Enterprise D - from "Generations"

[Igard]

Lovely stuff! All that hard work is justified. I'm looking forward to seeing the finished product now, you've done such a patient job here it's inspiring mate!

 

[ModelMakerMike]

She's looking beautiful.
All the hard work is really showing!
Awesome awesomeness!
;D ;D ;D

 

[The Nylon Gag]

Beautiful paint sir


Gag

 

[Quaralane]

Looking great here.

 

[Grendels]

A very nice update

 

[Often wrong Soong]

It's been a while but it's time for an update. It feels strange saying this but...all windows are finally plucked, preened and refined to where I'm happy with them! Hooray! I thought I'd NEVER get it done! There's just a couple of pin-prick light leaks here and there to address but from here on out it's full steam ahead with detailing and decals!!!

The photo-etch phaser details are all applied to the saucer. They look good but it's hard to tell if they're bent to the right shape until the paint goes on, by then it's too late to correct any unwanted bumps or seams. That said though, they do look way better than leaving the phasers as flat details

Brass in place, upper and lower saucer

With a lick of paint

We're finally getting there

Then it happened. While refining the dorsal windows I noticed a long crack running along the seam where the upper secondary hull part meets the pylon wing...to say I was annoyed is an understatement

2 choices then:
1: Repair and patch the damage as best I can
2: Strip the area and repaint from scratch again

I've gone for the first option, for 2 reasons. Firstly, after running Zap CA down the crack and a gentle massage the damage looks a bit less noticable and I'm hoping that a couple of clear coats and other details might help it blend away enough to live with, Secondly, I cant actually contemplate repainting the aztec all over again, no matter how small the area, without getting knots in my stomach! If the patch/repair fails then I'll have no choice, but for now I'm willing to give it a chance

On to the nacelles then. Both were given a good clear coat (my first time using Future BTW, awesome stuff!) and the first decals of the build were applied. I'm using the kit decals, they look good enough to me so on they went. They were then sealed with another gloss clear, and finally a dull clear.

Here they are, completely done, finished and waiting to be put onto the secondary hull

I've also started on the lower saucer decals, and hit another little problem. The brass details for the transporter emitters look great but the decals are a touch too small to cover all of the brass, which is fine...except I didnt notice until I was applying the decals! No time to paint the brass as the decals were already wet so I peeled them back up which left some nasty scarring. The decals cover the scars for the most part but you can see it a bit if you look closely. Live and learn!

So that just about brings us up to date. I'm rolling on with decals now with a full head of steam so the next update shouldn't be too far away

Thanks for looking

Wayne

 

[Quaralane]

Definitely looking good, Soong.
Sad about that seam crack. But she's looking sharp

 

[ModelMakerMike]

As the band, "The Tubes" said, She's a beauty!!!!! ;D ;D

 

[amateurmodeler]

What did you do to the clear parts on the nacelles to get that effect when unlit?

 

[Grendels]

What did you do to the clear parts on the nacelles to get that effect when unlit?

I was wondering this as well....

 

[NecronautDrummer]

Yeah, the reddish tone on the nacelle wraparound 'windows'? It looks very cool!

 

[Igard]

Soong, this looks absolutely incredible!

Massive shame about the crack. Hopefully you can minimise that. I always display my models pointing from right to left, so any mistake on the right hand side, will be to the back anyway!

 

[Mr Atoz]

Glad to see you back posting some more pics, Soong!Great work takes a bit of time,to be sure. 8) Bummer about the crack though :'( I feel your frustration on that one.Funny though, mine mysteriously appeared on the same side and location!! It was repaired with the CA also without reappearing. My hat off to you once again for the attention to detail. My favorite part on this one is the color.I just love blue and green together!Best wishes for your success.

 

[Often wrong Soong]

Definitely looking good, Soong.
Sad about that seam crack. But she's looking sharp

Thanks man, we're getting there slowly 8)

As the band, "The Tubes" said, She's a beauty!!!!! ;D ;D

She's a long slog too...! Thanks buddy

What did you do to the clear parts on the nacelles to get that effect when unlit?

I was wondering this as well....

Sanded with 600grit on the outside, stuffed with foam sheet inside, the stuff that seperates the clear sprues. Took a bit of fiddling to get the foam to diffuse the light evenly but it looks great to the naked eye. Have a play with the technique John, I think you'll like the effect (maybe I'll see it being used in a future video of yours! )

Yeah, the reddish tone on the nacelle wraparound 'windows'? It looks very cool!

Thanks dude, happy accident that paid off

Soong, this looks absolutely incredible!

Massive shame about the crack. Hopefully you can minimise that. I always display my models pointing from right to left, so any mistake on the right hand side, will be to the back anyway!

Yeah I'm gutted about it. You win some, you lose some I suppose. I'll get it sorted one way or the other though :

Glad to see you back posting some more pics, Soong!Great work takes a bit of time,to be sure. 8) Bummer about the crack though :'( I feel your frustration on that one.Funny though, mine mysteriously appeared on the same side and location!! It was repaired with the CA also without reappearing. My hat off to you once again for the attention to detail. My favorite part on this one is the color.I just love blue and green together!Best wishes for your success.

Glad to be back mate! Yeah, it seems like it should be a really strong join there but I had a similar crack the last time I built one of these. I've decided that I cant leave it just patched up so I'll have to sand the damage back and repaint it... :'(

Thanks for all of the comments guys, I'll be back soon with the next update

Wayne

 

[Kila2000]

Yeah, it seems like it should be a really strong join there but I had a similar crack the last time I built one of these.

Wayne

Looking at where the crack is and your comment combined made me think, that join pretty much hold the weight of the saucer and neck assembly as well as the upper half of the engineering section, a rather large chuck of the model in fact, so if the seam was to fail it would be the natural place. Add to that the extra weight of electronics .... I wonder if theres ways of preventing it in the early stages of construction. The other option is addition supports for the saucer which really detracts from the model as a whole.
I'm keen to see how you handle the repair and hopefully it will last.

By the way, 9 pages here and 9 pages on SSM ;D freaky

 

[Grendels]

Foam sheet? I might have to play with that.....

Thanks for the answer!

 

[Often wrong Soong]

Yeah, it seems like it should be a really strong join there but I had a similar crack the last time I built one of these.

Wayne

Looking at where the crack is and your comment combined made me think, that join pretty much hold the weight of the saucer and neck assembly as well as the upper half of the engineering section, a rather large chuck of the model in fact, so if the seam was to fail it would be the natural place. Add to that the extra weight of electronics .... I wonder if theres ways of preventing it in the early stages of construction. The other option is addition supports for the saucer which really detracts from the model as a whole.
I'm keen to see how you handle the repair and hopefully it will last.

By the way, 9 pages here and 9 pages on SSM ;D freaky

Yeah sounds logical, I should have given it some thought when I was starting the build but it totally slipped my mind until it cracked there again. I'll definately reinforce along that join if I do another one, thanks for the brain food dude

as for the repair...

Phew! I hope thats the last time I have to repair any cracks...

Wayne

 

[Grendels]

Nice work on that repair!

 

[Quaralane]

Excellent work on that repair.
Geordi would be proud

 

[TRM]

Great work on that repair!!!