STAR TREK in 1:2400 scale

[Albertese]

I've been gathering a collection of 1:2400 Star Trek kits and now I'm building them. I figured I'd begin with the beginning, the original Enterprise. This will be a build thread where I'll put up all the models I put together. My intent is to build all the ships that appear in the show in 1:2400 scale. Some I'll have to scratchbuild, but I'm starting with the kits.


Now, anyone who's build the 1:2400 TOS E knows it's an awful kit. Well, if you want it to be the ship in the show. It's actually a fair representation of the 18" AMT model. But I wanted to model the ship from the show. First I carved off the cartoony window squares all over the secondary hull. Then I made room for a styrene tube to accept a 1/8" acrylic rod as a stand. Then I carved around the shuttlebay doors and made a ....hood? ...awning? I don't know what the official name of the roof over the doors would be called, but I made it out of sheet styrene and filed it down to blend it with the rest of the hull. I filed the recesses into the hull at the 3:00, 6:00 and 9:00 positions. I filed down the interconnecting dorsal to match the contours of the 11' model.


On the saucer, I filed down the shape of the "B-C" deck area to match the 11' model. Then I added strips of styrene around the edge of the saucer and then spent hours filing it the match the angle and sharpness of the 11' model. The undercut in the saucer had the wide flat outer edge of the 18" AMT kit, so I took a curved blade and scraped out the plastic to closer match the 11' model.


I also made a couple little changes to the nacelles. I got carried away and sanded the aft cowlings too round. I was going to ignore it and accept the softer look, but it's been bugging me, so I'm going to fix that tonight.


It's about 90% complete. I've scratched my own sensor/deflector dish as the kit's looks like a weird salad bowl or something. I took a 1/4" hole punch to a ping pong ball and used a length of piano wire for the antenna/stem. Also, the Impulse deck area, while not terrible on the kit, got wiped out while I was rebuilding the saucer edge, so I'll have to scratchbuild that area also. Overall, I think it's coming together to match the 11' model a bit more closely. I figured I'd share it at this point, before I wrap it up and start painting.

To fill file marks and scratches, I used mostly CA and flat white spray paint. Also a bit of Squadron Green on the saucer.


Well, more to come.


--Alex

UPDATE

Got the nacelle end caps done.

--AM

 

[vidman]

Very nice start, those are so small, and a little harder to do a complete paint job....

I'll be watching your progress :ninja

 

[Albertese]

Thanks, vidman. I think such a small subject lends itself to a lot of brush work. Should be fun!

I finished the impulse hardware. Also, I added formation lights (bottom ones too). I think this more-or-less finishes the sub-assemblies. I think I might paint them before final assembly, but I haven't decided.

Painting this weekend. Maybe sooner, but I doubt it.


Thanks for looking!


--Alex

 

[Albertese]

I got around to spraying a base color. I used Tamiya TS-5 Light Blue (Luftwaffe). I think I read somewhere (maybe something posted by Shaw?) that it's a fair match to the original color. I think the original was a bit greener, but the TS-5 does look pretty darn good to my eye.

If all goes well, I'll start the detail painting Sunday.


Thanks for looking!


--Alex

 

[Albertese]

I had a little extra time today, but I didn't quite feel like painting. So, instead I started one of the simpler scratchbuilds.

--Alex

 

[vintageslant]

I had a little extra time today, but I didn't quite feel like painting. So, instead I started one of the simpler scratchbuilds.


http://s11.postimg.org/biesaxhoz/2015_03_20_23_03_06.jpg


--Alex

Ah but don't forget you must think outside the box, :lol

 

[Albertese]

Ah but don't forget you must think outside the box, :lol

Ha! The box is the space buoy from the borders of the First Federation in the episode "The Corbomite Maneuver."

I managed to paint all I think I'm going to paint on this. But there are some things I want to make some custom decals for. That's the next step. Then I'll put on the kit's decals, then I'll weather it and then I'll do final assembly.

Thanks for looking!


--Alex

 

[vidman]

Looks GREAT :thumbsup

 

[Albertese]

Well, I am part way through making the decals. But I wanted to take a break and that stinkin' white cube was taunting me, so I painted it. I considered spraying it, but I wanted it to have the textured, mottled look of the original cube. So I painted it by hand.

--Alex

 

[danikin72]

Love it.
The texture really sells it

 

[Albertese]

Thanks, danikin72!


So, I finally got to printing some decals. I dunno what the heck is going on, here. My CHEAP ASS printer can't print a decal to save it's freakin' life. I wanna throw the dang thing against a wall! I made a sheet of graphics up in Photoshop and printed it four times. Each print was unacceptable. I tried different settings each time. I included names and numbers for a few different starships.

Questions for anyone who's made decals this way before... any advise? I've done this before myself and it worked great. But I can't remember if it was the same printer or my previous printer. But any tips?


Anyhow, though the lettering will not pass muster, some of the just graphical stuff was more usable. I hunted through my many and sundry decals trying to find the least offensive markings and got some decals on there.

