My kit-bash/scratch-build of the Movie Enterprise

[wraith1701]

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-


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-






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)-




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-


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-


Here's an early test-fit -


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

[wraith1701]

The beginnings of customizing the neck.  I carefully removed the 1/1600 neck and the 1/2500 refit neck-


Here's a picture to give a rough idea of what I'm working towards-



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

[wraith1701]

I've got the framework of the neck done with layered sheet styrene. I think these photos are a little easier to view:







..and from the other side-





I've modified the bottom of the primary hull as well-





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

[Bryancd]

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!

[Rico]

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!

[jedijeff]

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.

[wraith1701]

Thanks for the comments, guys! :)

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

[Feathers]

I know I will need do this but I'm facinated to see it all in progress. Eccellent stuff.

[Meds]

These are amazing i love seeing people's work, well done Eric, great stuff.

[wraith1701]

Thanks guys. I think I've made a breakthrough on the nacelles. I'll get more pics up soon. :)

[M-5]

That's awesome Wrath1701!  Thanks for sharing that. :metallica:

[X]

Great job Eric! Any way to convince you to make an Andromeda Ascendant? 

[X]

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.

[wraith1701]

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! :)

[Dan M]

That's great.  Thanks for sharing!