Some 15 years ago, I built a Polar Lights 1/1000 Klingon D-7 battlecruiser (with some accuracy mods) and a Starcrafts resin 1/1000 Romulan Bird of Prey. They turned out well enough, but, as time has gone on, I’ve had an itch to redo them. Partly because the Klingon model has developed some cracks and damage (as well as my skillset greatly improving), and the Romulan ship was subsequently released by Round 2 in a far more accurate form than the resin garage kit.
I’d actually bought the Round 2 Romulan kit and assembled it not long after it came out, but it’s sat unfinished in a closet for years. Also, I came into the possession of three boxed Round 2 Klingon D-7 kits for free, given to me by a friend, and which have just been sitting in a closet for years.
So, I’ve decided to return to these models and do all-new builds. Here’s where we’re at:
1) I did some seam work on the unfinished Bird of Prey, and also bought and installed the Green Strawberry photoetch set for the missing windows (and left off the other, studio model-inaccurate detail parts). The model is currently primered and ready to paint. Still debating what colors to go with. These days, most people seem to think a light gray for the base hull color, or that perhaps even the same gray-green as the Enterprise was used on the studio model (since the original script for “Balance of Terror” indicated that the ship was based on stolen Starfleet plans).
The engine domes are another question mark. People have depicted them as white, red, orange, yellow, green, blue, or a blue-green, over the years. Blue and/or green seem to be what people lean toward, these days. Suggestions are welcome.
2) I also recently acquired the Romulan Battlecruiser version of the Round 2 D-7 kit (based on the remastered version of “The Enterprise Incident”, with the bird decal for the underside. I plan on using this model as a test bed for accuracy mods on the Klingon version.
To that end, I’ve been 3D modeling a series of replacement parts, to be printed in resin. Some are more accurate to the D-7 filming model, and others to match the AMT tooling model. I figure the tooling model-style parts can go on my Romulan build(s), since those details never appeared onscreen on the Klingon ships, and the slight differences and tweaks make sense for a Klingon design built by Romulans.
The parts are as follows:
*A shorter cylindrical tower to sit behind the bridge, since the kit version is too tall. One version matches the filming D-7 model, with the extra greeblie and the round pinhead detail on top. The other is plain and smooth, like on the AMT tooling model.
* The round pinheads which were on the rear bridge platform and either side on the main body.
*A replacement for the sensor hole tunnel piece on the “head”, with the antenna details added in.
*The alternate nacelle half-round grille detail seen on the AMT tooling model and the original AMT model kit, designed as one piece to be trapped in-between the nacelle halves. I made a digital mock-up of the nacelle based on caliper measurements of the kit parts to ensure a proper fit.
In addition to these upgrade parts, I’d also like to tweak some of the other issues with the Polar Lights kit, such as thickening up the main body with sheet styrene, shortening the top overhang/roof of the hangar deck structure (which sits too far forward on the kit), and slimming down the platform behind the bridge.
I’m aware that the kit has some scaling problems, too, but if anyone can point out any other glaring inaccuracies in the kit, it would be appreciated.
3) The actual Klingon D-7 build, with the aforementioned mods and drop-in parts (but with the stock kit’s nacelle grilles, based on the filming model).
4) For the other boxed D-7 kit, I haven’t decided. I could go with the “Trials and Tribble-ations”/Greg Jein model’s look, the STAR TREK: THE ANIMATED SERIES Romulan D-7 look (which the earlier Polar Lights/Round 2 kits include decals for), or redo my previous Romulan Bird of Payne model, this time with the accuracy mods and drop-in parts. Although that would require getting a new set of decals, and I’m not sure if JT Graphics is still in business.
Thoughts and suggestions are welcome!
I’d actually bought the Round 2 Romulan kit and assembled it not long after it came out, but it’s sat unfinished in a closet for years. Also, I came into the possession of three boxed Round 2 Klingon D-7 kits for free, given to me by a friend, and which have just been sitting in a closet for years.
So, I’ve decided to return to these models and do all-new builds. Here’s where we’re at:
1) I did some seam work on the unfinished Bird of Prey, and also bought and installed the Green Strawberry photoetch set for the missing windows (and left off the other, studio model-inaccurate detail parts). The model is currently primered and ready to paint. Still debating what colors to go with. These days, most people seem to think a light gray for the base hull color, or that perhaps even the same gray-green as the Enterprise was used on the studio model (since the original script for “Balance of Terror” indicated that the ship was based on stolen Starfleet plans).
The engine domes are another question mark. People have depicted them as white, red, orange, yellow, green, blue, or a blue-green, over the years. Blue and/or green seem to be what people lean toward, these days. Suggestions are welcome.
2) I also recently acquired the Romulan Battlecruiser version of the Round 2 D-7 kit (based on the remastered version of “The Enterprise Incident”, with the bird decal for the underside. I plan on using this model as a test bed for accuracy mods on the Klingon version.
To that end, I’ve been 3D modeling a series of replacement parts, to be printed in resin. Some are more accurate to the D-7 filming model, and others to match the AMT tooling model. I figure the tooling model-style parts can go on my Romulan build(s), since those details never appeared onscreen on the Klingon ships, and the slight differences and tweaks make sense for a Klingon design built by Romulans.
The parts are as follows:
*A shorter cylindrical tower to sit behind the bridge, since the kit version is too tall. One version matches the filming D-7 model, with the extra greeblie and the round pinhead detail on top. The other is plain and smooth, like on the AMT tooling model.
* The round pinheads which were on the rear bridge platform and either side on the main body.
*A replacement for the sensor hole tunnel piece on the “head”, with the antenna details added in.
*The alternate nacelle half-round grille detail seen on the AMT tooling model and the original AMT model kit, designed as one piece to be trapped in-between the nacelle halves. I made a digital mock-up of the nacelle based on caliper measurements of the kit parts to ensure a proper fit.
In addition to these upgrade parts, I’d also like to tweak some of the other issues with the Polar Lights kit, such as thickening up the main body with sheet styrene, shortening the top overhang/roof of the hangar deck structure (which sits too far forward on the kit), and slimming down the platform behind the bridge.
I’m aware that the kit has some scaling problems, too, but if anyone can point out any other glaring inaccuracies in the kit, it would be appreciated.
3) The actual Klingon D-7 build, with the aforementioned mods and drop-in parts (but with the stock kit’s nacelle grilles, based on the filming model).
4) For the other boxed D-7 kit, I haven’t decided. I could go with the “Trials and Tribble-ations”/Greg Jein model’s look, the STAR TREK: THE ANIMATED SERIES Romulan D-7 look (which the earlier Polar Lights/Round 2 kits include decals for), or redo my previous Romulan Bird of Payne model, this time with the accuracy mods and drop-in parts. Although that would require getting a new set of decals, and I’m not sure if JT Graphics is still in business.
Thoughts and suggestions are welcome!
