Vidar_710 Posted August 10, 2017 Share Posted August 10, 2017 Plastic Stacking in another section of the ship is complete. This is the Conduit Blister between the Warp Nacelles. A slab of Resin inaccurately portraying the base of the blister is removed. 7 plates... 3 large, 4 small spacers are cut from .7mm thick sheet styrene. Spacer plates are made after holes are drilled through all plates so they can be stacked on a jig for assembly alignment. Large plates and spacers. After plates assembled on a jig with the Conduit Blister. Tracy Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Vidar_710 Posted August 16, 2017 Share Posted August 16, 2017 More work in progress to the dorsal. Determining the dorsal's lean angle using images of the studio model.... I have an earlier measurement of 31 degrees on another image, 29deg on this one. More than likely due to slightly different perspectives, so I "meaned" it out to 30 deg. Work on the Torp Launcher inserts is almost done. Much coordination between me, and Bob "Activaboy" Morgan. Studio model... 3D model images front upside down side view right side up oblique Tracy Quote Link to post Share on other sites
phantom Posted August 17, 2017 Share Posted August 17, 2017 Mad skills!!!!!!! Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Vidar_710 Posted August 24, 2017 Share Posted August 24, 2017 (edited) Small update while waiting for the 3D Dorsal Torpedo Launchers to show up. Wrapped up the final stages for the master of the lower half of the Primary Hull. Added the aft bottom plate the saucer's superstructure under the impulse engines will glue down to. Here, a paper template for the raised paneling detail is in place. This detail covers this section and surrounds the base of the dorsal adapter junction to the saucer outside the radius of the ring trench. The thick plate detail now completed is in place at the base of the dorsal, but further refinement to the part is still needed. Here, the dorsal torp launcher trenches have finally been cut away. Once the 3D printed dorsal canons arrive, I can finish up construction of the entire assembly. Then the final sanding to shape the dorsal. Tracy Edited July 27, 2020 by Vidar_710 Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Andrew D. the Jolly Rogers guy Posted August 25, 2017 Share Posted August 25, 2017 Man, this is absolutely stunning!!! Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Brett M Posted September 21, 2017 Share Posted September 21, 2017 Looking great on all your work and definitely can't wait to see more progress! Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Vidar_710 Posted September 23, 2017 Share Posted September 23, 2017 The Dorsal stack is finished then sanded to its final shape. The 3D printed Torp Launchers are finalized and given a light primer coat with some light dry brushing to pop the detail. The Nacelle grills are next! Tracy Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Vidar_710 Posted September 23, 2017 Share Posted September 23, 2017 Each Warp nacelle grill has 17 plates, 8 large and 9 spacers for a total of 34 plates to cut by hand and shape. It all starts with a large sheet of .7mm thick styrene Then strips are cut for ease of handling each plate. 34 plates are all hand cut at the same size to start. I then pick out the plates than match the most to represent the large plate that actually shape the grill section. The others are designated to be trimmed down to be the spacer plates. All the plates are drilled through in 3 places to match a jig to be used for assembly to ensure pure alignment.RED dot is the port nacelle parts and jig, and GREEN is Starboard. Since the nacelles are hand made, they are not precisely the same, so plates are specifically designed to a nacelle. Here the plates are stacked on their specific jig for final shaping. After the shaping is done, now the spacer plates can be trimmed to size. Then the spacer plates are stacked on the jig and sanded to shape for 'their' final size. A test stacking to see how they came out. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Vidar_710 Posted September 23, 2017 Share Posted September 23, 2017 (edited) To lighten the grills, I decided to core them out. I did this by drilling holes just inside the end jig dowels, then I cut out the material at the edges of the holes. Once ALL the plates were cored, they were stacked and glued for assembly on their perspective jigs. Once the glue had set, they were removed from the jigs and clamped in a make-shift press using a drafting table and a flat piece of wood and a bunch of clamps to ensure they were flat, and the grills didn't show any waviness. 85 plates were cut and made by hand to represent this interesting characteristic of the Excelsior Class Starship. Now that the tedious part is over, on to correcting more resin parts from the Lunar kit. Tracy Edited September 23, 2017 by Vidar_710 Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Ikon Posted January 1, 2018 Share Posted January 1, 2018 Damn, that is some highly meticulous work, garnering a great result. Love it! Quote Link to post Share on other sites
