Projekt: Polish a turd - 1/537 USS Enterprise Refit by AMT (Modified)

[TrekWorks]

Coming along nicely Matt. The saucer certainly looks a lot better after the putty work.

[3rdplacetrekkie]

looking good bro! I've been on the hunt for some photo etch for this kit, but the only ones i found are long out of production. 

[billski]

Amazing work Matt

[MattA]

This is just a quick update from last night...

I filled and sanded one half of the secondary hull and the dorsal.  I only have the other half of the secondary hull, the strong backs, both pylons, and the warp nacelles to fill/sand.

I've used one tube of squadron putty so far.  I have to swing by Hobby Town tomorrow to pick up some more. 

By the way, to anyone who is thinking about doing this but is afraid that the filling is difficult, no worries.  It's actually pretty easy to do.  It's just work.  Yes, a smoothie would be a lot easier to work with, but for 1/10th the cost plus a few bucks in putty, and I'm there anyway. 

[3rdplacetrekkie]

putty sand putty sand putty sand! keep it up! loving watching this thing come together! giving me some drive to finish mine!

[MattA]

I hope so!  I was enjoying your build!

More work on the secondary hull tonight:




I cut out the arboretum windows, put in frames using strip styrene, and puttied that side of the secondary hull.  I also glued in the strongbacks.  This kit has the strangest design I've seen in a model kit so far.  I hope I can build it up with some strength.  I don't want it falling apart later on.

[DizWhiz]

Nice updates, looks like the putty and sanding is paying off.

[wolf 359]

Looking good Matt!

[MattA]

Last night was pylon work.  I ran all wiring through the pylons and glued them both together.  I then attached one of the pylons to the secondary hull.

Let me tell you, the Polar Lights kits are far superior to this thing.  I had to use copious amounts of styrene glue, plus styrene strips inside the mount to get the first one mounted securely.  The second one should be similar.  This morning when I checked my progress, I found that the first pylon was very solid.  It doesn't look like it's going anywhere.

Once I get the second one mounted, I'll post photos.

[fumblethumbs]

  This kit has the strangest design I've seen in a model kit so far. 

Isn't that strong back area a complete travesty!   

Last night was pylon work.  I ran all wiring through the pylons and glued them both together.

I totally botched this process!   Thought I'd be smart and fish the wires through the pylons after they were glued together.    Big mistake!  Got there in the end, but defo did it the hard way.


You're making excellent progress on this Matt!!  Keep up the great work there! 

[spacepirate197x]

Lookin good Matt.

[MattA]

Yeah, Jeff, the strongback on this thing is a disaster.  The pylons suck too.  I can't believe they kept selling this kit for so long!

More progress... I've attached the second pylon.  If you were to just attach the pylons to the strongbacks and not pay attention, the warp nacelles would be totally messed up.  You have to be very careful and line them up carefully. 

Doing this leaves a HUGE gap.  HUGE.  I've put several strips of styrene in to beef it up.  I'll have to wait for things to dry to see how they did.  Once that's all done, it'll be time to file things down and try to make everything look ok. 

[DizWhiz]

Did you reinforce the pylons at all? I've seen people use very thing brass tubing to make a jig. I just remember from my youth having to reglue pylons on because I accidentally brushed up against them and down it went. I also had no idea how to properly glue things either so there's that.

[MattA]

Did you reinforce the pylons at all? I've seen people use very thing brass tubing to make a jig. I just remember from my youth having to reglue pylons on because I accidentally brushed up against them and down it went. I also had no idea how to properly glue things either so there's that.

I didn't use any brass or pipe inside the pylons, but what I did do was liberally glue around the mating surfaces.  Once that had dried, I used styrene strips on the gaps and inside the mount point to beef things up. 

Testors tube glue melts all the plastic together nicely, and this was no exception.  The pylons are extremely solid and won't be going anywhere.  If you try to pull on them, they bend the plastic on the secondary hull.  The mount points themselves don't move.   

I'm very excited!

[DizWhiz]

I didn't use any brass or pipe inside the pylons, but what I did do was liberally glue around the mating surfaces.  Once that had dried, I used styrene strips on the gaps and inside the mount point to beef things up. 

Testors tube glue melts all the plastic together nicely, and this was no exception.  The pylons are extremely solid and won't be going anywhere.  If you try to pull on them, they bend the plastic on the secondary hull.  The mount points themselves don't move.   

I'm very excited!

Okay I feel better now! I just had flashbacks to the kid version of me trying to re-glue those things back on every year. Glad they are sturdy!