# 350 TOS E...where to begin?



## Fozzie (May 25, 2009)

Okay, I've got the kit. I've chosen my paint. I've got the ParaGrafix photoetch kit. And today I got my light kit in. So I'm ready to start. With all the different instruction sheets laid out in front of me, it seems pretty daunting. Do I start with the photoetch, the bridge and the shuttle bay? Do I work on the nacelles first? Maybe prime the saucer and get rid of that texture...?

I was wondering if those of you who have completed their build--or gotten a good start--have any advice on a builder order for the rest of us just getting started?


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## Trek Ace (Jul 8, 2001)

First off, give everything (except the light kit and decals) a good, warm bath with a mild detergent and allow to dry.

Then proceed.


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## BruceDownunder (Aug 25, 2008)

I was in the same predicament as you - where to start? I masked off about 3mm on the outer perimeter of the upper and lower saucers for the purpose of allowing the glue to adhere to today and have sprayed the interior surface with a couple of coats of black followed by a coat of gray before I go over it with flat white. 
Baby steps.


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## Fozzie (May 25, 2009)

Trek Ace said:


> First off, give everything (except the light kit and decals) a good, warm bath with a mild detergent and allow to dry.
> 
> Then proceed.


I did that first thing after receiving the kit a couple of weeks ago. I've also de-sprued and cleaned up a lot of the major parts (that's how I found out about the bussard shafts being bent).

While waiting for the light kit to arrive, I've been using the pilot B/C deck part as a test bed for the painting techniques I'm going to use. I took it all the way from light-blocking to applying a decal and the final shot of flat clear. I'm very pleased with how it looks so I'll be using the same steps to paint the model.

Last night I airbrushed one of the pilot domes (I'm making the production version) with MM Flat Clear Acrylic to see how that would frost. It actually came out pretty well though it probably needs a second coat. I'm thinking today I will play around with the lights/fan motors/nacelle domes to finalize the frosting of the domes. Will also apply the Aztek Dummy vinyl strips to create the fan blades.

I annealed the ParaGrafix photoetch sheet last night. My wife walked in and was all: "What the hell are you doing now?" Okay, I can't blame her. I'm sure seeing a sheet of metal glowing red on her stove top was a bit of a surprise.

Having the "extra" parts from the Premiere edition has proven very helpful in that I have pieces to test technique on. I settled on my final colors via test paints on the first pilot nacelle caps.


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## swhite228 (Dec 31, 2003)

Trek Ace said:


> First off, give everything (except the light kit and decals) a good, warm bath with a mild detergent and allow to dry.
> 
> Then proceed.


You might want to do this twice the kit I got seemed to have parts that had extra mold release on them.


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## RossW (Jan 12, 2000)

Fozzie said:


> I annealed the ParaGrafix photoetch sheet last night. My wife walked in and was all: "What the hell are you doing now?" Okay, I can't blame her. I'm sure seeing a sheet of metal glowing red on her stove top was a bit of a surprise.


I thought the instructions (or Paul here on a thread) said that annealing wasn't necessary as the metal is so thin?


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## Fozzie (May 25, 2009)

RossW said:


> I thought the instructions (or Paul here on a thread) said that annealing wasn't necessary as the metal is so thin?


From the instructions:

"Before attaching the rotor inserts, they should be annealed to remove their 'springiness' so they will not want to pop off."

This instruction also appears with the fantail part.


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## woof359 (Apr 27, 2003)

a good inspection of the sprues to see if there's any warpage or damage, maybe a test fit of some before washing and painting.


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## RossW (Jan 12, 2000)

Fozzie said:


> From the instructions:
> 
> "Before attaching the rotor inserts, they should be annealed to remove their 'springiness' so they will not want to pop off."
> 
> This instruction also appears with the fantail part.


Are you referring to Paul's own kit? I don't think the PE accessory kit from PL has that.


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## Fozzie (May 25, 2009)

RossW said:


> Are you referring to Paul's own kit? I don't think the PE accessory kit from PL has that.


Yes. Paul's kit.


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## Fozzie (May 25, 2009)

Worked on the bussards today. Wired it all up and tested one of 'em. Experimented with the orientation of the "Christmas tree bulbs". Applied the vinyl strips from the Aztek Dummy kit to the bussard fan. Applied the center discs for same from the ParaGrafix photoetch kit. Experimented with sanding/frosting the pilot domes I won't be using. Then frosted the internal bulbs and started frosting the production domes (will take several coats of flat acrylic to get those right).

I discovered that I like the Christmas tree bulbs pointed inward. That the speed of the fans, while fast, is not too fast. And that the domes have to be frosted quite heavily.


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## Opus Penguin (Apr 19, 2004)

Fozzie said:


> I discovered that I like the Christmas tree bulbs pointed inward. That the speed of the fans, while fast, is not too fast. And that the domes have to be frosted quite heavily.


What side of the domes did you frost? What did you use?


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## Fozzie (May 25, 2009)

Opus Penguin said:


> What side of the domes did you frost? What did you use?


Inside. Using MM Clear Acrylic applied with an airbrush. Multiple coats. I don't know if this is the best way to do it or not, but I liked the results better than sanding and dull-coating.


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## enterprise_fan (May 23, 2004)

Fozzie said:


> ... frosted the internal bulbs and started frosting the production domes ...
> 
> ...the Christmas tree bulbs pointed inward...


When you said that you _... frosted the internal bulbs ..._ do you mean the Christmas tree bulbs in the Bussard Collector or the bulbs in lighting kit?


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## Paulbo (Sep 16, 2004)

You don't *have* to anneal the fantail, "control room", or bussard blades in my PE set - the pieces can be rolled over an Xacto handle to pre-bend them a bit, but it's a more finicky process. It's easier to just anneal them.


