Scale Models:The Starfleet Project

[ArcticFox]

Thanks!

The underside of the saucer:

[Chozon1]

Beautiful. I like the shading effect on the rings. Scooting back from my screen a bit, the green panels have the same visual impact as the on-screen Enterprise. That's awesome.

[ArcticFox]

Thanks!

The lifeboats.

BAH.

The most inconsistent thing about the various models of the Enterprise I've seen is the lifeboats. For example, the set of lifeboats immediately aft of the main shuttlebay on the 6 ft model is a row of 5, while I can't tell of they're on the 4 ft model at all. (I assume they are...) The plastic model I'm working with has 6.

The Generations studio model of the saucer section doesn't have the 4 lifeboats on the top of deck 3 but they do appear on the 6 ft model and appear to be on the 4 ft model. They are on my model, at least. Aggravatingly enough, there's a third row of lifeboats just forward of the seam between the saucer and the star drive section, which on my model are shown as four long, continuous strips, which will make it trickier to paint them properly.

Oh, ans as for painting them... The color of the lifeboats is also incredibly inconsistent. Sometimes they look almost white, sometimes a strong khaki, and in some lighting and on the 4 ft model they look gray. So for my model... I decided to go with the gray, since it's more subtle and looks best with the darker look I'm going for.

I settled on Vallejo Grey Blue 70.943

[ArcticFox]

phew...

So yeah. Lots of progress on the upper saucer.

Gee, I wish I'd found that aftermarket decal sheet BEFORE I put on these craptastic decals and secured them with Vallejo decal fix...

The problem with the decals is that the lettering wasn't properly aligned when they were printed, so some of the white peeks out from behind the blue and red...



Had it not been for the bad printing I'd be pretty pleased with this decal. Incidentally, it's held on with Vallejo Decal Fix and has a coat of Vallejo Decal Medium on it, to help it conform to the shape of the plastic under it. Decal Fix works... really well... which is why I don't dare try and remove it. I don't want to trash the paint work I've done so far.

So I want to try and fix the decal printing problem with some brush work, then I want to hit the whole saucer again with the wash to blend it. The problem is the texture of the decals and the surface texture of the painted part is different. You can see how glossy the decals are here...



So I hit it with a coat of Games Workshop Purity Seal, which has a matte finish...



By the way, the phaser array is painted with Vallejo Dark Grey 70.994 and the stripes by the main shuttlebay are painted with a coat of Vallejo Sky Grey 70.989 then a coat of Vallejo Deep Yellow 70.915. The top of the bridge is painted with a bit of Vallejo Sky Grey 70.989.

[ccgr]

Nice work!

[ArcticFox]

Thanks!

Painted the impulse drive exhaust on each side. Since the ship is at warp, the exhaust is dark, as opposed to the cherry red if it were moving at sublight speed.

The nozzle is painted using Vallejo Dark Grey 70.994 and the inside is Vallejo Black 70.950



Then I did the windows on the top of the saucer using Vallejo Black 70.950 and Vallejo White 70.951. The blue windows astern of the main shuttle bay are Vallejo Game Color Electric Blue 72023.





The thrusters (hard to see in these pics) are painted Vallejo Game Color Heavy Goldbrown 72151

Then I followed the same steps with the ventral part of the saucer.



Saucer section is complete.

Next, I turned my attention to the star drive section. The seams between the connecting neck and the secondary hull were horrendous, so I filled the gap using Games Workshop Liquid Green Stuff.

[ccgr]

Coming along nicely!

[ArcticFox]

Thanks! New updates soon.

[ArcticFox]

With the primary hull done, I've been working on the star drive section.

This part of the model really shows the flaws and issues with the Ertl kit. The lines are way off and don't match in many places, and the parts don't fit together well. The mold also has a lot of burrs, lines and distortions. I did my best to prep it but a close look still reveals a lot of flaws.

As before, I used Army Painter Goblin Green on some panels over a coat of Vallejo Air Azure Blue 71.108.

The ends of the warp pylons have blue masking tape to keep the surface of the plastic clean for when it's time to attach the warp nacelles.

Dorsal view:


Ventral view:


View of the starboard neck:


I went lighter here on the green since the panel lines were subtler and actually recessed, as the whole model should have been.

Next, a couple of coats of the Vallejo Model Wash Blue Grey 76.524, with heavier density on the phaser emitters.


The phaser emitters are, as with the saucer, painted with Vallejo Dark Grey 70.994. The lifeboats and cargo doors are Vallejo Grey Blue 70.943.

[ArcticFox]

Not feeling well today, so not much to do besides sit and work on a starship.

I got the decals on the star drive section and sealed it with a coat of Games Workshop Purity Seal.



And then... The windows. So many windows. Got the dorsal side of the star drive section and the connecting neck. As before, the windows are done in Vallejo Black 70.950 and Vallejo White 70.951. Since the ship is at warp, the main impulse engine exhaust is the same color black, as are the forward and aft torpedo launchers. The thrusters are Vallejo Game Color Heavy Goldbrown 72151.



The lower neck section housing the photon torpedo launchers is painted in Vallejo Dark Grey 70.994.

[ArcticFox]

Aaaaand windows on the ventral side of the secondary hull.



And now... for the navigational deflector. This is really the visual focal point of the Enterprise-D whenever she's viewed from the front, so it's really important. Make or break. So I'm trying to be extra careful here.

So first, a mask of the ship except the area around the deflector, using plastic wrap and masking tape.



Then, to get the finer mask, I used Grumbacher Miskit Liquid Frisket. I have never used this stuff before so hey, let's test it out on a model I've already spent a ton of time on! Go big or go home, as my son would say...



So now for the airbrushing. First, a layer of Vallejo Light Grey 70.990.



Then, Vallejo White 70.951.



And a layer of Vallejo Game Color Electric Blue 72023.

[ArcticFox]

Well that was almost a disaster...

I airbrushed thinned Vallejo Copper 70.999 onto the area of the deflector not covered by the blue "light"... and found that the surface of the blue was so smooth and glossy that the copper ran all over and covered very poorly. I tried to fix it with a brush but that just made it worse. So to salvage the paint job, I decided to hit it with a layer of Games Workshop Purity Seal, which is a matte sealer and gives a better surface for the copper to stick to. I was able to hit it again with the copper , more gently and it turned out more like how I envisioned it.

I also brushed copper onto the dish itself.



Next, I took off the masking tape, plastic wrap and... the liquid frisket. That stuff is a PAIN to remove and it took off a little of the paint with it, even though I'd hit it with sealer. It wasn't too bad and I touched it up, but still... Ugh. Can't recommend this particular brand.

[ccgr]

Bummer, glad you were able to salvage it though!

[ArcticFox]

Hehe thanks!

Now it's time for the warp nacelles... Almost done. Phew...

[Chozon1]

Fantastic work! ^_^