Bridge Commander Central
Recreational Forums => Art Forum => Topic started by: Bren on June 02, 2011, 06:37:48 PM
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I'm not entirely sure if this is the right place to put this, but I figured it's more of a work of art than it is a trek tech discussion or something that would belong in General.
I've been doing a few projects lately, mainly with toys, spurred on by the denizens of the currently rather quiet TrekToy.com forums (http://www.trektoy.com/forum/).
The first project: (and most impressively)
I've been adding lights (and replacing existing lights with better ones) to the Playmates Enterprise-D from 1992.
I was always disappointed with how many parts of the ship stayed dark when one pressed the buttons, so I did this:
(http://edge.imgur.com/EbunQh.jpg)
(http://edge.imgur.com/RKRgzh.jpg)
Specifically, I re-lit the starboard nacelle (the original light died, which sparked off this project), with 2 LEDs, one red and one blue.
I lit the main, and port saucer impulse engines, and the deflector dish.
All it took was some unscrewing, a WHOLE lot of prying (that ship is held together in a hilarious number of redundant ways - the screws do more than enough), some experimentation, money spent on LEDs, and some soldering.
It's still very much a WIP. I have to pry apart the other nacelle, and light the remaining saucer impulse engine, as well as tweak the deflector lighting to reduce the light bleed you can see here:
(http://edge.imgur.com/0AUTOh.jpg)
Project, The Second:
In an astounding display of procrastination, instead of mowing the lawn, I started spontaneously aztecing the Playmates JJprise. I felt it was lacking... well... any detail at all, and set out to fix that.
First, I masked off forward saucer with masking tape, and then I set out slicing it up for hours on end.
(http://edge.imgur.com/MP5OKh.jpg)
Something which I thought would drive me demented actually proved relaxing and somewhat meditative. I made up the pattern as I went, so it's not totally canon. Ah well.
Meanwhile, the grass continued to grow :P
I sprayed sealant over the quarter of the saucer I had done after 2 days, and peeled most of the azteced part off the next day (leaving one sector taped as a guide to the pattern when I continue).
(http://edge.imgur.com/3FTlMh.jpg)
I have a couple more projects on the go, which I will inform you of when I deem them interesting :)
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ok... first off.... HOLY HELLL!!!!! ... now i gotta change my shorts.
second i have to compliment the idea... now i have to call my grandmother up north and have her ship MY playmates D and my Ent-A model down so i try this...
third, are you using the EXISTING light buttons for this or are you installing new ones?
and is it still battery powered?
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:D Thanks for the support!
The Enterprise-D is still battery powered, using the existing light buttons. I just made sure to buy LEDs that would work with the voltage the Enterprise runs off already.
All I did was open her up and connect wires to the existing solder points in the toy. LEDs seem to draw significantly less power than the mini-incandescant bulbs that were in the nacelles.
The upshot being that I can currently run 1 mini incandescent bulb (in the nacelle I haven't cracked open yet), and 2 Blue, one white (wrapped in red tape, the red LEDs were too dim for the bussard), and two red LEDs on the same system that was previously running 2 mini incandescent bulbs, with NO loss of performance.
If we take that to mean 1 mini incadescent= 5 LEDs (or thereabouts, the reds seem to draw much more voltage than the rest), then I should be able to run 10 LEDs or more with no impact.
I only plan to install 8 in total.
You can read all about the process I went through here (http://www.trektoy.com/forum/index.php?showtopic=4109&hl=) and here, part two (http://www.trektoy.com/forum/index.php?showtopic=4325&hl=), if you wish. There's loads more pictures there, too.
As for the Enterprise-A, it depends on which one you mean, the Diamond Select Toys Enterprise-A had the aztec already present, I have the 1701 refit TWOK release, which uses the same mold, and I wouldn't touch that beauty with a knife!
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i cant remember off the top of my head wich Ent-A model it was (or if it was even the refit version, its been in my grandmothers attic up in PA for the last 12 years)... all i remember is that the deflector "screwed" off the front, and that i had issues keeping the nacelle pylons glued on the eng hull.
now that im a tad older than i was when i first assembled it, i have ways around that issue. i THINK it came pre painted, and just needed assembly... it was like a 3 foot long model, sucker was HUGE. if i ever get my hands back on it, i KNOW im gonna re touch it up.... i miss that thing
EDIT: im 99% sure this is the one i have (or its VERY similar)... i SPECIFICALLY remember that stand and never using it...
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no, that's a new one, it's a fairly recent line released for the 09 movie, and it's fairly small, only about 6 inches long.
Bren, have you read my model thread? I recently did a project involving an Aztec pattern on the AMT Ent-D. I used a similar method, I cut up a pattern I had printed up on sticker paper and stuck that on the model, then I airbrushed the whole thing.
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no, that's a new one, it's a fairly recent line released for the 09 movie, and it's fairly small, only about 6 inches long.
Bren, have you read my model thread? I recently did a project involving an Aztec pattern on the AMT Ent-D. I used a similar method, I cut up a pattern I had printed up on sticker paper and stuck that on the model, then I airbrushed the whole thing.
do you know wich one im talking about? it HAD to have been released PRIOR to 94.
did AMT make one of that size? it was bigger than the Playmates ENT-D that much i remember...
