1/1000 U.S.S. Excelsior

Prepare for warp speed, standby transwarp drive.


- Transwarp at your command, sir.


Execute.


whup-whup-whup-whup-*CLUNK*


I finally finished my 1/1000 Excelsior. It's been quite a ride. A few years back, I snagged an original-issue kit, and began work on it. I acquired the NX-2000 conversion kit and decals from PNT models, decals from DLM, and DLM's resin parts, as well as a resin replacement neck, resin secondary hull cargo bay, and Acreation decals. The work stalled, after awhile, and I moved on to other projects. Then, last year, Round 2 re-released the kit with new and improved parts. So, I picked it up, and started from scratch, and also acquired some accurate, 3D-printed parts for he Bridge, rear observation dome, rear torpedo launchers, and impulse crystal.


This model is truly a Frankenstein's monster. The aztec pattern is primarily from Acreation, with a few around 2 decals mixed in. All of them are oversprayed with white paint to tone them down. The rest of the decals are a mix of multiple sources. The window patterns were meticulously recreated to match the studio model by applying individual windows (a VERY tedious process). Details were added or modified, such as the deflector trench being reshaped, the impulse engines being shortened and reshaped, the nacelle pylon vents being reversed, the nacelle fins being lengthened, and gridlines being scribed into the secondary hull. The saucer deflector grid is still wrong, even on the reissued kit, and so I decided to cheat the placement of the port and starboard running lights, rather than rescribing the entire saucer.


This kit took an awful lot of work to whip into shape. At one point, while doing some paint masking, chunks of the intricately-patterned, "U"-shaped decal on the upper saucer came off, resulting in my having to strip ONLY the center of the saucer, and acquire replacement decals from Round 2. Disaster averted!


https://i.imgur.com/cevvSJE.jpg


https://i.imgur.com/Ue12Xeh.jpg

Looks great! Overspraying the decals is a fine idea. I'll have to file that one away for when I do my own aztec-decal ships. I haven't yet because I fear the decals will be too dark and overpowering. Glad to see overspraying works.

Can you say exactly how you did that? Just rattlecan? What brand and specific color? Did you use an airbrush? If so did you tinker with the paint at all before spraying?

--Alex

I used an airbrush and plain old Testors flat white enamel (which is also the basecoat color). This is the sort of work that an airbrush works best with. I think a rattlecan would be far less controllable. You want to lay down light, semi-translucent layers of paint. I also coated the decaled sections with Future beforehand, both to protect the decals, and to make it easer to remove the overspray if it went on too heavily.

The stock Acreation decals are just way too dark and overpowering, as are the Round 2 decals, to a lesser extent. Overspraying provides a nice, subtle look.

Gregatron said:

I also coated the decaled sections with Future beforehand, both to protect the decals, and to make it easer to remove the overspray if it went on too heavily. The stock Acreation decals are just way too dark and overpowering, as are the Round 2 decals, to a lesser extent. Overspraying provides a nice, subtle look.

Click to expand...

It turned out great, the overspray seriously helped me not hate the decal sets that are available because I agree both are way too heavy/dark.

As of this writing, I've built nearly two dozen TREK kits in 1/1000 scale. Subtlety really is the trick, especially when it comes to aztec patterns, gridlines, and weathering. Not every detail has to be perfect. You just have to get the right effect for the scale, with the model looking good from a few feet away. Looking good in close-up is a bonus, but not the end-all, be-all.

A fine model indeed.