Leif Ericson Galactic Cruiser-FINISHED PICS!!!

[trekriffic]

Re: Leif Ericson Galactic Cruiser

Here are some pics from yesterday's work...

The slots in the hull where the ion engine tabs fit were moved back about 1/16" so the wing now slides into the rear engine fin slot:

Ion Engines Slot Mods by trekriffic, on Flickr

Pieces of Evergreen strip were cut to fill the gaps left from moving the engines back.

Fiber runs from the forward wall landing light holes were gathered and wrapped with foil tape then inserted into a tube where a high brightness white LED was mounted between the hangar control tower LEDs:

Launch Bay Fiber Optic Lighting by trekriffic, on Flickr

The LEDs for the fibers runs in the other walls were mounted after gluing the hangar bay to the upper hull. The side wall LEDs have shrouds made from stacking two dental floss hubs together with CA.
The shrouds will glow allowing the windows to illuminate:

Floor Light Fiber Optics by trekriffic, on Flickr

All LED leads were soldered and a test showed all seven LEDs operated perfectly (whew)!

And now, back to the impulse engines...

The blue LEDs for the impulse engines:

Impulse Engine LEDs by trekriffic, on Flickr

Light boxes were glued together with CA from sheet styrene and lined with adhesive backed aluminum foil.

The finished impulse engine light boxes:

Impulse Engine Lights and Wiring by trekriffic, on Flickr

I'll wrap some more foil tape around the outside of the light boxes over the seams as an added light block.

Next step is to finish the fiber runs.
Then I'll finish the wiring in the lower hull for the ion engines, solder the leads from the upper hull to the leads in the lower hull (some trickiness involved with that), and glue the upper and lower hulls together.
Before that though I'm toying with the idea of making some tiny crew silhouetttes out of foil and sticking them behind a few of the windows in the hangar bay and the oval windows in the neck.
I think that would really enhance the realism of this model.

Thanks for reading!

 

[yuumi2891103]

Re: Leif Ericson Galactic Cruiser

Look at the tons of work you pour into.
This build is nothing but a nice full scratch build!
All the detail and paints you gave it generate a mood of good days of SF.
When the world was young. Sweet, warm and full of curiosity to space travel.

 

[Smiling Demon]

Re: Leif Ericson Galactic Cruiser

The work you are putting into this is just crazy man. I love it. I have been working in and off on mine but you have far surpassed me in detail.
Learning alot watching you so mine might be better!!! :lol

Kenny

 

[trekriffic]

Re: Leif Ericson Galactic Cruiser

Here are the latest pics from today...

I took some clear acrylic rod and spun it in my dremel using a scribing tool like a lathe to make a round observation dome to sit just behind the bridge.
I thought it would be useful for the crew to have a point where they could look directly aft over the stern of the ship:

Command Tower Restored by trekriffic, on Flickr

You can also see where some of the windows were blacked out as I figured not every cabin light would be on all of the time in the ship.
I also cut some tiny figures out of foil tape and stuck them behind a few of the windows in the neck as well as some of the observation windows in the launch bay.
The figures show up as shadows behind the ports and windows which were painted on the inside with acrylic fluorescent overcoat.
The overcoat glows well when light hits it and makes the windows more opaque; otherwise, the Envirotex was so clear you could see the inside of the hull which I didn't really want.
Even sanding didn't work to make the windows less transparent.

The wiring is finished for the lower hull. There are basically 1 negative and 2 positive leads to solder to leads from the upper hull.

Laser cannons and flashing formation lights finished...

.50mm fiber was run thru a channel in each wing to metal barrels made from resin syringe needles.
The needles were the perfect size to fit the fiber strands.
I also carved channels to wire up red and green flashing LEDs connected in series and mounted in the nexus of each wing:

Wing Flasher and Laser Cannon by trekriffic, on Flickr

The lower hull is ready to be sealed up. You can see in the photo below how the fibers from the laser cannons run forward to a piece of clear styrene sheet mounted in front of the main forward facing LED.
The fibers really pick up the light well and the wing-mounted lasers really glow nicely at their tips.:

Lower Fuselage Wiring by trekriffic, on Flickr

The upper hull almost ready for gluing to the lower hull. Lots of wires. Still need to finish attaching the fiber runs to the light for the rear wall of the launch bay:

Upper Fusealage Wiring by trekriffic, on Flickr

I had to mount a fourth LED for the rear wall landing lights. Once the epoxy has set up good and solid I'll bend the fibers over and wrap the ends with aluminum foil tape before trimming the ends flush with my scissors.
Then I'll fill the LED tube with 5 minuter epoxy and glue the fibers into the top of the tube.
Since I had an extra LED in the stern now I decided to add a red light to the top of the stern hull plate.