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Sounds like the AMT one, alright. My cousin had one, the Refit, that is. Can't remember much about it. Screw-on deflector throws me a little, though.
It's definitely not the one you pictured, though - that one's about 4-5 inches long. :P
ACES_HIGH, yeah I read your thread some time ago, back when I found aztecing too daunting to try. I hadn't thought of that technique. The JJprise saucer is kind of geometrically sympathetic, I do intend to do the PM Enterprise D, as well as an Enterprise-E model, and my mind was boggling on how I was going to pull it off!
Your solution sounds simple and elegant (relatively speaking), I didn't understand it when I read your thread first. Thanks :)
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I've got the AMT ent-a, it doesn't have a screw on deflector, but it's about 2 feet long, so the size is pretty close, Polar lights did one in an even bigger scale, but that was much more recently than '94.
I got the aztec pattern off of http://www.starshipmodeler.com/ (http://www.starshipmodeler.com/), it was meant to be used as waterslide decals for the 1:1400 Ent-D but I was able to get it printed on Stickerpaper instead. For the PM toy you might need to rescale the pattern to fit, I don't think it's the same scale as the AMT.
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Yeah, I've been thinking about that, the proportions are different too. I may need to do some measuring, and redraw the Aztec in photoshop myself... daunting enough. I'll have to study some of the texture tutorials that the masters of modding have made over the years.
Some parts of the ship have scribe lines for the hull panelling (like the nacelles and parts of the secondary hull and pylons), so that should make things a little easier.
I want to base the aztec off the faintly-visible aztec on the prototype toy they photographed for the Playmates box illustrations.
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it wasnt a "screw" on like in traditional sence, you had to put it on and "turn" it to lock it in.
had "L" shaped knobs that achieved this.
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um, ok, on mine it doesn't really hold the deflector on, as far as I can tell, but I suppose it kinda fits that description.
here's a link to that Aztec pattern I used, it's the third up from the bottom:
http://www.starshipmodeler.com/tech/cz_mask.htm
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Excellent, man! I can almost certainly make use of these! Thank you!
Update time!
I've spent the last few weeks making a foil cupola (or as I'm now calling it, The Deflector Reflector!) to push more blue light through the deflector, and keep the light from bleeding through the secondary hull the way it was.
(http://i.imgur.com/V6C7jh.jpg)
I made it out of cardboard, with tinfoil glued to one side, cut to fit snugly around the top and bottom of the deflector, and taped together at the sides and back.
In the back, there is a small hole to admit the LED (which I removed from the battery compartment because that made disassembly annoying and was an illogical place to put it once the DefRef was in place.)
(http://i.imgur.com/JXdN0h.jpg)
I mounted the deflector in it and punched holes through for the struts that hold the deflector in the ship.
(http://i.imgur.com/4iHB0h.jpg)
Then I mounted it, added a little cosmetic brown tape around the edges of the deflector, touched up my "dish" tape, and re-assembled the ship. I pressed a button, and:
(http://i.imgur.com/t4V45h.jpg)
I'm not sure if I took a picture of this before, but here's how I wired up the saucer impulse engine.
(http://i.imgur.com/5aejGh.jpg)
Yes, it's stupid, I have it wired to the speaker with crappy ceramic-insulation wire from an old electronics kit. It will be re-wired, to the lighting circuit, this was just convenient proof-of-concept work a few months back.
I finally got up the courage to tackle the other nacelle. Using the knowledge I accrued over weeks of nervously cracking open the other one, I had this one apart in about 10 minutes. No sweat - well... not much. It even was so kind as to come apart more symetrically than the last one.
(http://i.imgur.com/zv3udh.jpg)
I quickly got to work unsoldering the old wiring, and soldered in my new wiring. This makes this nacelle more advanced than the other one, which is still at dry-run phase. I put a few dabs of glue in and foiled-up the non-black parts of the innards, this is also new for this nacelle.
(http://i.imgur.com/TUDMah.jpg)
I added a bussard LED (I've now settled on white LED with brown tape for the best color mix with the red plastic), though I failed to photograph this. I'll get a snap of it soon. It's at dry-run stage, so I'll do a before and after when I solder it. This'll be useful for you guys to see the posing that works best for the LEDs.
Now... PICS!
(see how the DefRef cupola solves 99% of the lightbleed issues?)
(http://i.imgur.com/CIs12h.jpg)
See if you can tell, at a glance, which one is the DST ship :P...
(http://i.imgur.com/63zLKh.jpg)
(http://i.imgur.com/RjVbDh.jpg)
(http://i.imgur.com/IUSu1h.jpg)
(http://i.imgur.com/xthGgh.jpg)
(http://i.imgur.com/0rm4oh.jpg)
There's still more to do, plus I think I'll have to trim down the DefRef and redirect some of the secondary hull wiring, as the casing is strained a little with all the extra crunk in it's badunkadunk.
