Update for today...
Today was airbrush Saturday with temops around 80 degrees and low humidity.
Nacelles...
These were actually airbrushed yesterday. They are about 95% dry but still just a little bit sticky. I almost had a heart attack Friday evening when one of them took a header off my workbench. I'd stood them straight up on end to dry and after about a half hour I closed the garage door. That caused enough vibration to cause one nacelle to take a swan dive headfirst making a half rotation before bouncing off the cement floor. All I could do was stand transfixed from about 10 feet away with my mouth agape.
I imagined it landing on the bussard dome and cracking. Fortunately it landed on the open end where I will eventually attach the endcap; then it bounced up at an angle and hit the side of my workbench before landing flat on the floor. Heart in my throat I picked it up by the masked over bussard and the pylon wiring and inspected the damage. Thankfully I had just swept the floor so there wasn't any dust or debris to stick to the paint.
There was a tiny smudge on one flux constrictor at the front and one on the rear. It was dry enough that I was able to smooth over the divots with a moistened fingertip; I'll still need to touch it up with a little more hull color but it could have been so much worse.
Removing the tape from the dome showed no damage. I hooked up the power and the motor and lights operated fine.
Maybe it was dumb luck or maybe the modelling gods took pity on me; whatever it was, I had just escaped disaster.
After that I got smart and leaned them against my hanging drawer cabinet to finish drying:
IMG_4679 by
trekriffic, on Flickr
Nacelle trench screens were sprayed with Tamiya Bare Metal Silver:
IMG_4684 by
trekriffic, on Flickr
End caps, Impulse engine accelerator, Trench insert, and Pylon screens were sprayed with MM Medium Gray mixed with a little Voodoo Gray to lighten it up a little. I'd already gone with a lighter hull color than the kit recommends so I needed to lighten up the acccent color too or the contrast would be too much for my taste:
IMG_4685 by
trekriffic, on Flickr
The Bridge/B-C deck module was sprayed hull color:
IMG_4682 by
trekriffic, on Flickr
The reactor control loops were sprayed hull color followed by a brushing of Voodoo Gray at the ends of the loops. I'll probably go back with the airbrush and recoat the Voodoo Gray. I also need to mask the intercoolers on top of the nacelles and paint the ends with the same color.
IMG_4686 by
trekriffic, on Flickr
The secondary hull was sprayed with hull color. I also sprayed the joints between the secondary hull and neck and between the neck and the lower saucer. I masked the leading edge with it's Hellblau color first though:
IMG_4681 by
trekriffic, on Flickr
That's it for now. It will probably take a few days to finish drying enough for me to do the next thing which is to attach the upper saucer and bridge module to the lower saucer. Then I'll be ready to attach the nacelles.
Tomorrow I plan to spend some time working on the base wiring and paint.
Thanks for reading.