AMT/TOS Romulan BOP

Well thank you very much Mr. Nocturnal Perambulator!

Beautiful!

Snapped some quick "quasi finished shots":









And here's the lighting:




The engines:

And the seperate rear modes. When on the "thrusters" ,they flicker:





And the weapon although it was hard to catch as the outside LEDs fade in and then the middle bursts as they outers dim.



The decal fiasco delayed it by a week- and of course caused a lot of extra effort but I hope you like the results!

Thanks to those dropping in and especially anyone who has been following along. It's been fun and now this one is looking for a home!

Originally I examined the kit pieces and saw that they were trying to emulate the "bulbous" appearance at the front of the nacelles. For all I know the original studio model might have used "bulbs" up there. It's not a simple 'half-sphere'.

I did try to separate the glass bulb of an automotive lamp from the metal base and cracked a few. So, frankly I gave up on that idea. But it's always bothered me?

Well, over sixteen bulbs later I have finally done exactly that. Two, from nearly twenty attempts but I think it will look better.

Well,
 When we last tuned in the BOP was nearing completion after receiving it's decals. Only a nice clearcoat and we'd be off to the final steps.
 THEN, it happened.

The BIRD BLEW UP!

Despite JT Graphics own instructions that Testors lacquer clear was recommended- it BLEW UP!

Initially I carefully wetsanded the small "puckered" areas and even touched them up with a color match, rewetsanded and carefully cleared. It actually turned out as nearly invisible fixes to the problem. But of course, a couple of areas required more sanding than they could support and eventual cut through occurred again.

Not anxious to simply risk repeating it all over again- I broke out the frisket material and started cutting away.

Here's the new bird before it's clearcoating which shouldn't be a problem- it's all in lacquer now and I can account for that. So while not yet trimmed out- here's the current state without shine.








It's all done with pearls, shading and overlays so the hue is highly dependent upon the angle and light source and of course will improve once cleared.

 Did some trimming and refitting of the bird caused by the mods to the hull of course.
 Now it's on and just awaits cleanup and a nice clear coat.

 I wound up just putting a "satin" clear coat over the base. I reconsidered the pearls and flip/flops I had planned and decided not to "detract" from the model itself with too flashy of a base.
 As I start to finalize wiring within the base I snapped a pic just to show the combo of the BOP mounted upon the stand.

Here's the base colors which will be cleaned up and then the clear coats with pearls and flip/flops will be shot.




The upper surface "silver" is aluminum while the sides are "steel" although you can't really tell from the lighting. I'll use different pearls to accentuate that further.

It's "Alclad II Lacquer which I've never seen in a spray can and I think my LHS charges  MSRP, at 19.99 for one fluid ounce.

The switch was located upon a shelf beneath the hinged panel and a spring was put in place to keep that panel up and snug even when the switch is depressed. Simple is always best.

This is cool.  Where do you get the paint?  Is it a spray can paint?  How much is it?  I'd like to use csome on one of my carmodels.

Excellent work, I like that finish. I'm kind of stalled on mine again.

And here it is complete prior to paint. Again, the control switches will be activated by pressing down on the radiating "fingers" which rest below the half round trim to limit their travel back upward. The beveled and rounded edges were chosen to reflect highlights from the pearl and prismic shift paints that will be used on the trim.

I wanted a base to help identify this further as Romulan. Looked up an old TOS Rommie emblem and it will sit atop the pedestal. The "fingers" will control the switches for electronics with contacts underneath triggered by depressing the red for weapon and green for all lights since the engines are switched upon the model itself. Of course those are paper templates already transferred to other styrene pieces.

I placed a base coat of black followed by a new product, Holomatic, Spectral Chrome. It's a pretty badazz hue with prismatic shifts that do remind me of one of those holographic security stickers. I'll use this with some further embellishments.

With all electrical components affixed internally it's finally time to attach the bridge and new tail. First pass of primer towards blending it all in and then the bodywork will be finished.

^^^

Indeed! We'll add a nice garnishment of hot glue to hold things in place too.

Yikes! electric spaghetti, with a  side helping of pc board!

Meanwhile I've retested all the various powered elements and sorted their wiring to the switch and the phono plug. This is what it all looks like before getting stuffed and set into place! Quite the temporary mess.:blink

The wiring from the new switch was simply run into the bridge.


While this is the componentry for the Plasma Weapon.

And the switch assembly blended into the tail. I'll add a contoured "cap" to the 'knob' to further disguise it.

Because space (width) is of the essence I slipped styrene between the leads to insulate them from each other then pressed the leads together to further slim the assembly. All of that was encased within CA  because those leads are now getting quite thin and fragile and I don't want them coming apart or breaking off of course. The switch casing itself was then sanded even slimmer because it will become the bottom trailing edge of the tail itself. It now matches the outside width of the tail assembly which of course has room within for the wiring run.

The stereo phono jack gives two power feeds besides a ground. That leaves me one short of functions required so something needs a switch upon the ship itself and to operate between warp or thrusters made sense as an either/or scenario.

A very small ST/DP switch was scavenged from the odds box and wired up to be hidden on the craft.

 

The female jack was mounted onto a styrene collar which was angled to effect the display. Since the jack (box) had a keyway, that was transferred onto the mount with additional bracing around the perimeter so once snugged down with it's own nut everything should stay put well. The entire mount is below flush with the hull.

Griff,

 Well yes, yes they do! And to further prove it here's some more.

The front nacelle lights pass through shaved down "lenses" shown earlier which then sit behind clear domes. Now the rear lights shine through cut down domes which are multifaceted and create a very nice scattered light effect. I like the visual interest as compared to "bare LEDs" and also this way not only does the light get further "effects" but you never see the LEDs themselves.

The model will sit upon a stereo plug which will allow more than just a straight power feed. This way I can hide a micro switch upon the model itslef to control the plasma weapon and the base will hold switches for interior lighting and nacelles as well as making the thrusters controllable.

The tubing has hole cut in it to peg the stereo plug to help it from ever pulling out of the tubing which can happen even when epoxied in place. The outer styrene was chosen since paint adheres better though there will be a metal tube within that for further strength.

The plugin will sit angled within the hull so that the display will allow viewing of the prominent bird on the bottom while it can also swivel or just be popped off the stand/pole so that you can still fly it about the room when the mood strikes! And with me, that's quite often.

I didn't realize that FSM now hosts our pics!

Fashioned the rear thrusters into the body and built a light box as well for them.

Grating was added which is actually a 1:160th rail road catwalk which offers nice elongated holes rather than traditional mesh. It was backed up with sandwiched acetate sheets, clear and smoked.

Added the Plasma Weapon Housing up front.

 Here she is with the "lid" not only in place but glued and blended. Since I was rather careful during the fabrication it was really no more than allowing the AC to ooze out of the seam and then sanding that flat. Of course a prime and sand then capped it off.

Thank you Stikpusher. I am hoping to add more character- especially if it's of an evil or menacing nature!

And here's the lower hull with its frames in place.

That is coming along beautifully! Your reshaping, enhancements, and overall corrections are really capturing the menacing look of the Romulan Bird of Prey!

Here's the top hull with it's window inserts.



And the lower hull awaiting it's turn now.




I for one love the lil "bumps" and character that these will add and they were present on the filming mini afterall.

(This project is for sale and now is a good time if you'd like it painted to your specs, to contact me by PM. Thanks.)