Greetings!
This entry is solely on the USS Enterprise-A. Although I've done minor work on the Brattain, it consisted of drilling out holes for the phasers on the upper hull and minor sanding.
What a pain in the neck!!
I decided the next step in completing the Enterprise Saucer is to work with and glue the remaining parts, the Bridge/B/C Deck and the Impulse Engine deck to the upper saucer.
BRIDGE/B/C - DECKS
I have continued to paint multiple thin coats of grey primer (from a rattle-can) on the outside of the tear-drop piece, followed by a white primer.
The whole point of this is to light block it from the outside. I also want to get the detailed painting done while the part is easy to work with.
The bridge itself is gold and the upper dome is silver. I added multiple coats of Tamiya pearl white to dull it down.
I had to sand down a few rough spots, through the paint unfortunately but this can be touched up later. The hole its for the SMD for the registry light.
IMPULSE DECK
I previously lit the engines with 2 1.8 mm red LEDs. Next, I need to light the impulse crystal.
I've debated a bit about this one, in terms of it's colour. It is generally accepted to be 'blue'. In the movies however, it appears many different colours. The only time it is lit in Star Trek The Motion Picture is orange. Here is a montage of this part in various instances of the Trek Movies:
And since there are many instances in Star Trek II, III, and VI where the 2' AMT model was used, I thought I'd do a comparison shot too. (For those wondering why not TMP, IV or V and the reason is such: the AMT model kit came out after TMP; IV there were only 4 shots of the Enterprise-A and they were all the 8' studio model and in Trek V, a different visual FX company did the FX job and it looked like to me they only used the 8' model).
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| from Star Trek III: The Search For Spock - there are a lot of subtle differences |
And finally here is the part today on the 8' studio model. My understanding the models used a neon lighting system. I'm assuming the model makers would use cinema gels like were used on set to give back-lit panels different colours. The dome itself I'm guessing is removable considering the gap on the forward (camera left) edge of it. I can only assume the part is made of a translucent resin which has yellowed over time, giving it a greenish look in Star Trek VI.
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| from the Christie's Auction |
On the Miranda Class Reliant, it's clearly blue.
So I will be using a blue 3mm LED to light this part. On the Brattain, I'm going to use a 5mm blue/orange dual LED so I can create that effect as seen in Star Trek The Motion Picture. When I do my 1/350 Refit, I think I will use an RGB LED with 4 leads so I can control the colour, same goes with the engines.
Back to this build....
The neck, in it's current state is in three pieces, the two hull halves and the torpedo launcher (replacement part). Since it is uber detailed, I first painted the launch tubes with Micro Mask which is a liquid masking solution. After I prime this black, then grey, I might just hand paint it. Lots of deep crevices.
The next step for me is to locate the centre of the impulse crystal on the neck which will light up from the neck below.
In order to properly figure out the centre on the impulse crystal, I had to light block from below, using Tulip which is a black fabric paint.
Here it is in place.
So onto the neck. I started to add all the fiber optic elements to the portholes.
I held them in place by hot glue. along with the LED.
Then I tried to close it and mount it to the saucer. Damn thing wouldn't close. Too much stuff and when I tried to feed it through the opening in the upper secondary hull, I realized that would work either. Time for a larger hole.
But then the big problem hit me, I couldn't attach the torpedo bay. So I ripped out all the fiber optics (saved them for future use) and the LED I'm using, I should move the resistor further down so there is less bulk in the neck. This is when I remembered about the fit problem with the old neck...
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| (original neck, early build) |
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| (gap in old neck) |
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| (gap with new torpedo bay) |
OMG!! It's worse! This made me question why I bought this part. But the rational, and logical side prevailed. A model builder's mantra:
It's only plastic, it's only plastic...or in this case resin and plastic. And brass etch...I digress, the solution!
Since there is such a wide gap, one I can't fix with just putty alone, I started to glue pieces of styrene (not sure of the thickness) under the torpbay (torpedo bay for short, often seen onscreen in the TOS films - yes I'm a geek).
