Romulan Bird-Of-Prey from TOS-FINISHED with VIDEO!!!

[glorbes]

Re: Romulan Bird-Of-Prey from TOS

You're doing such a classy job on this one...it looks so friggin' smooth. You make me want to build a crass, styrene version in 'big' scale.

What I really love about this build is how much work you really have pour into it to make it accurate...and I also love that, along with the accuracy, you're adding a whole other level of invention with the shuttle. Anyway, I'm blathering on...jolly good show.

Having this thread and the Steve Neill 'Prise thread drawing to a close makes me sad...I always look forward to the updates.

 

[robn1]

Re: Romulan Bird-Of-Prey from TOS

...I'm still debating this as it's also possible the whiteness is merely caused by how the model was lit. I'd be interested in hearing the opinions of the membership on that question...

The rear portion sure looks like a lighter color, my guess would be a lighter gray.

You've really done an awesome job on this, the tubes for the window frames is especially clever :thumbsup

 

[trekriffic]

Re: Romulan Bird-Of-Prey from TOS

Having this thread and the Steve Neill 'Prise thread drawing to a close makes me sad...I always look forward to the updates.

Thank you for the compliment glorbes. I wouldn't compare this build to Steve's phenomenal achievement myself but I'm glad you've enjoyed it. Building this ship has been a lot of work but also a lot of fun!

 

[trekriffic]

Re: Romulan Bird-Of-Prey from TOS

Updates from the weekend...

I concluded it was high time to paint the plasma emitter. Here it is masked off with Saran wrap and Tamiya tape :

I finally decided to airbrush the rear underside to match this photo of the studio model:

So I decanted and mixed Tamiya white Fine Surface Primer with Tamiya Light Grey lacquer to get a light, light grey and airbrushed it on the underside after lightly marking where the edges of the feathers would be with a 2B pencil:

Some shots of the ship after painting the emitter and window and sensor port rims with Testors steel enamel and brushing on a coat of Future to seal the deal:

Here's a shot of the studio model for comparison:

Overall I have to say I'm pretty happy with the resullts so far...


Next up:

Sealing with clear Glosscote lacquer and decaling!

 

[trekriffic]

Re: Romulan Bird-Of-Prey from TOS

Update from the past few days...

With all my vacation days to use up I'm taking a lot of 4 day weekends the last 3 months of the year which is greatly speeding up my modelling. Anyway, I figure the decaling should be done tomorrow and, after drying overnight, I'll give her a shot of Glosscote on Sunday followed by 3-4 coats of flat after that.

Anyway, I made some copies of JT Graphics excellent decals on the copier at work so I could do some test fitting just in case I have any fit issues. Better to cut and trim the xeroxes first before doing so to the decals I figure.

First I cut out the bird body and wing decals and taped them to the underside. These had better've fit since I'd done test fits previously which led me to shorten the wings to accomodate the decal. Here's a pic with the Talon. So far so good...

The upper fin decal fits too. This was another instance where I'd added some height to the fin by adding strips to the base in the stern to fit the decal:

The upper wing decals were another story. They were about 3/4" too long having been scaled to fit a garage kit with a longer fuselage hence a longer wing trailing edge, so I ended up cutting out sections from the tips of each scallop until the xerox copy fit the wing with all 5 scallops retained:

Now it fits!

After trimmming and fitting, I dipped the decals in lukewarm water with a drop of dishsoap added. I was able to float all the upper decals into position. Then after they dried a little I gave them a good brushing of MicroSOL to tighten them down followed by a coat of liquid decal film:

Here are the decals I have left for the underside. All told there are 3 sets of JT Graphics decals shown here! Jeff actually donated 2 of the sets so I could mix and match as needed to fit the customized proportions of my Bird.

Tomorrow I seal the upper decals with gloss lacquer then I tackle the Bird on the belly! Wish me luck guys!

:thumbsup

 

[trekriffic]

Re: Romulan Bird-Of-Prey from TOS

Bird-of-Prey decal finished. Some minor tweaking and trimming was needed on the wing feathers. Used MicroSET and SOL. Gave it a coat of liquid decal film after drying to seal the pieces together. Tomorrow she gets a shot of Glosscote.

No airbubble issues worth mentioning. Jeff's decals had plenty of adhesive to snug down nice and tight.