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:bow: :drool: :drink2:
EPIC
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Thats very cool! the DST version is the one on the right btw. The lack of buttons on the back of the neck and a darker hull are a dead give-a-way.
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:P of course - but that was a look! Not a glance! No gold star for you :D :funny (have a cookie instead)
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Nice work giving that old Ent-D a sprucing up. And I like the detailing you're throwing into the JJ-Prise. The day I got mine, I took it out, looked at the box, and muttered, "Highly detailed my ass." :P Also looks like yours might be one of the few that has the saucer on straight.
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Thanks dude :)
You mean the upward angling of the saucer? I've got that. I think it's part of the mold, if not the design of the ship itself - not that this model is 100% accurate by any means.
I really must take a crack at that again, and complete the saucer.
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that and write a tutorial as to how you did this... makes me wanna dig MY playmates D out and give this a crack
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I really want that DST version LOL Though I'd sand off the raised detail and just paint it like it was supposed to be to begin with...
Your PM Version looks great :)
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DST are re-issuing the All Good Things variant next month, and I'll bet they'll re-issue the regular ship next year, TNG's 25th Anniversary.
If/when you do that, take wip pics and post about technique. I may want to do that at some point, and though I hope to have the PM ship aztecked and done before then, any and all experience and advice is both helpful and interesting ;)
On the other hand, Diamond Comic Distrubutors, parent company to DST, are also importing this:
(http://blog.amiami.com/amiblo/2011/05/12sh_02tha/95.jpg)
from Japan, the Aoshima Enterprise-D. It's about the size of the Playmates model, but seven million times more detailed.
(http://www.aoshima-bk.co.jp/kokuchi/star10/style/img/004b.jpg)
It's available in loads of online stores for pre-order, expected in stock in late November.
$149.99.
Cyanide, here's a 6-step explanation of the JJprize aztecking. There's very little to it but time. This is just how I did it, and I made it up as I went along. I didn't consult references or anything, though I wish I had. There's no need to follow my patterns, I changed them a little, if you look closely at the photo, from sector to sector on the dish. You'll need a nice sharp scalpel, X-acto knife, or similar to cut the tape without scoring the hull too much.
1. I covered half the saucer with masking tape. I rubbed it down hard so that it fully sealed to the surface of the hull. There's no reason you can't cover the whole saucer, I just did half for whatever reason. Use DIY masking tape, not electrical tape or anything else. Electrical tape doesn't seal well enough, and capilitary action pulls the paint underneath and you end up with an unholy mess.
(http://i.imgur.com/HDiFS.jpg)
Note: these diagrams are not accurate, and should not be used as a template.
The blue-ish area is taped. The grid lines on the saucer should show through, to help show them up, rub a pencil gently over the tape. Cut through the radial (straight ones, spokes on a wheel) lines now, to separate each sector.
2. I cut 4 additional radial lines(red) inside the sector.
(http://i.imgur.com/BjcnC.jpg)
I then continued this for all the sectors in the quadrant of the saucer I was working with. You may choose to do it a sector at a time (perhaps a better approach, I found that the tape lost it's seal the longer it stayed cut, and tended to move about in later steps).
(http://i.imgur.com/abXAC.jpg)
3. I start cutting the cross-lines(blue) that will define the areas where we remove tape, or leave it in, to make our mask for the aztec pattern.
(http://i.imgur.com/Fiedn.jpg)
Try to keep all the tape in position here, it'll sometimes snag on the knife and want to move. As you work through each section, you can cut through to the concentric (rounded) gridlines on the saucer for the sector in which you are working.
4. Now that the tape is all cut up, you can remove bits of it to form a pattern of your choosing.
(http://i.imgur.com/azudF.jpg)
This pattern is based on what I did on my ship, but since the diagram is incorrect, it's just an impression of what I did. You get the idea, the white parts are now bare, with no tape on them.
5. When you have completed steps 2 and 3 for the neighbouring sector, and get to step 4, be sure to use the inverse of the pattern you used before, ie, remove tape where you left it in previously, and leave in tape where you previously removed it. Here's an illustration of what I mean:
(http://i.imgur.com/NjE21.jpg)
6. And then just continue on until the saucer is done. I am impatient, so I sprayed enamel paint sealant on after every few sectors, and then left it to dry overnight before continuing to cut, I imagine the results would be better if i had waited to mask the whole saucer before applying the sealant. And, if I had an airbrush, I'd have mixed in a hint of colour to the sealant, a duck egg blue or very light dull green.
FINISHED Leave to dry and peal off the rest of the mask. Sit back, and enjoy tilting it and seeing the light pick out the awesome subtle detail you've added.
If you're interested, here's a "straightened out" image of the pattern I came up with:
(http://i.imgur.com/3l9mL.jpg)
And here it is next to it's inverse, just to hammer home that point. Aztecs in Trek are nearly always neighbour-inverted like this:
(http://i.imgur.com/BqXYk.jpg)
I bet this image makes a lot more sense now, eh?
