Just ordered the new Polar Lights 1/350 Enterprise model!

[wraith1701]

Sweet! Looks like you're in for a very cool project! :) 

Man, you gotta light it!

I just don't have the skills to do that. Do you? Are you up for a commission build. :)

I've got the skills, but my plate is full.   Your model deserves more TLC than I can spare right now.  Thanks for the offer, though. :)

[The IC]

I am in the middle of building one of those, myself.

I also made my own lighting system - it's not that difficult and I will post the schematic as soon as I have rendered it digitally.  Basically it involves 2 555 timer chips, some capacitors, some resistors, some LEDs and a 9v power source.

You need 5 LED strobe lights, 10 LED running lights, and about 25-50 LED's for general lighting.

So far, I have completed the hangar, the officers' lounge, and the arboretum, bought a brass support rod, primed the ship, covered the windows, drilled some holes in the structure and done a lot of research.

I'll post some pics later.

Stuff I still need to do:

mount the lights
run the wire
build the ship
fill in the creases
paint many many layers

The Enterprise is not white.  It has a white base, covered by pearlescent blue, red, yellow, and, green and a few thousand panels.

I have been working on this puppy for about 2 years now.


This is not a project to be taken lightly.

[Rico]

Love to learn more about your build up on this kit, IC.  And especially about the lighting system you are using for it.  Sounds most excellent!

[wraith1701]

I am in the middle of building one of those, myself.

I also made my own lighting system - it's not that difficult and I will post the schematic as soon as I have rendered it digitally.  Basically it involves 2 555 timer chips, some capacitors, some resistors, some LEDs and a 9v power source.

You need 5 LED strobe lights, 10 LED running lights, and about 25-50 LED's for general lighting.

So far, I have completed the hangar, the officers' lounge, and the arboretum, bought a brass support rod, primed the ship, covered the windows, drilled some holes in the structure and done a lot of research.

I'll post some pics later.

Stuff I still need to do:

mount the lights
run the wire
build the ship
fill in the creases
paint many many layers

The Enterprise is not white.  It has a white base, covered by pearlescent blue, red, yellow, and, green and a few thousand panels.

I have been working on this puppy for about 2 years now.


This is not a project to be taken lightly.

Sounds like a sweet build! Are you going to go with the aztec decals, or are you going to take on the challenge of painting them on with a template? :)

[Bryancd]

He would have to buy the new kit which has them, PL isn't offering them seperately. IC sounds like he has the original kit issue which didn't have the decals.

[The IC]

I am going to use a lot of frisket film and paint the ship panel by panel, just like the original model makers did.

This has been a labor of love.  Needless to say, my next model will be a simple WW2 German plane or something.

[wraith1701]

He would have to buy the new kit which has them, PL isn't offering them separately. IC sounds like he has the original kit issue which didn't have the decals.

Acreation Models makes 1/350 Refit Decals; they run around 40 to 50 bucks for a 15 sheet set. Just in case anyone with the original kit is worried about trying to hand-paint the pattern.  There's also an adhesive Template made by Aztec Dummy for those who want to do it just like the model makers did.

And something really cool-- You can pick up a photo-etched detail set that includes 1/350 crew to put behind the windows, plus details for the arboretum, shuttlebay, impulse engines, and more. :)  Check it out-

http://www.starshipmodeler.biz/index.cfm?currentpage=1&fuseaction=category.display&category_id=107

[The IC]

get the photo etched metal parts

I have all sorts of little people all over the hangar, observation lounge, and arboretum

also, the port doors are awesome

[Rico]

Here's a guy doing some nice video's of his build up.

Polar Lights 1/350 USS Enterprise, NCC-1701-A, build up part 1

Polar Lights 1/350 USS Enterprise, NCC-1701-A, build up part 5

Polar Lights 1/350 USS Enterprise, NCC-1701-A, build up part 8

And this is a final build by another person...

Polar Lights USS ENTERPRISE NCC-1701(Refit) built by us here at TrekModeler.com

[wraith1701]

Super-Sweet; watching it now.  Thanks!

[Bryancd]

And so it begins.

I have to start sometime, so today I painted all the major parts gloss white. My plan is to build the major sub assemblies first, then do all the decal work, and then put it all together. So I will build the primary hull, secondary hull, neck, warp pylons, and warp engines all seperately. It will be much easier to apply the decals this way as opposed to a completed ship. I will also do the detail paint work which it needs. The tough part will be getting all the major parts together without messing up the decals. I am not lighting this as that is so far beyond my abilities and I am not going to make the hanger deck, I'll have the hanger doors closed.

[wraith1701]

...And so it begins. :)

Smart move on going with the gloss-white, Bryan; the decals adhere best to a gloss surface.  You probably already know this, but you can hit it with a flat clear coat to seal your decals; it will help the decal borders vanish as well as protect them from mishaps during assembly. If you want a shiny surface, you can hit it again with a light coating of clear gloss or Future floor polish after your build is complete.

[Bryancd]

...And so it begins. :)

Smart move on going with the gloss-white, Bryan; the decals adhere best to a gloss surface.  You probably already know this, but you can hit it with a flat clear coat to seal your decals; it will help the decal borders vanish as well as protect them from mishaps during assembly. If you want a shiny surface, you can hit it again with a light coating of clear gloss or Future floor polish after your build is complete.

Should I hit the parts with a clear gloss BEFORE decals? Some parts feel smooth but the saucer has a bit of texture to it.

[wraith1701]

...And so it begins. :)

Smart move on going with the gloss-white, Bryan; the decals adhere best to a gloss surface.  You probably already know this, but you can hit it with a flat clear coat to seal your decals; it will help the decal borders vanish as well as protect them from mishaps during assembly. If you want a shiny surface, you can hit it again with a light coating of clear gloss or Future floor polish after your build is complete.

Should I hit the parts with a clear gloss BEFORE decals? Some parts feel smooth but the saucer has a bit of texture to it.

The smoother the surface, the better. :)  Don't worry about built-in textures like panel lines, etc-- as long as the decals have a slick surface to adhere to, they'll conform to the surface they're applied to.

You want to be careful not to go too thick on the gloss, though- some brands of spray lacquer tend to yellow over time, and if the coat is really thick, the yellowing will be very visible. I kind of went crazy with some Testors gloss-coat on kit I built a few years ago, and it ended up looking like it was coated in a layer of amber. 

[Bryancd]

OK, first update. I began last weekend installing all the clear parts for the primary hull including all windows, impulse dome, running lights, ect. It's a pain as some are really small but they need to be in there. This weekend I finished that and put the primary hull together. I painted the officers lounge for fun, but you really can't see it. The lower sensor dome is tough to get to seat properly as is sealing the hull pieces with the band around the middle. I had to use some contour puddy to seal the cracks and then I taped over the windows and did some touch up painting. Next up will be the neck pylon, warp pylons, and warp engines.