 

[SteveNeill]

Re: Romulan Bird-Of-Prey from TOS

This has to be the best build ever of this model!

Steve

 

[robn1]

Re: Romulan Bird-Of-Prey from TOS

Looking great! I remember building this kit as a kid, and I ruined the bird decal. The big 1/8 scale Trans Am also had a big bird decal :lol and I ruined that one too :cry

 

[trekriffic]

Re: Romulan Bird-Of-Prey from TOS

This has to be the best build ever of this model!

Steve

Thanks Steve! It really looks a lot different compared to the out-of-box builds I've seen after all the modifications I made. Just shortening, thickening, and sweeping the wings forward makes a huge difference in the predatory look of this ship.

 

[trekriffic]

Re: Romulan Bird-Of-Prey from TOS

Looking great! I remember building this kit as a kid, and I ruined the bird decal. The big 1/8 scale Trans Am also had a big bird decal :lol and I ruined that one too :cry

Yeah. This was the first time I've added dish soap to lukewarm water and it really helped. That decal just slid off nice and smooth and I had plenty of time to position it and squeeze out any airbubbles and wrinkles, what little there were.

 

[glorbes]

Re: Romulan Bird-Of-Prey from TOS

That decal has always scared me away from this kit. but man did you make it look butter smooth. This is an exceptional model build...you really turned it into something special.

 

[trekriffic]

Re: Romulan Bird-Of-Prey from TOS

Thanks glorbes! Love your bridge by the way.

 

[trekriffic]

Re: Romulan Bird-Of-Prey from TOS

Took some pics over the weekend of the base with the mirror attached. It's got about 5 coats of lacquer on it. The final coat of Krylon gloss black went on over a coat of Krylon steel. Still need to come up with a nameplate but it's basically done. There is also a small hole for inserting the wire that the Talon fighter attaches to.

I carved out this rectangular compartment and glued in some styrene for the back and sides with 5-minute epoxy. Then I glued in some Evergreen angle strips so I could rig a cover to slide shut over it. This is where I will store the hangar bay hatch when I display the model with the hangar bay open.

Cover closed:

Underside:

I stuck on some felt pads that I got at the Dollar Store. You can see the compartment I carved out to the right to store the hangar bay hatch in.

This weekend I should finally have some pictures of the finished model up.

 

[Alan Castillo]

Re: Romulan Bird-Of-Prey from TOS

This build is simply fenomenal Steve !!!

 

[trekriffic]

Re: Romulan Bird-Of-Prey from TOS

This build is simply fenomenal Steve !!!

Thanks Alan. I'll take a set of pics against a neutral backdrop. Later I'll have some pics posed against my starfield backdrop after I finish constructing my fishing line support sytem. An old school approach I know but it works. I'll also take some greenscreen pics at some point. Of course I'll be sure to include the Talon.

P.S. Is there anyone here who would be interested in collaborating with me on doing a few composites with the green screen images? I don't have the software or skillset for that myself so looking for a volunteer. If anyone is interested please send me a PM.

 

[Alan Castillo]

Re: Romulan Bird-Of-Prey from TOS

Forget the neutral backdrop for the 'final presentation' pics !

Starfield backdrop !!!!!!! :thumbsup :thumbsup :thumbsup :thumbsup

 

[trekriffic]

Re: Romulan Bird-Of-Prey from TOS

Forget the neutral backdrop for the 'final presentation' pics !

Starfield backdrop !!!!!!! :thumbsup :thumbsup :thumbsup :thumbsup

Please, don't beat around the bush Alan.
Maybe I'll do both sets for the final.
Some like chocolate, some like vanlla.

 

[robn1]

Re: Romulan Bird-Of-Prey from TOS

They used blue screen in TOS! But the pics will look great anyway, can't wait for 'em!

 

[trekriffic]

Re: Romulan Bird-Of-Prey from TOS

They used blue screen in TOS! But the pics will look great anyway, can't wait for 'em!

I bought a quart of this bright green flat acrylic paint awhile back and made my own green screens using foamcore panels. It works pretty well. I light it up with a halogen lamp in my garage.

Here's one I took of my Excelsior:

 

[Alan Castillo]

Re: Romulan Bird-Of-Prey from TOS

Nice !