I'm back on Trek! (get it?) Cadets underway

[nicholassagan]

I finally picked up the Refit/Reliant/K'Tinga Cadet set and while they are GREAT little kits, the SEAMS ARE KILLER!!

Lots of filling and sanding. Took a bit but I got them SMOOTH. Each ship will have it's own small dome base painted like a planet.

 

[Elm City Hobbies]

Yeah, the others in the series are the same. they were originally marketed as snap kits, and they all have big seams!

Looking good though!

 

[Quaralane]

Yours are looking really good here.
Got mine in the stash, waiting for a few other things to get done ahead of them

 

[nicholassagan]

They look even better with white pearl on 'em.

 

[Grendels]

The seams are why I have not built any of these. Yours are looking great!

 

[nicholassagan]

These seams were god awful...

 

[YOULI]

Cool to see those new tools. No Pictures or a WIP to watch the process of filling the seams ?

Can't wait to see the painting and decaling process.

 

[The Chaos]

WOW looks good

 

[nicholassagan]

Cool to see those new tools. No Pictures or a WIP to watch the process of filling the seams ?

Can't wait to see the painting and decaling process.

I do have some but my camera lens was scratched so they are kinda foggy. I'll post them tomorrow though if you're really interested

 

[nicholassagan]

Matte white then Pearl white. Brass engine details, silver bridge details and some medium blue details. Decals are thick and brittle. Will be slow going. Lots of Micro Sol and Set.

Also a few shots of the putty process.

 

[Quaralane]

Looking good, Nick.
I can definitely see where those decals could be a pain, though

 

[Grendels]

Looking very nice!

 

[YOULI]

Thanks for the putty process pictures... That would have been a hard sanding process too.
Have you heard of the Prince August "Mastic plastique" ? is there any common reference in, say, the Vallejo brand ? It's the same bottles and pretty much the same "paint". Vinylic paint.

Mastic plastique is easy to use, fill the gap and you can remove the excess with a wet finger before it dries. You don't have to sand and if the result is not what expected, you can repeat the process.

 

[warped_one]

very nice

 

[nicholassagan]

Decals done, base assembly has begun finally. There’s still a bit more paint work I’d like to do on the K’tinga but the Federation ships are pretty much done. I'm not SUPER happy with how these are turning out...the decals are thick and it's really a pain right now to paint such tiny areas that aren't detailed via decals...but whatever. It's a relatively easy build process and I'll be glad to clear these off the bench.

 

[Quaralane]

These are looking good here, Nick

 

[Grendels]

Agreed!

 

[nicholassagan]

Ok all done!!! I'm actually pretty happy with how the K'Tinga ended up. Word of caution ALWAYS seal AK's washes before applying clear coat!!!! I had to rub it down with thinner a couple times after the first clear coat on the Ktinga but I found a good balance. Added some other weathering pigments, too. The Reliant and Enterprise are clear coated with satin.

full gallery links here:
http://cosmosmodels.wordpress.com/2014/09/15/12500-polar-lights-klingon-ktinga-battlecruiser/
http://cosmosmodels.wordpress.com/2014/09/15/12500-polar-lights-uss-reliant/
http://cosmosmodels.wordpress.com/2014/09/15/12500-polar-lights-uss-enterprise-refit/

Here's some pics:
K'Tinga

Reliant

Enterprise

 

[JohnSimmons]

Nice work dude what rouble are you having with the AK washes? I didn't understand sorry

 

[nicholassagan]

Oh, used an AK wash, rubbed it down/off and added a matt coat the next day. The AK pigment actually CURLED! Like lead paint chipping...so I used some cotton swabs and thinner to clean it up. Once it was dry I put a layer of Future on it before the final clear coat.