1/350 Romulan BOP

A 350th Bird of Prey?  Sounds interesting, what else do they have out there?

There is a 1/350 Klingon Cruiser also.

I've been watching a couple of the original 1/650 Romulan BOPs on ebay and the prices those things are getting is kind of rediculous, especially considering all the inaccuracies of the kit. I think I'll go ahead and invest my money in the 1/350 kit and be happy with that. I believe this kit measures about 18" across so should make for a nice counterpart for either of the 1/350 Enterprise kits. I'll post some more info here on the kit when it arrives.

Okay folks, here's a look at the instructions for the AW Studio 1/350 BoP. This is a $140 kit so be prepared.

http://swannysmodels.com/images/AWBoP/AWBoP.pdf

 

Swanny wrote:

Anybody have any experience with the AW Studio 1/350 Romulan Bird Of Prey vac kit? I'm considering picking one up but am undecided at the moment. I saw one guy on U-Tube who was building one but was not impressed with what he was doing.

Do youhave the YouTube link handy? 

Sorry no but just do a google search for 1/350 Romulan Bird of Prey and you should get a couple links. He did something like 8 or 10 installments.

OK, thanks.

I've had the kit in my studio for about a week or so now and have been removing excess plastic. This is what the main parts looked like right from the box ...

Now I have a couple questions for you guys.

#1. I'm trying to figure out what I want to do with the paint job. I could go with the classic 'Balance of Terror' overall light gray or I could go with the digital remastered Aztek pattern in metals with pearlescent green tints. What do you think?

 

#2. I'm going to light the kit up. I've watched 'Balance of Terror' very closely looking for light patterns and guess what - there are none. The warp nacelles have no lights front or back and there don't appear to be any lights on the body of the model. I'm going to go with what appears to be the common thread of green bussards and red exhausts and add the lights to the hull as is commonly seen. My question here is what about anti-collision lights? Should I add something along the lines of what is seen on the Klingon BoP, go out on my own or add nothing. Any thoughts?

Swanny wrote:

I've had the kit in my studio for about a week or so now and have been removing excess plastic. This is what the main parts looked like right from the box ... Now I have a couple questions for you guys. #1. I'm trying to figure out what I want to do with the paint job. I could go with the classic 'Balance of Terror' overall light gray or I could go with the digital remastered Aztek pattern in metals with pearlescent green tints. What do you think?   #2. I'm going to light the kit up. I've watched 'Balance of Terror' very closely looking for light patterns and guess what - there are none. The warp nacelles have no lights front or back and there don't appear to be any lights on the body of the model. I'm going to go with what appears to be the common thread of green bussards and red exhausts and add the lights to the hull as is commonly seen. My question here is what about anti-collision lights? Should I add something along the lines of what is seen on the Klingon BoP, go out on my own or add nothing. Any thoughts?

My question to you is; why would it have any anti collision lights? It is in fact an alien spacecraft, so they may not use them like we (humans) are use to.

Also, in regards to your lighting question, there may not be any lighting in the warp nacelles because they may be enclosed?

As for painting, it's a toss up with what you would like to do, and how much work you want to put into it. Personally, I think the Aztec pattern would be neat to see....

.... maybe you should take a poll to help you make your decision.

I agree with your logic on the anti-collision lights. I'm probably not going to put any flashing lights on this one for that reason just wanted some other input. I am also leaning toward the Aztec pattern but it is going to be a lot of work. I'm thinking at least three shades of tinted Alclad and all the masking .... so much masking. Of course it can't be much worse than masking the Millennium Falcon, that took forever.

Swanny wrote:

I agree with your logic on the anti-collision lights. I'm probably not going to put any flashing lights on this one for that reason just wanted some other input. I am also leaning toward the Aztec pattern but it is going to be a lot of work. I'm thinking at least three shades of tinted Alclad and all the masking .... so much masking. Of course it can't be much worse than masking the Millennium Falcon, that took forever.

Instead of masking, you could make a template of the shape using heavier stock paper or masking film and cut out the Aztec pattern that way. Though, you may have to do it in sections....

I've spent some evening time while other kits are drying removing the excess plastic and drilling out sensor and light ports on the main hull. I decided to begin actual construction with one of the warp nacelles. The disc that the LEDs are mounted to are made from scrap plastic with aluminum foil attached to the lit side with rubber cement. The insides of the nacelles were first painted with Krylon gloss black then with Alclad chrome.