A hole was drilled in the hull and another in the side of the LED tube and red acrylic rod was inserted thru the stern and into the tube.
Now I've got a red glowing light in the stern of the ship that I didn't plan on having before the lighting modifications were needed.
Nice!:

IMG_2309 by trekriffic, on Flickr

My next pics should show the hull halves finally sealed up!

Thanks for reading!

 

[yuumi2891103]

Re: Leif Ericson Galactic Cruiser

Great work, Steve-san!
Your wiring are Just like a computer chip!
Can't wait to see it lit!!

katsu

 

[trekriffic]

Re: Leif Ericson Galactic Cruiser

Got some more work done today; mostly during my lunch break. One of the virtues of working from home!

First thing was to bundle the fibers for the rear wall landing light together, wrap them with foil tape, and stick them down into the LED illumination tube on the rear wall with Devcon 5-minute epoxy:

IMG_2314 by trekriffic, on Flickr

After the epoxy set up I plugged the lower hull into the stand and then clamped the upper hull in my portable vice positioning it so the wires were close enough to solder together.
Once the soldering was done I coated the solder joints with Liquid Electrical Tape to insulate them. That stuff stinks but it sure does the trick!:

Preparing to Glue by trekriffic, on Flickr

Before gluing the hulls together I turned on the power and checked the lights. Before that though I heeded Lloyd Collins' warning over on The Tholian Web forum and made sure I had my blast goggles on and stacked some sandbags up between me and the model...

Then came the moment of truth... I flicked the switch and ... BOOM! There was a loud concusive blast rendering me momentarily unconscious. Once the smoke had cleared I found myself lying in a heap across the street from what used to be my garage...

Just kidding folks... :lol

The impulse engines lit up NICE! Just a beautiful blue glow thru the PE mesh.:

IMG_2321 by trekriffic, on Flickr

The lights in the launch bay all work now:

IMG_2319 by trekriffic, on Flickr

One confession I have to make to stupidity is, when I did a dry run last night, I noticed the forward launch bay control room wasn't lighting up!
:confused

FRACK thought I! What the heck???

Found out I'd unhooked the main positive wire from the circuit for those two LEDs when I installed the LED to light the rear wall landing light fibers.
I'd had to remove a red wire that was in the way of the LED tube and forgotten to reconnect it.
:facepalm

Once I re-soldered the wire the windows sprang back to life!
To quote C3PO, "Thank the maker!"


The side wall windows lit up:


IMG_2323 by trekriffic, on Flickr

IMG_2322 by trekriffic, on Flickr

You can't see it in this poorly focused photo but there are crew silhouettes visible behind the windows.
I also noticed some of the paint had flaked off the one launch door so will need to retouch some spots with the brush.

The upper and lower hulls finally are glued together and clamped:

Rubber Bands and Clamps by trekriffic, on Flickr

Next it'll be time for a little seam filling and sanding.
Then it'll be time to mask off the windows and impulse engines.
I'll also need to figure out how to cover the launch bay opening so no uwanted paint gets in there.
Then will follow the priming.
Then maybe more seam filling and sanding.
Then more priming.
Repeat as needed...

Thanks for following along everyone!

 

[AZSneed]

Re: Leif Ericson Galactic Cruiser

Steve, this is an excellent build! You always out do yourself each project!

 

[Randy13]

Re: Leif Ericson Galactic Cruiser

The launch bay looks wonderful and great job overall with the details.

 

[robn1]

Re: Leif Ericson Galactic Cruiser

I've never seen anyone put so much work into the old "booze bottle" ship. It looks fantastic!

I picked up the glow in the dark version a couple years ago. I'm thinking I will just build it as is, that's how I remember it from when I was a kid.

 

[trekriffic]

Re: Leif Ericson Galactic Cruiser

Thanks for the comments everyone. This "booze bottle" ship is going to drive me to drink if I don't finsih it soon! :lol

Today's progress...

Worked on a lot of little things today.