I made a "wallpaper" style decal for the upper and lower surfaces of the saucer. And I'm using Micro-Sol and Micro-Set for the first time. It sure seems to take a long time to set up/dry/cure... but dang, it sure seems effective at laying the film down flat. I'm sorry I never tried this stuff before! There are very faint grid lines on the there, but they are hard to see, even in person. It's just how I wanted it to look, so I'm happy with that result.


Anyhow, I want to give it all the time it wants to be dry before I lay more decal on top of this. Plus I have yet to put my "wallpaper" decal on the upper saucer, and that'll take time to dry. But I'll keep posting as the model progresses.


Thanks for looking!


--Alex

 

[MKWJTC]

I think this is the one Little E with the biggest amount of job I've ever seen.

 

[Albertese]

Thanks MKWJTC. There's not a part on this I haven't modified one way or another.

Well, I got the decals done. I plan to ease up the edges of the decals with some 600 grit sand paper. Then Glosscote, Dullcote and some weathering before final assembly.

Thanks for looking!


--Alex

 

[Albertese]

FIN!


This was a fun project and I learned a lot. I used a bit of Bare Metal Foil for the inner tracks on the warp nacelles. My first time with BMF. I weathered the ship with as many pics of the original model in it's production paint as I had up as reference. I used powdered pencil graphite applied with a small brush and adjusted with judicious use of an eraser. And I wasn't as diligent as I ought to have been regarding dust on the model and there are some unaddressable issues with the decals. They're small, but you can find them if you're looking at them. And I kinda suspected I installed the pylons backwards, but I couldn't tell for sure until now that I have the engines in place and they are definitely on there at an unfortunate angle.... I might saw the pylons off and glue them back on straight...? But I dunno. It'd be dicey getting the re-paint just right so I have to weigh which issue bothers me more.


Anyhow...pics!

--Alex

 

[Randy13]

This is some great detail for such a small scale. Looks a lot larger than what it really is. Great job.

 

[vidman]

GREAT DETAIL, Most impressive.

You mastered this small model very nicely :cheers

 

[Albertese]

Thanks, guys! Randy13, yeah, I keep looking at pics of it and it reminds me on my 1:1000 Polar Lights model.


Well, for my next model, I will do the Romulan Bird of Prey.


Initially, I had the idea that I would do these in the order they were done on the show, but I'm not so tied to that any more. The RBoP was first in "The Balance of Terror" and I think the only other appearance was reuse of the footage in "The Deadly Years." In that episode, Commodore Stocker, having taken command of the Enterprise during an emergency, bumbles into to a fleet of possibly as many as ten ships and only survives by Kirk's nick-of-time recovery. In the original effects, we only see one Bird at a time, but in the remastered one, there are as many as four on screen at a time. I'm using that precedent to only bother making four of these.


This kit, especially when compared to the Enterprise in the same box, is stunningly accurate. Well, not really, it has some "webbed-feet" areas due to compromises in the tooling, but they are easily filed away. And the domes on the front of the engines are very soft. I took a file to them to create a sharper specific edge between dome and nacelle.


But overall, the parts are very nicely thought-out. None of the seams even need puttied as they are all concealed by the design.

My question for you all: What color was this thing? My only references of the original model are the admittedly rough prints that ended up on-screen, and a collection of very nice, but black and white stills of the model from 1966. I get the impression that it may have been simply sprayed silver and had the bird markings painted on over that. But for so many years, I grew up thinking it was more white-ish, so I don't know. All I do know is that I don't care for the heavily plated look the CBS model had and I won't go that route. Any opinions?


Also, I don't want all four to have the same bird artwork. I read somewhere (possibly an old FASA book?) that each ship had a bird of different color or type to distinguish it's identity, and I like that idea, so I'm gonna come up with some designs of my own and possibly print some decals if I can work out my printer issues.


So, what do you guys think about the base color?


--Alex

 

[Zombie_61]

My question for you all: What color was this thing?

I'm not 100% certain, but I'm pretty sure the original Romulan Bird of Prey filming model was coated only in a light gray primer before the graphics were applied.

 

[Albertese]

Yeah, I dunno. A primer coat would leave a very matte surface. The one thing I'm sure of is it wasn't just that.

Check this out:

...especially the upper (or, more correctly, the starboard) nacelle. Now, that looks like a pretty reflective surface to me. This is what makes me wonder about silver paint. On the other hand, I suppose that it could be a light gray with a semi-gloss or satin finish and it's just catching the light this way.

And as for the bird graphic, does anyone know if it was something like a big silk-screened decal or would it have just been painted on by Mr. Chang, talented artist that he was. I'm going with decals on my little ships, but I'm curious for the sake of knowing the history of the thing.

--Alex

 

[Mysta2]

I love those kits and remember building all of them when I was a kid. I've still got a real fondness for the real miniature stuff. You're making me want to jump on eBay and throw some money at another project I don't have time for

really slick work. I especially love how you did the windows and how you pulled off the paintwork on the nacelle tips.

just curious. Is there a reference for the scale of that cube or do you just have to guess?