AMT Enterprise TOS - Long Box V2 Box Cover Build

[alensatemybuick]

Creating a new thread for this since I initially co-opted "ALLEY"'s Doomsday Machine Constellation build thread:

“Doomsday Machine” U.S.S. Constellation Build

I’ve been putting this one off for a while and decided to jump-start it over the Memorial Day weekend. This a vintage “long box” AMT USS Constellation build. Although, I did use the saucer top of the modern kit. I am approaching this in sections and have completed most of the saucer detail...

www.therpf.com

Anyway, bought a second version long box AMTprise recently, open box but 100% complete, and thought it would be fun to try to built it to look like the ship on the box cover. Basically build it as a child might, only using my current man-child modeling skills. Since the bottom of the secondary hull snaps off for battery access, I figured there'd be no need to do any seam filling. And since the orange/amber nacelle caps in this version of the build are the closest to (if not the same as) those used on the model depicted on the box cover for 2 decades, this would be the best version to use to approximate that build.

Here's a mock up of the lighted nacelle, using 3v DC:

Okay, so based on my limitations, I wanted to build this using available spray can and brushable paints. After some research using the Google machine to see what others have done, I selected the following paints:

Hull: Tamiya AS-5"Luftwaffe" light blue (spray)
Engine details (end caps, etc): Tamiya XF-18 medium blue (brushed over flat black base coat)
Deflector: Tamiya X-34 metallic brown (brushed over flat black base coat and followed (on dish only) with Tamiya clear orange spray paint
Intercoolers: Krylon "chrome" paint on the rears, semi-gloss black on the centers

The medium blue on the end caps, etc. (I may also use on the impulse engine) I selected as a best-guess based on the box art.

I have a set of modern TOS 1:650 decals on order (per "ALLEY"'s recommendation), and will use them for all registries, pennants, and windows.

The blue is close, but not exactly as I had hoped, but I am thinking some gloss paint may make it look closer. Will have to test that on some scrap. I was hoping for something that looks more like this (supposedly built with Tamiya clear over AS-5. If using a gloss coat doesn't make the color look closer to the box art, I may just gloss the upper saucer (since that is most obviously glossy on the box) in an homage to the differently finished upper saucer on the 11 footer.

So here's what I have so far:

 

[alensatemybuick]

If you are wondering about the wire...I guess I could claim it is an homage to the filming miniature, but the truth is, I managed to snap one of the wires coming out of the base of the pylon and can't seem to fish another up.

That was screw up #1. Which pales in comparison to screw up #2...I ruined the amber domes trying to dull-coat them. The dull coat also reacted with the metallic paint I used for the "rings" They are now a combination of melted plastic and paint mottling that is too unspeakable to say much more about, much less post a photo.

So I now need to buy ANOTHER kit, just to get the plastic domes. EXPENSIVE mistake. And one that may not be solved in the near term, as who knows when the next one will rear its head on Ebay. Anyone with a spare they'd consider selling or a lead on one, please PM me.

Ah, the heck with it, here's a photo of one now-horrific dome (taped in place). I shrunk the photo down to limit my embarrassment. Next time, I will simply paint the rings and perhaps use a red marker on the bulbs or some other (red) bulbs or even LEDs to try to better match the effect on the box art.

All advice regarding my paint choices, etc. is appreciated.

 

[alensatemybuick]

Port side nacelle on; does look "bluer" under natural light and with flash:

 

[thegnome]

Nice work, I am excited to see the final result!

 

[alensatemybuick]

Thanks; it's getting there. Lights (52 year old bulbs and all) even work as they should, twisting the the deflector housing to turn on and off like a flashlight Just waiting on the new decal sheet. Oh and buying another kit to replace the domes I ruined.

Hmm, I had read the reports about the saggy nacelles on the early kits, they weren't exaggerating.

Here's the end result last time I built the later version of the kit (in my teens):

 

[alensatemybuick]

OK, mocked up the nacelle domes for a low-res photo so as to limit showing how messed up they are. It's a gestalt thing, just looks like the Enterprise now, kit inaccuracies and limitations of the builder aside.

