Klingon K'Tinga 1/537 Study Model Build Update 1

Greetings!

This is a new series of entries on the larger project I mentioned in the Retro Review of the K'Tinga kit, and is a pre-cursor for something else.  The whole purpose of starting this build is to have a paint subject for my 1:350 scale Klingon K'Tinga which I got for Christmas.  What a beautiful model kit!!  But this is the kit that came before and I'm building up a Round 2 re-pop that came out a few years ago.

UNBOXING

The parts didn't change at all with this kit from the original except for the stand and the socket for the rod in it.  I first opened this up 5 years ago in case anyone is keeping track with the previous entry.

This is what you get, 3 bags and a small decal sheet.

Part count like many kits of this era are low, 31 parts exactly plus the base and rod for the stand.

COMPARISON

I decided to compare this kit with TOS Klingon D7 (1:650 scale) model I have...

I built both of these models as a kid in the 80's and 90's and I remember their proportions were similar, but just how similar.  The K'Tinga is listed at 1/537 scale where as the D7 is 1/650.  Essentially the K'Tinga is a upgraded version of the D7 for the films much like the TOS Enterprise was refitted for the TOS movies, but the lines of the hull were much different.  Let's see how the K'Tinga and D7 compare...

1/650 D7 on the left, 1/537 K'Tinga on the right

I was pretty surprised how close the main body of the Klingon ship of both classes are basically the same.  Light blue is the TOS D7 and the green one is of course the K'Tinga.

The engineering section of the K'Tinga model appears greatly bigger but I always felt this was disproportional to the studio model.

The neck for both has the same girth but you can see the K'Tinga is elongated by about at least an inch!

The 'bulb' which I think is the most inaccurate section of this model is virtually the same size in profile as the D7.

From the bottom you can see how disproportionate the K'Tinga (top, old broken model I built in the late 80s).  The K'Tinga bulb isn't as wide as the D7 version.

The Bridge section is virtually identical (ellipsis and domed cylinder) meanwhile the D7 is actually larger here!

From the bottom, you can really see the size difference.

Using a bit of math here and photoshop, I've compared what 1:650 should look like to 1:537 and how it should size up.

It's pretty close.  You can see that scaled up, the D7 is larger than the 1:537 scale K'Tinga which is what I hypothesized.

1:350 K'Tinga comparison...

As I previously mentioned, the purpose of building this model is to test painting techniques for the larger 1:350 kit which was released in November 2018 by Round 2.

1:350 K'Tinga, 1:537 K'Tinga, 1:650 D7

What's really noticeable is how the neck droops on the old AMT kit.  This was a problem with many of the models of this era, very difficult to built them aligned properly without heavy modification.

Comparison of the engineering sections.

And the bridge section.

Scaling up the 1:537 to the 1:350 K'Tinga you can see the differences.  The 1:350 is supposed to be 1/2 scale model of the studio model, making it 1:187 scale at about 4 feet long.

The 1:650 scale D7, sized up is pretty much bang on to the 1:350 K'Tinga which is what I expected it to be.

CONCLUSIONS

I think the 1:537 K'Tinga and 1:650 D7 are the same size as the K'Tinga studio model was supposed to be, but the proportions are quite off.  The 1:537 K'Tinga has a special place in my heart as it was the only 'movie' version of the Klingon ship for decades and I grew up building it many times.

Despite it's flaws, it does build a nice, highly detailed model, one that was even used in DS9 as background ships supposedly.

That will wrap up this entry, until the next time!  To see the pre-update, check out this link:

https://fordosmodels.blogspot.com/2019/01/retro-review-klingon-battle-cruiser-pre.html

Happy Model Building!

Star Trek and all related marks, logos and characters are solely owned by CBS Studios Inc. This fan blog (production) is not endorsed by, sponsored by, nor affiliated with CBS, Paramount Pictures, or any other Star Trek franchise, and is a non-commercial fan-made blog intended for recreational use.  No commercial exhibition or distribution is permitted. No alleged independent rights will be asserted against CBS or Paramount Pictures.

Retro Review: Klingon Battle Cruiser!! - pre-build update for a BIG project...

HAPPY NEW YEARS!!

Did you have a good New Years?  I did!  Thank goodness 2018 is over, although it was largely a good one, time for a renewed sense of optimism for the future.

So this is a bit different, it's not an update but a review of a kit I recently acquired, a 1979 Vintage Klingon Cruiser from Star Trek The Motion Picture.  About 2 years ago I did a similar entry for the Vulcan Shuttlecraft https://fordosmodels.blogspot.com/2017/01/retro-review-vulcan-shuttlecraft.html

I feel this entry is appropriate as this year will be the 40th anniversary of the release of Star Trek The Motion Picture.