Once the nacelle halves had been glued together I filled the rather nasty seam with Milliput, sanded that then followed with two applications of Mr. Surfacer 500 to finish off the small holes. There are several rough spots in the exterior surface of the main parts that needed to be filled with Mr. Surfacer also. Soon the aft fitting will be attached but the nose glazing will be left off until after painting.

Now the wing sections are cleaned up and test fit. I attached the upper wing surface to the nacelle first to get a good mating surface. I'll most likely run a couple pieces of brass channel inside the wing as stiffeners but it seems pretty solid as is. The lower hull has had several bulkheads installed to add strength there. These were done in sections paying careful attention to the hull contours so as to not cause any warpage. Now the lower hull is very solid and the original shape has not been disturbed. Primary electronics will be placed in that central area just aft of the center point.

Great work so far. I like how you've made sure to give it a strong 'foundation' with the bracing and then covered the fundamentals with the light blocking and such. It will assure you of having something strong and lasting to lay your paint work upon.

 

Great stuff and I'll be eager to watch the rest!

Thanks Mr. Squid. This build is a little off my beaten track so trying lots of new stuff.

I was considering picking up some brass channel at the hobby shop to reinforce the wings when I came across a stash of bamboo skewers in the studio and figured what the heck. I sawed these to length and fixed them in place with silicon caulk.

Once that had cured overnight I was able to close up the wings. I used Bondo glazing material to fill the larger gaps. This is my first experience using this product and I am very pleased with the results. I used Mr. Surfacer 1000 as my final treatment to fill any small imperfections in the Bondo hence the various colors of fill material. Note all the little dimples of gray filler scattered about the surface, these are small fills needed to remedy small vacuforming errors.

Now back to the space craft's hull. I'm not adhering closely to the original 'Balance of Terror' episode. If I was this would be overall non-descriptive gray and have no lighting at all.  When originally researching this project I ran across a build that Bill Lehner did where he installed impulse engines in the aft hull and I really liked the idea so that is being incorporated into my build. This next shot shows the process of marking off the impulse engines and opening them up. These are only rough cut right now and will be fine tuned as the translucent panels are installed.

Ah, cool!

I like the added visual interest and assume they'll be lit as well?

Besides liking how your approaching this I also have a vested interest in my two original AMT kits sitting in the stash. Eventually I'll have those to do, albeit oin a smaller scale, but am eager for you to give me even more ideas!

Yes, those will be lit as well. I'm considering what to do with the Plasma Cannon, if I want to add a capacitor and timer to that to create a build-up and flash or just put a steady light behind it. Also, should I go with red or yellow? I know when the weapon is fired it is a red flash but have seen examples built with both a steady yellow or red light.

I was originally looking for the old AMT kit but after seeing the prices compared to this I figued 'what the heck' and just went with the bigger kit.

Swanny wrote:

Yes, those will be lit as well. I'm considering what to do with the Plasma Cannon, if I want to add a capacitor and timer to that to create a build-up and flash or just put a steady light behind it. Also, should I go with red or yellow? I know when the weapon is fired it is a red flash but have seen examples built with both a steady yellow or red light. I was originally looking for the old AMT kit but after seeing the prices compared to this I figued 'what the heck' and just went with the bigger kit.

 

IIRC they're are at least a couple of DIY "photon torpedo" circuits online with a build up, then flash, using red and white LEDs. Do you have access to any for checking out? I could PM you a link as long as I find it again?

Always willing to look at what other guys are doing for ideas. Right now I have a box full of timers, counters and other electrical do-dads and can make my own printed PC board pretty quick.

More on the impulse engines. This is the light panel that will mount facing the translucent panels in the hull. The large round printed panels are stripped down belly button lights and the LEDs are red/orange diffuse LEDs. The belly button lights flash red and green at a pretty good pace and the LEDs will act as fill-in light. The final effect is that the impulse panels will have a slight flicker to them making in look as if they are in use.

I'm also working on the lenses for the sensor bands and inspection ports. Here I am using .04 fiber optic strand superglued in place. Each piece is cut flush with the exterior then shaved with a razor. Inside it cut off short and is a little more sloppy looking but as you can see from panel #5 they do the job and illuminate just fine.

Just watching and enjoying your build- you have me as a captive audience- looks mighty nice to me. No trash doors? That was an interesting part of the story.

I'm glad you liked the impulse engines lighting. Here is the rascal today- impulse engines and all. How many years has it been running...seven or more?

