Monogram USS Voyager, the "I don't know what I'm doing" build.

[Ruddigger]

For someone who "doesn't know what he's doing", you sure are doing a great job! :thumbsup

Thanks a lot, I appreciate that.

Progress at last, the windows are DONE! I powered through the tedium and got all the port side windows on the secondary hull drilled/filed/filled with acrylic. I'm so glad that's over with. I made the windows considerably larger on the port side than I had done on the starboard side, when I mask it should be easier. I really wish I had made the starboard side windows larger, but I'm not about to redo them. I'd go mad.

When I used the acrylic to fill the windows on the starboard side some of it inevitably leaks out under the tape and it melts the plastic, just like styrene glue, so I thought maybe it would help to primer the hull before I acrylic-ed. I used Tamiya fine primer in a can.

It did not help. You can see the damaged areas that I will have to file and putty later.

It is actually worse then the unprimered starboard side, lesson learned.

With the windows done I can finally glue the hull together, although I had meant to put the PE in the large windows first, but in my excitement to see some progress on something besides windows I forgot.

Styrene glue bonded the two halves together nicely, and I filed the seam a bit to get rid of any steps.

And just for fun I threw an LED in there and taped the main deflector into place.

I also primered the rear platform, no pictures of that though. I did notice that the Tamiya "fine" primer was too heavy and filled in most of the detail on the PE, I had to quickly grab a small brush and clean it out to get the detail back before it dried. From now on I'll be using an airbrush.

Next step, some more PE, and then individually masking all of those damn windows for more primer and paint.

Thanks for looking.

 

[masterjedi322]

Nice work! It kills me that so many of these kits have a huge seam going right down their center with tons of detail surrounding it. 'Looks like you did a nice job of taking care of it though!

Sean

 

[Randy13]

I love seeing updates on your build and I’m always looking forward to them. I’m sorry to see the damage that was done from the acrylic. Thank you for sharing this. It’s a nice “heads-up” for those of us planning to build this ship someday. Keep up the great work!

 

[Ruddigger]

Thank Sean and Randy. I figure it's best to show my mistakes so others can learn from them too.

Update! My girl is working late so I had some time tonight to get some work done on Voyager. And what I did was more PE. Now that the two secondary hull halves have been joined I can apply the missing PE that goes down the center. Namely the warp core ejector bays and surrounding bits. The molded warp core ejector assembly is pretty rubbish, so you have to grind it completely off before applying the PE. I used a rotary tool and a sanding wheel on a low setting, and finished it off with files and sandpaper.

I figured it was better to take care of that seam now before I put the PE on, because it would be easier work with. It would be a pain to putty tiny areas around the PE later. A bit of glazing putty and more sanding gave me a smooth surface on which to apply the PE.

I'm attaching these pictures because I'm proud of them. The stupid tiny dot/circle thing that I had to file round and drop perfectly in the center of that octagon, somehow I got it right on the money first try.

And the supplied little stick things things that go around the forward warp core are useless. They are so tiny it's impossible to file the sprue prongs off of them, at least it was for me. So I made my own out of other bit of sprue and cut them to size. I highly recommend anybody that is using this kit do this. You can see the sections of sprue I used in the second picture.

And here we go, all applied. I also got the large conference room window PE in as well.

 

[jimpeachey]

Ok, here goes. Imnot new to modelling but am new to RPF although i have been using it for references. I stopped modelling for about 25 years but have decided i need to start agin. I went straight in at the deep end with a new compressor and airbrushes and the Revell Voyager kit, one of my all time favourites! So never airbrushed before and never used LED lighting but went for it anyway. I dont have any pics of the build but will start to post some of how i manage the paint job and the lighting which i did from scratch but using other peoples ideas as reference. I have a few other plans for the future and the 1/350 Ent A refit is my eventual target. I hope you will enjoy seeing my work in the future. You are an inspiration guys, and thanks. Oh and i had real problems cutting out all those windows on the voyager model, some look really bad but ill redo the voyager model, step by step with all the stuff i learn from doing this one.