(http://edge.imgur.com/MP5OKh.jpg)
Hope that helps :)
EDIT: Damn, just spent about an hour drawing and writing this up, and then I re-read your post and realised you were talking about the Enterprise-D! That's the problem in this business, too many guys named Pauly!
If you click these links:
You can read all about the process I went through here (http://www.trektoy.com/forum/index.php?showtopic=4109&hl=) and here, part two (http://www.trektoy.com/forum/index.php?showtopic=4325&hl=), if you wish. There's loads more pictures there, too.
They'll take you to my wip threads on Trektoy.com, I'm too tired after all that to write up another one right now! D'oh! Sorry.
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A couple pages back, I posted an explanation of the technique I used on my recent Ent-D model, I suppose the same technique could work for the JJ-prise if you could find an aztec pattern for it.
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Yep, sorry, should have mentioned that. I'm a bit :banghead: today.
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Awesome!! Hope you dont mind, I wanna show my AA Enterprise-E I repainted years ago. These pics were taken on an older camera. I also like to fix up old toys and make them accurate. I did that with a lot of my Trek ships. Also with Megazord from the Mighty Morphin' Power Rangers. Right now Now im finishing off my Polar Lights 1/350 1701-A. That model is big!
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Also with Megazord from the Mighty Morphin' Power Rangers.
wait, so im not the ONLY one with the ORIGINAL set?!?!??!!?? cookie sir!
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wait, so im not the ONLY one with the ORIGINAL set?!?!??!!?? cookie sir!
Guess not lol. I got the Megazord, Titanus, and Dragonzord. And they are still as awesome now as they were when I was a kid!
Last summer I started watching Zyuranger, and decided to modify my zords to look more accurate to onscreen ones. Why?? Because I'm slightly insane. But I bought the accurate stickers from Reprolabels and have been very happy.
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Guess not lol. I got the Megazord, Titanus, and Dragonzord. And they are still as awesome now as they were when I was a kid!
Last summer I started watching Zyuranger, and decided to modify my zords to look more accurate to onscreen ones. Why?? Because I'm slightly insane. But I bought the accurate stickers from Reprolabels and have been very happy.
The classic Megazord still rocks. http://sonohara.donmai.us/data/5bfe1fe4607ac4c20aa4e8c1c1b52950.jpg :angel
Also, nice work with repainting the AA Sovvie. I love the model, but damn, the thing is blank. There's SUPPOSED to be a new version coming soon, but...well, I think we all know how unstable AA's release schedules are.
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Yeah I actually saw it in person at comic-con and had mixed feelings lol. I was really happy that it was coming out, but sad that I did all the work to fix mine up. AA/DST is great with products, but they suck at releasing things! I heard they were also doing the Excelsior and Enterprise-C too.
That pic I posted was taken in 2007. I got decals that I printed out for it... just havent gotten to it yet. But thank you!
http://s959.photobucket.com/albums/ae79/erk1701e/AA%20Enterprise-E%20Toy%20repaint/
Once my 1/350 is done ill probably just put the decals and be done with it already.
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the paint looks a bit rough, but not bad. The thing to keep in mind with Aztecing is to keep the lines sharp.
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the paint looks a bit rough, but not bad. The thing to keep in mind with Aztecing is to keep the lines sharp.
Yeah, the tough thing about aztecing is not applying too much paint! That Ent-E I did when I was 16 or 17. I was also impatient and never really happy with the colors so I kept re-mixing and re-painting. Oh well. I don't want to spam Bren's thread w/my models and stuff, but if you want to check out my Enterprise-A progress let me know. I'd like to think I've improved in 5 years and any input/feed back would be nice :)
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Yeah I actually saw it in person at comic-con and had mixed feelings lol. I was really happy that it was coming out, but sad that I did all the work to fix mine up. AA/DST is great with products, but they suck at releasing things! I heard they were also doing the Excelsior and Enterprise-C too.
I don't know about the C, but they are doing the B to go along with the Excelsior. As well as a Bird of Prey with landing gear. And a TNG beak-nose Klingon disruptor.
And I hope that they make the darn warp engines glow on the new Ent-E version. That really disappointed me with the first one.
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And I hope that they make the darn warp engines glow on the new Ent-E version. That really disappointed me with the first one.
Same! I dont want to crack open and rewire another one!
As for the Playmates JJprise, I've been doing research on the ships hull patterns. I've discovered that it has the same 5 colors that make up the Refit Enterprise. White, Iridescent Blue, Iridescent Gold, Iridescent Red and Iridescent Green. The iridescent colors are hard to pick out due to their nature of changing in the light. The beauty of irdescent colors is depending on the lighting, the can show up, look like an off color like grey, or be invisible completely. That's what makes painting the refit/1701-A so hard.
I'm not sure if you need them, but I have a few sites you can use for references.
http://www.modelermagic.com/?p=19314
http://www.modelermagic.com/?p=19940
http://movies.trekcore.com/gallery/index.php?cat=59
Also, if you have the Blu-Ray version of Star Trek, they have the flight simulator where you can go around the new Enterprise. That's where all those colors really show.