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## Fozzie (May 25, 2009)

enterprise_fan said:


> When you said that you _... frosted the internal bulbs ..._ do you mean the Christmas tree bulbs in the Bussard Collector or the bulbs in lighting kit?


I meant the plastic pieces shaped like Christmas tree bulbs in the bussard collector--NOT the LEDs themselves.


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## robiwon (Oct 20, 2006)

Where to begin? Tape that thing together!! I have no clue where to put this when I finish mine. Don't mind the background.


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## Scotty K (Mar 21, 2011)

robiwon said:


> I have no clue where to put this when I finish mine.


Ha! Welcome the club!


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## Trekkriffic (Mar 20, 2007)

robiwon said:


> I have no clue where to put this when I finish mine.


For the time being this will go on a shelf over the workbench in my garage. There's a great spot in the house upstairs on the roll top desk but that spot is currenty occupied by my wife's teddy bear collection. It will take some delicate negotiations (similar to what's going on with the fiscal cliff) to get that spot for the Enterprise I'm afraid.


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## robiwon (Oct 20, 2006)

Our entertainment system in the living room is a giant upright "*U*" shape. The flatscreen sits between the left and right towers. A shelf above the TV would be a great spot for it.


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## Opus Penguin (Apr 19, 2004)

Even when I finish it, I will be continuing to work on it. My plan is to include the Bridge when it is re-oped, as well as the new Galileo Shuttlecraft. I also hope to get an enclosed display case. All this will need to be done over time.


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## Rahn (Jun 2, 2009)

Due to my own lack of space, I'm looking to make a wall plaque along these lines, possibly from layers of acrylic. But, I will need to find someone to cut out the shapes for me. I would also like to bevel the command 'star'... have to figure that out, too. I'll be starting my own (first) thread soon, as I work through this project.


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## Prowler901 (Jun 27, 2005)

Now THAT'S a great looking display Rahn. :thumbsup: Looking forward to seeing that come together.


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## eagledocf15 (Nov 4, 2008)

*That looks great*



Rahn said:


> Due to my own lack of space, I'm looking to make a wall plaque along these lines, possibly from layers of acrylic. But, I will need to find someone to cut out the shapes for me. I would also like to bevel the command 'star'... have to figure that out, too. I'll be starting my own (first) thread soon, as I work through this project.


Let us all know your progress on the display an dhow you did it!!! Looks great!


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## Styrofoam_Guy (May 4, 2004)

Since I am going to be lighting the kit using their kit I will probably be building the kit from the base up so I can test all the wiring and LEDs as I go.

I thought about testing the entire system before installing it into the model but then there maybe more chances of misplacing and losing items.


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## asalaw (Dec 23, 2012)

Paulbo said:


> You don't *have* to anneal the fantail, "control room", or bussard blades in my PE set - the pieces can be rolled over an Xacto handle to pre-bend them a bit, but it's a more finicky process. It's easier to just anneal them.


I annealed it over a gas stove and had no troubles, except for my allegedly slow-kick CA kicking pretty damn quick.  But the part went on fine and shows no sign of popping off.


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## Fozzie (May 25, 2009)

I have completed the bussard build, run the wires through the pylons and tape-assembled both nacelles. I modified the wiring so that I can include a switch in the base to shut down the motors while leaving the lights on. I painted part #42 with a Rustoleum paint that promised a "bright, reflective finish". Yeah, well maybe. It looks pretty good though. I might need to frost the outer domes a little more, but I can do that at any time.

I decided to tackle the texture on the saucer next. I sprayed it with primer then sanded it (working all the way up to 12K grit) and it came out great. Very smooth, and it didn't really take that long.


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## RossW (Jan 12, 2000)

Fozzie said:


> I have completed the bussard build, run the wires through the pylons and tape-assembled both nacelles. I modified the wiring so that I can include a switch in the base to shut down the motors while leaving the lights on. I painted part #42 with a Rustoleum paint that promised a "bright, reflective finish". Yeah, well maybe. It looks pretty good though. I might need to frost the outer domes a little more, but I can do that at any time.
> 
> I decided to tackle the texture on the saucer next. I sprayed it with primer then sanded it (working all the way up to 12K grit) and it came out great. Very smooth, and it didn't really take that long.


Photos! Photos! Photos!


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## Fozzie (May 25, 2009)

RossW said:


> Photos! Photos! Photos!


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## StarshipClass (Aug 13, 2003)

I'm starting on little fixes/corrections and sanding first. Then I'll start building up the engineering section where everything is connected. It's got to be well-built and reinforced. I'm also coming in from the lower port side with extra wiring instead of the bottom so that will take some adjustment. The rest will be done as components and then everything will be attached and painted.


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## Fozzie (May 25, 2009)

Today I'm tackling the PE on the bridge. That is some TINY photoetch...


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## asalaw (Dec 23, 2012)

It is. I wish I'd known to do the decals first, before installing it into the clear bridge--boy, was that tough. Getting those decals to line up properly was a real pain. But I did get it done. I just have to install the railings--which I've bee procrastinating on for obvious reasons.


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## taipan (Aug 1, 2010)

ok, silly question time...
i'm just starting on the bussards, does it look better scuffing the inside then using a "frosting" spray or scuffing the inside then dull coating the outside?
my initial thought was to scuff the inside then use a spray on frosting used to opaque windows over the interior
thanks in advance


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## Fozzie (May 25, 2009)

Have my shuttle and my bridge ready for decaling...working on the hangar bay now.


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## woof359 (Apr 27, 2003)

I looked at your taped together kit, got the same issue mine did, the engine slope down, Im thinking this needs to be address on final assemble, mine were already glued and set up over night, to late for me


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