While I’ve been working on the DeBoers Enterprise trio, I’ve also been working on a secondary project at the same time. The DeBoers Reliant is the same scale as the Enterprise and while there are many similarities in building this kit there are a few differences as well. There is not quite as much to scratchbuild for this model because there is no secondary hull. I’ve been working on this kit for several months. The Reliant is no longer in production and this is one of the last known ones to be worked on. Too bad because it is a fun kit to work on. Like the Enterprise, I will be sending updates for this project when I have them.
I know it’s been about 9 months since I’ve added any updates for the Reliant, but for the most part many of the work that is being done on the Enterprise is very similar to the Reliant as far as some of the interiors go such as the officer’s lounge and many of the components for the Warp Engines are very similar as well with a few minor differences. For instance the wiring will be run through the top of the Nacell because the support pylons are connected from the top rather than underneath. The Reliant has some spot lights just like the Enterprise except they are on the top inside front of the nacells facing the saucer. They are also much smaller in size. While I have tested the lighting on all of the engines I did run into a few problems. I had what I called a nacell malfunction when I accidently cracked one of the fluorescent tubes and had to replace it. Carelessness on my part, but everything is functioning within normal perameters as it were. Another problem I’ve run into is that some LEDs that I ordered turned out to be the wrong color. I ordered some bright yellow LEDs to use for the thrusters and when I recieved them I found out the were not yellow, but Orange. Very upsetting, so now I have to wait for the new ones to come in. I was hoping to have the warp engines all sealed up and ready for some putty work, but this will have to wait for a while. In the meantime I’m preparing the rest of the wiring for all of the engines. I’ve also found a huge mistake with the warp grills that I will go into next update. There are 13 new pics in The DeBeors Reliant Album starting at pic 18. You should be seeing more updates in this album as I get closer to assembling these kits together.
See you next update,
Mark.
[H]
I’ve added a couple of pics on my site for the Warp nacell assembly. Although there are only 2 pics to look at, there has still been a lot of time put into these babys. These nacells are much easier to assemble than the Enterprise nacells because there is no bottom lip that connects the engine to the nacells. For the most part it’s a straight shot when applying the epoxy. These pieces fit together much better than the Enterprise nacells as well. By my next post, I should have all of the seams filled in, sanded sown and ready for opaqueing. All of the electronics are working fine, so that’s a big relief because once everything’s sealed that’s it! We’re done! I Should have a few more pics soon. See you next update.
Mark
Looking good on the build. I’m looking forward to the photos of your finished model. Just finished my own Reliant…though not with lights or anything
I’ve finally been able to opaque the nacells for Reliant. They were the easiest to putty and sand because the pieces matched up so much nicer than the Enterprise nacells. By my next update I should have the base colors started on the engines so I can begin Aztecing the engines. See you then!
Mark.
Warp Nacell Update for 07/31/11
For the Reliant project, I don’t have any more than 2 new pics to show you because I haven’t got to those engines as of this update. The masking patterns will be similar to Enterprise though. Right now I have those Engines opaqued, they have their base soat of FLat white and the first of 4-5 colors painted on which would be Light Gray. I will be making these Aztec patterns a littl more subtle rather than having them jump out at you but you will be able to see the different colors the closer you geth to the models. Hope you enjoy these updates. I’m really looking forward to adding the other colors to these engines just to see how they’ll turn out. More updates coming soon! See you then!
Mark
Today I just finished the 1st of 3 maskings for both of Reliant’s Warp engines and I’m now ready to airbrush the 2nd of 4 different colors. The next color to be added will be an off white, which I used on my PL Enterprise and it came out beautiful. There are not a whole lot of reference pics for the filming miniature that show, in very clear detail, all of the engines and support pylon details. I took a look at the decals for the Ertl Reliant kit and while I’m using it for a reference, I don’t think they’re completly what I wanted to do. I also have some pics of the Reliant when it was at auction at Christies, but of course there aren’t any clear ones of the nacells. So, I’m using some of the pattern that I have put on the Enterprise engines and am beefing up the width of some of the maskings to help suggest that this starship is a little more heavily armoured. As for the pylons, the pics I have suggest that the patterns are more verticle than horizontal. This really is a milestone for this project because there are 8 warp engines total that are being detailed so to have this part of it finally complete is very exciting. For the next masking it won’t be as much work because I will be adding masking to the masking… get it? Well, By the next update you’ll see what I mean. See you then!