 

[thegnome]

very nice job!

 

[alensatemybuick]

Most kind, esp. since what I'm doing involves no special skills.

Sprayed the upper saucer with Tamilya gloss clear today. Its likely the only part of the ship I will do this to, just to create the right level of sheen to match the box cover.

The black electrical tape wrapped on the insides of the nacelle tips does a good job of light blocking, will allow the caps to be put in place without gluing, and works well to seat the light bulb base plates again without gluing.

ON EDIT: Decals finally arrived (by pony express I think), started applying, some tough decisions based on what I think I see on the box, what is obscured by the saucer, and by the shadow at the top of the starboard pylon...

(couldn't resist tweaking the color saturation in these shots)

 

[alensatemybuick]

Was able to find another early kit with the orange domes; interestingly this kit did not have the lighting. I had read that some AMT kits (and I guess the UK Aurora issue as well) still had orange domes to "use up stock" even after the lighting was deleted. Oddly, they still advised in the instruction sheet not to glue the lower secondary hull in place, which I can't understand since the only reason not to do that (and to have to slice the starboard side pennant in half longitudinally) would be for battery access.

 

[alensatemybuick]

Waiting on the second set, but here's another test of nacelle domes - the first ones that I ruined - more for color than anything else (using a red marker on the bulbs didn't really make much difference). Also since they were ruined anyway, I experimented with a black marker to achieve a crisp transition around the edges of the lighted domes - an effect I will try to achieve (with better results I hope) using paint when I get the second set of domes.

Still, kinda close to the Enterprise I remember as a kid...

 

[trekriffic]

Great idea trying to replicate the boxcover model.

 

[DaddyfromNaboo]

I have to dig up that old kit, iit needs a few replacement parts such as one of the nacelle railings, but otherwise I think it still looks okay. I am still angry at my dad because he tried to convince me as a kid that the original model was not white but light blue as it came out of the box, so I did not try and paint it. Right, dad!

So has anyone found a way of keeping the nacelles from sagging? Reinforcing them with a strong wire,perhaps?

 

[Hunk a Junk]

Man, this was my first Enterprise kit. Sure seemed larger in my eight-year-old hands at the time! I still remember those awful nacelle "strut retainer" pieces that broke about 2 minutes after it was glued together. My solution? More glue! I had so much blobbed inside and outside the base of that strut that the secondary hull warped (and not in the way the Enterprise is supposed to warp). Probably the worst and the best modeling experience of my life!

 

[alensatemybuick]

But...they just snap in place. See “Assembly 2” in instruction sheet screenshot above. No glue necessary. And benefit of that is you can pop the bottom seco. hull off and easily remove the nacelles (say for storing the model safely). Maybe that is why the unlit Aurora kit instructions above also say not to cement the lower secondary hull in place.

Man it’s true that the model seemed much bigger in my memory.

 

[alensatemybuick]

Sure seemed larger in my eight-year-old hands

I just read this post to my wife and she started laughing hysterically by the last word I quoted above. Not sure who or what the target of her laughter could be.

 

[Hunk a Junk]

I just read this post to my wife and she started laughing hysterically by the last word I quoted above. Not sure who or what the target of her laughter could be.

Your wife has a filthy mind! I like her already.

 

[alensatemybuick]

New domes arrived...here they are with lights off:

 

[alensatemybuick]

And with lights on; painted the bulb backing plates red and the bulbs as well (with a red marker):

 

[TrekkerG]

And with lights on; painted the bulb backing plates red and the bulbs as well (with a red marker):

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Another modeler identified the 'sagging nacelles' issue as being related to the angle of nacelle strut insertion. They're crooked! He showed how to re-engineer that section to correct the problem. First the wrong angle slots have to be filled in. My guess is using simple hobby clay. Then the correct angle has to be inscribed and cut. End result, voila! no more misaligned nacelles!

 

[alensatemybuick]

I think that makes a lot of sense. Too late for me, though, as my model is painted. And besides...