I've been taking a small break from writing to work on a 1/2500 scale version of the new Movie Enterprise. If no one objects, I'd like to share my diary of the project. I'm basing the kit's size on the measurements given by Paul Kavanagh, the animation supervisor at ILM for the Star Trek movie. He states that the ship is 2000 feet, or 609 meters. This is slightly better than the 725.35 meters I've seen thrown around. This still makes the ship considerably larger than the Refit, but still not as large as a Galaxy or Sovereign.
I'm using a 1/2500 Refit (the post TOS movie version) model from the AMT 3-pc set bashed with a 1/1600 Enterprise (the original TV version) from the AMT 3 pc Starship kit.
Here's a picture of the 1/1600 primary hull alongside the 1/2500 refit primary hull-
(http://i158.photobucket.com/albums/t91/wraith1702/EnterpriseProject/100_0516.jpg)
The size of the 1/1600 primary fits the size of the ship I'm envisioning, but the bridge is all wrong. I decided to remove it & replace it with a modified version of the refit bridge-
(http://i158.photobucket.com/albums/t91/wraith1702/EnterpriseProject/100_0525.jpg)
(http://i158.photobucket.com/albums/t91/wraith1702/EnterpriseProject/100_0523.jpg)
(http://i158.photobucket.com/albums/t91/wraith1702/EnterpriseProject/100_0526.jpg)
I filed down the bridge, then sealed it off with sheet styrene to replicate the raised level at the base of the new bridge. I then modified the refit bridge to more closely resemble the movie version. Here's a pic of the work in progress (sorry about the poor photo quality)-
(http://i158.photobucket.com/albums/t91/wraith1702/EnterpriseProject/100_0535.jpg)
I'm using epoxy putty & parts from my greeblies box to get the modified bridge as close as I can to the movie version. Still working on it...
I worked on shaping the secondary hull to more closely match the movie version-
(http://i158.photobucket.com/albums/t91/wraith1702/EnterpriseProject/100_0537.jpg)
Using a pen, hobby knife, and some reference pictures, I sketched out an approximation of the "bite" taken out of the bottom of the secondary hull. After I got one half filed down to the target dimensions, I traced out the pattern & redrew it on the other half. I then filed that half down, dry-fitted the pieces together, and touched them up to make sure that they were symmetrical-
(http://i158.photobucket.com/albums/t91/wraith1702/EnterpriseProject/100_0540.jpg)
Here's an early test-fit -
(http://i158.photobucket.com/albums/t91/wraith1702/EnterpriseProject/100_0546.jpg)
I'm going to remove the neck & splice the portion of the refit neck containing the torpedo tubes to the leading edge. I will then extend the trailing edge of the neck & reposition it a bit further down the back of the secondary hull.
The bridge & top of the primary hull should be easy to complete with the careful application of sheet styrene & epoxy. Still have to modify the bottom of the primary hull... The refit is the correct shape, but too small. I think I might be in for some extensive scratch building to get it just-right.
The Nacelles also have me stumped right now. I'm thinking of using a pair of 1/2500 Sovereign nacelles as a base, maybe using Ambassador-class bussards in the same scale.
-Eric
The beginnings of customizing the neck. I carefully removed the 1/1600 neck and the 1/2500 refit neck-
(http://i158.photobucket.com/albums/t91/wraith1702/EnterpriseProject/neck1.jpg)
Here's a picture to give a rough idea of what I'm working towards-
(http://i158.photobucket.com/albums/t91/wraith1702/EnterpriseProject/neck2.jpg)
The 1/2500 neck piece still needs quite a bit of surgery; I'm splicing on a piece of sheet styrene to fill the gap between the torpedo bays and the primary hull. Once this is done, the 1/2500 neck will serve as the leading edge of my model's neck.
After taking that last picture, I opened up the leading edge of the 1/1600 neck, then started shaping it into more of a concave curve. The modified 1/2500 neck is going to be snugged into the open edge of the 1/1600 neck. Once that is done & cleaned up, I'm going to use sheet styrene to extend the trailing edge of the 1/1600 neck, so that it will gently curve down towards the rear of the secondary hull.
Sorry again about the poor picture quality; this project is as much an exercise in learning to use my camera as it is a ship-building exercise! :wink:
-Eric
I've got the framework of the neck done with layered sheet styrene. I think these photos are a little easier to view:
(http://i158.photobucket.com/albums/t91/wraith1702/EnterpriseProject/side2.jpg)
(http://i158.photobucket.com/albums/t91/wraith1702/EnterpriseProject/side.jpg)
(http://i158.photobucket.com/albums/t91/wraith1702/EnterpriseProject/side4.jpg)
..and from the other side-
(http://i158.photobucket.com/albums/t91/wraith1702/EnterpriseProject/side5.jpg)
(http://i158.photobucket.com/albums/t91/wraith1702/EnterpriseProject/side3.jpg)
I've modified the bottom of the primary hull as well-
(http://i158.photobucket.com/albums/t91/wraith1702/EnterpriseProject/frontbelow1.jpg)
(http://i158.photobucket.com/albums/t91/wraith1702/EnterpriseProject/frontbelow.jpg)
After sanding down the edges of the layered sheet styrene, I plan to fill in the gaps with putty. Still working on detailing up the top of the primary hull, and experimenting with different ideas for the pylons and nacelles.
