Hunk A Junk's complete heresy 1/350 TOS E build

Here's my current build: the 1/350 TOS Enterprise.

I'm calling this build a "complete heresy" because I threw my original plans to replicate the Smithsonian restoration out the window and decided I needed to rethink my build (long story). Instead of trying to copy the studio model exactly, I decided to build my version as if it was a real starship, not a model of a model. I decided to make a hybrid of the original and the Remastered CG version (gasp). Essentially, a ship that looked like the 11-footer from a distance, but had layers of detail upon closer inspection. At least that's the idea. I know Matt Jefferies designed the ship to be completely smooth and uniform, but to me it loses some of its sense of scale when the exterior doesn't have some detail. If this idea makes your head explode, I guess I've done my job! cheers

Prior to rethinking my plans, I'd already filled the gridlines and sanded everything mostly smooth. After priming, I could still see a hint of the lines and decided to leave it be. I'd be adding the grids back on lightly in pencil and the subtle indents would be a guide. When I changed plans, I looked at the Remastered CG ship and decided I liked the slightly raised panels all over the ship. Using plastic styrene sheet seemed too cumbersome to mold around curves, so I experimented and added the panels using foil adhesive tape from the home improvement store (the kind used for vent ducts). The foil is thin, it can be pressed smooth down to curves, and (so far) hasn't peeled up. I cut the panel shapes on a piece of glass and stuck them all over the hull. I then re-primed the ship to lock those suckers down and to even out the surface. You can see the panels up close, but when you step back they disappear.

The base coat is lightened Tamiya JN-Grey (as R2's original paint guide recommended) over the entire model. I then cut alternating and random panel shapes out of masking tape and stuck them all over the ship. I didn't want a Refit-style Aztec look, but something more random like on the CG version. It's a faux Aztec. I next sprayed Tamiya cockpit green with a bit of blue added. When I peeled up the tape, the results were... well, even I wanted to puke! It looked like weird sci-fi camouflage. But, I was committed (or should be) and I pressed on. Here's what it looked like.

I sprayed a couple other colors -- light blue and a greenish yellow -- to break things up a bit. I added the rust ring (which didn't look so pink in person). Then I used colored pencils and a mechanical pencil to add more random panel lines all over the place. Sort of like ILM's surface detail on the Refit for TWOK. I also added some light pastel pre-shading along the gridlines and around the bridge decks.

Once all the pencil lines were on, I sprayed a coat of Tamiya satin clear so that the pencil wouldn't bleed up through the next layers. I then oversprayed everything with a custom mix of lightened Tamiya JN-Grey with a little Light Blue added. I oversprayed the panels and pencil marks until they were faded enough so that if you squinted they'd disappear entirely. These are the results.

When I complete the final main assembly, I'll add one more light overspray to unify things and knock the detail back just a bit more. In person, the ship looks greener than it does in the pictures. I've also added some green pastel shading around the bridge decks and the lower sensor dome.


In the past few days I've been finalizing the lighting installation and adding some paint details. I glued the saucer section together and right now I'm working on the seam between the upper and lower saucer hull. I'll add more pictures in the next post.

More hull photos.

Thanks for looking.

What the heck. A few more.

This is a neat interpretation. I'm planning on doing a Remastered-style build in 1/1000, although without raised paneling. Looking forward to seeing how this turns out! There are any number of variations on the classic design (such as the "Trials and Tribble-ations" model, the CG models from TOS Remastered and ENTERPRISE, etc.), which provides both room and inspiration for artistic interpretation.

Bravo!! Those raised sections look fantastic! Even with the green camo showing it looks amazing just by how smooth and even the paintjob is, I think you've really captured an incredible look here.

I had a thought, maybe you could brand your ship with the registration details of a different Constitution class vessel, perhaps one that doesn't appear directly on the show? Then you wouldn't be committing any heresy by not making it 100% faithful to the on-screen Enterprise

Is there any chance you could elaborate on the pastel preshading technique you used please? I've just started working on a federation starship myself, and one of the things daunting me is how to get the panel lines showing up without them standing out too much.

I'll be keeping an eye on this one, subbed

Yup, I agree, very tidy. I like the camo look early on. It has a touch of NX-01 or an in-build Enterprise about it. The later pearl look ( it looks pearl to me anyway!) is an inspiration also.

Thanks guys!

Niatona said:

Is there any chance you could elaborate on the pastel preshading technique you used please? I've just started working on a federation starship myself, and one of the things daunting me is how to get the panel lines showing up without them standing out too much.

Click to expand...

