Well, I don't use published plans... I draw my own. I reverse engineer everything from photos (I majored in mathematics, so it becomes a fun geometry puzzle) using actual measurements where ever possible. In the case of the 11 foot Enterprise model, I have over 500 reference photos (some include shots of the model disassembled and placed next to rulers) with a ton of additional raw measurements.
When I first started working on my plans for the 33 inch Enterprise model, the biggest hurdle was getting reference measurements because the model has been missing since 1978. But I was able to get a ton of measurements from the original construction plans (the plans were one-to-one for the 33 inch model and one-quarter scale to the 11 foot model), which gave me the gauge I needed to gather data.
I've made most of my research public... including a reverse engineering of the construction plans (
here) and a first draft of my 33 inch model plans (
here).
To check my work on the 33 inch model, I did a test build based on my plans so I could do comparisons with existing photos of the original model. Here are four examples...
... and based on that work, I've collected together notes that I'm using to revise my plans before making another attempt (hopefully using the same materials as the original model). My model building skills aren't as good as others, but I've been doing my best.
That is how I've approached the problem. In the case of the 33 inch model, I don't know of anyone else who has attempted to do plans of it before me, so I was figuring out how to move forward on it on my own.
But I've had a pretty good time in the process, so no complaints. :thumbsup