-Eric
AWESOME Eric!!! I love modeling threads like this! The neck looks a bit long in the back on the secondary hull. Love what you did with the primary hull and lower sensor dome!
Great stuff Eric! Dang it - you and Bryan are making me want to break out my stuff and enjoy the sweet smell of plastic cement once again!
Thanks for posting these Pics Eric, I am very interested in following your progress on this project.
If I could ever sell my house, then I can buy a more suitable house and set up an area to work on models. So for now I can only watch your work, and hope my realator can work some magic.
Thanks for the comments, guys! :)
Quote from: Bryancd on May 28, 2009, 06:31:22 PM
AWESOME Eric!!! I love modeling threads like this! The neck looks a bit long in the back on the secondary hull. Love what you did with the primary hull and lower sensor dome!
Thanks for the feedback, man. :) I've gone back and studied the photos, and I think you're right. The trailing edge of the neck slopes down towards the shuttle bay, but not quite so much. I've shortened the trailing edge a bit to more closely match the way it blends in to the secondary hull. Right now, I'm shaving down the edges of the layered strip-styrene to make the different thicknesses in the neck blend in more. Once I'm satisfied with the framework, I'm going to apply some apoxie and start sculpting out a more refined version of the neck.
-Eric
I know I will need do this but I'm facinated to see it all in progress. Eccellent stuff.
These are amazing i love seeing people's work, well done Eric, great stuff.
Thanks guys. I think I've made a breakthrough on the nacelles. I'll get more pics up soon. :)
That's awesome Wrath1701! Thanks for sharing that. :metallica:
Great job Eric! Any way to convince you to make an Andromeda Ascendant?
I think the smaller scales work better. I have a friend who was working with his brother to make a Falcon scaled to the figures. Talk about huge.
Quote from: Just X on May 30, 2009, 03:52:16 PM
Great job Eric! Any way to convince you to make an Andromeda Ascendant?
LOL I already purchased a resin kit of the ship a couple of years ago. Once I figure out a way to do the paint job justice, I'm building it! :)
That's great. Thanks for sharing!
I don't want to blow up the thread with a lot of pictures, so here's a link to an updated album of the progress I've made on the build-
Here's a link to the updated album of the project-
http://s158.photobucket.com/albums/t91/wraith1702/EnterpriseProject/ (http://s158.photobucket.com/albums/t91/wraith1702/EnterpriseProject/)
..Well, here are a couple of the updated pictures-
Neck & pylons- (http://i158.photobucket.com/albums/t91/wraith1702/EnterpriseProject/60602.jpg)
another angle- (http://i158.photobucket.com/albums/t91/wraith1702/EnterpriseProject/60606.jpg)
rear- (http://i158.photobucket.com/albums/t91/wraith1702/EnterpriseProject/60608.jpg)
front- (http://i158.photobucket.com/albums/t91/wraith1702/EnterpriseProject/60605.jpg)
A lot of the rough look is due to the combination of styrene & aves; once I get a coat of primer down it will look a lot sharper. Don't know if anyone can tell, but I've drastically altered the angle of the pylons- On the original kit, they stood out at sharp angles to the secondary hull. Using the boiling water method, I reshaped the pylons into the curve of the movie enterprise, then used styrene & aves to change the shape of them.
-Eric
Yup, it was the pylons I was looking at. Looks good!
Looking super man! I want to pick up the new Enterprise by Playmates. Might grab it tomorrow. If I do, I'll post a bunch of pics of it.
Looking great, Eric! Keep at it!
Quote from: Rico on June 06, 2009, 05:09:30 PM
Looking super man! I want to pick up the new Enterprise by Playmates. Might grab it tomorrow. If I do, I'll post a bunch of pics of it.
I might hold off on that Rico. DS might still get a shot at it and QMX will be making some high end stuff. The Playmates one looks really cheaply made for the $.
Quote from: Bryancd on June 06, 2009, 05:49:50 PM
Quote from: Rico on June 06, 2009, 05:09:30 PM
Looking super man! I want to pick up the new Enterprise by Playmates. Might grab it tomorrow. If I do, I'll post a bunch of pics of it.
I might hold off on that Rico. DS might still get a shot at it and QMX will be making some high end stuff. The Playmates one looks really cheaply made for the $.
I won't be buying the Qmx version and for now, Playmates is the only choice around at a low cost. They have the license. Maybe in a couple years when another film comes out someone else will take a crack at it. But that's a long time to wait.
Awesome work wraith
Love the QMx stuff but its going to cost so much
If you can you guys should heat to there facebook page and chat with them about what they are doing.