Mark
For the last month or so I’ve been doing nothing but masking and painting the main Aztec pattern on the warp engines and the support pylons. It can be very repetative work but the end results are worth all of the trouble. I don’t have any good clear pics of the actual filming minature’s engines so I tried to do what I could with the fuzzy pics that I do have. Although I didn’t use any pearlescent paints for this paint job, I got the effect that I wanted out of the paints that I did use! In the next update I will have the Flush vents, intakes, strobe light covers and other details added to the engines as well as their decals. Then I can move onto the roll bar and torpedo launcher area and get thoose started. Check it out and let me know what you think!
Mark
[H]
I have finished much of the detailing paintwork on the nacells and pylons, just a few more things to add to complete the engines, I’ve added 5 new pics to the Reliant photo album. It took a lot of masking, but it was worth the work. I’ve also added a few things to my site to make it easier to navigate to the pics. Let me know what you think!
Mark
It’s really looking great! Inspirational!
Big milestone hit this month! I have added 12 new pics to the Reliant album! A lot of energy and work have gone into these engines and I’m happy to say that other than a few pieces that will be added later on, the Engines are all basically done!
For the Reliant update, I’ve finally finished these engines as well! I’ve had to tone down the Aztec patterns by spraying them with a very light coat of off white and then add the 4 decals that go on either sides of the engines. These engines are now finished and I can start moving on to other areas of the this ship. The new pics for Reliant are in the Reliant Album on page 2 pics 63 - 74!
See you next update!!!
Mark
Hi everyone!
It’s been quite a challenge building 4 models at the same time and even though Enterprise is getting more attention at the moment, I’ve still benn able to work on some of the Reliant
There are some re-casting of some of the parts on this model like the super phaser cannons that will go on the roll bar. These are being cast in a clear resin to allow for some future lighting effects. I’m also adding a new travel pod port to the rear of the bridge with it’s own lighting effects. The other things that have been cast are the torpedo tube housings for the front and rear tubes and also the small strobe dome covers for the flashing light effects. Some of the pics for the Reliant Build a reused from the Enterprise build, but the work being done on them is basically the same. The new pics are on page 2 pics 75-82. Enjoy!
Well, that’s it for this update. Please be safe everyone. I will see you in 2012!
Take care, Mark
The latest pics are now availible in the “Updates for May 2012” page.
For Reliant, I have begun working on the saucer section as well. I have cut out all of the thruster pieces and have replaced them with clear recast pieces. I have also added the bridge piece to the top hull and the lower saucer has the dome in place. These pieces are now epoxied in and ready for the painting process. The hull will have to be sanded down, then opaqued, and then I can prime everything up and begin the Aztec process on this model. I am not making the Aztec pattern the same as the Enterprise model, which I have seen a few others do. I had to take a reference pic of the filming miniature, make it into a negative picture and do some enhancing to help define the Aztec pattern a little better so I can make my own masks. There are in fact 2 different Aztec patterns on this ship. I posted a pencil sketching of what the patterns look like and then I have also begun creating some of the masks of one of the patterns of which I have posted a picture of what it looks like in this month’s update. The other pattern will be started once this one is completed. Now that I’ve started on the Saucers of all of these ships I can see the finishing up of these models on the horizon for now. I am also looking forward to starting on the Drydock as well. I have also started some blueprints of the Drydock scaled to these models so things are progressing nicely. See you next update!
Mark.
I have added 15 new pics for the June Reliant Update. For Reliant I’ve finished lower saucer dome piece, I’ve sealed it from the inside of the hull and removed the excess resin so it will be easier to work on the lighting and wiring later on. I have also added the lower saucer detail pieces and epoxied them into oplace from the inside as well. I’ve had trouble centering the upper piece to the lower one, so I added some edging guides to maker sure the pieces fit together smoothly. you can see this with picture number 4 in the June Updates. The holes for the hanger doors have been widened a bit and a hole for the impulse engine piece and the warp crystal have been cut out and the pieces are now epoxied into place. For the bay doors I’ve masked off the areas where the lighting effects will come through and I have a couple of good pics (# 9 & 10) that show how masks look. I had to view a few shots in ST:TWOK to find the lighting pattern both from the bottom and the top of the doors. Next I was able to Opaque the pieces using Flat back to cover the entire model to block Light leaks. The next step was to start on the next color for the darker details which in this case is a Light Neutral Gray Paint. I’ve been able to start the masking of the upper saucer as well. I should have at least one of the next colors added on as well as the two different Aztec patterns that are seen on the filming miniature.
Hope you enjoy this update and I’ll see you all next month.!
Mark