I've been spending a lot of my time detail the saucer section. It's been easier handling a 16" saucer rather than a 36" assembled model for detailing. The fuselage or secondary hull (engineering section) likewise is easier to handle as seperate entity, especially as I need to repair some damage done to it.
Last time I worked on the engineering hull, I was still fixing the broken pylon tip. Update #16 November 30, 2016.
STARBOARD NACELLE PYLON
This tip, as I had previously mentioned completely broke off in the middle of the the pattern. I used epoxy to 'weld' a piece of steel rod in the hollow pylon to give it rigidity and casted a new piece onto the old one using resin. It's good but not perfect.
I have decided this is not going to be a 'new' starship, like the USS Enterprise Refit as seen in Star Trek The Motion Picture, but will have some weathering (subtle) and I will draw some attention to this area, by weathering it. Or I should say, I hope it doesn't draw too much attention.
It's still somewhat blotchy on the ventral side, this is where I will have to weather it.
Once I removed the masking (both Frog Tape and Green Painter's Tape) from the pylon, you could see the paint buildup around the vents. It may not always seem obvious, but paint will leave a build-up around a masked edge. That's why I like to glue as much as I can of the main parts of a model where strength is needed and mask off areas to be glued later. Sometimes it works. Sometimes, not so much.
Dealing with the rest of the starboard pylon, I noticed there was a blackened mark, I have no idea where it came from. So I decided to repaint the vent.
I just can't win! In fact, I ran out of my mixed paint and had to mixup another batch and it turned out to be blotchy. I'm living with it, for now.
Now that the remaining vents have been fixed, time to restore the rest of the pylon to it's pearl white finish.
I then decided, so these vents don't show the imperfections, I'd cover them in flat clear (Tamiya). I masked off each vent on both pylons and sprayed them separately.
PYLON CONNECTION WITH THE HULL
Previously as I mention in entry #13, the pylon connection where it meets the engineering hull split at the seam.
I reinforced the seam with liquid cement. In hindsight, I would have used epoxy for this connection. It worked wonders on the neck. Once I let this cure, for weeks (as I continued work on the saucer, and just working in general), I sanded both sides of pylon connection, I filled them with red putty and sanded smooth. Then I prepped for painting...again.
In the interim, I also ground down the metal rod that gives strength to the new cast part so it can mate with the nacelle.
I then turned my attention to fixing up this connection.
Which in turn meant repainting the this section of strong back.
And finally with some more touch-up the section is complete...again, like it was before the split.
SHUTTLEBAY
This section just needed some touch-ups, especially where there was over-spray around the shield emitters (or whatever those grey things are to the sides of the opening).
DECALS
This was also a perfect time to test out the decal I am planning to use. It's slightly different, intentionally, than the normal pendant that goes here.
The big difference is the TNG styled arrowhead. I put this on one of my spare Refit kits.
TEST FIT
Now that everything is as close to ready as I can get it, time to do a test fit.
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| (that is a 1/350 TOS USS Enterprise in the BG - unbuilt) |
The wiring proved to be challenging, pulling it through the opening. That will have to be modified with a larger hole. To test fit this, I have to use my hand to hold it together. The saucer is WAY too heavy without the balance of the nacelles.
Below is a rare balancing act, using an unbuilt TOS sistership to lean on it.
That wraps up this entry...time to connect and make this ship whole!!
Happy Model Building!
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