I bought the Playmates version of the Enterprise. For the Cost, I thought it was alright, as it was not to expensive. I agree, that when a Diamond Select one comes out, that it will be much better and more detailed. For now I am ok with the Playmates one, it seems very solidy put together and some nice sounds and lights..
Thanks for the info Jeff. Nice to hear from someone who has the new Enterprise. I'm going to swing into Toys R Us today and probably get one.
Got some more work done over the weekend.
The nacelles were a big stumbling block, but I think I came up with a passable solution. I spliced the nacelles that came with the original 1/1600 kit with bussard collectors from a spare 1/2500 Ambassador class ship. I used layered sheet styrene cut into alternating elongated wedges to help get the tapering effect. I then sanded 'em down, applied epoxy to fill in the seams, and used a file & sandpaper to reshape them.
(http://i158.photobucket.com/albums/t91/wraith1702/EnterpriseProject/a05.jpg)
(http://i158.photobucket.com/albums/t91/wraith1702/EnterpriseProject/a06.jpg)
The 'racing-fins' on the end of the nacelles are sheet styrene.
Here's the old girl with the modified nacelles and bussard cowls-
(http://i158.photobucket.com/albums/t91/wraith1702/EnterpriseProject/a01.jpg)
(http://i158.photobucket.com/albums/t91/wraith1702/EnterpriseProject/a02.jpg)
The JJ-Prise has some pretty complex contours & layers on the primary hull and neck. I'm fairly happy with my efforts at reproducing them.
(http://i158.photobucket.com/albums/t91/wraith1702/EnterpriseProject/a03.jpg)
I still have a LONG way to go, but I think I've finally got a workable 'rough draft' of the model I'm envisioning.
Next step- A generous application of sanding, seam-filler, and more sanding to get rid of the imperfections. Then a coat of 'pre-primer' to help me track down the final 'hard to spot' imperfections, followed by adding some details to the nacelles, primary, and secondary hulls.
Then the real fun begins: Painting & Decals! I've already got the paints & markings picked out! :)
-Eric
After realizing that the proportions of my initial effort were way off, I decided to save what I could & rebuild everything else from the bottom up.
Here's a comparison picture of my first pass at the ship, and what I have so far in my second version-
(http://i158.photobucket.com/albums/t91/wraith1702/EnterpriseProject/comparison.jpg)
The image on the left is the first attempt. In an effort to reproduce the shape of the hull, I added strips of styrene and built over it with epoxy. This resulted in a hull that was too fat. For my second attempt, I took the opposite approach: instead of adding, I carved away from my base shape, replaced some areas with styrene, and built back up using epoxy.
Here are a few more shots of Ver. II, still in progress-
(http://i158.photobucket.com/albums/t91/wraith1702/EnterpriseProject/ver2-11.jpg)
(http://i158.photobucket.com/albums/t91/wraith1702/EnterpriseProject/ver2-4.jpg)
(http://i158.photobucket.com/albums/t91/wraith1702/EnterpriseProject/ver2-10.jpg)
(http://i158.photobucket.com/albums/t91/wraith1702/EnterpriseProject/ver2-3.jpg)
(http://i158.photobucket.com/albums/t91/wraith1702/EnterpriseProject/ver2-2.jpg)
(http://i158.photobucket.com/albums/t91/wraith1702/EnterpriseProject/ver2-5.jpg)
(http://i158.photobucket.com/albums/t91/wraith1702/EnterpriseProject/ver2-8.jpg)
For anyone interested, here's a link to all of the photos of my efforts going back to the beginning-
http://s158.photobucket.com/albums/t91/wra...erpriseProject/ (http://s158.photobucket.com/albums/t91/wraith1702/EnterpriseProject/)
I'm not done yet. I'm going to keep fine-tuning the nacelles, pylons, upper saucer, and lower secondary hull before I start working on finishing/cleaning up the surface.
-Eric
Oh that is awesme work Eric. I want to play with it hee hee. brilliant stuff.
There's something supremely elegant about those curved nacelle pylons.
Quote from: HawkeyeMeds on July 18, 2009, 02:27:07 PM
Oh that is awesme work Eric. I want to play with it hee hee. brilliant stuff.
LOL Thanks!
Quote from: Feathers on July 18, 2009, 02:51:58 PM
There's something supremely elegant about those curved nacelle pylons.
I agree, I think they look more organic than the TOS pylons. They were actually quite a pain, I had to use the boiling-water method to modify them. I took the pylons from the original kit, and submerged them in boiling water to slightly soften the plastic. I then had to ever-so-slightly bend each pylon before the plastic stiffened. Dip & repeat about 20 times until the desired curve was achieved, and until both were symmetrical. Then I used a scaled pattern derived from online profiles of the ship to cut styrene 'extensions' to the pylons to widen them at the base. 2-part epoxy was added to make the thickness of the pylons uniform; sanded after the epoxy cured.
-E
That looks totally awesome! Wraith1701, you are the man!