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Thanks for the reference, dude! I was aware of most of it, but every little helps, right? :thumbsup:
The JJaztec started only as a way to avoid mowing the grass, so I wasn't going to show my face in the house to look up reference :P
Nice work on your AA Enteprise-E. I have a Wesco Wall Clock Enterprise-E (a casting by Wesco of the AMT/Ertl Enterprise-E with a generic clock slapped in the saucer) which I eventually intend to do something similar with, as well as re-kejiggerin' the lighting, so I may go looking for a little advice on masking some of those smaller details. I also have the AA/DST Nemesis Enterprise-E repaint on pre-order. It's supposed to be available at the end of this month, so fingers crossed. I ordered it in October '10.
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Thanks for the reference, dude! I was aware of most of it, but every little helps, right? :thumbsup:
The JJaztec started only as a way to avoid mowing the grass, so I wasn't going to show my face in the house to look up reference :P
Nice work on your AA Enteprise-E. I have a Wesco Wall Clock Enterprise-E (a casting by Wesco of the AMT/Ertl Enterprise-E with a generic clock slapped in the saucer) which I eventually intend to do something similar with, as well as re-kejiggerin' the lighting, so I may go looking for a little advice on masking some of those smaller details. I also have the AA/DST Nemesis Enterprise-E repaint on pre-order. It's supposed to be available at the end of this month, so fingers crossed. I ordered it in October '10.
Entertainment Earth has it listed for September...When you do get it, post pics! The single pic I've been able to find shows that it looks better, but I want to know that it IS better before I order it to replace mine. I'd also like to replace my TWOK 1701 if I were able to find out that the missing panel on the bottom of my ship's saucer was just a flub with my particular ship...
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Entertainment Earth has it listed for September
Lol, and last month it was listed for August! Thanks for the compliment Bren, and please do post pics of the Ent-E!! I saw it in person at comic-con and was pleased that their display model was fully aztecd, both top AND BOTTOM, unlike the older version.The colors and pattern seemed extremely accurate. I didn't get to see the lights though. They better freakin' fix the nacelles! It would be nice if they included the "light up" button that the Enterprise-D has.
If they don't light it up correctly, I'll post a tutorial on how to fix it up!
...but i pray i dont have too....
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Just found this:
http://www.411beanies.com/askrandypix/sdcc2010/IMG_1352.JPG
http://www.flickr.com/photos/26599914@N04/sets/72157624575898090/detail/
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Welp, according to DST's Facebook Feed (http://www.facebook.com/diamondselecttoys), they've had to switch factories, and the ships are still not in production (I say ships because they're doing a re-run of the All Good Things Enterprise-D, as well).
But, speaking of the Sovereign class, I have been doing a little work on the clock one.
Project, The Third!
Here's how it looked before (not my photo):
(http://sphotos.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-snc4/hs600.snc4/58032_1724256556251_1533484961_31764884_2034435_n.jpg)
I first added black electrical tape to the areas flanking the command decks, and used a silver pen to add the line details there. That rubbed off fairly quickly, but I plan to do all that with paint later in the project anyway. I also added black tape to the corresponding area on the bottom of the saucer, either side of the engineering hull, and to the divide between the bussard collector openings on the front of the nacelle.
(http://sphotos.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-ash2/hs356.ash2/63603_1724267156516_1533484961_31764913_6478311_n.jpg)
Then I removed the clock from it, which was easy to pull the hands off, and inside, it's just a generic clock motor wired to the slightly over-complicated lighting circuit. I also added some mottled plastic inside the port bussard collector, to better simulate the cloudy effect seen in the films.
(http://sphotos.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-ash2/hs390.ash2/66845_1724277836783_1533484961_31764935_5545125_n.jpg)
(http://sphotos.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-snc4/hs1336.snc4/162868_1724277516775_1533484961_31764934_1132488_n.jpg)
You can see in that first picture, the hole where the clock hands were. The winder for the clock stuck out underneath, near the deflector trench.
(http://sphotos.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-snc4/hs692.snc4/63257_1724267356521_1533484961_31764914_6931297_n.jpg)
It's incredibly cheaply made - Just a cast of a completed AMT model kit, a strangely complex wiring job, and a generic clock motor with a dummy battery wired to the main batteries, and a poor, inaccurate paint job.
While I had the nacelle apart, I messed around a little :p
(http://sphotos.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-snc4/hs953.snc4/74646_1724267636528_1533484961_31764916_7341026_n.jpg)
I got bored of looking at the bridge hole, so I fashioned a bridge out of Blu-tak.
(http://sphotos.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-snc4/hs1197.snc4/154901_1724278036788_1533484961_31764936_3504278_n.jpg)
And detailed it with silver pen and marker.
(http://sphotos.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-snc4/hs1205.snc4/155788_1724278276794_1533484961_31764938_1238900_n.jpg)
(http://sphotos.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-snc4/hs029.snc4/33836_1724278796807_1533484961_31764939_2252722_n.jpg)
There is some lighting in the saucer, and a few windows are cut-through, but the bulbs aren't terribly bright, and there is some heinous light bleed, so to kill two birds with one stone, I coated the inside of the ship with a chrome spray paint.
