NCC 7100 Stargazer - From Picard's Ready Room

TheRealMcFly

TheRealMcFly

Sr Member
RPF PREMIUM MEMBER
I always thought the one in his ready room was primarily a decoration. It seems gold on screen, much like the conference room Es. So last night I'm working on another project thinking how much more fun it would be to actually complete something inside of a weekend. Had planned to put two AMT refits up for sale, but I thought what the heck, the Stargazer.

Stargazer Kitbash Pictorial «

Old news? I searched twice, and as we all know everything good is better twice.

Surprised to discover the mustard color was an intentional decision, to match the office. Warp field test color?:sick The model still has markings and some of typical starfleet greys added for detail.

No 'smoothies' here on my shelf, just V and VI releases of the AMT refit. I was thinking painting to match the Jein built studio model, as the panel lines are begging for some aztecing by number.

The most difficult part will be the thickness of the hull. Photos? Later.
 
Im interested in this. Ive always wanted to build the Desk model and paint it that yellow just because. Looking forward to seeing your work:cool

Cameron
 
I've looked at the Stargazer with an interested eye for years. The kitbash wasn't done from smoothies, but rather the Trek IV kit issues with the panel detailing. So, the panel lines are part of the resulting display model. At one time I had the SFSM vac kit in my stash, but I sold it and it also had the panels on the parts.

One thing that is nice about this design is it lends itself well to a kitbash of the PL kits also, be they 1/1000 scale or 1/350. In my own case, I have been tempted to try a pseudo-studio model kitbash in 1/350 (not sure how big Greg Jein's model was), although that would take A LOT of work to pull off properly.
 
I did find a build of one of the vac formed kits and I was surprised to find the panel detail. Don't think that I'm getting this finished this weekend.:lol I'll have to be ready to go with extra styrene and paint another time. So what color? In the article Rick Sternbach said it is similar to the color of the Cardassian ships, and old WW2 tanks. Any advice for the greys or blue?

Unless someone here makes it easy for me, there is no way I'll go looking for the kit bashed details. I'll make use of the kits I have here, and use the filming version for bottom reference. Several pods underneath are gundamish, but you never see them at all on screen.

A buildup with the 1/350 kits would be amazing. Probably comparable to the original studio model, if not larger.
 
Great project! I've been itching to do a Stargazer. I've been thinking of getting the big one over at Federation Models but it's a bit on the expensive side... but it's there, tempting me! Good luck!
 
Andrew Probert and Rick Sternbach kit-based the model for Picard's ready room. I asked Andrew once why they didn't paint it, as to my eye, it looked like the cream coloured resin that early garage kits came in in the 80's. His answer was that the Stargazer was a deep space exploration ship, and yellow would make it stand out in the darkness of space. Of course, none of its colouring carried over when the Stargazer was seen on screen later in the first session.
 
Ya know I always thought that the Stargazer would have looked good with the saucer section from the Reliant as a varient to the class:) What do yall think?

Cameron
 
Very cool! You can tell how much of a Trek fan I am because I had no idea that was Picard's former ship. For some reason I always assumed they were just previous Enterprise ships.
 
Skyler101 said:
Andrew Probert and Rick Sternbach kit-based the model for Picard's ready room. I asked Andrew once why they didn't paint it, as to my eye, it looked like the cream coloured resin that early garage kits came in in the 80's. His answer was that the Stargazer was a deep space exploration ship, and yellow would make it stand out in the darkness of space. Of course, none of its colouring carried over when the Stargazer was seen on screen later in the first session.
Click to expand...

Here's Rick Sternbach's take on the color from the above link:

"The yellow color harmonized with the overall scheme for the ready room, and could be rationalized in a pinch as being a specialized hull coating used in initial warp field tests. Yeah, that’s the ticket."

Again Sternbach talks about the color choice at another forum:
Flare Sci-Fi Forums: Sternbach's Constellation-class article from latest Mag

"Well, the model on his ready room pedestal was simply decaled with whatever decals we had lying around from the ERTL kits, and while the ship config was supposed to be Stargazer, it was more like a testbed vehicle painted with warp-stress yellow indicator paint and given generic markings. The model was likely a gift from the Stargazer upgrade and maintenance teams to Picard."

Anyhow, I'll have to paint it yellow now. I'll be stopping at the hobby store to get a feel of what yellow I want. Might be time for some fresh screen grabs from "Who Watches the Watchers."

See you boys tomorrow.
 
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Closest color I've seen is Afrika Yellow Mustard which is a Testors Model Master color in spray can (and it was available in 1988 when this model was built). It is a flat shade though, so it might not be exact since what Rick and Andy used appears to be gloss or semi-gloss. But, a good gloss coat would give it a pretty decent semi-gloss sheen as it seems to show in the pictures. And the best part is if you use Testors glosscote, you won't have to worry about the model paintjob yellowing since it is ALREADY yellow! ;)

Tamiya also has similar yellow shades in their paint lines for German armor.
 
vaderman1701 said:
I love this ship. That is why I am making a 1/350th scale kit of her.

Scott
Click to expand...

That might as well be Studio Scale. BIG Model. Where's the link?

As for this build... having someone at work help me build a saucer platform ready for all AMT parts. Hopefully I can get some sort of structure inside the vertical portions (AMT parts) holding the nacelles. The horizontal bit holding the nacelles (X2) will be made from some aluminium sheet. This post has been brought to you by the anti-sagging nacelle initiative. Now back to your regularly scheduled project.

7100tngcap.png
 
Definitely an ugly ship, but she has grown on me. I need to do the negative mold of the bottom hull and finish the larger vacuform table and she will be ready to go.

Scott
 
So its gonna be a mix media kit vac a resin or all Vac?

Is the model gonna have a internal structure to support the hull and engines?

Cameron

USS Forrestal NCC-2859
Constellation class
 
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