Anyone Up for a Star trek Group build?

Prince of Styrene II wrote:

Apologies for not commenting earlier, but I just got back from vacation.  Your Kodiak looks marvelous!  Clean, solid, muscular... just a great build all around.

Apologies accepted, but were not required.......It was a fun build, and I really like the look of the battleship class. I reported, in error, that I had used the last of my "Trek" stash, there is one "Enterprise" kit up on the shelf. I'm considering using the primary hull, and warp engines, for a "Dakota Class" heavy shuttle carrier. Some of the removed detail parts from the last "Reliant" could become masters for some resin castings. I'm looking at a model that will be 26-1/2" long!

Started work on a new set of three,HO scale modules....(National Train Show is in Milwaukee, next year, and I'd like to have something new to show there)...it may be "a while" before the carrier gets started. Still waiting for decals for Navarone, Shaitan, and Newport.  

Before I go another step, one thing must be understood. I am retired, and my time is mine to spend as I wish. I haven't slept much since the actual completion of Kodiac, which was several days before I posted the pictures.

The Jenghiz class destroyer will be; USS Shaitan NCC 519, the Podesti class Cruiser will be; USS Newport NCC 2418 (I've posted pics of those two before), and the Hatfield class Command Cruiser will be; USS Navarone NCC 2021. Here's the Navarone, most of the major assembly work/modifications are done, and these shots show her with primary and secondary hulls finally joined.

I'll post a few more shots of Navarone when the glue sets hard, and I can move her around. 

I removed close to two inches off the aft end of the "Reliant" hull, the detail above the port landing bay was also removed, and the blank area filled in. The megaphasers,and pylons were left over from Kodiac, the secondary hull, left over from the Newport, the warp engines and primary hull were another "reliant", and the only scratchbuilt parts were the three warp pylons. Hey!, I was on a roll!  I also have now completely depleted my stash of TMG Star Trek kits, so it's time to find another project...........most likely that HO scale 2-4-2. :) :)  I'm waiting for decal sets to be restocked, so I can detail the three ships. 

  Kodiak is done.

As I stated earlier, this group build, gave me the opportunity to finally build Kodiak. It was a fun build, and a true learning experience. I have to order up three more decal sets, and I can finish the Podesti class cruiser, the Jenghiz class destroyer, and start the Hatfield class command cruiser. The command cruiser will require some serious reworking of a "Reliant kit" for the primary hull. Here's the pictures of kodiak; 

Starboard side:

Starboard 3/4 head on:

Port quarter:

Aft port:                   

Head on from above:

Port side, on the display stand:

eightyeightfan1, a fellow moderator on another forum, photoshopped the starfield in these two shots! I had to put them up here for "your viewing pleasure"

Most of the major painting is done now. I have to start any of the brush painting, and then shoot a clear gloss.This shot is a close up of the lower photon torpedo bay: 

Here, a complete underside shot: 

here, starboard forward quarter. I still have a few more viewports to open in the forward bulkhead of the raised portion of the primary hull. In this shot you can see some that have already been opened up. There are some in the after sides that also need to be drilled out and shaped.

I don't think I mentioned before, but I use Autocad, for drawings. When I cut in the windows of the botanical section on the secondary hull, I first printed out the drawing, taped it in place, and then cut out each window with a #11 Xacto blade. The resulting cuts in the Styrene, became the cutting guides for the window edges. A second printout, taped to a piece of masking tape, on a glass plate, enabled me to cut the exact same window pattern into the strip of masking tape, which then was laid over the windows, and burnished down.

I used the light ghost gray FS36375, applied to a "cosmetic wedge", to stencil in the windows. What's a "cosmetic wedge"? you ask? Why its a very smooth foam "rubber" pad, 1" X 1-3/4" X 3/4", that tapers down to 3/16" X 1", at one end, that the girls use for liquid foundation application, and other makeup, available at any place where cosmetics are sold. It's amazing what you learn with four daughters in the house. It worked far better than expected! I'll have to set up and try to get a close up picture of the windows. The "stencilling" helps prevent paint from creeping under the edge of the tape, and the wedge is fine enough and soft enough to hold the paint well....like a superfine "foam / disposable" paint brush.

In these two pics kodiak stardoard side, and bow.  

