Hooray for Hollywood 2014 GB extended til July 4th

The weather did not cooperate with finishing the Enterprise today.  I needed to do some outside spraying and it (naturally) rained all day.  I'm hoping the weather improves this week and I can complete the final steps in construction.

This is where I am now.

Decals are all on.  I need to touch up some of the hull paint in spots.  The base needs to be spray painted black and the emblem attached.  Then model and base will be sprayed with clear coats.  After that, I will go over domes, nacelle caps and lights with Future to give them a shine.  I also want to shorten the brass tube in the stand just a bit.

And that should do it.  Not long now.

Gary

Just checking in.  My decaling is nearing completion, and I hope to have it finished tonight.  We'll see how she goes.  I just hope the power doesn't go out as we're having some thunderstorms.

Bish>  I watched Star Trek from the beginning.  I was 11 years old when it first came on, the perfect age for getting caught up in the TV magic.

As for kits, I saw the Polar Lights Enterprise / Botany Bay kit at the Hobby Town last weekend.  The model on the box certainly looked like the most accurate small scale Enterprise I've seen.  I'll have to check for a review sometime.

Gary

CMK, I know what you mean.I have always followed the series and the movies.And I think the new ones have breathed new life into it.

And I have been trying to decide between Polar lights and AMT as well for the kits I don't yet have. I am the same. I did build two of the Enterprise kits in the past, the original and I think the B, but they haven't survived, I am trying to build every one of the Enterprises, just trying to decide which ones to get and find some nice AM for them.

Thanks everyone. Coming here takes my mind off other things

Welcome, Bish.

It's kind of unfortunate that all Star Trek kits are not made to one consistent scale, so they'd all be in harmony with each other.  

I can't speak to either the company or the decals themselves, since I haven't tried them; but glad you found the link useful.

I grew up on ST, and have followed the "franchise" ever since TOS.  Used to build the kits frequently.  I still have NCC-1701 (TOS) hanging from the ceiling in my office.  It elicits comments from time to time.  It's just too bad it doesn't have working photon torpedoes sometimes.

And, it is good to have Ken and Eagle back, too!

Gary, she is loking great.

CMK, thanks for that link, I hadn't come across those before. I would like to get some AM for my enterprise kits, but there so many different kits and I never know which AM goes with which kit. But I think I know what I need for the TOS ship, so thanks.

Ken, Eagle, welcome back guys.

Thanks Gary,

Well, I just have to learn to walk away from certain things.

Hey, I know. Just walk away and work on my models. LOL

Thanks, guys!  My decaling is continuing this week and I'm shooting for a weekend finish.

Ken and Eagle90>  Welcome back, guys!  I was wondering what had happened.  Glad you're able to make it back to the fold.  Hope things are better.

Gary

Eagle90

Glad you decided to extend!  There is some seriously awesome work being done here!

Eagle90

 Eagle, I'm way behind too. Yea I agree with the "awesome work" part.

Every one's build looks great Thank you all for the kind words.

I'm going to get axles this week for the halftrack. i have to get it out again.

I'll be getting back into the swing of things. Right now,I need to finish the P47 Jug for a model club

meeting sat

I'll post pics later today/ Its up on it's landing now. but no tires yet

Right now, my shelf queens are;

58 chevy impala

Lise Kelly's Kenworth

53 foot trailer (for lisa's truck)

Also a pup trailer; (a 28 footer)

F4 Phantom

Glad you decided to extend!  There is some seriously awesome work being done here!

Eagle90

Excellent!  Very nice-looking and even:  fascinating!

Bish and CMK02>  Thanks, guys!  The collectors are probably too reddish.  They should be a more orange/white IMO.  But, I'll go with what I've got.     Hoping to see CV-6 Enterprise ready soon.  The island looks pretty good.

I'm going to need a stand for this model (better than that plastic thing supplied in the box).  I was at the craft store yesterday and found this round disk with a hole in it.  Bringing it home, I went in search of something that would fit that hole, and... lo and behold... the handle on one of these sponge applicators fits perfectly!