The callout on the front of the box.

'Quality molded in a way which will allow the younger modeler to build an attractive model without painting.'  Well, when I was a young modeler, this was true, but I think both Round 2 and Bandai have really cornered the market I feel in terms of releasing kits with multiple coloured sprues.

A sign of the times with the hanging method as a display option.

And the best part of this box art is pictures of the studio model, but truncated.

And this I love, a picture of Spock and Kirk with an early version of the Enterprise Refit, also known as the Taylor/Dow Refit Enterprise which doesn't have the internal spotlights and TOS styled bridge and sensor dome on the bottom of the primary hull.

Inside the box, the first thing that stood out for me was the vintage promotional art.  I have one of these from an old USS Enterprise AMT Refit from TMP, often referred to as a smoothie.

So here are the parts laid out.  What's interesting to me is that it's molded in battleship grey.  The kits I got in the 80s (in Canada) were a light blue, much like the TOS Klingon D7.  I had heard some of these kits were released in many different colours, even including black, much like the current 1/350 K'Tinga.

And the instruction sheet which at the time used to show the parts layout, much like Revell kits.

And of course, the rub-down transfers and the holographic stickers.

THE COMPARISON...

So here is the vintage kit in comparison to current Round 2 re-release.

Here are a direct comparison of the parts.  No changes here, but anything missing here just fell off the sprue.

This is the only sprue/part that did change, the lower main hull.

The new part omits this part, the burnishing tool for applying the rub-down transfers.

The other major change is the new stand system for the model vs. the original one.

The original stand is on the left and the standard large Round 2 stand on the right.

vintage K'Tinga

new re-release K'Tinga

You can also see a dramatic height difference too.  

Here are the decal comparison with the new version on the bottom.

Instructions comparison

original

re-release

original

re-release

That will wrap up this entry, until the next time!

Happy Model Building!

Star Trek and all related marks, logos and characters are solely owned by CBS Studios Inc. This fan blog (production) is not endorsed by, sponsored by, nor affiliated with CBS, Paramount Pictures, or any other Star Trek franchise, and is a non-commercial fan-made blog intended for recreational use.  No commercial exhibition or distribution is permitted. No alleged independent rights will be asserted against CBS or Paramount Pictures.

A little treasure - USS Enterprise NCC-1701-A 1/537 scale from Star Trek IV, Star Trek 20th Anniversary Edition

Greetings!

It's been a long while...longer than I expected.  Life is amazing!  Work is amazing!  Model building has taken a backseat, and that's ok, it is a hobby after all.  That said, I'm still plugging away at my 1/350 build which has a name now, "USS Olympia".  A 24th century Constitution Class Starship.

This entry isn't so much a build update but a retro review of a kit, one that came out 30 years ago and something I feel ties into the current Star Trek 50th Anniversary and the new Star Trek film, Star Trek Beyond.

A hobby shop I frequent recently had its 30th anniversary and many specials on all of their kits.  I found a 'Holy Grail', a vintage 1986-87 AMT/Ertl 1:537 scale USS Enterprise NCC-1701-A from Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home.  I couldn't resist it, I bought it!

Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home was released theatrically on November 19, 1986.  

Side box art

'Authentic decals for 1986'

screen shot on the Enterprise-A bridge at the end of Star Trek IV - I always wished this was used in Star Trek V and beyond, but the reality is it was heavily modified for Star Trek The Next Generation as the Battle Bridge.

There were seven editions of these Refit Enterprise kits, each from the first six movies and a 'Light And Sound' Edition which was released between Star Trek V and Star Trek VI.  In each edition there were subtle changes, except from 'The Motion Picture' 'to 'The Wrath of Khan', where the surface of the hull changed from month to this awful random hull plating which is grossly inaccurate and remained in every release of this kit since.  I was privileged to once own a 'smoothie'.  The smoothie kit also didn't have 'phaser bumps' or any detail on the photon torpedo launcher (which is not terribly detailed in the later versions).

Out of the box

The original decal sheet.

The overall condition of the kit is really good.  

Decals

First the decals. This is a very simple decal sheet as what standard at the time.  There's no pinstriping, (other than the Starfleet Pendant which is inaccurate).

Star Trek IV decal sheet on left, Star Trek III on right

Star Trek VI & Star Trek V(used) on left, Polar Ligthts 1/350 on right

Overall, the registry is really good on such an old decal sheet.  Here I compare Star Trek IV vs. Star Trek III sheets.

