Shaw Posted September 19, 2023 Share Posted September 19, 2023 This looks stunning! I'm wondering... in your research have you come across the reason for modifying this area on the original model for the NCC version? The images I have of the model when filmed for TNG don't show any damage to this area that might require repair/modification... and the changes weren't all that visible in STVI. Just curious if you had heard anything about it. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Vidar_710 Posted September 24, 2023 Share Posted September 24, 2023 The NX version of the studio model actually saw three names on it in the Trans Warp configuration: The Excelsior, as well as the Hood and the Repulse in early season episodes on the Next Generation. Other than name changes, the changes to the "conventional" Warp configuration with no painting changes were: The Bridge Dome, The round aft hanger bay dome to a box shape, and the removal of the single large Trans Warp dome for two smaller conventional ones. The Warp dome changes were actually no physical change to the model. They simply made a tomb stone shaped panel with greebles on it (with the two-dome config) and placed it over the recessed Trans Warp trench. The panel was thick enough to make it flush to the surrounding hull details. However, that panel even came up a little short exposing the very aft edges of the NX details lying under it. The model maintained this configuration for a while under different names... i.e., Melbourne and so on. Eventually, the model received a complete repaint destroying the distinct original hull characteristics for ST:VI. My guess is the model was showing her age and needed a facelift for the big screen. The Excelsior as seen on Voyager was a completely different model built by the late Greg Jein. Eventually the original studio model went through a big update with complete repaint and new surface plating and paneling details for the Enterprise-B as seen in ST: Generations. This configuration would later see the model as Lakota in ST: DS9. Tracy Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Vidar_710 Posted October 6, 2023 Share Posted October 6, 2023 I'm posting this image again because I've made a discovery! If you look closely, you can see a thin silver line all the way around the blue field framing the bridge dome. This will be fun to recreate since Alps Printers that could print silver have gone the way of the dinosaurs. Note the railroad track paneling in the blue panels. Apparently, Bill George (the supervisor for building the Excelsior studio model) says these panels were painted using left over friskets from Death Star 2 in "Return of the Jedi". John Eaves is also looking into to these for me as well. He's friends with several of the original modelers. I'll be taking a rest from the build for a bit. I'm away from home learning the fly the Boeing 777 for the next month or so. I'll be getting back to it as soon as I can. I still haven't cleaned up the latest paintings, and It bugs me. Tracy Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Vidar_710 Posted October 28, 2023 Share Posted October 28, 2023 Calling the master's pretty much done for top surfaces. There are blue panels that are on the sides of the superstructure that come next. A lot of clean up and tweaking was needed. Some of the fine pinstriping were too big and had to be completely redone to fit properly. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Vidar_710 Posted November 15, 2023 Share Posted November 15, 2023 I discovered a repeating pattern used in the Excelsior's trench (blackened in). The deflector grid is in 15deg pie wedges, but the pattern is only 10deg wide. This causes the pattern to vary in position from one wedge to the next. Furthermore, a copy of this pattern is cut in half width-wise to fill in under it for the inner half of the trench. The plan is to draw this pattern by hand in my scale so it can be scanned and cleaned up digitally. This will allow me to make paint templates using a cutting machine like a criqut. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
southwestforests Posted November 16, 2023 Share Posted November 16, 2023 Some unique discoveries being made here. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
dekon70 Posted December 15, 2023 Share Posted December 15, 2023 This is great work! Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Vidar_710 Posted January 27 Share Posted January 27 Small update working on more graphics. The first image is the basic paneling that is under the impulse engine exhaust which is still in the works for proper fit. Here the weathering details have been roughly added just to see if I can do it by hand with a pencil. Side by side with my reference source. For right now, the graphic only fits widthwise. It still needs to be shortened vertically to fit as seen on the studio model. Tracy Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Vidar_710 Posted March 24 Share Posted March 24 Finally getting the back end on the superstructure shaped correctly. Below is a paper template for the shape of the exhaust section. The Lunar Models part is nowhere near correct. You'll see me adding sculpting material to some surfaces and you'll see where resin material needs to be removed. A styrene template is made to go alongside the resin master as a reference on where sculpting material needs to be added and original resin material needs to be removed. Like I said, not even close to accurate. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Vidar_710 Posted March 26 Share Posted March 26 The corrected shape for the rear of the superstructure is blended in with glazing putty The superstructure master is finally fully complete after a coat of primer to check for flaws. The aft end now finished, the footprint for the scratch built impulse engine exhaust ports is now realized, and so is the dimensions of the surface under the exhaust for the size of the graphics. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Vidar_710 Posted March 28 Share Posted March 28 The impulse engine exhaust ports have been roughed out in sheet styrene. I will grind them down to their final shape after the cement has cured overnight. The ports are depicting by the vertical lines on the superstructure templates shown just above the ports. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Vidar_710 Posted March 29 Share Posted March 29 Upper surface contours added, more detail to come... Still roughed out shape with material yet to be removed... The bottom exhaust surface was added. To give strength and help hold its shape, lightweight filler was used in the cavity. Red glazing putty to fill in the scratches. After sanding the filler smooth... The 1.5mm styrene half dowel was used to add the final details to the top surface. The ports were too big, and the walls were too thin so additional sheet styrene was applied to the inner surfaces. The top detail needed more relief, so the ribs were masked off and a thin layer of putty was applied and sanded smooth. An exhaust port shown with the studio model. A test fit of the finished impulse exhaust port masters taped into place on the superstructure master. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Vidar_710 Posted April 11 Share Posted April 11 Grill graphics for the impulse exhaust. I'm no good on a PC so I'm drawing them out by hand. Oval Template made to separate the thick and thin grill lines. The ol' Elementary school making hearts for Valintine's Day technique to get mirror opposites. Templates put in place... Ovals left in place... Tracing over the expose grid lines to thicken them up. Oval templates removed... Not bad for free hand. Exhaust ports placed to see how they look. Courtesy of ILM Excelsior modeler Bill George, lit images of the studio model's impulse exhaust with my efforts. These drawings - like my other graphics - will be scanned and cleaned up on the PC to be printed on to clear decal paper for the construction phase. Tracy Quote Link to post Share on other sites
southwestforests Posted April 11 Share Posted April 11 2 hours ago, Vidar_710 said: The ol' Elementary school making hearts for Valintine's Day technique to get mirror opposites. Old school can be a fun school. While manipulating electrons can sure be handy, there is a unique satisfaction which comes from hands-on creation. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Vidar_710 Posted May 8 Share Posted May 8 Thanks to the help of one of my closest friends, he decided that drawing the impulse grills "was not gonna cut it", so he got on his PC after I gave him the specs and made a few variants for me to choose from. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Vidar_710 Posted May 8 Share Posted May 8 (edited) I have finally moved on to the last section of the masters - the ware engine pylon assembly. This whole section was badly represented in the original kit's configuration. Here are the steps I've taken so far in fixing the shape and adding the correct details to their surface. The middle blister was fine3 length and height-wise, but the width was significantly too wide. The original shape in solid resin. Using a scaled image of this section into my scale, I made a paper template. The template was traced out onto the base of the dome. Here you can see how far off the shape was. After the unwanted resin was ground away by a belt sander Now the new base had to be feathered into the rest of the dome. Results after careful sanding, shaping, and polishing to blend everything together. On to the pylons... Ensuring everything is still in scale, the finished secondary hull master was pressed up to the screen to make sure the Warp section will be in scale to the rest of the ship. Here a paper template was made to determine the size of the pylons and their position. Pylon template. All the materials to correct the warp pylon assembly except for sculping and filler materials. More to come! Tracy Edited May 8 by Vidar_710 Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Vidar_710 Posted May 8 Share Posted May 8 Grey strip styrene was cemented together at the right size to establish the correct wingspan. The markings are for cutting out trenches into the resin for 3/16" brass tubing. They will be sleeves for steal rod armatures during assembly on the bottom, and a single 1/4" brass tube for running wiring for power to the lights in the warp nacelles. Later on, I extended to bottom trenches for more support. After the assembly was glued together, the terrible inconsistencies in shape and thickness became more obvious. The whole thing would need to be reshaped. Here, sheet styrene with groves in it was selected to represent the grill details in the leading and trailing edges of the horizontal section of the pylons, and be used as a base for establishing a flat horizontal pylon wing tip to wing tip. closer look... Two strips were cut for the leading and trailing edges. Here they are glued into place using the flat surface of the table as a guide. Styrene quarter round was cemented in place. These will be used to establish the new shaped for the cord (cross section) of the pylons. Excess styrene removed. Epoxy dough was used to fill in to the new edges. Only one section required resin to be removed by grinding and blended into the new edge. Bottom Top Identical jigs made from sheet and tube styrene. Here they are inserted on the ends of the bottom set of brass tubing. This should keep them parallel in the assembly. When the pylon wing is finished, it will be cut down the middle of the grey styrene shim exposing the open brass tubing withing. During final assembly the warp pylons should go back together perfectly aligned with steel rod in the brass. Here, the brass tubing is set in the trenches and glued in with 5min epoxy. More to come with the vertical sections of the pylons and the 1/4" brass tubing for an electrical conduit for wiring. Tracy Quote Link to post Share on other sites