 

[Ruddigger]

Start a build thread and I'll subscribe. Welcome The RPF.

 

[jimpeachey]

I might just do that and post where i am now and fill in as i go along from here.

 

[jclinton]

WoW! That looks like a lot of work. Looking good. It makes me want to try one. Star Destroyer!!

 

[Redfinger]

For someone who "does not know what they are doing..." I think you are doing a great job and it is evident that you are really trying to learn how this process works.

Ashton

 

[Monster Dave]

I agree, and this is a great example that shows that you can still turn even a basic Monogram model into something beautiful. Keep up the good work!

 

[Ruddigger]

Thanks everybody. Here is a dry fit of the major parts I've done so far, just for fun. Pretty soon I'm going to have to get into lighting, and that's where I'm gonna really need help. Expert advice wanted!

 

[jimpeachey]

That really is very very nice. Dont get daunted by the lighting its not so difficult and depends where you get your LEDs from. I did a very basic circuit for the solid always on lights but the flashing nav lights are a different story. Happy to provide some advice if you want. Just go for it it makes one hell of a difference.

 

[Ruddigger]

I'm definitely gonna light it, all that window hell would be pointless if I left it dark. It's just that I seriously know nothing about electronics. I can solder a bit , but I'm clueless about watts and amps and resistors and things.

 

[jimpeachey]

Hi

I used this seller for my LEDs they are excellent and the LED have all of the resistors you need built in (They are closed for some Chinese holiday at the mo but just search ebay for Prewired 3mm LED and there are hundreds of sellers). I got 5V ones and use a 9V battery to power the system. The LED calculator helps as well and just apply 20ma for the resistance value, it will give you the circuit but i just joined all the +ive together and all the -ve and did it all in Series. I used 'choclate blocks' in each sub section and took one final feed to the battery. The flashing LEDs for nav lights are a pain but just google it and the circuits will show you what you need. I havent done the nav lights on mine as i wanted to concentrate on painting and basic lighting on this one, the next will be 'all singing and dancing so to speak. If you want any more help with how i light proofed it etc let me know. Im def not an expert but have managed to do mine to a reasonable standard i think.

Yellow items in sweetflower8588 store on eBay!
LED Calculator - Current limiting resistor calculator for LED arrays

 

[Randy13]

This is looking great!

Here's another source for LEDs. These may cost a little more but they are put together and ready to go, you would just need to solder the wires. You can choose the size and color you want. They also have slow and fast blinking LEDs. Diecast LEDs wired for DC

 

[Lore]

lookin good so far sir, been thinking about doing this one myself soon with the one ive had collecting dust for the last decade.

 

[jimpeachey]

Not sure how many LED you are getting for that price but i got 100 LED Pre-wired with resistors for $18! Took a couple of weeks to arrive but they are good, that's assorted colours and sizes that i chose too. I did some research and didn't see them any cheaper anywhere else.

I used this excellent site as a guide to the lighting, Thanks Neil.

http://www.neilrandle.co.uk/revell-u-s-s-voyager/

 

[Ruddigger]

Ive been thinking of going with LED tape, as it seems to be easier to get a uniform light across the whole ship. Anybody ever used that?

 

[jimpeachey]

I have used it elsewhere but not on a model kit. Also very cheap on ebay. I think it may be more difficult to power and you would need a controller and probably a 12v power source. I think it would do very well in the nacelles in particular but you might have more hassle separating the LED and re-wiring them in sections. Would love to see the result though.

 

[cmd.rewen]

Hi nice build so far .....

For my Models I use Lights I decided to use LED strings in a warm nice light.


You can get them here:

El-Light - El-Folie, Leuchtfolie, Leuchtschnur, Leuchtband, LED

There are sheep and easy to use

For the Position and Strobe Lights the kit of Don Light and Magic

And fiber optik for te strobe and position Lights like Steve did the position lights on is build a bit to big he use regular LEDs think about fiber optics too .....

And a tipp do some milky Plexiglas in the back of the mattel Windows so you don`t have the holes and all windows look the same way and you can`t look inside of the Hull and see some Led ore cable.


All the best Rewen