Lets call this done.

I did the touch up paint today.

Cool!!! Really neat!

Almost done.

I soldered the switch and the flashlight today.

Then glued the flashlight to the bezel/emmiter.

It's Very bright! I'm happy with how it lights.

Then glued everything together.

I still have some touch up to do, but construction is basically done.

I spent the morning in my back yard trying to signal the Enterprise!

I had to sand the front down. I thought the bezel would cover more. I re-primed and re-painted and let dry.

This morning I noticed a chip. Argh! Sanded and repainted. The paint did not cover evenly. :-(

Another coat. I think I'm ok now.

Sorry, no photos. I'll break out the soldering iron soon to finish the wiring then final assembly.  

Mach71: Looks cool, looking forward to seeing her all wired up.

Actually the Klingon story I did like. The one with the augments I just felt that they could have done a lot more with. And we've seen Brent Spiner as Data, Data's 'dad', Data's evil 'brother', and now Data's 'great, great grandpa'??? When they did that I think I hit Spiner overload...

The switches look good. I just have to open up the hole a tiny bit.

The flashlight jury rig looks like it will work. I tested the new switch with

the flash light after ripping out the original flashlight switch.

I'm off to work. I'll break out the soldering iron this weekend.

I was just happy they ended the silly temporal cold war and Xindi arch.

I also liked the the klingon arch explaining the smooth heads in TOS and the Dr Soong eugenics story.

My switches arrived today! I'll see how they fit/look tomorrow.

Really?!?! I had no idea she was getting a secondary hull like that- it does really make her look much better.

I dunno, loved the two part Mirror Universe story and the three parter with the Romulan holo-ship but frankly beyond that season four was like season 1-3, not terrible but not good either. In fact I don't even hardly remember much of the series. One of the few things I did love about the show was oddly enough the new Andorians, I love the movable antenna!

It's too bad it was canceled, Manny Coto was just getting the series on track. With the exception of the awful final episode the 4th season was pretty good. I would have liked to see his season 5 and the refit.

mach71

Thanks Rob. It's coming together slowly.

I was just looking at your build of the NX-01 refit and it hit me that the

addition of the secondary hull really improves the look of the ship. I always

thought the original design was lacking.

Thanks.

I think I'm going to hit the body with a coat of matt clear to knock down the gloss and give more contrast with the chrome silver bezel. I think I want to leave the red gloss.

Hey cool Mach71- the aluminum paint looks perfect.  

Thanks Rob. It's coming together slowly.

I was just looking at your build of the NX-01 refit and it hit me that the

addition of the secondary hull really improves the look of the ship. I always

thought the original design was lacking.

I think that's wicked cool Mach!

I found some time today to work on the beacon.

I traced out the indents, and made some masks from blue tape.

I then lightly sanded the body to even out the paint thickness.

Next another coat of primer, a light sanding, a tack cloth and then a coat of

aluminum.

This is just a dry fitting. I might need to do some clean up around the front, it's not as smooth as I

like.

I'm still waiting on the switches, Radio Shack sent them FedEx ground! They should show up in next week.

She's coming right along Klik- nice work on the Aztec patterning.

Looks great Klik. Your in the homestretch now.

Alright, looking good.

Over the past week (or so), I attached the nacelles, and painted more details on.

Nacelle attachment:

Then, after some more detail painting and weathering (but not too much, I hope):

Here's a 'flyby' view:

Before I start on decals, I tried to paint more colors on the ship to down-play the drabness. Also, in an attempt to limit the number of decals used, I painted on some windows:

That last shot, above, really helps illustrate the massive size of the "laboratory" windows on the secondary hull, doesn't it?

And finally, the blackwash brought out some of the detail on the 'Sensor node':

And that's all I've got for now.

Forthcoming: DECALS!

Keep up the great work, everyone!

Klik

Sadly all the RS's are closed in my area. I did order 3 switches from them online. They will be here

next week. hopefully one of the 3 i ordered will look good.

And yah, that red is really red! I think it will look nice when I put the aluminum top coat on it.

Whoa, I kinda like the candy apple red!!!

I think the LED flashlight would probably be the simplest and cheapest way of lighting it. Funny, we still have a Radio Shack here, I picked up a USB flash card the other week. So I guess some are still open, I forgot what the clerk told me.

I did a bit of painting today.

I brushed some chrome silver on the bezel and sprayed some Italian red in the 3 recessed ovals.

I'll let the red dry for a few days then mask them and paint the body aluminum.

I still have to find a switch. With the demise of Radio Shack I'll have to find one online.

I'm thinking of modifying a small, cheap LED flashlight for the light source. Anyone have any ideas?

I think they called it the laser beacon in "The Squire of Gothos"

The Starfleet Tech Manual does call it a ray gun.

I'm planing on putting a light source inside, but changing the batteries

could be an issue.

Cool Mach71! Is that what it's called, a laser beacon? I think the StarFleet Technical Manual called it a 'ray gun' or something like that (yeah that's a very specific name!) and I think somewhere else it was called some sort of engineering tool.

You got that right Klik...wonderful subject and super cool arrangement for sure!!

modelcrazy

Agreed Klik.

Very cool. What episode/series was this ship variant seen?

The original ship only made a brief appearance in Deep Space 9, in one of the Dominion War episodes. The model was built by Dan Curry ( hence, Curry-type), to be used as a damaged background extra, but appeared front and center in the opening sequence of "A Time to Stand", as part of a fleeing Federation fleet.

the cool part is that Curry kept the model, unlike the rest of the filming miniatures, which were sold off.

Keep up the great work guys.

Klik

p.s. I don't actually remember if I saw that episode of DS9, but I came across this ship when looking up other kitbashed ships. I think it's a great little ship, with a unique arrangement.

Unusual and interesting, Mach..I like it....keep at 'er!

Klik, looking good.

I made a bit of progress on the Laser Beacon.

Only 4 resin parts. My kit was cracked and repaired before I got it.

Over all the parts are very nice. There are some pinholes and imperfections.

The 2 main halves have a few gaps when glued together.

I filled them with baking soda and hardened it with thin CA.

Filled the pin holes, sanded and primed.

Sanded and another coat of primer.

I still have some surface prep before the top coats. I also have to find a push button switch somewhere for the power switch.

Agreed Klik.

Very cool. What episode/series was this ship variant seen?

She does look very cool Klik, definitely a black sheep of Starfleet!  

Looks bloody wicked Klik!! Keep up the good work!!