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The assembly of this
kit is pretty straight forward and there were no fitting problems or
large seam gaps. After a flat gray primer is applied to the
entire body; a coat of
Testors' Model Master Light Gray FS 36495, masking tape and Russian
Flanker Med-Blue/Gray (SG).
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After masking off
certain patterns and areas; the signature
hull pattern is sprayed
on using using Testors' Model Master Russian Flanker Blue/Gray (SG).
I know that the colors look a little darker; mixture of clear coat
and a little of the base color will lighten up the entire model to
the right shade.
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Here is another
angle which shows off the
unique hull pattern. Masking off this areas are not
difficult since ERTL/AMT made the gridlines pretty deep.
Simply lay the masking tape over the areas that you want to paint
and carefully cut through the masking tape into the gridlines.
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After painting the
lifeboats on the primary
hull using Testors' Model Master Sand FS 33531. Also used
Testors' Model Master Panzer Gray FS 36076 to paint the phaser bank
arrays. I decided to test how I was going to apply the final
color using the clear coat/base color mixture. Looking good!
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Starting on the
secondary hull is not
as fun as the primary. One important tip when you begin masking and
painting the secondary hull; do not glue you nacelles to the pylons
just yet. You life will be much easier if you can just pop
those bad boys off and masking/paint in those areas.
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Believe it or not;
the bottom of the
primary hull required more work with all the small gridline rings.
Very time consuming but a necessary evil; this was way before all
the cool new decals became available. Personally I think that
you can go to far with decals; especially at this size and scale.
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"Reverse angle on
the viewer." More masking and painting; the nacelles are placed back
on the pylons just for picture taking. The
nacelles were the last
thing to get glued on. I also painted the nacelles using plain
copper paint to simulate the "powered down" look.
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The fun keeps
coming! Windows
are not painted on but penciled in using an ordinary #2 pencil.
I didn't go with the lit/non-lit look; all the windows were penciled
in for the once again "power down" look. Some day when my real
lighting skills are good enough, I will build a lighted version.
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More windows on the
bottom half of the primary hull section. I also failed to
mention that using liquid mask is also very useful for masking off
sections that are small and hard to do with tape. The lines
inside the deflector dish is a good example to using liquid mask.
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I forgot the color
that I used on the "powered down" bussard collectors, but it is a
very dark blood red. Next the decals are applied after
spraying the entire model
with the clear gloss/light base color over the entire model to
prevent "silvering". Then a clear dull coat is applied.
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Here is the finished
product with all individually numbered lifeboats, which can be
purchased from JTGraphics. I also didn't like the ERTL/AMT
display stand that came with the kit, so it was replaced with a
nice wooden one.
I also added a metal plate with the name and registration numbers of
the Ambassador Class - U.S.S. Enterprise.
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Contrary to poplular belief; the
"NCC-1701-C" on the primary
hull did not have a red outline around the letters/numbers.
The outline was simply black and not red like on most all starfleet
vessels. I have several close up pictures on the
Ambassador Class Build
under the Starships section which
clearly proves this.
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I entered this kit into
the local HobbyTown USA annual model contest and won a
3rd Place in the Adult
Miscellaneous Division. Unfortunately; the theme that year
was Nascar and there was no Sci-Fi Division. Still not bad
since I didn't even expect to win anything. That was one of
the best Saturdays; which I don't get many of these days.
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I apologize for the poor quality of
the images. These
pictures were taken almost five years ago and my digital
camera's resolution was about 1 mega pixel. Some day I will
take her down from the shelf, clear her up a little and retake more
detailed images to show off some of her finer qualities with my 4.5
mega pixel camera.
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That same year that I won the 3rd
Place from HobbyTown USA was also when I went to Wonderfest 2001 in
Louisville, Kentucky. I had a really great time because it
gives me a chance to meet some of you modelers face-to-face.
It was also where I entered
this kit in the Wonderfest 2001 Modeling Contest and won a
Silver Award.
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Sadly; those were the
only two modeling contest that I would enter
this kit. I
really believe it could have won more modeling awards, but I have
been so busy with personal matters that I haven't even been able to
work on any other model kits since this one. She sits on a
display shelf with my two modeling awards proudly displayed next to
her. I am very proud of how this kit came out.
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It will be a long time
before I build another one of these Ambassador Class model kits.
I have so many model kits that are waiting to be built or completed.
I can't really say "if I had to do it all over again, I would have
added or changed..." because
it looks as close to
the actual studio miniature as possible.
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Even when ERTL/AMT release the clear
version of the Ambassador Class model kit, I am totally satisfied
with the way she turned
out. Course, that didn't stop me from purchasing the clear
version so that one day, I can build a lighted version. |
Building
the 1:1400 U.S.S. Enterprise NCC-1701-C
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