I just ground some chalk pastels using a drywall screen into a small plastic cup and then used a stiff paint brush to get the chalk where I wanted it to go. Then I used a softer large brush -- actually one of those broad .99 varnish brushes from the home improvement store -- to blend and feather the chalk. Go light, stop, walk away, then come back and look at what you've done from a distance. It's easy to go too heavy too quick. I used mainly black chalk for the preshading and then I'm using greens and brownish golds for the post shading and "space mud."

I'm a very casual Star Trek fan, so I don't really have the same critical eye I would looking at a Star Wars build. I know there's lots of differing opinions on how it should be painted and weathering etc...

I think it looks pretty awesome.

It's also something I struggle with myself, building and painting replicas of filming models, or trying to make it look like it looks on screen and a real ship (often the colors are different, many of the different color paneling on rebel ships is almost totally washed out, there is actually glass in the windows etc...)

Sweeeet! I love it,great job.I always build my stuff to be "the real thing",which means I can make artistic choices. Copying something exactly can be rewarding,but adding to make a model ones vision of that subject can be more fun (sometimes).

Choosing to do the ship this way wasn't an easy choice for me. I'm usually more attracted to the holotype version of a ship: the way it looked in its first incarnation. For example, the ANH 5-footer Millennium Falcon will for me forever be THE Falcon and other interpretations of it, even the 3-footer built by ILM, just will never be quite "right." It's the same with the Enterprise. We've gotten to know the details so well over the years that even minute deviations from the original just seem wrong. I mean, I can't even look at the old AMT kit any more because the proportions are so off. On the flipside, however, is that the optical compositing and low resolution of the Original Series never gave us a clear view of the ship until we got to the HD era. Are those grainy blobs surface details or film artifacts? Is that weathering or a shadow? Is the ship green, or gray, or blue? There's such a fine line. What I want to avoid is making the ship look too overly done, like the Ed Miarecki restoration, and instead make it fall into that gray area where the detail could have been there but isn't so overpowering that it changes the nature of the ship as we remember it. For some, it will always look wrong, and I get that. I'm usually in that boat. I'll try a more faithful Smithsonian version some time in the future.

Working on the seam around the edge of the saucer section.

Sand
Prime
Cry
Repeat.

What a job.....I love it,.....adds so much

John

The last couple days I spent a year sanding and re-sanding the saucer seam. It finally went away and I got the thing painted with the faux Aztecs. That completes the saucer base coat. It isn't perfect, but I'll do touch ups after the main section assembly. I'm trying not to let perfection be the enemy of the "just freakin' get the thing done, moron!"


This morning I had some time and I glued together the two halves of the engineering section. Like everyone else, the packed shuttle bay prevented the hull from completely coming together on top (did R2 fix that on their anniversary edition?), but I filled the gap with some thick CA and some thin triangular styrene rod. Once that cures, I'll clean up the seams, paint it up and (in theory) I should be ready for major assembly.

BTW, on this build I'm going to try using Aztec Dummy's registration masks instead of the decals. Has anyone used them and, if so, have you encountered any problems? Tips?

This looks tremendous. I have the Master Replicas 33" Enterprise so I already have a great version of the "canon" Enterprise as far as I'm concerned, so my R2 E has been sitting in its box with its lighting kit waiting for me to think of a good reason to build it. I would definitely do something like your build or some different configuration rather than a straight "Smithsonian" look.

Its damn cool really. I prefer the traditional - but I gotta give you props it DOES look cool

I can easily imagine that if ILM had done the ToS Enterprise - this is what it might have looked like

Jedi Dade

Thanks guys! Truth be told, I prefer the traditional look too, but there's a certain freedom in doing it this way. I'm being careful not too go too far overboard. I'm not going to junk up the hull with escape pod hatches and transporter emitters, etc. I want the ship to look "normal" at first glance.

I love what you're doing with this build! Very original and I like the way you thought it out. Looking forward to seeing how it turns out.

Last night I painted the mustard goldish pinstriping on the saucer based on the research from the Smithsonian restoration. That color is still funky to look at. It's one of those things that never registered on the footage of the show or in original photographs, but who's going to argue with Gary Kerr about it's authenticity. I might knock it back when I dust the entire hull with base color once I've assembled the main components.

I also painted the nacelle trenches, but I'm not happy with the color. It's too light and bit too blue. I'll give it a slightly darker shade tonight.

I'm avoiding these seams on the secondary hull, but will tackle them this weekend. I had to deal with light leaks around the shuttle bay fantail, so there will be plenty of touch up painting to do there.

By the end of the weekend I should be assembling the major components. Thanks for looking.

Whos gonna argue with Kerr about accuracy??? well a lot of people actually and its one of the reasons the current restoration of the old gal was so welcome IMHO now if you want to reference the models and props he actually built - I'l give you no argument

Jedi Dade