrero" if you will. These thin black decal lines served to square the window frames up making them more rectangular and to reduce them even more in size. After a day to dry I shot the whole thing with more Dullcote then went back and hit the spotlights and red impulse engine vents (front and back) with Future to make them pop against the flat finish of the hull. All in all I was pretty happy with how this Wee Klingon Beastie (Do I sound like a Brit?) turned out...

Klingon K'tinga from STTMP by trekriffic, on Flickr

Klingon K'tinga from STTMP by trekriffic, on Flickr


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