Polar lights 1/350 enterprise NEW build up

I aquired one of these kits 6 months ago after researching it on here, was truley inspired by a few builds on here, and some internet builds by ian lawrence and helipilot - not sure if you guys reside here but thanks. also thanks to trekmodeler for supplying the lighting kit and a very considerate girlfriend whom allowed me to do this and respect my hobby

the aim: to be very anal as possible on this, taking the best parts of peoples builds and if possible doing it better in regards of build, paint etc etc.

this is my first airfix type kit build in 25 years, its also the first time i have used airbrusing and masking, so here we go:

after 6 months at approx 6 hours per night, total of 1080 hours equalling around 45 solid days i present my build of the enterprise. the kit is now all built and on display so this is to help anyone else wanting to build one - this will end up to show pretty much step by step of what i did so it will be pic intensive - ill upload at various times during the day, night week as its quite pic heavy

so here is the box


first start the garden - i did not prime this - i would advise you do to enable the bits to stick better - dremeled off the original poor excuse for trees




and all done - wire for the tree stems, grass clumps from railway greenery as was the pebbles




the roof area added some pipework with ali foil tape




saucer work time, draw around and cut out and remove the lugs






time for some light blocking







made a sky for the internal gardens and stuck it to the clear plastic roof:



and a swift check of the illumination effect with an led torch:




this i want an illuminated landing bay, so to maplins we went to get an led chaser kit by velleman, i will used fibre optic cables to carry the light from it source...... the circuit all built and wiring extended to suit my needs - i also swapped the standard leds for some bigger ones and different colours



the fibre cables are fixed in place by drilling 2 0.5mm holes into each led and then inserting the optic into place and glueing


the lights output like this:



photo etch kit arrives from the usa



and work on the shuttle bay starts

Nice work.... And good timing. Pulled mine out the other day. Are you going OOB or using some of the aftermarket stuff like shuttle bay etc?

aftermarket dlm stuff, didnt use the originals parts, using 1/350 l'arsenal figures too.....totally overboard on this one

shuttle bay base, painted and decals in place, pearl white added to the rear doors and surround - fibre optics in position but there so wasted its not worth doing if your thinking the same - none of it is visible once viewed in the tunnel - roof is not glued on at this point












tackling the elevators:






led test - yes im now aware i put them on upside down but once installed you cant tell, a few niggly mistakes i made but didnt affect the end result




rear bay clear windows - i want this to illuminate 2 colours but i only want to use a white led - tamiya clear paints:

the clear dome - far too clear so it needs frosting - wet and dry to take away the clear so the led will spread its light more




the photoetch part



masking off for paint



and painted up




deflector housing primed and holes for light




led test - you may find you will need to frost it more, add some mat satin varnish to diffuse it more, in the end i also used a clear lid off a deordorant cant and used that as another curve to diffuse the light behind the kit part


the next internal part:





the dlm addon kit parts









adding optics



and more photoetch




shuttle decals added


dlm parts complete







assembly into the bay starts






the bay sides properly glued:




dlm rear end parts



and nacelle grilles


the old stock part needs dremeling out for the replacements





components painted



and trial fit


modding the upper saucer



and foiling to part


window frame from the photo etch kit needs to have some modding


trusty dremel helps to take the surface down to allow the frame to be flush






docking area modded with a semi circle to allow a small light to show through



area masked off for light flood effect - this will form the template to cut the foil on the inside of the dome


dlm engine installation



serious light blocking starts




side windows need modding for the lighting kit to pass its light clearly:






once primed and shot in black for definitive blocking from light we are able to totally foil the saucers






foil block test with daylight


lower saucer blocking



now its blocked we can assemble the sides in position with glue


it leaves a gap around the dlm part, nothing some milliput cant fix






airlock added


and a close up of the photo etch windows

more boredom in prepping this model, theres alot of it before you can truley get stuck in... so onto the neck area foiling:




photon torpedo part:


in primer to block light:


and painted up


neck docking pasrts


main body side section docking added


and foiled


nacelle work again:


a case of running mask film down the grooves, priming, painting and removing the mask




now the fun part - blue or purple, i like purple so some translucent warhammer purple goes on internally


but it still lacks that ooomphhh i want, upon test light its too pale and not vibrant enough so i found some translucent film


and set to getting it taped on


the result under light - perfect all the way accross, i also found with paint it was patchy so this film was a great find in the hobby shop



a little silver foil tape helps keep it stuck


test in the enclosure


and nacelles foiled up


also foiled the deflector and both upper and lower body sections






positioned masks to ensure light flows through for spotlight effects:



now came a monumental problem - my kit was missing a part - a very important one - so i had to buy another kit off ebay, take a mold and then sell that kit on again.