(http://i.imgur.com/WMkRxh.jpg)
(http://i.imgur.com/tOX2f.jpg)
It didn't have the amazing effect I was hoping for, but I do intend to replace the lights with brighter LEDs. I think I may end up rewiring the ship entirely. The circuitry that's in her at the moment is needlessly complex, and drains the batteries.
The ship's warp nacelles do not feature transparent field coils, they are molded out of the same stinky granular plastic as the hull, and are just as thick. I sanded some of the dark blue paint off the nacelle, and wired a blue LED in place of the Bussard collector's original Rice Bulb.
(http://i.imgur.com/LEyxlh.jpg)
(http://i.imgur.com/nfDb2h.jpg)
But the effect was underwhelming, due to the thickness of the field coil plastic. So I took a dremel(ish) tool rounded sanding head to the inside and thinned the coil out to about a quarter of it's original thickness.
I pinched in a white LED to light the Bussard for a test, and in low-light, it looks pretty good!
(http://i.imgur.com/pIL5A.jpg)
(http://i.imgur.com/E8Gwsh.jpg)
But in bright light, not so great. I may have to give the feild grill a blue-wash. The plastic colour tends towards yellow, which looks wrong in bright light.
(http://i.imgur.com/4P3tyh.jpg)
I may have to put a second blue LED into the back of the nacelle, to balance the light a little, but I'm currently experimenting with reflectors inside the nacelle, to bounce light around a little more, so I'll see how that goes when I have it refined a little more.
I've been leaving the starboard nacelle mint for the moment, for comparison's sake.
I sanded off the chrome paint in a couple of places to test some ideas I had for strategic light-bleed, to light the deflector and the registry lighting.
It's rather underwhelming at the moment, and the camera only barely picks up the deflector in the darkest of conditions, but the plastic is still very thick there, and it's still just a Rice Bulb, so there's a ways to go yet. The registry spot is only barely visible, even to human eyes.
(http://i.imgur.com/FeykUh.jpg)
That's all for the moment! Here's one of my favourite photos from this project so far...
(http://i.imgur.com/l6G29h.jpg)
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That's actually very good for starting from a cheap clock base. How much did it cost?
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I'm sorry, but I genuinely can't remember. I bought it about 13 years ago - if I even bought it at all! It may have been a gift.
Thanks for the complement. I've yet to repaint the outside. I shall be going full aztec on it. :)
Do you guys think I should try to accurize the deflector trench? The plastic's probably thick enough for me to use another grinder head to make it angular instead of rounded. It's a risk, though.
Hey, Erk, I looked back over your photos of the Enterprise-E. The Aztec work, particularly on the bottom of the ship, is very impressive! I'd love to see pictures of your other custom toys!
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I'm seeing a little light bleed in one of the pics near the nacelle you've allready tweaked.
clear LEDs in the saucer will work perfectly for windows.
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Thanks, KCS! I'm still tweaking the lighting and the light-insulation is only half-done in the nacelle (the inboard half is not done at all yet).
But eagle eyes are good! Let me know if you spot anything else!
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And I hope that they make the darn warp engines glow on the new Ent-E version. That really disappointed me with the first one.
Same, but they've said they aren't planning on changeing the electronics, just the paint job.
That's some awesome work you've done, Bren.
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just see if you can tweak the outside bussard pannel. in the one picture, I see blue leak from the front bottom part, and a white leak from the back from the bussard's own bulb
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im liking what youve done to the sovvy clock thus far, if i hadnt looked a few posts back i would have sworn it was a regular model!
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one thing I might suggest is looking online for a resin replacement bridge module for the AMT model, that should work better than the clay one you made, and since the clock is a casting of the AMT sov, the part should fit.
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Yeah, I think i might be doing that. I only made the blu-tak bridge because the empty hole where the bridge should be was disconcerting.
Good spot, KCS, I'll be putting something in there ASAP to block that off, thanks! In addition, I intend to seal the bussard and the field coil sections off from one another with reflective material.
EDIT
(http://i.imgur.com/kEI1Rh.jpg)
With WileyCoyote's permission, I've set about fitting up his aztec patterns from the First Contact Enterprise-E. I did this last night, and sent him this photo, whereupon he suggested a far superior plan of attack, and graciously allowed me to use his textures to derive the aztec, provided it was for personal use only.
I think I'll do a base coat of paint soon. I've chosen my colours based on Wiley's textures, too. I need to replace the cheap airbrush that fell apart on me, and then I'll get right on it.
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with wileys texture pattern on that it should look f*cking awesome!!!
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you might want to strip off those escape pod decals before you paint. If they are ordinary dry transfer stickers, they should come off with soapy water, if they are waterslide decals, you might need to get some decal solvent at your local hobby shop.
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Oh, of course, I intend to.
You won't believe it, but they are paper stickers. Not even plastic. Most of them are going to get stripped when I take the tape holding the fitting pattern down off.
The name penants on the engineering hull are thoroughly mulched from years of me holding it there for "whoosh!"ing purposes.
