TOS AMT/ERTL 18 inch Enterprise Custom Build

For those, like me, who lament the lack of a more accurate effect for the bussard collectors - check this out. It was posted in this thread over in the Trek modeling forum at Starship Modeler by a guy going by the handle "No_6". This is the closest I have ever seen anyone get - very impressive!

Mark in Okinawa
 
There are solvents that melt the plastic together like Tenax7, I use the generic version by Micro Mark.

It evaporates quick and melts fast but full set up time tends to take a while.
If I want something fast I just use CA.
 
Thanks Division 6 for your response. How long is the set up time for Tenax7 and is the bond permanet and won't come apart later? Also what is CA?
 
If it's a thin coat 15min give or take.
I usually just set it aside and work on other things for a while, never really timed it.
It melts the plastic instantly fusing the plastic making it one piece.

CA is Cyanoacrylate aka super glue.

 
When I built my 18 incher I placed two sections of rectangular brass tubing side by side in each pylon with epoxy putty packed in around them for added strength and rigidity. I ran one set of wires for the train motor up one tube and ran the wires for the lights up the other tube. I also epoxied a short section of brass bar along the seam in the secondary hull between the nacelles to strengthen the strongback. It's very strong now. You can literally grasp the model by one nacelle and it will support the whole weight of the ship without fear of bending or splitting the seams.
 
division 6 said:
If it's a thin coat 15min give or take.
I usually just set it aside and work on other things for a while, never really timed it.
It melts the plastic instantly fusing the plastic making it one piece.

CA is Cyanoacrylate aka super glue.
Click to expand...

Does CA work with bonding plastic and metal pieces together? If not, what would you use? Also, what do you guys use to fill in gaps and airbubbles on resin and styrene to be able to sand smooth later?
 
Proper said:
Does CA work with bonding plastic and metal pieces together? If not, what would you use? Also, what do you guys use to fill in gaps and airbubbles on resin and styrene to be able to sand smooth later?
Click to expand...

CA will definitely bond metal to plastic. I've even used it to fill in airbubble gaps in resin.

With styrene it will dry harder than the plastic making it difficult to get smooth without removing some of the surrounding stytrene so sand it after 10-15 minutes before it is fully cured.
Of course, I could be wrong, so, I'll leave it to those more experienced with using CA as a seam or bubble filler than I to correct me if I'm in error on that front.
 
Thanks! Isn't there some sort of definitive bondo or bondo-like material that is easy to use and sandable, specifically used to fill imperfections and gaps? And I'm not talking about giant, studio scale modeling...
 
I've heard some of the studio scale modellers rave about Evercoat.

Never used it myself. Most of the time I use AVES apoxy sculpt.

And then there's Mr. Surfacer but that's more of a thick primer. Works best on small surface imperfections and scratches as it is self-leveling.
Here is a pretty good tutorial about using it as a gap filler.
 
Last edited:
There is also bondo spot putty.
Comes in a tube like Squadron model putty only cheaper and better.
It can be thinned with lacquer thinner.

You can use CA glue to fill in small areas but as mentioned it's a pain to sand without removing the surrounding area.

Gaps and bubbles in resin I use Magic Sculpt and in some cases CA and baking soda but that has to remain in the lower areas since it cures rock hard.
Once the bubbles or seams are sanded I lay on a layer of spot putty to make sure the edges blend.
 
Well I just put in an order for a few pairs of those Sayama micro gearhead motors - I think I'm going to go ahead and try a rotating bussard fan effect. I got a kit from RSH Electronics in the UK on the way as well that will randomly flash up to 18 leds using a 4060 CMOS and some other components, along with some extra 4060 chips for future projects.

I also picked up the JTGraphics resin parts for the 18" Enterprise - if you don't have these yet I have to say they are beautifully mastered parts. A new B/C deck replacement part is apparently awaiting casting and Jeffrey tells me a clear cast planetary sensor dome may be possible as well. I highly recommend these parts - the bussard domes are especially nice whether you use the internal insert parts or not.

Mark in Okinawa
 
I just finished wiring my ship. The nacelles have 15 leds that rotate and I set up a control switch that will allow you to adjust the speed of the rotation of the leds. I have just posted a video on photobucket, but their site seams to break up the video a little so you can't get the real effect of the rotating leds. you can click on the link to see the short video.enterprise lights video by spacerone1 - Photobucket

The left side is without the lens cover and the right side has the lens cover on so you can see the difference in the effect.
 
I've been making slow progress on my practice build of the Round 2 release. I decided to try to use as much of the original plastic as possible and just make a few key modifications (that I had wanted to try on one of these ever since my last 18 inch model back in 1994). As it is just practice I'm having some fun with it, mixing pilot, series and AMT elements together (it'll be the Republic when I'm finished).

Some of the changes I've made...
At this point the only parts glued together are the nacelle halves and the top two pieces of the secondary hull. After some of the reworking of parts, I figured this was a good point at which to do an over all test assembly to see how it is all coming together. This model in these series of images is held together with just rubber bands at this point...

2008_data_006.jpg


2008_data_007.jpg

So at this point the only third party parts that I'm planning on using are the replacements for the rear box features on the nacelles, the sensor dish and the lower sensor dome on the primary hull (though I'm still debating making my own version of that part). Otherwise, I'm trying to use as much of the original model (even if modified) as possible for this practice build and see what comes out of it.
 
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