Studio Half Scale TOS Enterprise Scratch build

[GeorgeC]

Two comments...

One the build looks great so far!

Second, how are you going to transport that model when it has to be moved?

I've always wondered that about some models. I know on the 11-foot Enterprise TOS model that the warp nacelles are removable. They slide off and on the pylons that support them.

Another fellow built a Refit Enterprise that was maybe 5-6 feet long and did something really clever with it. He engineered screw points into the model so that the four main sections could be removed and boxed separately for moving purposes! What was really clever was that he disguised the locations of the screws beneath removable 'hull platings' so that the screws weren't visible. You just pop off the panels, take the model apart, box and transport, and then reassemble at a new location.

Very clever stuff! He really about that in advance...

 

[Zombie Killer]

Thats some great work Steve. This and the 5ft falcon have to be my 2 dream models.

 

[SteveNeill]

Thanks Zombie Killer!



Hi George. Basically the same. But as you well know there will be no hull plating. I'm hoping to get a snug fit on the pylons and the Nacelles. The saucer section?? Now there's the problem. However this model should fit through any doorway within reason. I really plan to make the saucer attached for good for strength.
Basically this is a big plastic model in the end.

Steve

 

[SteveNeill]

Finally back to the Big E. Sorry to bore you but I'm fuzzy and found more bugs in the hull. So I spent the day preening some more. It's nearly there. I will be able to scribe the hull tomorrow. Then it's attach and align the neck to both halves. That will rap the secondary hull.

Here's some pictures. Got to scribe the neck. The scribing needs a bit of clean up but only for aesthetics. After all these are only markers for the windows you'll drill and file to the outside edge. Still...

Steve

 

[SteveNeill]

Yep I see it. Got the appearance strips on the left side back words. Lucky I didn't glue them down all the way yet. Dooh!!

Steve

 

[KUROK]

You are one skilled builder!

 

[GeorgeC]

It's amazing to think that the TOS Enterprise was designed almost 50 years ago!

Matt Jefferies just about nailed it right the first time around. It was well ahead of its time and holds up well with the better lighting and art tools available now.

I still think the Aztec paint design adds some nice surface detail that lets the vessel keeps it integrity without adding new lights and windows which it doesn't need. I said it before, and I'll say it again -- after the Reliant there just isn't another original Starship design that I really care for. They were all overdesigned, details there for details' sake without any reasonable design logic, and overcomplicated as hell! Many like the Excelsior also look, to kindly put it, like squashed watermelons.

There just don't seem to be many designers like Matt Jefferies left.

Certainly no evidence of them in most of the films I've watched in the past 20 years...

 

[IEDBOUNTYHUNTER]

Looking great.

 

[SteveNeill]

Thanks everyone. And George I pretty much feel the same way or I wouldn't have picked my old favorite to build.

People that served in WW2 were a special breed of folks. Even more so when they flew B-17s like Matt and Gene. Many of them and there kids gave us the greatest things we experience today from Star Trek to the PC and Internet,

Steve

 

[Zombie Killer]

How much do you think the saucer will weight? A good size speaker magnet in the saucer and steel plate in the hull may work. They are normally dougnuts so there is a place to run wires, fiber, etc.

 

[bak9799]

The work your doing is very inspiring! Makes me wish I had a warm place to work on models all year round. I can't wait to see the progress...

 

[DrMcoy]

What a wonderful project -- TOS Trek always my favorite. While I do build models (mostly straight builds from box) I do not have the skill/patience you do, so I had to plunk down the bucks for the Master Replicas Enterprise...but I will continue to watch your build with great delight.

I see you are also a fan of OUTER LIMITS from the figure boxes on floor and, of course, the SIXTH FINGER bust. This show is another great love of mine and I have models of ECK and DON'T OPEN TILL DOOMSDAY creature in my collection. I often wish someone would make a TV series that had the style/soul that the original Outer Limits has....the newer version of the series never quite captured the essence of the original, at least not to me.

I also see some pirate stuff in your collection - what looks like the Captain Hook ship and the flag from Black Pearl (Pirates of Caribbean) -- what is your connection with the pirate stuff??

Thanks for posting such detailed photos of your Enterprise project -- VERY COOL.

 

[SteveNeill]

Ted thanks. I agree about The Outer Limits and BTW the full sized Sixth Finger is a mask and a bust I made. I still sell them and they are on my site.

Pirates. I build model radio controlled submarines also. I started a forum a free years back SubPirates but I don't run it anymore.

The pirate ship is radio controlled but being converted to an HMS ship at the moment.

Ted thanks for the kind words and enjoy the thread.

Steve

P.S. Bak9799 thanks a bunch!

 

[SteveNeill]

Got all the scribing done on the secondary hull today. Now I'm in the process of attaching the first half of the neck to it's matched side of the hull. Once the epoxy sets up over night I can the match the opposite side and glue it on. Then a bit of putty on both halves and some cleaning up and that ends the secondary hull masters. That should all happen tomorrow.

Next up to finish off the pylons. That should take a day and it on to the last part. The nacelles.

I'm already working on getting 10 gallons of silicone. That's over a grand of silicone. Yikes. Hoping to find a deal!

Steve

 

[IEDBOUNTYHUNTER]

Beautiful, this is how its done.

 

[robn1]

OMG, this is looking great! And you're right, it does look like a big plastic kit.

Just better

 

[SteveNeill]

Thanks guys.

We got a new baby pup on New Years day. It's just like having a baby. Today I'm trying to get her use to my office to work. Bare with me it might take a few days to get back to work here.

To see what I mean check out the blog. There's only one thing better than Star Trek. And that's a puppy!

Great Spirits « Steve Neill's Blog

Steve

 

[Ghostsoldier]

Well, as my hero, Charlie Brown (actually, it might have been Lucy or Linus) always said, "Happiness is a warm puppy." :cool
Rob

 

[KUROK]

Steve, have you flown your new P-40 yet?

It is my favorite plane.

Here's some pics of some P-40 models I did back when I had more time to do models.

New 1/48 Hasegawa P-40E - Page 2 - HobbyTalk

 

[SteveNeill]

The reports of my death have been greatly exaggerated!

I'm working on the final edit of my movie: Welcome to FooFightersMovie.com and should finish tomorrow and it's back to the big E.

Steve