The only marking besides paint that isn't a paper sticker is the registry. It's printed straight onto the hull.
I'm going to lightly sand the whole ship first, too, to provide a key for the paint.
with wileys texture pattern on that it should look f*cking awesome!!!
I know! I'm pretty excited about how it'll look! That's if I can pull this off.
I'm going to need to do a few practice runs on stuff like masking effectively and aztec-cutting. I still had a little leakage under the mask on my last try.
I'll be using ACES_HIGH's excellent method, as soon as I find a purveyor of sticker paper.
Anybody got any tips on cutting fine shapes out of paper without tearing? Or methods of staving off the dreaded Aztec-Insanity?
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Anybody got any tips on cutting fine shapes out of paper without tearing? Or methods of staving off the dreaded Aztec-Insanity?
Try blue painter's tape. You have to use a ruler and cut it really small in strips. Apply your blue tape "Hull plating" using a pair of tweezers or an exacto knife.
You will go crazy if you go for ACCURACY- just do a general appearance look. Attached are pictures of my AMT model using this method.
If you do want accuracy- go create full ship decals.
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I just went to kinkos and had them print the pattern for me.
When you put down the masks, whatever you use, press it firmly against the plastic, I usually use a pencil eraser or the blunt end of my X-acto knife handle, in a tight space you can use the back or side of the X-acto blade, this should minimize leakage. Likewise, for a softer line, for camo and stuff like that, you can leave the edges of the mask loose to let some paint bleed under it, but that isn't what you want here.
Another tip i picked up is to spray a second coat of the base color over the mask to seal it and prevent any drips from bleeding through the mask before spraying the next color.
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Thanks for the tips, guys!
I'll be striving for as accurate a look as I can muster, but if my trial runs don't go so well, I will have to scale it back. Still, if I find I do go insane, I can always sand it back down and start again with a less complex pattern.
Funny you should mention the blue tape, Wiley! I was in a hardware store yesterday, and when I saw the blue tape in the paint accessories section, I immediately thought of those wip shots of your model from your site, and popped it in the basket. It certainly seems more rigid and workable than the thick, resistant, flexible stuff I had been using.
This in particular:
Another tip i picked up is to spray a second coat of the base color over the mask to seal it and prevent any drips from bleeding through the mask before spraying the next color.
is INGENIOUS! Great tip, thanks!
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i would have suggested having the "mask" cut out of vinyl, but it depends on how small the pattern needs to be because a vinyl plotter would just tear up the vinyl and gunk up the machine, not too mention removing it from the model.
its what i do when i have to make paint masks for cars, but plastic and metal are two different monsters.
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yeah, there's a couple blemishes on my Ent-D where my airbrush dripped paint on the model and it soaked through the mask, if I had sealed the mask with another coat it wouldn't have happened. I suggest getting a subscription to Fine Scale Modeler magazine, that's where I learned most of what I currently know about modeling, and they have a huge online forum that can help too.
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Project, The Second (JJprise Aztec) UPDAAAATE
I've finally come back to this and given it a little attention.
(http://i.imgur.com/7gxejh.jpg)
I actually screwed up the pattern in a couple of ways, but if I mirror the screwed up version on the starboard side, I'll just have a different pattern on the back of the saucer than on the front. I can live with that. I can live with it.
Firstly, the battery ran out on my netbook, which had the pattern on the screen, and I ended up just repeating the "saucer rim" panel design all the way to the centre. Then, on one of the panels, I just messed up the pattern, took the wrong bits of tape off. It blends well enough, and I'm happy to have a little variation.
As you can see, I'm using the new, blue tape, as recommended by Wiley. It's thinner, and much easier to work with. You can see how the curve of the saucer is better translated to the design than on the forward port quadrant.
The tape is very blue, though, and I had a little fun with that fact when initially masking it off. :)
(http://i.imgur.com/acFbph.jpg)
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1...2...3...
*collective GROAN*
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KCS: that tape is a shade TARDIS blue...
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man that looks good, i was doing the AMT ent E, but i had a bit of a f*** up and now one of the pylons is broken and pinned intoplace(but bends down dut to the weight of the nacell) used a very dark grey spray paint on it (bad idea) and the registry transfers broke on application, so i think i may just throw this one out and rebuy it and try again....
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Editted new bit below...
You could always prop the nacelle pylon back into place, Bondo it, sand it, and repaint from scratch. It'd be cheaper.
Project 3 - Wesco Enterprise-E UPDATE
I have bitten the bullet and sanded the deflector trench to a more canon shape.
In progress shot:
(http://i.imgur.com/l7jRIh.jpg)
Cleaned up:
(http://i.imgur.com/NE6j6h.jpg)
I stopped sanding at that point, because the corners in the trench were starting to wear through. I'll get myself some Bondo to sure up the inside, but it's close to the correct shape now.
I've yet to go over it with sand paper to finish it off, hence the rough look. Any tips for this type of work?
EDIT:
Project 2 (JJprise Aztec) UPDATE
More progress!
I continued masking the aft half of the saucer. I think i was a little drunk or something when I did the starboard side, some of the lines are a little skewy and a-symetrical. It's not too noticeable, but I wish I had done it better.
