New MR Enterprise problem over time (Dome blotching)

Yeah, I hear you. There are people talented enough on this board (and others) to pull it off, but the time commitment is extraordinary. (There's a guy doing a cool version of a TOS Enterprise in another thread.)

I'm fortunate in that my MR Enterprise is in great shape. A little blotching... but not much, and honestly, not something I'd notice if I hadn't read this thread (my ship's on top of a tall cabinet, so I always have a "low angle" of the ship whenever I see it) I love my MR Enterprise. Count myself lucky to own it.
 
Yeah, I hear you. There are people talented enough on this board (and others) to pull it off, but the time commitment is extraordinary. (There's a guy doing a cool version of a TOS Enterprise in another thread.)

I'm fortunate in that my MR Enterprise is in great shape. A little blotching... but not much, and honestly, not something I'd notice if I hadn't read this thread (my ship's on top of a tall cabinet, so I always have a "low angle" of the ship whenever I see it) I love my MR Enterprise. Count myself lucky to own it.

arc, what edition and number do you have? LE, SE, or CE? Mine is an SE.

How's the nacelle sag on yours? That issue has become the most bothersome to me. By taking pictures and using Photoshop I've determined that the sag on my nacelles is approx. 1.3º. That may not seem like much, but imagine a horizon line tilted to that degree and it is indeed noticeable. Especially when the saucer tilts at about 0.75º the other way.
 
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Mine is a LE. #180 I don't know how to insert pictures in these threads otherwise I'd share pics of my E. If I scrutinize I see a slight nacelle droop... but honestly, it doesn't bother me. Send me your email addy and I'll send you a jpeg of my E.
 
Mine is a LE. #180 I don't know how to insert pictures in these threads otherwise I'd share pics of my E. If I scrutinize I see a slight nacelle droop... but honestly, it doesn't bother me. Send me your email addy and I'll send you a jpeg of my E.


arc, you can attach a pic this way: After you click on "reply," you will see a window below with a "Manage Attachments" button. Click it and it will open a window that allows you to attach jpegs from your computer by clicking on the "Browse" button there. After you select your pic(s) click the "Upload" button. Wait a few seconds to upload and then "Submit reply" as usual.

Below are pics of my E showing the droop. The yellow line shows level. The horizontal axis of the nacelle--the line bisecting the centers of the front and back domes--should line-up with this yellow line. The third picture shows where the nacelle should be, rotated approx. 1.2º clockwise. Click "Previous" and "Next' back and forth on the last two pics to get a good comparison. Sorry about the grainy photos.
 
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Thanks! Here's a couple photos of my Enterprise. The horizontal brick lines behind the ship don't represent an accurate reference for the ship's level lines... I haven't precisely lined up the Enterprise so it's absolutely parallel to the wall. That said, what do you think?
 
Thanks! Here's a couple photos of my Enterprise. The horizontal brick lines behind the ship don't represent an accurate reference for the ship's level lines... I haven't precisely lined up the Enterprise so it's absolutely parallel to the wall. That said, what do you think?


Well, I don't see any droop issues with your nacelles, arc. Only your saucer section *may* be drooping very slightly (right photo). In Photoshop I tilted the right side up .75º and it looks correct (left photo).

It's a little hard to say because your pics are from slightly below whereas mine are from slightly above (your pics are better) but it appears that your nacelles are probably less droopy than mine. And mine is a Sig. Edition, for whatever that's worth.
 
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Hey, thanks for taking the time to do the photoshop correction. It's interesting. I can see a little droop in the saucer and in the nacelles. But not enough to bother me.

Boy, in comparison, the Unobtanium Enterprises didn't age well at all - major structural defects. (This has been chronicled in other threads.) The MR's seem to be holding up much better. I know, for the money we paid, everyone wants their ship to be perfect, and I don't blame them. But I'm happy it's as nice as it is.

BTW, your signature edition wasn't from a different batch, or built in a different way, they simply added the signature plates. If you ever decide to sell, the price you get will be what determines its worth. Which should be considerable! Thanks again.
 
The droop issue be it nacelles or saucer is mitigated greatly by the eye because of the tapered warp drive and secondary hull lines. Something to be grateful for. You have to be looking for it.
 
Hey, thanks for taking the time to do the photoshop correction. It's interesting. I can see a little droop in the saucer and in the nacelles. But not enough to bother me.

Boy, in comparison, the Unobtanium Enterprises didn't age well at all - major structural defects. (This has been chronicled in other threads.) The MR's seem to be holding up much better. I know, for the money we paid, everyone wants their ship to be perfect, and I don't blame them. But I'm happy it's as nice as it is.

