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Testing testing: 1/350 Enterprise (5-26 update)

ausf

ausf

Master at Arms
Just doin' it.

I'm not going to super detail the bridge and shuttle bay as planned, because I know It'll just sit in the box and I want to recapture the 'can't wait' feeling I had when I was searching and waiting for it.

My backup plan was to build a faithful reproduction of the studio model, with the blank side and exposed wires, wood planking, etc.

So I started with the bussards. I add a voltage regular to cut down on the speed of rotation and cut the depth of the inner dome back to distance it from the outer dome. Messing around I found increasing the gap between the two created a cool ghostly effect. I opened up the LED channels and added some reflectors. The strips are mylar tape and add a nice effect. Unfortunately none of this is accurately captured on the photos due to the lights and high shine of the outer dome.

The photo is pretty close in color but lacks detail. The video is wildly off in color.

h840ea7d.jpg


It's painted on the inside with three Vallejo transparent colors mixed with matte varnish. The both sides of the inner and inside of the outer dome are sanded with 1500 grit paper to diffuse the lighting. I added a bunch of pieces from the color sprues to break up the blinking lights.


Anyway, Next up is to spray the inner surfaces for light blocking and add the windows before closing it up and doing the seams.
 
I'm going Nike on the 1/350 Enterprise.

:blink


Duuuude! This is going to be a cool build to watch.
 
I'm going Nike on the 1/350 Enterprise.

Thanks gents!

The other reason for starting this was I want to try the Paul Budzik heavy wet primer technique and this seems like a good candidate. There's a lot of interior that needs to be painted for light blocking, so I can mess around with spray patterns and pressures without hurting anything.
 
I'm going Nike on the 1/350 Enterprise.

I got some work done on this puppy, mostly testing the assembly process.

By the way, this is what I'm shooting for, the actual 11 foot studio model used in filming. It was designed to be shot from one side, so all the wiring is hanging out on the port side. It was too much for me to resist:

ent5.jpg



Since the day I cracked the box I've been think about the approach to the windows and painting. I'm not a fan of preprinting, then glueing and puttying and repainting. Not that the results of that method haven't been nice, it's just not my preferred method. My main sticking point is 6 or 7 years ago I switched over to using nothing but Vallejo and am happy with the results, but I'm never comfortable with too much handling until it's clear coated.

Combining the sheer size of the surfaces here and the insane amount of clamping/handling the glue stage will require, I have zero confidence in coming out the other side without a lot of dings to the paint. I was thinking I was going to completely paint, seal, decal and seal, then glue and revisit the seams. Nightmare city in my view.

Since I'm doing the 4X studio model, I decided I could play and test with the port side hull and I'm glad I did. I notice some issues with flash and the window opening being perfectly squared or rounded as the case may be, especially on the saucer. Upon further inspection, most of the window inserts aren't flush as is, to get them to the outer surface, they need to be cutout individually or the interior hull needs to be ground. I used both methods in my testing.

Here's the saucer with an insert dry fit. This is the maximum depth as it (with all attached points removed). You can see they don't extend to be flush with the outer surface.

ent1.jpg


Here's and insert that has been cut into individual pieces and glued in place with the inserts well proud of the surface. The top 5 have been sanded flush, the bottom 2 are as glued, not yet sanded. Note I will be puttying around the window as well as necessary. The clear styrene will stay square (or round) while the opening isn't:

ent2.jpg


Here's a maglight held behind, no light blocking yet:

ent3.jpg


And here's a short of the rear port testing with primer, paint (not the real color), the heaviest coat of Future I've ever applied to any model, a matt coat on top. I was basically just testing masking, including hand brushing a color in case touchup would be necessary (the small line of the rear of the first window). It's not and I'll use a dark primer on the final version, this is a yellow primer and the primer layer is visible. The Future and matt coats are after the masks were removed, and there's no light blocking. All the surface blemishes don't mater, it's the putty sealing all the existing holes in the port side.

ent4.jpg


So, my course of action will be full assembly before paint.
 
These beasts (and yea they are beasts) can really challenge you can't they. It will be well worth the effort once it is done Jeff! Looking good so far! (y) (y)
 
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