I wanted the launch bay doors to look like they interlocked so I cut 5 sections of thin styrene strip to 1/2" lengths and glued them to the edges of the doors staggered so they go together like woven fingers:

Launch Bay Door Mods by trekriffic, on Flickr

I did a lot of work to finish up the sensor dome which I now looks less like a ball and more like an array.
After drilling some holes and inserting some really small flat headed pins (delicate work) around the perimeter at the base of each facet of the rhinestone I drilled a hole thru the stem and up into the clear plastic of the rhinestone:

IMG_2330 by trekriffic, on Flickr

The entire array including the rhinestone was painted with Mr Surfacer. After it dried I drilled a round hole in the center of each facet to allow light to shine thru.
A 3 inch length of .5mm fiber was glued up thru the stem into the bottom of the rhinestone:

Main Sensor Array Ready for Paint by trekriffic, on Flickr

A nail set was used to make small circular tape masks for the holes drilled out of each facet:

IMG_2332 by trekriffic, on Flickr

The array was then dipped in Future to seal the tape masks and, after drying, sprayed with Tamiya Bare Metal Silver:

Main Sensor Array Mods by trekriffic, on Flickr

Main Sensor Array Painting by trekriffic, on Flickr

I'm hoping when the array is inserted in the opening atop the bridge the fiber strand, which bends in the direction of the main high brightness LED, will transmit the light up into the rhinestone causing the ports in each facet to glow.

Next I took some aluminum tubing of the right diameter to fit over the barrel of the phaser projector and beveled one end with a grinding stone spinning in my dremel's flexi-shaft held in a Panavise.
Then I cut the metal tube in my mini cutoff saw and glued it to the plastic tip of the phaser projector:

Main Phaser Projector Test Fit by trekriffic, on Flickr

It's a small thing I know but I think it's a nice upgrade over the simple kit part. The metal gives it more of the appearance of a gun barrel now.

Moving to the stern I made a cover from two thicknesses of styrene sheet and epoxied it to the slide switch that controls the launch bay lights:

Stern Plate by trekriffic, on Flickr

The last thing I did was to mix up some AVES and fill in some major gaps in the stern and along the nexus where the upper and lower wingtips meet.
I also smoothed the seams in the forward part of the hull alternating between sanding sticks and my seam scraper. Then I covered the seams with Tamiya polyester putty and set the whole thing aside to dry for the night.

Comments welcome!

 

[Patron Zero]

Re: Leif Ericson Galactic Cruiser

WOW ! Simply the most intense, most insane and most brilliant build ever done on this classic and truly icon starship !

Now confess please, you are considering a 'studio' scale build sometime in the future, yes ?

 

[trekriffic]

Re: Leif Ericson Galactic Cruiser

WOW ! Simply the most intense, most insane and most brilliant build ever done on this classic and truly icon starship !

Now confess please, you are considering a 'studio' scale build sometime in the future, yes ?

Thanks PZ!

Studio model? Maybe if I had the space.... or the equipment... or the expertise! :lol

 

[yuumi2891103]

Re: Leif Ericson Galactic Cruiser

Launching bay is looking very impressive.
Your works made this model looks huge!!

 

[trekriffic]

Re: Leif Ericson Galactic Cruiser

Today's update...
Work progressed with puttying and sanding....
Blue tape was used to mask off the windows for application of Tamiya Basic polyester putty:

Masking Rows of Windows by trekriffic, on Flickr

The model was puttied with AVES, sanded, puttied with Tamiya Basic, sanded, and brushed with Mr Surfacer.

Lloyd over on the Tholian Web forum asked if I was making the basketball hoops for the launch bay so...
Solid core tinned wire was wrapped around the end of a dental pic to make loops. These were then glued into holes drilled into two tiny styrene backboards:

IMG_2342 by trekriffic, on Flickr

IMG_2343 by trekriffic, on Flickr

Leftover decals from my stash were applied to make the red squares above the hoops on the backboards:

IMG_2347 by trekriffic, on Flickr

The finished backboards with hoops were coated with Krylon and set aside to dry.

