Life has been busy so this by the date of this publishing, a lot of work has progressed on this model...here's the entry:
This build is something from my youth. It is also practical. Growing up in the 1970's and early 80's as a young Trekkie or Trekker (I don't care what you call me, but don't call me late for dinner ;) ), there were very few Star Trek models available. No toys. Star Trek III Diecast toys were years away as was the FASA die cast lead starships, and the only thing available other than Star Wars toys were Star Trek models. My dad helped me (a.k.a. he built) the first few models I got. But at the time the only thing I could get my hands on were the product line for 'Star Trek The Motion Picture' model kits (Reftit Enterprise, K'Tinga and Vulcan Shuttle) and only the original USS Enterprise and this kit:
It was very small and for a kid, too small. That didn't stop me from playing adventures in my head with the Enterprise, Klingons and Romulans. Fast forward to the year 2000. I came across 3 of these kits being sold each for $9 at a hobby store. I bought them all, put them away and messed around with one kit. In the end the Enterprise model I finished earlier this year as the USS Farragut.
I started work on the Klingon D7
and the Romulan Bird of Prey but never pushed further. I gave one kit away as a gift and the remaining kit was left untouched...until now.
I decided a long time ago when I build the remaining 'Enterprise' from this kit, I would not modify the shape like I did for 'Farragut'. I would keep it the way the model was designed and in doing this, it could be a 1/3rd studio scale model of the USS Constellation NCC-1017 from 'The Doomsday Machine'. The Constellation in the episode is actually a AMT 18" model kit, built straight out of the box, except for the battle damage. So that was one reason for me to look into doing this model. Here it is still on it's sprue tree:
Complete with the inaccurate raised grid lines which were also on the 1975 release of the AMT 18" kit at the time.
KLINGON D-7
The 2nd reason was to build a small D7 to go with my Vor'cha build I'm doing. I want to have a small D7 and Klingon Bird of Prey to accompany it. This D7 is close to the right scale. At one point I thought about lighting the little D7 and I probably will but the biggest problem with this kit is it is pantographed off of the the larger models and the detailing on the Klingon ship is quite crude. As mentioned in the previous post I decided to cast a new 'top hat' for the Klingon V'orcha build. Here it is:
The rest of the unbuilt D7 will be saved for the V'orcha build.
As a snap-together kit, a lot of the tabs tend to protrude outside of this model. For the nacelles of the Klingon model, I had to cut them off, putty them with Evercoat and add back detail this also applies to the 'boom/command section' and the bridge (top hat).
(the raised teardrop and 'disruptors' are scratch built)
I assembled the rest of the model (except for the bridge), sanded, primed and will need to do it again.
ROMULAN BIRD OF PREY
This is a 3 piece model. As a child I always thought, hey don't the Klingons have a Bird of Prey too?? They do, and this was the first Bird of Prey (BOP). I remember in the early 80s seeing the full sized AMT model hanging, unpainted with the 'bird' decal on it, hanging from the ceiling and thinking, 'what was that model from'. I soon learned it was a Star Trek model. And even though it was re-released a few years back, I only recently got the re-release about a month ago. I digress, onto the build!
This is basically a top half meets bottom half with a tail fin. So here are the build photos. It seems simple but i found there were a lot of gaps and for a model of this size, liquid cement dries up to quickly to cement both halves together, FYI.
USS Constellation NCC-1017
As I previously mentioned the studio model is an 18 inch AMT model, bashed up to look like battle damage in "The Doomsday Machine". Google it and you will see (I try to avoid showing copyright imagery). To get my little model looking like a clean version of it, the first thing I had to do was to get rid of the grid lines on the upper saucer. The 18" studio model didn't have it (but did have some weathering radiating out from the centre of the saucer top).
I did however leave the ring detail on the lower half of the saucer. I will use a pencil to fill in between the raised rings.
Here's the rest of the model. To make this look like the larger 18" model, the only things to modify are the soft details on the nacelles, the incorrect orientation of the grills vs. windows on the pylons (they got it backwards!) and the shuttle bay looks like a blob. Oh, and of course sand down the windows which will be replaces with special decals.
The shuttle bay needs to be opened up. On my Farragut model I used a large piece of sprue for the doors. This time, I got a bit more creative...
I'm using a Bussard collector from a NX-01 Refit model which is left over depending on the version you build.
For a snap together model, it doesn't like to be glued together for some reason.
The nacelles lack a lot of detail. Also the Bussards are not even fully spherical either. A lot of sanding was done, as well as filing to get the right shapes.
Display mock-up
I decided upon looking at the stand, it was perfectly designed to sit on a desk, which is where it will live once it's completed. This is the original stand, I have to admit I like the 'modern stylings' of the 1960s architecture.
That's it for this entry. There will be a new entry coming soon on the other project I'm working on, the 'NX Sisters'. Two 1/1000 NX-class models: NX-02 Columbia and NX-03 Refit, Challenger. Stay tuned for the update to this entry...
Happy model building!!
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