In addition, the sponge is actually attached to the handle with a plastic pin, and pulling that out leaves a nice hole to put something in... like some brass tubing I just happened to have lying around. 

So I put this all together and it almost seems as if they were made to fit!  I couldn't be so lucky!

I have an idea about what to put on the base, after it is varnished and painted.  It will be pretty nice if I can do what I think I want to do...  if that makes sense.

Meanwhile, I'm thinking about weathering...  Weathering?  In space?  Well...

Oh, and thanks for the links to the decals.  However, some have magically appeared... from somewhere...  no idea how... 

Thanks for looking!

Gary

PS> I was hoping to have this finished up by the end of the month so I could get started on a couple of builds for other GBs.  Well, I'm shooting for this week anyway.

You've got dilithium crystals and warp drive, Gary.  That's a pretty good headstart.

And I think the collectors turned out extremely well.  The very subtle color variations make them exceptional.

Maybe you're aware of these decals:

www.federationmodels.com/.../default.htm

650 Hull Markings Decals

www.federationmodels.com/.../pnt-4075.jpg

They look pretty good.

The Enterprise is close to being finished with her paint.  I only have to touch up the hull color in spots and she will be ready for decals.  I already have some from JT Graphics for the windows, which will save a lot of time.  However, the insignia and lettering decals are a bit up in the air right now.  I'm working on that.

The "Bussard Collectors" turned out okay.  I tried to give a light spray of white over them, but it didn't turn out very well.  I removed most of the white spray paint (luckily I had a coating of future underneath the white and over the red/orange filament paint) and then used some thinned international orange to go over the caps.  This looked much better, and was transparent enough to allow the filaments to show through.  Overall, I'm pleased with how they look.

I also picked up a wooden base and will be making a stand for the model.  With luck, we'll see her leave dry-dock soon.

Maybe both Enterprises will sail together (though at my rate of work, I wouldn't hold out any hopes of that).

Gary

Stunning progress there guys.Those collectors look really nice gary, going to have to make a note of that.

I got the flight deck glued on this week.

Then started working on the superstructure.

Port side:

Starboard side:

That is a great effect on the bussard collectors, Gary; they look fabulously realistic.  Won't be long before you leave space dock!

And detailing continues apace on the Enterprise.  (Sorry, no SBDs in the shuttle bay).

One thing I'm glad I bought months ago were some half-beads of various sizes.  You can see them on the top of the saucer and at the rear of the secondary hull.  They work out well as domes and ID lights.

Meanwhile, the nacelle end caps are progressing nicely.  The "bussard collector" caps I sprayed with flourescent orange, then went over the sides with Tamiya Clear Red.  Then, using a mechanical pencil, I sketched in the filaments of the collectors.  Next I'll give them a clear coat of future, then attempt to give it an overall spray of white.  Hopefully, it will be just enough to allow the orange/red and filaments to show through.

Next up, the impulse engines are masked and ready to paint.  Sorry for the blurry images.  My camera doesn't like taking pictures without the flash.  Go figure.

Getting close.  Thanks for looking!

Gary

Thanks, Gary.  It's nice to know someone remembers!

CMK>

It's nice to finally see someone do a little known episode from WWII, "Operation Java", where the Americans rounded up every coffee bean in the South Pacific and... well, you know the rest of the story. 

Gary

This afternoon I installed the flight deck and one of the catwalks that is attached to the hull.  Now everything is weighted down till the glue dries.  I used Aleene's "Original Tacky Glue" to make any clean-up easier, and the stuff seems to work pretty well holding the pieces in place.  I used the same method on USS Saratoga a couple of years ago, and it's still together.

I installed the SBD's on the hanger deck yesterday.

When I test-fitted the flight deck, it makes things so dark on the hanger deck that they aren't going to show up too well from the outside.