BTW, your signature edition wasn't from a different batch, or built in a different way, they simply added the signature plates.

Yeah, I know the Sig. edition is the same model, arc, but I had heard somewhere that quality control was tightend up after a certain point in time, and I'm not sure what the release dates were of the 3 editions. Don't know if this is true or not.

Does anyone know the time line of the make and release of the 3 different editions (LE, SE, CE) and if they overlapped?

The droop issue be it nacelles or saucer is mitigated greatly by the eye because of the tapered warp drive and secondary hull lines. Something to be grateful for. You have to be looking for it.

Maybe that's true, CD, but I still notice it enough that it has started to really bother me; especially considering that the model employs a steel armature that's supposed to prevent that. Apparently the armature was installed not level, or has come loose? I dunno...
 
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The droop issue be it nacelles or saucer is mitigated greatly by the eye because of the tapered warp drive and secondary hull lines. Something to be grateful for. You have to be looking for it.

Yes, I agree. As well, if one has to look this hard for the droop it's really (in my opinion) a non issue. Only if this thing gets to be obvious (which it is not) would I even bring it up as one of the numerous issues facing the MR -E. For those who have been scared away from buying the MR Enterprise or those who count themselves blessed for not buying one all I can say is this, for the most part a lot of those issue are "nit-picks", granted we shelled out some money for this offering and it's not been the perfection we all expected, still, as long as one does not put it under a magnifying glass and obsess over some of the issues found there, this model when switched on, fulfills all my visual expectations and then some.

Planetary-Defense-2.jpg
 
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Yes, I agree. As well, if one has to look this hard for the droop it's really (in my opinion) a non issue. Only if this thing gets to be obvious (which it is not) would I even bring it up as one of the numerous issues facing the MR -E. For those who have been scared away from buying the MR Enterprise or those who count themselves blessed for not buying one all I can say is this, for the most part a lot of those issue are "nit-picks", granted we shelled out some money for this offering and it's not been the perfection we all expected, still, as long as one does not put it under a magnifying glass and obsess over some of the issues found there, this model when switched on, fulfills all my visual expectations and then some.

Maybe so, Artman, but I don't have to 'look hard' for the droop, at least on my ship. As you can see from pics I posted earlier it's rather apparent. At least to me. Maybe I'm too focused on it, but when I compare it with the small scale ships (F-toys, Johnny Lightning) that I have that show no droop, it's really apparent. It gives the impression that the ship is "dragging" its nacelles. :confused
 
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Maybe that's true, CD, but I still notice it enough that it has started to really bother me; especially considering that the model employs a steel armature that's supposed to prevent that. Apparently the armature was installed not level, or has come loose? I dunno...


I think the armature prevented it from progressing. I would bet they pretty much shipped out the door with whatever levels of misalignment/droop they did. Perhaps they should have been a little proactive with the armature and purposefully put in portion of a degree of anti-droop. I bet they made the metal armature perfect, and didn't account for settling of the parts or less then perfect fit.
 
I think the armature prevented it from progressing. I would bet they pretty much shipped out the door with whatever levels of misalignment/droop they did. Perhaps they should have been a little proactive with the armature and purposefully put in portion of a degree of anti-droop. I bet they made the metal armature perfect, and didn't account for settling of the parts or less then perfect fit.

Yep, makes sense, CD. Hey, do you know the time line of the make and release of the 3 different editions (LE, SE, CE) and if they overlapped?
 
Yep, makes sense, CD. Hey, do you know the time line of the make and release of the 3 different editions (LE, SE, CE) and if they overlapped?


Boy I don't recall for sure, I ordered the Shat/Nimoy sig and it shipped first thing. I seem to remember a long gap where none were shipping for a while though.
Of course I had to return my first one and then they sent me an Artists Proof as replacement, that took a while too.
 
Read this thread for the first time, and I think I broke the land speed record getting from my PC to the display cabinet.

Had a good look at the Enterprise. Left nacell is OK, right has a slight hint of blotching, but you really have to weasle around to see it at the right angle.

Been with me going on to 3 years now, so for all I know, I may have gotten it like this.

Nothing

nc2.jpg



Still nothing


nac1.jpg



Here's the angle


nc3.jpg



Nothing shows up when lit though. Totally clear.
 
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Didn't all of them come from the same lot? There was not separate runs of the Enterprise herself; she is the same. The only difference being in the stands which were painted different for each edition. Unless of course you are me and you have a SE with a totally black stand; go figure. Not sure how that happened but I like it.
 
I remember there being one last bunch that shipped very late after all the others went out. But I never saw any good closeups to determine if any of them were better or not.
Just a few folks say theirs were "perfect" but I never saw pics to confirm so I was very skeptical of those claims.
 
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