This was built using the 1:1000 scale Polar Lights TOS Enterprise kit. All of the damaged areas where scratch built and made to represent the remastered photos floating around the web. I always liked the damaged Constellation but have to admit I like it even more sporting this new look. Now she really looks like she grappled with a planet killer.
After a flood of emails asking for more photos and information on the three little alien saucers I decided to post some additional pics. All three where complete scratch builds and have lighting to illuminate the eyes and antennas, even the tips of Wheems little arms. Both Flotsom and Jetsom have working joints at the hips, knees, and ankles. This proved quite the challenge to design a joint that could both hold the weight and have a long life with little to no ware. Each of the kids have a hidden battery box and power switch. They where also built to match the actual size of the filming puppets as much as was possible.
Pouring thousands of kit parts into this thing now and what feels like miles to cover still. So far the forward engine notches have been detailed and all 13 engines are set to elevation.
The forward engine cluster
The mid engine clusters being fit and detailed.
Fantail under construction and final fit up.
Just a quick update on the SSD project. Here is the forward bay after being blocked in an detailing started.
This has been quite the interesting project to work out. When looking over photos of the actual studio model it is clearly visible that is had begin to sag under it’s own weight. The banana effect with long thin subjects like the SSD. While sorting out the base shape of the structures on the bottom several areas became clear as to why it did this. There are several areas that completely lack any major support. The objective was to correct this issue and insure there won’t be any sag over the long term. So in short after several modifications to the armature the substructures have been started. The rear area has been blocked in and the forward shuttle bay will be blocked in by days end. What does all this mean? It means now the fun starts and the final leg of this journey is about the begin.
This marks the official end to my 4th scratch build of a 24″ (60.96cm) Star Destroyer. As before this one has both engine and deck lighting.
Details:
The 24″ Star Destroyer is nearing completion. Here she is with the hull closed up and only the super structure to be attached and one last layer of detail to be applied before painting starts.
And just for fun a view of what these start out looking like.
I’ve been asked several times and noticed it is a reoccurring question on modeling sites just how to go about stripping paint from old models. I decided to take this opportunity to make this quick tutorial with a Shadair jet from the Gerry Anderson UFO series.
I have seen more people recommend using oven cleaners for this process. All I can say to that is DO NOT DO IT! Oven cleaners are extremely dangerous chemicals that just should not be used for this hobby. Even more so when safe options are available. Let’s face it when it comes to building models I hope to have a long healthy life in the hobby.
Two products that work wonders are Simple Green and Castrol Super Clean degreaser. For this project the paint was thick and I had no way of knowing just how long it was on the model so I opted for the Super Clean.
Before starting make sure you know exactly the composition and material of the model. Both the above mentioned products work safely on plastic, resin, and fiberglass kits. If you’re not sure– sand a small area removing enough paint to verify the materials.
Select a container that is suitably sized for the subject. Be sure it has a lid, as this can take from a day to a week to completely strip the model and nothing is worse than spilling all over your bench.
Next I place the model in the container and pour in enough Super Clean to cover 3/4 of the model. I fill the remaining amount to completely cover the model with water. You may opt to dilute more or less depending on how stubborn or old the paint.
In this case, the plane is hollow and wanted to float. Adding a non corrosive weight to the model keeps it submerged. Here I’m using an aluminum block heavy enough to do the job. I cover the container with the lid and wait.
After about an hour I inspect the parts to see how things are going. The paint has already started to ripple and slide off the parts. Enamels seem to break down much faster than acrylic paint, so I keep checking back on it to see if more solution is needed to cut through the paint. Once the paint has started loosening up I’ll scrub the parts with a tooth brush to remove the thick spots or multiple layers to speed things up. The red stripes where quite stubborn and required quite a bit of scrubbing.
Once the majority of the paint has been removed from the model there are corners and recesses that still have paint. I use tooth picks and pieces of styrene that are cut to shape to scrape out these areas. I’m now ready to clean the parts up for the rebuild. Simply scrubbing all the parts under running water with a soft bristle tooth brush will remove any debris and cleaning solution.
As scary as it might seem to start over on a project it really is quite easy and safe. Whether it’s repairing a mishap or restoring a rare kit– jump right in and have fun.
These two projects have wrapped up. They both ended up requiring quite a bit of work to remove the toy features and turn them into respectable display pieces.
The Sith Infiltrator required removing most the notch forward of the cockpit and scratch building new detail with a compilation of kit parts. The second area that was incorrect was the engine exhaust at the rear. This area was removed and replaced with a scratch built assembly. This has lighting for both the interior and engines. The Infiltrator received a full repaint and weathering after covering all seams and screw holes.
The V-wing received the same treatment with new scratch built and corrected wings, lighting including cockpit and R2 unit, repaint, and weathering.
She is finally done. There where some issues of paint adhesion on two of the foils. After a complete paint strip I baked the parts for a couple hours to make sure the resin itself was cured. That did the trick and the repaint went on without issues.
With all the weathering applied to represent Red5 all that’s left it to mount her on is base.