Once I got the first layer of 5 minute epoxy on the parts, I left them to dry.
Back to the neck, I've had a change of heart of how to build this model, something I've rarely ever done before, pre-paint my parts, or at least sections. The Enterprise Refit, and Ent-A are a patchwork of multiple parts, not a smooth surface unlike the TOS Enterprise. So why not build it that way?? Snipped off fiber optics work well on Star Wars ships like the Star Destroyer, or even the Klingon Cruiser from TNG (future build), not smooth ships like the Refit Enterprise. So for all the windows, I will finish those areas of the ship.
On the neck, I cleaned up the part, re-primed it and then painted it Tamiya Pearl White.
The leading edge and spine of the neck are painted blue so the puttying in those areas won't matter. The checkmark shape on the neck is a repeat of the 'skeg', as it is called, on the nacelles by designer Andrew Probert.
The skeg was added to the nacelles by Richard Taylor apparently and Mr. Probert added the design to the neck to keep it consistent. There was also at one point a planed saucer separation in this film, the skeg would act in the same fashion as the nacelle version. It should be noted, Mr. Probert's Vulcan Shuttlecraft also has a skeg on it too.
I digress. I never bothered to clean up that area. The area below the windows will indefinitely get marked up again, so i left it as is.
PRIMARY HULL/SAUCER SECTION
So the time has come to add the impulse engine to the saucer. I used 5 minute epoxy to glue it.
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| I taped off the section to minimize Epoxy spillage. |
I left the model after gluing it up for 30 minutes, then hung it up on my peg board with the lower saucer. I then took a break from model building, (freelance work means you have long and short breaks between gigs) and notice the part didn't hold.
(insert four letter word)
This build is literally a 'multimedia' project meaning I'm using styrene plastic (opaque and clear), resin parts, brass parts, fiber optic strands (very fragile) and LED + electronics. There is no one glue for everything.
First thing which occurred to me, my epoxy maybe too old. I think I bought it for an aborted USS Voyager build in the late 90s. New epoxy is in order:
I re-glued the impulse deck with great success.
Now to assemble the Bridge/B-C deck to the Upper Saucer.
Unfortunately there is quite the gap around the superstructure. Part of that is trimming the saucer trying to align the part correctly.
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| I lost a window in the process. I will have to scratch it out. |
I think this part would have been a better fit if it attached from above, rather than underneath.
I filled the gap with Evercoat Metal Glaze filler. It makes for a strong bond.
Now for the lower saucer...
Since I have the time and resources, I figure I can soon close this saucer. That would be a major step in completing this model.
So I started off by painting the lower planetary sensor array on the bottom of the saucer.
I painted it light blue and silver with a layer of Tamiya white pearl on it.
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| (reference shot of the Ent-A currently) |
The darker panels on the Ent-A version are not symmetrical compared to the original paint scheme in 1979. A lot of this has had to do with both the repair of the battle damage as seen in Star Trek II and III, but the whole ship was dusted down with dulling spray, loosing it's glimmer.
Here is my model, painted up, with just white primer as the main hull colour.
Now the pearl white.
I didn't paint the lower sensor array as it is supposed to be light gray and I believe the decals will adjust for this.
The 4 solid rectangles are supposed to be landing legs for the saucer. They should be darker, something I will have to fix.
Next to all the landing legs are other access panels where the hull grid lines go through. I believe this little blue spot is a 'touch-up' on the 8' model.
The grey panel in the centre is the plug for the airlock Spock leaves through to contact V'Ger in Star Trek The Motion Picture.
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| original studio model |
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| Star Trek The Motion Picture |
I believe the part got lost or repainted as this part of the ship receives damage in Star Trek VI.
So this is where I'm currently at, a completed (although more details to paint) on the lower saucer and an upper saucer nearing completion once I blend in the add-on parts. This means this could be the first completed subassembly for the USS Enterprise-A.
I hope you enjoyed it, happy model building!!!