The $10 AMT BOP was a sloppy wreak so just make it worse...right? Angling and reinforcing the rim of the hull was a pain but I think it came out quite well. If I did it again then I would battery power the LEDs with two AA cells. With a cheap boost converter or two and I estimate it would give about 8 hours of constant light.

If I were building it today then I would have added the belly button lights to the front to give it a flicker effect. As it stands, the jewels under the dome give a static swirl effect.

For the Romulan without lights, I would think it was to their advantage to keep quiet. Powered down it was meek but fully powered up, lit up, and attacking then I would imagine it would be truly ominous. If I remember the story right then the cloak and plasma gun took enormous power. They were on the wrong side, far away from home, and under pursuit from an enemy of unknown power. They had to be stealthy, cautious, and frugal. And they didn't want to break the Praetor's flagship! It would make sense to power down the engines to putt along on yet occasionally use impulse power for maneuvering. Then they would coast as much as possible. The Enterprise was sniffing with full Christmas lights flashing and warp engines whirling plus the clanging noises so the Romulans could sure see their enemy's "reflection" while the Enterprise could only guess using the "motion detector."

My son wants an X-wing fighter so that is my build this week. It was suppose to be a quick build but you know how that goes. "Hey...how about this", and, "how about that?" Today we will Vac-U-Form the canopy.

Keep building and I'm enjoying it!

Actually I liked many of the things you included in yours. Last night I scribed the landing gear pads, I will be adding the various doors you marked out on yours. I am also referencing the BoP blueprints. As for the ship not being lit up in the television episode, everything you say makes sense and lays a good groudwork for a lighting decision. I am trying to decide if I want to use an external power source for this or to scribe the large lower cargo door and use it as a battery access door and just use a 9 volt to power the beast. I'm going to need to use some kind of tactile switch to fire the Plasma Weapon so that factors into my decision also. If external power then no question, just mount it in the base, if internal power then what? I'm thinking maybe that little round thingy between the impulse engines. Worse thing about this build is once complete I'm going to have to do one of the 1/350 Enterprise kits to display next to it. Anyway, your build was inspirational and a great source of reference material for me.

Swanny, just don't make the same one, okay? Make it better!

Here is something I have learned for portable lighting. For my price and value, it is better to power using 1.5-Volts...or rechargeable batteries.

There is more capacity in 9V cells but to use LEDs I would have to resistor down the voltage. Resistors drain voltage by transforming power into heat and that ruins efficiency. But what is worse is that there will be an initial brightness for about 15 minutes then a long and constantly dimming model.

There is the high-tech way to have constant brightness and long runtime. A 1.5V battery (or a couple in a parallel circuit) would use boost electronics to light LEDs. And the converter works in two ways. It boosts the voltage or limits the current so the lights are consistently bright for a longer time. Think of it as a dam that can control water output. Just the right amount gets out.

Boost converters not quite as efficient as buck converters but are much cheaper and easier to find. I could use a buck converter but that is too costly for me! As an example: with one AA battery 5 white 5mm LEDs can be boosted to light for over 6 hours. Paralleling two batteries gives over 12 hours. And AA (or AAA) batteries are much easier to find.

That is enough rambling!

Well, since I already have built my board for the main lighting with all the neccessary resistors I guess this means I am using the outside power supply with a stand hook-up. No big deal really because other than those few evenings when I will be flying it around the studio making ray gun sounds it will be sitting on the stand. I hope I can make mine as good as yours. I'll probably have more time in the paint job than in the rest of the build combined.

Keep us updated.  I like pictures!

I have completed installation of the fiber optics for the upper sensors arrays. Lots of these little buggers and now I have to worry about masking them and adding the frames around each one -- yippee!
Here is a light test with surrounding studio lights on then off.

Cool effect! It is going to look good. Before painting, I pushed the fiber optic through the hull. When it was complete I took my cutter and nipped the fibers at the base. For a lens, I used a toothpick and added a dab of Future to each fiber.

I thought about doing something like that about half way through cutting these off. Should have waiting and thought a little harder, would have made my life a little easier that's for sure.

The kit has frames molded in plaace for all the sensors and windows but they are inconsistent and pretty much end up getting sanded off in the finishing process. Obviously AW Studio recognized this and included a set of vinyl frame to replace them. I spent two days placing the frames on the upper hull.

Impulse engine test

http://www.swannysmodels.com/images/AWBoP/enginetest.avi

 

I'm impressed.  Any updates?