GMK Posted January 1, 2018 Share Posted January 1, 2018 I agree with Ikon - excellent perseverance to achieve a superior result! Well done. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Vidar_710 Posted October 26, 2018 Share Posted October 26, 2018 (edited) Getting the urge to get back to this. With the passing of my best friend earlier this year, Gil "DutyCat" Gregg, I haven't felt like touching a model all year. Here's how the masters to the Excelsior project sit right now... The next section planned is the nacelle struts. Tracy Edited June 21, 2020 by Vidar_710 Quote Link to post Share on other sites
phantom Posted October 26, 2018 Share Posted October 26, 2018 😀 Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Vidar_710 Posted September 13, 2019 Share Posted September 13, 2019 Getting back to planning on the large NX Excelsior project. It’s sat long enough. I was originally thinking about lighting the top of the warp nacelles, but have had a change of heart. I plan to finish clean up on one of the war nacelles grills stacks for molding, then pour out a couple of clear cast grills. I’ll be getting in touch with Bob “Aptivaboy” to collaborate with me on a main deflector dish, and possibly a couple other small details. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
FlyAndFight Posted September 13, 2019 Share Posted September 13, 2019 Been following your build for years! Glad that you're getting back to it. Looking forward to your progress reports. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Vidar_710 Posted June 21, 2020 Share Posted June 21, 2020 (edited) Some work towards the Excelsior! Preliminary efforts of the Deflector Dish assembly. For some reason, my photobucket image is not coming through like my older ones do. Edited June 21, 2020 by Vidar_710 Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Bell209 Posted June 22, 2020 Share Posted June 22, 2020 Some serious work going on here - I like it. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Vidar_710 Posted June 23, 2020 Share Posted June 23, 2020 (edited) deleted Edited July 2, 2020 by Vidar_710 Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Vidar_710 Posted June 25, 2020 Share Posted June 25, 2020 (edited) deleted Edited July 2, 2020 by Vidar_710 Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Bell209 Posted June 25, 2020 Share Posted June 25, 2020 Can't see anything, even if you click on it. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Vidar_710 Posted July 2, 2020 Share Posted July 2, 2020 (edited) Finally figured out the new PhotoBucket site. Here are a couple of WIP images the Excelsior's 3D modeled Deflector Dish. It's done now and in the print que! Main cargo bay next. Mapping the secondary hull master has already begun. Tracy Edited July 2, 2020 by Vidar_710 Quote Link to post Share on other sites
dekon70 Posted July 2, 2020 Share Posted July 2, 2020 Just read through this whole thread, great work! Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Vidar_710 Posted August 27, 2020 Share Posted August 27, 2020 Little bit or work on the scratch built Planetary Sensor assembly. Hey, it was raining outside, so... The light trenches have needed to be thickened out to scale. I laminated .5mm styrene segments at the lip of the openings, then filled and smoothed out the rest of the trenches with Apoxie Sculpt. This also helps with making this assembly easier to both mold and cast. The resin dome's scribed detail needed some refining and clean up before going under primer. After adding the styrene to thicken are refine the lip entries, the entire assembly needs to be sanded back down to fit the profile of the saucer again. Tracy Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Bell209 Posted August 27, 2020 Share Posted August 27, 2020 Is there anything left of the original kit? 😭 Fabulous work to date! Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Vidar_710 Posted August 27, 2020 Share Posted August 27, 2020 No, not really. 🙂 When I mold and cast my parts, nothing from the LM kit's parts list would be re-used in their original state. Everything has either been remastered, scratch built, or 3D printed. Tracy Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.