southwestforests Posted May 8 Share Posted May 8 8 hours ago, Vidar_710 said: so he got on his PC after I gave him the specs and made a few variants for me to choose from. That's a good friend indeed! 😊 Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Vidar_710 Posted May 13 Share Posted May 13 First coat of epoxy dough applied to fill in the trenches and secure the brass tubing. Smooth On's Air Epoxy dough is very light, but also very strong. It will add to the strength of the pylons. Second coat of Epoxy dough applied to establish the new shape. When this cures, I'll come back to this to sand to shaped. In the meantime, I've moved to the Warp Pylon Blister/Junction to scratch build the grilled details under the dome. This is the same characteristics in the neck and Warp Nacelles. The updated shape of the dome is used to trace out 7 layers for this grill detail. They were cut by heavy duty shears to get through the .7mm sheet styrene. Here they are stacked to be sanded to a uniform shape after minor deviations from hand cutting each layer. To make the spacer plates, 3/16" was removed from 4 of the plates... Then they were sanded again to unify the spacer's shape. Nothing is glued yet, but here's a test stacking to see how it came out. Back to the pylons soon. Tracy Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Vidar_710 Posted May 15 Share Posted May 15 A small update... Cutting the center circle in all the plates. This allows routing of the nacelle wiring out of the pylons through the blister/dome down into the secondary hull. Cementing all the plates except two using brass tubing as an alignment jig, and 1-2-3 blocks to keep the assembly flat to the table while it cures. Assembly complete - save two plates. One is .7mm like the rest, the other is .5mm. One of these will be the spacer between this assembly and the surface of the secondary hull. I'm looking more into this because images suggest that the spacing may be narrower that the spacing in the grill itself. Once I figure it out, I'll cement the chosen plate on. Final sanding to the horizontal pylon section is complete. Top surface... Bottom surface... The scaled drafting of the templates that will make the 16 raised pylon panels (top n bottom). The drawing was scanned then printed onto thick card paper to make them more durable. Bottom... Top... Thanks for lookin'. More to come. Tracy Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Vidar_710 Posted May 16 Share Posted May 16 Paper templates cut out to see how things fit together before tracing the shapes out on sheet styrene. Bottom pattern Top pattern Tracy Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Vidar_710 Posted May 29 Share Posted May 29 After a few bouts of applying fillers to unify and smooth out the surfaces, it's time to add the raised paneling detail. Masking tape was used to ensure everything went down in alignment. Top view Bottom view Finalizing the recessed grill details in the leading and trailing edges using a punch-n-dye set. Hand cut pieces in place. Smooth On Air Epoxy Dough will be used to back fill the hand cut parts for strength, as well as fill in the areas that are not supposed to be recessed. Leading edge Trailing edge... grills are a bit different in the back of the wing. More work done on the junction dome. The hole has been drilled in so wiring can come down into the secondary hull from the nacelles. The brass tubing will be used to keep everything aligned when it is seated onto the secondary hull. As I wrap up work on the wing section, I'll be moving on the vertical sections of the pylon assembly. These parts are also way off in accuracy. I've already cut out channels for wiring and seated the brass tubing for added strength during the assembly. Images coming of the cleaned-up wing section before moving on to fixing the vertical sections. Tracy Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Vidar_710 Posted May 30 Share Posted May 30 (edited) Leading and trailing edge vents completed. I added a little black watercolor wash to show the detail. Tracy Edited May 30 by Vidar_710 Quote Link to post Share on other sites
southwestforests Posted May 30 Share Posted May 30 44 minutes ago, Vidar_710 said: I added a little black watercolor wash to show the detail. Which worked well. 🙂 Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Vidar_710 Posted June 1 Share Posted June 1 Moving on to the vertical sections of the pylons... Determining the correct shape. As seen here, the blister at the top of the pylon is much shorter and thicker that what Lunar Models supplied with the kit. Bottom view Side view. The profile is also inaccurate. The trailing edge has no taper. It goes straight up while the leading-edge slants forward - angle determined further in this post. Lunar came really close to getting something right. The angle to the vertical is very close. A slight tweak may be needed to the port pylon. Templates for the upper blister to the nacelle. Plan and side views. Removing what is not needed. This leave material that matches the width/cord of the horizontal section. As seen here... The leading edge of this section of the pylons lean forward 17 degrees. With my templates made, now I can start fabricating the new/correct shape of the vertical section of the Warp Pylons. Scenes-n-film to come! Tracy Quote Link to post Share on other sites
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