That's a very appealing color, Gary.  Looks like it went on smoothly.  I think it's great.

Well, speaking of the Enterprise...

I finally got her together and primed, sanded and filled.  Then I tried a bit of shading work on the saucer grids.  Not really sure why.  They're hardly noticeable in the series, but these molded grids are just way too obtrusive.

I then had a choice to make about the exterior color.  Now there are sites online that show what the exterior color is on the 11 foot model, but I was unable to find the color recommended in a spray can, so I decided to wing it.  

There was a beautiful color called "Azure Snow" from Valspar, and I decided to give it a try.  Now, the first thing I should have realized was it is enamel... and an enamel coating takes a LONG time to dry.  A very long time.  This lead to some rather disappointing spots of paint actually lifting off the base coat.

Did I mention this stuff takes a long time to dry?

 Well, after some soul-searching and gnashing of teeth, I managed to get a coat onto the model I could live with.

She's actually much further along than these photos show, and detailing is about over.  I hope to have the paintwork finished up this weekend (at least, that's the plan) and begin decaling.  Maybe by the end of March she'll be ready to leave dry-dock.

Stay tuned!

Gary

Thanks, GAF.

There are short shots of stock footage in the '70's "Midway" film, showing each carrier leaving for the battle.  A subtitle identifies each.

In John Ford's 1942 film, "The Battle of Midway"--which garnered an Oscar--there are shots of flight deck operations, which I'm assuming are Enterprise or Hornet, since Yorktown probably took any film down with her.

That's my story, and I'm sticking to it!

CMK> Those really are a masterpiece of the miniature art.

You know, I have to ask, but did the "actual" Enterprise even appear in either of those movies?

Here are four SBD's that will go to fill up the hanger deck.

According to the combat report, these four did not take part in the 4 June, 1942 attack on the Japanese fleet, but they did launch during the actions on 5 and 6 June.

Their crew are listed as:

6-B-4  Lt.     L.A. Smith       CARUTHERS, H.H., AMM2c

6-B-10 Lt.     H.P. Lanham      GARAUDY, E.J.,ARM1c

6-B-17 Ensign  A.L. Rausch      JONES, H.L., AOM3c

6-S-13 Lt. PATRIARCA    BADGLEY, J.R., ACRM(AA)

Of course, none of them appear by name in either John Ford's "The Battle of Midway" or the Henry Fonda/Glenn Ford later film.  Since this is a Hollywood build, I'll have to check the movie to see if I can find out what Charleston Heston or Edward Albert or Monte Markham was flying.  At this point, I don't remember if they were Dauntlesses or Devastators.

I was looking at the hull and noticed I'd forgotten to install a railing along one walkway on the starboard side, so I added that.  It's the shorter one in front of the three pairs of doors.

I've been concentrating on the aircraft for the hanger deck, and managed to get them finished up last night.  I post a few photos later.

I've been dealing with the flight deck while I finish up four SBD's for the hanger deck.

Installed the catwalks; views from the bottom--

and views from the top--

I was concerned that the catwalks might interfere with the fit of the flight deck to the hull, but I test-fitted it at each point when I glued them in and they fit like a charm.  It was a pleasant surprise given the age of the kit.

Most of the catwalks had to be modified to bring them into line with the way Enterprise was equipped at Midway.  Usually it was just a matter of cutting off the emplacements that weren't there in 1942.

Also installed lifeboats.  There's a photo of Enterprise from May 1942 showing boats on the starboard side, so I added them also to the port side per the instructions.

Here's a view of the bow, with the posts that support the flight deck in place.  Looks like I need to do some dusting!

The gun tub at the front comes from the Hornet kit, and carried two 20mm's.  In Tamiya's Enterprise, there is a single round tub there, for a 40mm, which Enterprise didn't carry at Midway.

I also spent some time checking the PE rails for chips, and touched up the places needed with a brush.

Hopefully, I can get the planes into the hanger deck and close up the flight deck this weekend.