The nosecone shield was glued to the hull with styrene cement.
I noticed some gaps between the webbing on the inside of the shield and the hull so I cut some lengths of Evergreen channel tubing and slid them into the gaps before brushing them with Ambroid ProWeld:

Nose Shield Shims by trekriffic, on Flickr

I needed to cut oval and round window masks from tape for the hull, neck and bridge so I ground 1/8" diameter brass tubing to a sharp edge with my dremel's grinding wheel.
Then I squeezed the 1/8" tubing with pliers to an oval shape. It was the perfect size for the windows:

Window Mask Making by trekriffic, on Flickr

The window masks were punched from blue tape using a tack hammer and placed over each window with tweezers:

Applying the Window Masks by trekriffic, on Flickr

The window masks all in place and coated with Future to seal the edges:

Windows Masked by trekriffic, on Flickr

Lastly, the engine shroud grills were coated with primer and sprayed with Tamiya Bare Metal Silver:

Ion Engine Grills Painted by trekriffic, on Flickr

Thanks for all the kind words everyone!

 

[trekriffic]

Re: Leif Ericson Galactic Cruiser

Launching bay is looking very impressive.
Your works made this model looks huge!!

Thanks yuumi-san!

 

[yuumi2891103]

Re: Leif Ericson Galactic Cruiser

Double wow!

I never thought you build the basket ball back board!!
Hat off to your patience for sticking those masking tapes.
It would be rewarded soon!:thumbsup

 

[trekriffic]

Re: Leif Ericson Galactic Cruiser

Stuff from last night...

I finished masking the cracks around the bay doors and the slots where the engine shrouds attach and the ion engine tabs slide into the hull. Then I gave her a spray with Tamiya Ocean Grey 2 for the first coat:

Gray Base Coat Coat by trekriffic, on Flickr

I had found this satin fine mesh ribbon at Michaels the other day and thought it might work for making nets for the basketball hoops:

Satin Mesh by trekriffic, on Flickr

I cut a square of it and wrapped it around the end of my dental pick, gluing it together with craft glue to form a tube:

Making Basketball Nets by trekriffic, on Flickr

After the glue dried I carefully trimmed two tiny nets and glued them to the hoops with white glue:

Basketball Goals with Nets by trekriffic, on Flickr

That was it for last night.

Thanks for reading!

 

[robn1]

Re: Leif Ericson Galactic Cruiser

Hold on, let me get my glasses. Ah, cool, basketball nets! Awesome.

 

[trekriffic]

Re: Leif Ericson Galactic Cruiser

Today's progress...

Doesn't look like I did much but if you've ever sat for hours cutting small bits of tape and carefully placing them on a model while measuring with a ruler and drafting calipers to achieve symmetry between the port and starboard paneling then you'll understand...

Masking Panels by trekriffic, on Flickr

The drawings I'm using as a guide are CGI images created by artist Paul Lloyd of the I.N.S.S. MacArthur. I really like the look of the hull paneling:

Loyd_macarthur4 by trekriffic, on Flickr

What I can't divine from Mr Lloyd's drawings I make up as I go along.
Aztec paneling really is a matter of gestalts I think.

The engine shrouds were primed then sprayed with Tamiya Ocean Grey 2.

After I finish masking off this layer I'll seal the tape with Future and give the hull a shot of Krylon Gloss Black lacquer followed by a coat of Tamiya Bare Metal Silver.
I'll spray the shrouds first and use light passes with the Krylon just in case the Tamiya and Krylon paint react badly together.
I can easily remove any messed up paint layers from the shrouds; repainting the main hull would be a big pain as you can well imagine.
Anyway, assuming all goes well with the black and silver layers I'll mask off the silver panels.
Then she gets a layer of Tamiya Medium Sea Grey followed by more masking and verbal humiliation, followed by evening punishment...

Woops! Sorry... where did that come from? Must have been channeling Michael Palin aboard the Raging Queen on SNL there for a moment... anyway...

Then it will be time to remove the masks (some of the dark grey masks will stay where I want stripes) before the final coat of thinned down Model Master Camouflage Grey enamel is airbrushed on to unify the layers and create the right level of subtlety to the paneling.
I may give her a quick overall brush of Future acrylic to act as a barrier layer but I really think I'll be fine laying enamel right over the lacquers coats.
Any of you master painters out there with an opinion on that please chime in with any advice you'd care to offer.

As always, thanks for all your comments!

 

[Smiling Demon]

Re: Leif Ericson Galactic Cruiser

GEEZ, I thought I was doing alot to my cruiser (he says while quietly shoving it back into the box!)

I will wait 13-14 years when the WOW factor of your build dies down to complete mine!!! J\K :lol

I learn more and more watching guys like you make these fantastic models out of plain ole' plastic kits.
Looks great!!


Kenny