Thanks guys!
Took a break from decaling to finish installing the upper nacelle grills to the tops of the nacelles.
I had debated decaling the nacelles before doing this work but now I am glad I didn't do any decaling as there has been a ton of touchups and cleanups with the nacelles that I could have easily damaged the aztec decals in the process.
Anyway, here now is my saga of the grills or, how to manage something acceptable after some royal screwups on the part of yours truly.
But...I degress... here we go...thanks for listening...
The CGI reference images for the work I would do on the nacelle grills and surrounding areas:
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USS Enterprise E - Nemesis-WIP - Port Nacelle CGI Screen Cap by Steve J, on Flickr
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USS Enterprise E - Nemesis-WIP - Port Nacelle Above CGI Screen Cap by Steve J, on Flickr
After gluing in place with Kristal Klear I puttied any gaps around the grills with AVES Apoxy sculpt.
The putty was an almost perfect color match for the medium grey raised frames around the grills.
I feathered the putty to cover the curved forward and aft sections of the PE grill into the grey raised frames which went really well:
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USS Enterprise E - Nemesis-WIP - Nacelle Grills Finally Done by Steve J, on Flickr
These will get a brushing with Liquitex Matte Varnish at the end of the build:
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USS Enterprise E - Nemesis-WIP - Nacelle Grills Installed by Steve J, on Flickr
I am amazed at how good these look lit up. The blue glow is nice and even - no hot spots:
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USS Enterprise E - Nemesis-WIP - Nacelle Grills Lit After Install by Steve J, on Flickr
I cleaned a little more out between the brass strips.
Once I have the decals on and sealed I will spray the ship with Dullcote which will give the ship a satin semi-gloss finish when applied over the Glosscote clear lacquer sealing coat. I will then brush the grills with Liquitex matte varnish.
t looks really good with a flat finish:
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USS Enterprise E - Nemesis-WIP - Detail Nacelle Grills Lit After Install by Steve J, on Flickr
These are not perfect but I am surprised how well these turned out after all the touch ups and cleanups I had to do mostly due to my own mistakes. This included the almost unthinkable task of tearing a glued brass photo-etch grill off the clear kit part and respraying the grill with medium grey Krylon primer after I had made a mess of retouching the grill with an inferior brush after it was installed.
Still, the lacquer primer tented to crack off the thin PE strips during installation necessitating more touchups but, after much practice and using a 20/0 very fine tipped brush, I was able to brush the individual brass strips with a very steady hand using medium grey enamel.
Many cycles of retouching and clean out of the clear slots while using a sharpened round toothpick, a fine tipped microbrush, cotton swab, alcohol (not a beer unfortunately), and canned air took place before I was satisfied.
The final matte varnish coat will help too:
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USS Enterprise E - Nemesis-WIP - Nacelle Grills Lit After Install by Steve J, on Flickr
Next up ... back to decaling. I do not anticipate having to make any more paint touchups.
I know... famous last words.,, shhhhhhhhhh...
