Constitution Class Refit - Polar Lights 1/350 scale UPDATE #9 Finishing the Saucer: Part 1

Greetings!

This entry will go over the assembly and completion of the saucer.

This might seem like I jumped over this step, in fact I started to move on while I was still working on the saucer.   In fact, I had a lot of problems with the saucer in terms of light blocking and most importantly dealing with the sensor bands which wrap around the perimeter of the saucer.  This has taken some time to fix while I naturally started work on the rest of the ship. And I wanted to continue to post rather than wait to fix this part.

One of the problems I had a while back was a short circuit of one of the LED strips when I bored out a hole for the new registry light.   I also have had to test the circuits to ensure nothing will burnout.  I find leaving the model on running for 24hrs is a good way to test it. 

Once I completed the repairs, I hot glued the connectors together so they won't come loose (I had an issue with one of the connectors). 

Gluing the top and bottom saucer halves together, I was going to use CA (super glue) so if I ever had to get into the model again, I could crack the glue to get back into the model with a minimal seam.  With gaps,  I soon realized this wouldn't be possible and I decided to glue the 'crap out of it' just to seal it.  Hopefully I will never have to open it again.

Many clamps to seal this bad boy

One of the main reasons to have the internal lighting on is to see the gaps and if there are any light leaks.  Oh boy, there are many...

PAINTING/LIGHT BLOCKING

On future builds, I would light block from behind, the only reason I didn't do this here was I was unsure of how I would attach the window lenses and the 8 pieces of saucer hull walls together, to give a firm bond, without masking off each individual window.  Lots of windows; 12 x 6, + 6, +10 (aft windows), too many to mask without a masking set.   Next time I would light block from behind, glue the sidewalls with window inserts in first, and then grind out any additional openings.  The walls are a bit warped.

Light bleeds through this seam.

The gangway docking port awaits it's door.  At least this seam is easy to blend in.

I then masked off the rest of the model.  Since this model has grid lines, and is supposed to made of multiple parts, this makes it that much easier to mask off large sections. 

Despite having gluing down the lower and upper saucer halves, there were some real stubborn areas which continued to pop, so clamps became necessary.

Once I got a good seal, now was time for grey primer to see the flaws...

...And more light leaks.

A feature on this style of starship is a series of concentric rings along the edge of the side walls which make up the 'sensor band'.  The drawback in building the model is actually getting the seams perfect without gaps or bends.  This is where red putty comes in.  (3M Glazing Bondo).  It is inexpensive and this is the finishing layer used in automotive work.  Most modellers use this product because of it's ease to work with and price point.  I do also use Tamiya and Squadron Putty (in white), for finishing purposes. 

The fact I hollowed out the saucer wall segments before I installed them really came back to haunt me.  The walls warped a bit when I glued them down.  It's not noticeable to the eye, but definitely something I had to use more putty to fix unfortunately as they don't sit correctly.  Live and learn.

Once I was able to get rid of all of the light leaks, by repeated coats of grey primer, I then airbrushed a very light grey on the sidewalls of the model, only to work backwards and paint in the white between the sensor bands.

A very big mistake I made on this model was to be a bit heavy handed on the grey primer to light block the outer wall - it has distorted the detail on it.  Fixing this, a centimetre at a time has taken a long time to complete. 

At this point, I was finally able to paint the edge of the saucer with a white primer, followed by Tamiya White Pearlescent paint.

Once I was done with the sensor bands, my attention turned to the Impulse Engine and the black boarder which goes around it.

Unfortunately the paint bled through the tape and...

...spattered though an opening in the masking along the hull.

Here's the full damage report:

hull splatter - this would be okay if this was the Millennium Falcon...

paint bleed

more bleed and peeled paint

masks that lifted on the RCS panels

more of the same and painted over apertures

white primer bleed and run-over on the finished saucer

more splatter

paint wear

dirty marks on the pearl finish

unfinished spot light and additional bleed from Sharpie markers

And with all of this, there is a two-tone variety now on the saucer from two different Tamiya white pearlescent coats of paint.

The one thing that did go right however is the additional detail on the Impulse Engine housing.

And the accent colour with it's gradual fade out which is canon.

Not exactly a 'high note' to end on with this entry, in fact there's a mess to be cleaned up cosmetically and much work to do ahead.  A saving grace is this is not the USS Enterprise NCC-1701-Refit or Enterprise-A.  It is a sister ship and I have a new take on when this ship would have existed based on a recently viewed episode of Deep Space Nine - yes there were a few Constitution Class Refits in service in the fictional 24th Century as seen in DS9 and TNG with the Battle of Wolf 359.  So this ship doesn't have to have the exact same paint job Kirk's Enterprise had.  ;)  That can hide a few sins.

Happy Model Building and upcoming will be my saucer fix.

Cheers!

All still images taken of the USS Enterprise from Star Trek are being used for educational use only.  This blog does not claim rights of ownership over any images sourced from the internet.