Polar Lights/Round 2 USS Enterprise - Space Seed Edition - Update #6

Greetings!

I'm back to working (well I have been working on this, just has been enough to post) on the USS Enterprise/SS Botany Bay models.

SS BOTANY BAY

I'm going to start this report with the little model.  After letting the paint cure, I started the weathering process and then sealed it with a clear matte finish.

Last piece to work on are the 'solar panels' for lack of a better term.  On the studio model they were made of a perforated material, painted the same as the ship.  Here are mine:

Interpreting them as solar panels, I painted them an indigo colour.  Apparently this is the colour of the inner grills on the the refit Enterprise (which is why I bought this paint...in 2005, that's another story).

Here's the completed model:

I still need to weather these 'solar panels' to match the rest of the ship, otherwise, done!

SAUCER SECTION

I cleaned up the dorsal and ventral domes as well as the navigation lights using my magnifying visor.  Then I clear coated the model for decals...these decals.

It's an after market grid line decal sheet, which includes the 'rust ring', made by Acreation Models.  I've got to say, I'm impressed with the quality of the decal and the artistry to make it.  When I ordered it, I was fearful that the lines maybe too dark or heavy at this scale, but on the contrary, the grid lines are so fine, it made applying them quite difficult.  Normally on after market parts I will seal them with decal bonder just to be safe.  In this case it certainly wasn't necessary.

I also added a few other details to the B/C deck and the 2 pin strips leading towards the impulse engine.  It has been sealed with glossy clear to seal the decals so I can apply decals.

ENGINEERING SECTION

Once the glue setup, I started to work on all of the seams.  There are many.

I ended up re-priming the secondary hull and neck.  Oh well, the finish coat showed me the flaws very well.

One goof I made with this is I should have from the start use Evercoat Metal Glaze instead of 'red putty' for the connection point of the warp nacelles and the secondary hull.  I also should have glued that together rather than trapping the part when I glued the halves together.

Once I got that fixed up, time to add the shuttlebay doors and the dome on top.  On the real model the dome is hollow with two yellow cylinders, 1 red cylinder and a green floor, all of which is translucent.  Here's my attempt to replicate it on this scale.

Once I did a light test, I used 'Tulip' Black Fabric paint to light block around the doors.

After a couple of coats of the base colour, I added the 'intercooler loops' to the end of the nacelles - finally starting to look like something other than a grey cylinder.

After everything has cured, time to remove the tape and reveal the paint below.

Next up is to add the other complimentary colours, but that's another day.



MISCELLANEOUS PARTS

The Bussard Collectors

I'm 'borrowing' the Bussard Collectors from my 'Intrepid' build as they are already primed and painted.  First thing I had to do was clean up the original masking job (done with painter's tape) and frost the domes with steel wool.

Next, fix a 'step' in the three rectangular sections of the Bussard assembly which extends aft.

After sanding down the Evercoat, these parts were painted, re-masked and are ready to be assembled.

Domes on the End Caps

I don't know what these parts are called.  What I do know is they are hull colour, as a kid I used to think they were illuminated watching episodes of Star Trek, too bad they were not!  (they will be in my 1/350 build!)

Things I didn't take pictures of

I am 'borrowing' additional reactor loops from the Intrepid build.  They are in a plastic bag for safe keeping.  I primed and painted the Deflector Dish mount/antenna with a gray primer, then metallic copper.

Stay tuned for more on this build.  The end is near, thankfully.

Cheers and happy model building!