Star Trek IV - Enterprise-A

Star Trek III - Enterprise-Refit

Other than the registry (NCC-1701 vs. NCC-1701-A), the rest of the decals are the same, reworked. In this case, the same illegible marking for the docking port (sigh).

Star Trek IV

Star Trek III

And of course the Star Trek 20th anniversary commemoration decal...still hard to believe that was 30 years ago...

Differences between the kits

The major difference is stand.

old stand on the left, new one on the right

Apparently, this style of model stand had been a mainstay of AMT from the 60's up until this point in 1986.  The original TOS Enterprise, TOS Klingon Cruiser, Star Trek TMP Vulcan Shuttle, TMP Klingon Cruiser and lastly the Refit Enterprise all used this stand.  It looks 60's-ish.  And that's ok.  I really like it!  The only problem with it in reference to the refit Enterprise is the model is too heavy for it.  The newer stand is quite robust.  The 'light and sound' kit was even bigger and more robust (to make way for the circuitry).

The change in the stand meant a change in secondary hull:

Star Trek III on left, Star Trek IV on right

Star Trek III on top, Star Trek IV below

Here is a composite of both the old and newer hull together.  The slot on the old hull was for a switch.  The original STTMP smoothie version of the kit had a lighting system, which only lit up the saucer windows, bridge and sensor array at the bottom of the saucer.  No blinking lights, secondary hull lighting at all, and the secondary hull was the battery compartment, much like the original Star Trek AMT model released in the 1960's.  This new mounting system allows the ship to be removed from its stand unlike its predecessor where it had to be glued on.

This kit was still factory sealed when I bought it, as were the parts.  The only deterioration was the mold release and the plastic yellowoing.  I have three of these kit currently and this is the most yellow sadly.

Conclusion

Granted, these models are horribly inaccurate to the 8' studio model of the Refit USS Enterprise.  That said, it is 100% bang on accurate to the 2' model used in Star Trek II, Star Trek III and Star Trek VI because, ILM built one of these models, lit it up and used it for the far away shots.  So, Trek model builders, you can say you can build a 1:1 studio build of the 2' model of the USS Enterprise-Refit or -A.  And that's my plan with one of these models, build an accurate, if not crude studio accurate recreation of what was used on screen in long shots.

It does sadden me that Round 2 has decided not to re-release this model kit (along with many other models like the Klingon V'orcha Battlecruiser from Star Trek The Next Generation or the Runabout from Deep Space Nine).  Some of the reasons I've heard were, there's too much wrong with this kit.   I do agree on some levels, but they recently re-released (thank goodness) the USS Excelsior.  The mold was permanently changed when AMT/Ertl made their Enterprise-B kit over 20 years ago, changing the molds forever.  Round 2 built a new set of replacement molds for the new Excelsior.  I'm convinced if there is a will, there is a way.

For those who may come across this model in hobby shops, or online, buy it if you want a piece of history.  If you want a 95% accurate model of the refitted USS Enterprise (-A), buy the big kit, which I'm still working on, or get the smaller 1/1000 kit which is an awesome model!  I've built one of them so far, building a second and looking to get a few more for kitbashing.

Dummies Guide to Fixing the Ertl kit

First fill in all of the panel lines...not at all accurate and the detail is soft, while preserving the gridlines and hatches.  Options include using a high fill primer and sanding.  I did this as a kid with rough sandpaper, and moving up to very fine sandpaper.  It's not impossible, it just requires some work.

The ship is missing a 'landing pad on the lower saucer', re-scribe it.

The windows on the saucer rim are off.  Drill out a new window, and fill in the old one.  Also the aft section windows are not drilled out at all, which include the Rec Deck.

Consider purchasing aftermarket parts like the set Don's Light and Magic offer.  Great work!  (I'm not affiliated with DLM, but I've used his products before and I think they're fantastic).  Also consider upgrading the decals, and geting a masking set to create the Aztek Effect on the hull.

Consider kit-bashing a set of Reliant Nacelles with Enterprise Nacelles.  The reason why, is the grills should be slanted, like they are on the Reliant, but aren't done on this kit.  The front on both nacelles aren't accurate at all.  That said, I have when I was a kid, I filled in the front ends to a similar shape to the 8' studio model.

In consideration, this makes a good sized model.

Happy model building!

Star Trek and all related marks, logos and characters are solely owned by CBS Studios Inc. This fan blog (production) is not endorsed by, sponsored by, nor affiliated with CBS, Paramount Pictures, or any other Star Trek franchise, and is a non-commercial fan-made blog intended for recreational use.  No commercial exhibition or distribution is permitted. No alleged independent rights will be asserted against CBS or Paramount Pictures.