The Irate Modeler: U.S.S. Enterprise

Way back in August 2020 I started working on this kit. I've actually had this kit for 5 years but never thought that I had the skill level to build it. I also have had the masking set from Orbital Drydock for the same amount of time. Turns out that letting vinyl masks sit that long aren't a good idea. More on that later.

First thing to do was fix the inaccuracy of the bridge module. As it comes it is too low and too far back to properly project a light onto the registry. So I sanded down the raised details of the windows and built them back up with styrene. I was then able to position it more forward so that the light will clear the edge below.

Next up was inserting the brass window frame for the Observation Lounge. A little filing, a little putty, lots of patience.

I used scotch tape to hold it in place from the outside then glued it from behind with white canopy glue. Once that was dry I puttied around the outside edges and sanded it all down as smooth as I could.

This will be my lengthy introduction first post. After this I will try to document the builds as I do them.

When I was a kid, I loved to build plastic models! I built cars, tanks, airplanes, ships, spaceships......whatever I could get! I built models all the way up until I was around 30 years old. Then I got married and had a kid; I no longer had any money to build models.

Steve Neill's Garage

I got the bug again 12 years later when I found the videos of Steve Neill on You Tube. This was a year ago. It was then that I realized that I was never very good at building scale models. This guy was doing really cool things with LED Lights and doing cool paint jobs with an airbrush! I wanted to do that, too! But could I? I didn't think so, but I was going to try.
Steve and I have since become friends. On top of being a fantastic model and prop builder he is also a really down to earth, nice guy.

Beginning Again

I had an old Monogram Battlestar Galactica stored on the garage that I had slapped together many years before. I got that out and pulled it apart and stripped all the paint off. My Father-In-Law was into electronics, so I had access to a soldering iron, solder, wires, switches, resistors and some power supplies. I then went to radio shack and bought some LEDs.

I wired it up, rebuilt it and repainted it (I didn't have an airbrush yet). I still didn't know what I was doing paint wise, but I got it together and it was lit, darn it! It wasn't pretty, but this was my first model with LED lighting! I was very happy.

I then tried my hand at some small Star Trek kits. My first attempt was the small Polar Lights U.S.S. Enterprise. I didn't put any lights in this one. My focus here was learning how about filling gaps with putty and sanding, priming and painting, clear coat and decals.

The Kit Factory

I screwed up on the decals, though. I didn't know about laying down a layer of clear gloss before applying the decals. It was Mr. Simon "Papa Smurf" Mercs of The Kit Factory who set me straight on that problem. Simon is a very high end, high quality model builder. His work is absolutely phenomenal, but he isn't above helping some poor schmuck like me do his decals right!

I then tackled some of the small 1:2500 Star Trek kits. I still didn't have an airbrush, but these were all about learning how to decal properly. I started with the Three Enterprise set and then did the Enterprise-C.

I finally got a cheap Chinese airbrush and compressor on Amazon and got to learning how to us it. My first attempt at airbrushing was on the 1:2500 Enterprise-D. I was happy with the results.

From here on I felt confident enough to tackle some bigger, more expensive kits. I won't go into any more detail for each one. I'll just show you the results and the progress I have made in my skill level. Each model I do gets better and better, but I still have a long way to go!