Anyway, I hit it with a couple of coats of sealant:
(http://i.imgur.com/YEZuih.jpg)
Apologies for the poor quality photographs from here on out, my old phone decided to stop responding to button pushes, so I've switched to a better phone, with a crapper camera.
Anyway, when the first few coats of sealant had dried off, I came up with an idea, to hit it with a thin mist of chrome spray paint - to imbue the aztec with a little extra specular reflection, aside from the gloss of the sealant. I sprayed the starboard aft quadrant first, just a puff, and you know what? It looked pretty nice!
So I went ahead and puffed the port side. SPLAT. The can sneezed a big burst of solid chrome onto the ship! ARRRRGH!!!!
Note to self: shake can well before each application.
Well, I scrambled to grab a cloth or something, chanting "********************!" the whole time. Eventually, I found a tissue in my pocket and dabbed at the model. Luckily, the last coat of sealant was in fact not dry at this stage, and the chrome was merely floating on top. Most of it came away, but it's dry now, and you can see the difference. I stripped the tape off - a process that took longer than the masking took to create... almost.
There is only 3/4 of the forward starboard quadrant left to mask and seal. I'm so pleased with the chrome effect (starboard side, anyway) that I intend to re-mask the port forward quadrant and chrome-mist it too.
Check it out:
(http://i.imgur.com/E5DYdh.jpg)
(http://i.imgur.com/rlDCGh.jpg)
I made this Gif just now to illustrate the specular properties of the aztec. I took two photos, with the phone stationary, relative to the ship, but having twirled around between the two, so that the lighting is different. See how the hullplating reflects the light differently:
(http://i.picasion.com/pic45/2ff3492800e8a7eb09dc828aadff1674.gif)
I realise this emphasises the over-painted port side, but that's only because those were the only photos that lined up this well. The light-dark dichotomy works just as well on the starboard side, which I think you'll agree, on the evidence of the flat-light pic up the page, is much more subtle and effective.
For a ship design that I'm really still a but iffy about - I can't put this toy down today!
(http://i.imgur.com/PYWTVh.jpg)
The Aztec doesn't always jump out at you, it blends into the hull colour well enough.
(http://i.imgur.com/aGEAOh.jpg)
Anyone got any ideas on how to bring the aft port quadrant in line? I was thinking a light airbrush coat of colour-matched paint, to bring it back to the hull colour?
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that would probably be the best option, unfortunately, unless you have a really good match it's not going to look very good with the other side, you may have to re-paint the whole saucer. I would also recommend using pledge future polish or a clear gloss lacquer instead of the chrome, you'll get a very similar effect in the right light but it'll be all but invisible otherwise. I did something similar with my Ent-D in addition to the two tone aztec pattern.
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Interesting, I never considered furniture polish, thanks!
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I haven't used future before, I use Testor's Modelmaster clear lacquer overcoats on my projects because they come in spray cans with a variety of lusters from flat to High-gloss, But I've heard quite a bit of praise for Future in modeling circles, The main advantages are that it is cheap and you can put it through an airbrush.
you might want to check out http://www.finescale.com/ that's where I get most of my tips.
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Future? Sorry, I'm not following...?
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Pledge Future Floor Shine is a kind of floor polish, and the most popular for this kind of technique.
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Forgive my ignorance! Thanks for the tip, and for the link to FineScale - I thought it was just the magazine the last time you linked it, but their forums are great!
Anyway, progress on the Clockerprise:
Project 3: Wesco Enterprise-E
Well, I got bored of trying to find the right filler, so I went ahead and bought a tub of multi-purpose filler. It's a little grainy, and the finish is more like grout than plastic, but I can remove it if it doesn't end up right.
I lined the interior of the deflector trench with filler:
(http://i.imgur.com/Fpz3Fh.jpg)
And sanded it squarer:
(http://i.imgur.com/Fmx4Mh.jpg)
I had made an abortive attempt to paint the top half of the ship, since my last post, and ended up removing the paint for a couple of reasons. Mainly because it didn't apply evenly, and it dried with a crazy-glossy finish that looked wrong. I've learned my lesson, and will be using primer, thinner coats, and multiple dry passes. I've spent much of the time since the last update (when I get time to work on this) sanding and soaping and white spiriting, and scraping to get the last irritating bits of paint off. A nice side-effect is that the windows now appear to be lit.
When I got the filler, I decided to make a start on a new Bridge module, before my next paint attempt. I have a very roughly-shaped slab in place of the bridge, and will be sculpting that with the grinder heads on my dremel-ish tool.
(http://i.imgur.com/K0stZh.jpg)
I continue to refine the deflector trench. I'm on sand-and-fill pass 3 now. Here's a pic from pass 2..
(http://i.imgur.com/FOC59h.jpg)
The actual deflector itself is getting a little battered by the sanding head, but I'm going to try to re-sculpt that by hand when I get the trench in shape. If that doesn't work, I may be able to source a transparent AMT kit deflector, sand out a hole, and install that instead. If not, I can always make a new one.