the missing bit


and the mold i took to make a new part for my model


clear resin going off


and the replicated part masked up for primer




l'arsenal figures...... An 8 week wait



so painted on the strips then unmounted individually



and placed in the models part



the same for the shuttle bay - random colour figures





and also the garden



roof of the bay is now ready for sealing it up, painted and foiled



and gluing....note the optics cut off and only ones for the bays vehicles are kept connected


sides gluing


and roof taped on to ensure the sides all glue in the right place

photo etched windows trimmed


and gluing



some filler and primer work needed, repeat process until its perfect - this was my first pass:


be careful as its very delicate here doing this


another glueing part


window frame done



everything is light proofed altho i expect some leakage in cracks and joins later on but the initial bulk is done


trekmodeler comes through after an 8 week wait - this included delivery time so it was bang on the timeframe stated






first light part installed on the foiled shuttle bay

Incredible work. Thanks for posting! Looking forward to following this build.

What are you using for self-stick foil? I note you are foiling the parts including the join edges. Will this create a problem when trying to glue them?

Jon

led from the bay over the garden area to illuminate that



installing the photons - had to dremel some plast out marked in black





now i get to sort the spaghetti or wires out - looked daunting but actuall wasnt




once in position foil over the wires





this is the desired effect im after

Nice progress, thanks for posting.

I have 2 of these waiting to be build, one as the E and the other to be customized.
Just got the updated PE set that has the arboretum walls and cargo pods added.

one thing i noticed was the trekmodeler instructions differed from the wiring they show - it was very hard to see where it all went in the dome due to the way i wanted it lit - hopefully the position of my leds will help you all out if your seeking a similar effect

frosted the side windows


ready to be glued internally


clear styrene window added - dont use the kit parts as there blurred


clear windows and leds shown


deflector wiring




and wiring foiled


test time



thruster illumination can also be seen



lets glue the men in position






nacelle leds in position


test lit






assembling the tail

light blocking externally











pylons...a groove needed for the ribbon wiring




leds going in



styrene window



housing the main pcb



pole inserted and the hard work begins to show




test



everything has the wires in


gorilla glue to hold the pole in place, a notch cut out to allow wires and optics to pass down the pole


position of the pole means it will not push interior components as its so tight and solid, fibre optics are fed through



and optics glued to the shuttle bay floor



box switches and labels


gluing the shuttle floor to the ships lower hull after feeding all the wires into the tube and routing them so that nothing snags - very tight in there



time to properly get it all as one

What are you using for self-stick foil? I note you are foiling the parts including the join edges. Will this create a problem when trying to glue them?

Click to expand...

just an adhesive roll of foil tape available in any diy place, the edges i trim - this will give me a light leak but the black exterior spray will combat that on the edges

as expected trimming the foil on the edge for glue gave a litlle leak - no problem.... easy to fix




before the exterior blocking i need to rescribe some lines to the body esp around the back as it was a bit tight and i needed to milliput some gaps



alot happier now



another test before i glue the lids



all wires tidied up


lets seal it





at this point i tackled the leaks


and added the mask film as primer needs to go over this

installing the defector to the body






now you have to hit this with primer over the body - concentrate over the light leaks - i used tamiya fune surface grey, after this is done the whole ship will have its saucer mask removed and then shot in tamiya white primer - this will not block out the domes masked parts to stop the light - it will tone it down but should work



with the dome glued on to the neck and the body - its time to glue the pylons




we now have the basis of the ship built up

prime the whole ship in grey, then i used white - both tamiya - i want the whit to be the base colour for what i have in mind

paint in grey, then white, thenremove the masks and then paint the unmasked areas in white tamiya primer again




with the white you will see the floodlighting has yellowed - dont worry it will tine down more anyway

Wow Richard that is one incredible build there!

Click to expand...

totally done on facebook, the apc has also been on the go during the this build - but only minor progress on parts thats the next build awaiting to be done

white tamiya primer over the unmasked area still leaves it open for the light to show through



serious paint and masking time






pencil line to exaggerate the panels






now the horrible part of the build - one cannot say how time comsuming and tedious it is.

i chose to redraw all the templates into illustrator for the white base coat, another temp for the blue, copper and the pearl...... basically i made 4 seperate masks for each part and computer cut them onto masking film. saved alot of time i can tell you.

so the ship is in primer, and now a coat of gloss white via a mask - this will give me a base shadow



shot in white gloss via an airbrush


to give this 1st layer effect - thats gloss white tamiya or revel over a tamiya primer white








the next set of masks for pearl blue computer cut and drawn in via illustrator myself:


and the copper mask


blue airbrushed on






the copper airbrushed on




the pearl mask on


tamiya white pearl paint applied





depending on the light source, type of light really makes it had to capture in a true photo - but you get the idea




and the whole process starts agan for the underside