18" Starship Enterprise Building tips and techniques
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- Опубліковано 15 гру 2024
- This relatively short video showcases some of the building tips and techniques I have found over the years when building the 18" Enterprise from Star Trek (using the small box kit available from 1975 onwards). The goal here was not necessarily to make a kit that was 100% accurate to a model on the television, but rather to overcome some of the alignment issues and make relatively minor corrections in the process while not getting too bogged down in the process. Aftermarket resin parts for the 18" kit (and other TOS Enterprise kits) can be ordered from CultTVman.com, Federationmodels.com, JT-graphics.com and Starshipmodeler.com.
Love the DC Fontana sig on your ship. Quite a keeper.
I too have made it a habit to mark the center of any Star Trek model saucer with a pin vice to ease the use of tools such as circular inscribers or cutting compass, this allows for easy detail inscription, part alignment, nav light placement, registry placement (by simply using dividers) and all sort of custom circle line work. When the work is done, the sensor or bridge cap is the last part to go on the model and cover the pin hole. :-)
7:23, The flexing of the stock pylons can be reinforced by adding some bulk brass metal strip, adhered into place by JB Weld. Mine does not flex at all. There is enough space inside the pylons to add the strip. The pylon tab that inserts into the secondary hull must be carved on the inside to accommodate the strip, and once the strip is in place, additional JB Weld can be applied to fill in the pylon plastic you removed. The brass strip must go all the way to the end of the pylon insert tab. It will be stronger, and more durable, should your Enterprise ever take a tumble. I also reinforced the side of the secondary hull, by sanding and gluing pieces of the frame that holds the molded parts I also dripped JB Weld into the secondary hull and the neck for reinforcement, as well as add parts frame plastic, on the inside of the hull, from the bottom of the neck to the bottom of the secondary hull. In the primary hull, where the neck mounts, sanded and glued frame plastic between the lower and upper half, reinforcing the two pieces, so the weight of the primary hull doesn't sag on the neck, if any of that makes sense.
This sounds like a great idea. how ever if the brass fills the strut, how can you add the wiring if you wish to light the model. and have the nacelle caps glow?
@@cjdavis2684 you can use hollow brass rod instead of the brass strips. if you want to do wiring.
JM, this was inspirational. I've always liked the idea of the 'glow in the dark' version but executing it was going to be a major PITA due to the hull perfection requirements. This gave me an idea about using white sheet styrene and tubes, etc to both reinforce the areas where the kit is weak and also give the final product a specialized look. IE, being able to see the 'thicker' areas of the hull and portions of the framework in a slightly different tone than the outer hull. You could even do some advanced details like a partially opened shuttle bay with a light or a low level version of the lighted RAM collectors. Of course if we could get sheet styrene that was a similar kind of 'glow in the dark' the work might be even easier. I think it might look like a ship suffering the effects of spatial interphase in a way we have only imagined it, not just what we saw on the show. Thanks man.
Wow! Thank you for this excellent advice! I picked up a few 1/650 kits in a sale and also have two glow in the dark kits still stashed and waiting to be built. I remember building the 18" kit as a youngster in the 80's and the pylons snapped. You make an excellent point about adding support! Again thank you!
Nice video! I wish you would have given us a look at the model glowing in the dark, like the Defiant in The Tholian Web! I built an AMT 1:650 as a kid, and I have a Diamond Select preassembled model I bought several year ago, but I really want the Polar Lights 1:350 with the lights kit! Wife would kill me!
This was very helpful I just got the 90s kit from ebay. It was pretty cheap, because the primary hull and the two halves of the secondary hull and pylon section had been glued. I know what you're talking about in regards to plastic quality. My dad had the one from the seventies, which was lost when we moved. That model was very stiff and the plastic was thicker. Because of your videos, I'm going to get one, and my current one will become a Doomsday Constellation, which I've always loved.
if that was D.C. Fontana's autograph, I would not dump that model. she and Harlen Ellison were key to the show's success in individual episode storytelling.
Hehehehe you know what I did exactly that and cut those one piece constrictor plates into 3 pieces. Then glued them in place on the Bussard scoop cap. But I glued them not where you have them but more closer to the end like in the Andy Probert design sketches.
I always thought those triangles were transporter beam emitters. Considering the TNG Enterprise had square shaped ones on its hull.
Thanks! Check out some of my other videos, specifically the series where I construct a replica of the USS Constellation effects model from "The Doomsday Machine" with a vintage long box AMT kit. Part 5 covers the reasoning behind my color selection for that model (and you might get some painting ideas for yours). Color I used on the Constellation was Tamiya XF-12 JN Grey mixed with about 25% white. Based on the research, it is VERY close to the original paint shade on the effects models.
I have that scribe , and am building the 22 inch cutaway model into a full hull model and want to scribe out those rings but not sure how to set the scribe to do it? any suggestions would be very appreciated. and I Thank You for your time.
Something I did with the engineering section to give it some stability was fill it almost completely with plastercine, and the nacelles with crumpled cooking foil. :D
Hello, I just viewed this video and I hope you maybe able to help me with a question regarding your instruction video regarding a time at min. 4:55 note you used a strip of .030 or .040 styrene on the neck. do you place the styrene just on the tip were the gap is or the whole length were it makes contact to the saucer section? thanking you in advance for your help with this question.
Sal C The styrene bit is only needed where the gap is at the front to both fill it and help to give the saucer an ever so slight angle up to align with the warp nacelles and secondary hull better. Believe me, it does help in that spot.
Thank you very much for your help with this question I've been enjoying your videos and am using them as reference as I am returning to model building after a Forty year hiatus
Glad to hear it. Most important aspect of the hobby is to keep it fun. Don't try to do too much on the first projects. Pick a skill or aspect you want to focus on with each project and go from there. As things progress, you will get better.
Ohhh, good eye. The other pylon also has a David Gerrold signature as well (a little smeared, but there). Its a pity this model isn't quite as up to snuff as it once was, but yes, it has a pedigree and still looks reasonably good at least.
Good notes!
Great video, very helpful,thanks for uploading it.
Nice job! I bought an AMT 18" repo kit, but not sure what colors are needed! What did you use?
My kit is 1/650, the 18", and I'm going to have the engines lit and the collectors turning. Do you have any idea where I can get the clear domes?
Did you reinforce both sides of the pylon (upper/lower) with styrene, or just one? I'm in the middle of a "Tholian" build right now- trying to avoid the dreaded nacelle droop. Great tips. I hope seeing this video will save me some grief. Thanks.
Eric M Honestly... I can't remember since I did this a while a go, but I believe I just used a thick enough strip of styrene to fit in the whole space. Using thinner strips on both halves should work just as well though, if not better. Just make sure the styrene strip you use is thick enough that it isn't prone to flexing itself.
JMChladek That helped. Thanks for the reply.
I like the glow plastic too...they also seem to glue together better. Look at my U.S.S. DEFIANT kit on Hobby Talk - Madcap Romanian.
Will do, and thanks.
It figures... the alternate (glowing) plastic kit IS the better one to buy!
The three piece secondary hull is not easy to build, if you are at all concerned about seams and not sanding away the tiny windows engraved in the plastic, very close to the horizontal seam. ☹️
Just cover the windows with a piece of tape to protect them and you can preserve them. But honestly, if you sand all the windows off, you can use the window decals that most of the recent reissues of the kits have anyway.
@@JMChladek Thanks!
I put a bunch of popsicle sticks in the pylons and nacelles to help keep them from wobbling back and forth.