Here, the Podesti class Cruiser. Major assembly is done. The secondary hull, from the forward nav. deflector, back to the middle of the warp pylon attachment point, the hull pylon (dorsal), and the lower photon torpedo bay, are scratchbuilt. The deflector and housing, and the aft end of the hull with the hangar bay, were leftover from the Firestone build.  Filling/sanding/etc. is next. 

Well, duh!, the AMT "Reliant" kit doesn't have the saucer rim view ports cast into the saucer. I, for whatever dumb reason, never caught that before assembling and painting the primary hull! 96 holes, and 48 cutouts later....!  Been reviewing the movies, looking for any details that might be missing, in addition to the view ports, and making notes on what painting has to be done that wasn't in any of the kit instructions. "reliant" doesn't get a lot of time in "light" so it's hard to tell.

I am getting close to a coat of gloss, so that decals can be applied. So far, so good. The Podesti class cruiser is assembled. The scratchbuilt section of the secondary hull, came out well enough. I am slowly learning how to fabricate "rounded shapes" with sheet styrene.......it's been an "interesting" learning curve.

Here's a quick shot of Kodiak with a little paint, accompanied by USS Farragut NCC1702, and an as yet unnamed Jenghiz class destroyer

Here's a quick shot of Kodiak with a little paint, accompanied by USS Farragut NCC1702, and an as yet unnamed Jenghiz class destroyer

 I shot some flat white as a primer, this afternoon, and I'm very pleased with how little I've seen in the way of surface defects!!! Once the primer is dry, I can take a closer look, but I may have found and fixed most of them already!!. . . . .Yes, I can say "Surprise!"

I'm looking at a Podesti class cruiser for my next project. I have the deflector housing, and the hangar bay piece left over from the Firestone build, and a pair of nacelles from the Kodiak build. All I need to do from scratch, is the secondary hull, and the hull pylon. After Kodiak, that should be fairly easy. 

Fantastic!  I can't wait to see her in full paint!

I've been working a bit on the Taegu tonight.  I'm cutting up the highlighter caps so I can insert some bussard collectors.  I'll post some pics soon.

This is a port side shot of Kodiak, with a "close to full size" copy of the Jackill's drawing for reference.

And here, another portside shot. The vessel in the background is a Jenghiz class Destroyer. I actually started that back when I built Firestone, and decided to include it in this build and paint it at the same time as Kodiak. 

I'm at the paint stage now, construction is complete( except for any "fixes" needed when I have the model all one color ). I'm still trying to figure out what the (blast of the ship's whistle) the colors/rules/convention/etc. makes up the "Aztec pattern". I'll keep looking, but the countdown to paint is set, and running. It'll be "Standard Box Kit Scheme", if I can't find answers soon

Far better than yours ever was???? If that's true, it's only because I've learned from my past mistakes. We're all, only as good as our current achievement. We'll all be better, "next time". 

When I first built the Battle Cruiser, "Firestone", I wanted to build the Kodiak. I am very happy that I got to do that, in this manner, in this forum.

The primary hull assembly is just about done, and there's putty that has to be applied to the "joints/gaps/mistakes". The drawing isn't too clear about the structure where the megaphaser pylons, that support the upper photon torp pod, attach to the primary hull. I'm going to have to exercise some "creative artistic liscence" in finishing this area. The next pictures that I post will be the finished/pre-paint.

I have one major decision left, that is paint. Do I go with the "standard, kit recommended, paint scheme?  Or, do I get creative, and do an aztec pattern. Do I shoot all gloss, decal, and then shoot a flat coat? Or, do I shoot all flat, overglaze, decal, and flat. I have run into problems shooting an overglaze before, but, all gloss tends to build up a heavier coat of paint. I'll have to play with some scrap material and the paints I will use to see which will be the better way to go.

I saved the shipschematics.net JPEG image of the Kodiak drawings, to disk, imported it into Autocad at "full size", and printed out the profile drawing and pieced it together. The reward for this was seeing that the model did indeed scale up well. The discrepancies that do exist are mostly due to the accuracy of measuring the small drawing in the Jackill's book.....and a couple of forehead slapping "duh's", caught too late to correct. Transferring the panel lines from the drawing, to the compound curves of the model, was the hardest, and most easily botched. It didn't help that the surface of the model ended up not exactly what it was intended to be. Still, the scratchbuild part of this was a first time undertaking, and turned out well enough, considering. I am pleased with results.

This weekend I have a train show, and next week is my annual "disappear off the face of the earth" week. There won't be any progress on Kodiak until after all that.