Romulan Bird of Prey from TOS

Couldn't resist posting some quick pics of my recently completed 1/1000 scale Romulan Bird-of-Prey on my workbench.
The model features several mods including a custom LED lighting system, scribed panel lines with an understated random aztec pattern, scratch built shuttle bay with miniature scoutship, and aluminum nacelle nozzles with metal beads for the "balls"...

Finished by trekriffic, on Flickr

Finished by trekriffic, on Flickr

Finished by trekriffic, on Flickr


More to come... if anyone is interested.

Nice job. Bring 'em. (Pics that is.)

Top notch! Your aztecing actually looks pretty good. I kinda hated how the CBS model looked in TOS-r, but you really pulled it off. And I really dig your treatment of the aft ends of the nacelles.

I bet this was a lot easier than your last bird of prey...

--Alex

Albertese said:

Top notch! Your aztecing actually looks pretty good. I kinda hated how the CBS model looked in TOS-r, but you really pulled it off. And I really dig your treatment of the aft ends of the nacelles.

I bet this was a lot easier than your last bird of prey...

--Alex

Click to expand...

You mean this one?

Romulan Bird-of-Prey by trekriffic, on Flickr

Yes, from the standpoint of not having to totally modify the shape of the hull and the angle of the wings this was a much easier build; although, painting the aztecing by hand and adding a shuttle bay in such a confined space presented it's own challenges.
If you or anyone else is interested, here's a link to my album on Flickr! with the work in progress pics. All with descriptions of course:

https://www.flickr.com/photos/29607470@N08/albums/72157661245030730

Yeah, that's one. Nice album, also.

Can you elaborate your process for the paneling? The paint looks great.

--Alex

Albertese said:

Yeah, that's one. Nice album, also.

Can you elaborate your process for the paneling? The paint looks great.

--Alex

Click to expand...

The paneling? Started off with bare plastic and scribed panel lines to use as a guide when painting the various panels. Sprayed with a basecoat of Tamiya Light Ghost Grey lacquer over grey Duplicolor Automotive Filler Primer. Painted panels with ModelMaster enamels using a fine tipped brush. I painted panels randomly in metallic silver, brass, and a custom mix of of gunship grey and light sea grey. Floquil flat base was mixed in to promote quicker drying time and to thin the paint thus showing fewer brush strokes. Once the panels were dry I oversprayed the entire ship with thinned Hellblau which gave the ship a bluish grey tone. Then I airbrushed the upper and lower surfaces with three shades of grey; darker grey on the upper hull, wings, and nacelles; a shade lighter on the front of the lower hull and wings; and an even lighter grey (mixed with flat white) for the underside of the stern and wings aft of the bird-of-prey feathers .I thinned the paint with Floquuil flat base and airbrush thinner so as to allow the aztecing to still show through. You can make the final coats lighter or heavier based on how subtle you want to make the aztec. I went very subtle so that when you are done you can just see the paneling underneath, and the silver panels glint in the light when viewed at an angle. It was a nice effect except when I got done spraying with clear gloss lacquer, decaling, then sealing the decals with more gloss followed by a coat of clear flat lacquer most of the reflectivity of the silver panels disappeared. To bring some of the reflectivity back without having to brush more paint on I went back in and brushed the hull with more panels using Future clear floor polish. That looked pretty ncie but was almost too strong so I sanded lightly with polishing film over the Future to bring down the glossiness before applying another shot of Dullcote. That worked well. Looking at the ship from directly above in ambient room light the hull appears mostly grey, you can still barely see the darker grey, and copper (I went with copper over the brass panels as it is redder and darker to contrast more with the other aztecing) paneling but when viewed under brighter light at an angle the glossier Future panels catch the light making the aztecing come to life again. After that I weathered the ship with Tamiya pastels, mostly using gunmetal, light gunmetal, silver, and soot plus a little burnt blue around the bow plasma torpedo emmitter.

Here are the finished pics of my 1/1000 scale Round 2 Models Romulan Bird-of-Prey from Star Trek the original series.

The model was modified to include fiber optically lit windows/sensor ports, lit nacelles (front and back) and a lit shuttlebay with a miniature scoutship. I also scirbed panel lines and applied several layers of asymmetric aztecing to add interest to the hull. Weathering was added using Tamiya pastel chalks followed by several coats of Dullcote for a dead flat finish. The stand was heavily modified as well with a curved brass tube added to accommodate wiring for a power plug that plugs into a jack in the stern of the ship. There is also a spotlight, with it's own slide switch, at the bottom of the display arm which shines light up onto the Bird-of-Prey insignia on the underside of the ship.

Box art:
Romulan TOS BOP 1/1000 Scale by trekriffic, on Flickr

IMG_0740 by trekriffic, on Flickr

IMG_0741 by trekriffic, on Flickr

IMG_0744 by trekriffic, on Flickr

IMG_0748 by trekriffic, on Flickr

IMG_0750 by trekriffic, on Flickr

IMG_0752 by trekriffic, on Flickr

IMG_0755 by trekriffic, on Flickr

IMG_0756 by trekriffic, on Flickr

IMG_0759 by trekriffic, on Flickr

IMG_0760 by trekriffic, on Flickr

IMG_0766 by trekriffic, on Flickr

IMG_0767 by trekriffic, on Flickr

IMG_0775 by trekriffic, on Flickr

IMG_0777 by trekriffic, on Flickr

IMG_0782 by trekriffic, on Flickr

IMG_0784 by trekriffic, on Flickr

IMG_0787 by trekriffic, on Flickr

IMG_0789 by trekriffic, on Flickr

IMG_0792 by trekriffic, on Flickr


You can see my model in action versus the USS Enterprise here in my "Balance of Error" thread on this forum:

http://www.therpf.com/showthread.php?t=259146

A few space shots...

Romulan Bird of Prey by trekriffic, on Flickr

Romulan Bird of Prey by trekriffic, on Flickr

IMG_0806 by trekriffic, on Flickr

IMG_0811 by trekriffic, on Flickr

IMG_0821 by trekriffic, on Flickr

You can see some of the aztec panels reflecting in these next two shots....

IMG_0849 by trekriffic, on Flickr

IMG_0856 by trekriffic, on Flickr

Low Light images...

IMG_0883 by trekriffic, on Flickr

IMG_0885 by trekriffic, on Flickr

More with the lights on...

IMG_0892 by trekriffic, on Flickr

IMG_1001 by trekriffic, on Flickr

IMG_1019 by trekriffic, on Flickr

IMG_1037 by trekriffic, on Flickr

IMG_1044 by trekriffic, on Flickr