USS excelsior: a few questions..

Modeling Subjects Science Fiction
1

Hey guys!

i got a few new noob questions for you guys!

here goes:

as im getting further with my Excelsior model, i ran into some things:

first: paints, you all know the nice color scheme for the excelsior, those nice grey-blue tones in aztec patterns, but, im not sure what kind of paints i should use. What do you guys recon that are the best colors for this model? and, once painted, what kind of finish is best? is it best to get shiny paint and a non-shiny finish? or non-gloss paints and a gloss finish?

I also want to add windows throughout the model, heres what i had in mind:
i have a 2 components clear(transparant) casting resin which i wanted to use:
first make a mold of the orriginal, then drill out the windows etc, put the model back into
the mold, then pour and fill the holes with the resin. and so on with all (lighted) parts.

first, will this work? or are these noobish thoughts which will never work?
if it does work, 2 questions: what / which stuff should i use as a mold-maker? i asked
if they had anything in my local moddelers store, but they didn’t have anything for this.
and, what are you guys using for drilling those minuscule windows?
please dont tell me i need a dremel, since im broke allready :stuck_out_tongue_winking_eye: lol.
I got a few tiny drills i asked my dentist (who funny enough, is also a trekkie…) but i still think they are too big…
Also, sometimes you see in other peoples galleries, that they created very tiny minuscule SQUARE windows.
HOW?? this is keeping me up for ages! how the … do they do that? too small for a drill but they got it square anyway!
a few hints here concerning paints and creating windows would greatly be appreciated!

thx S.

2

The resin idea sounds o.k., but remember that any liquid you use may contain air bubbles, and they can be difficult to remove before curing. If your resin material is heavy, like syrup, when poured, it will be easier to control, but more likely to hold air bubbles. Instead of making a mold, think about the possibility of drilling out windows, covering the front with clay or a barrier material, like vinyl tape and pouring sections of windows at a time. That allows you to do it in chunks and learn from any mistakes you may make (and you will, trust me).

As far as drilling out windows goes, do not use a moto tool on plastic unless it has a very slow speed. The bits tend to get hot, clog up and melt your model. I personally have never found a fast way to make windows. I tried once on an Enterprise-D model and gave up. However, if you have a lot of time to waste, you could buy a welder’s tip drill set. It looks like a pin vise and comes with an assortment of very tiny drill bits. Some of the smallest I’ve ever seen. Cost is around $10 and well worth the investment. I’ve had mine for 20+ years and have the original bits and have used it on every kit I’ve ever done.

Hope I’ve helped.

birdman

3

hey birdman!

thanks for youre advice! very usefull indeed! especially on the resin part.

I did actually some tests pouring the stuff on a piece of test styerene sheet, and before that i read a very usefull tip concerning bubbles:

if you use tape as a blocker, and you have some bubbles IN the window, where you obviously dont want it <= sometimes the resin doesn’t drip all the way down in the little hole, here’s the tip i read on the net, and it worked perfectly for me: simply grab a needle or x-acto and punch a tiny hole in the tape, this way the air isn’t longer trapped, and the resin will go down in the hole by means of gravity (nope, even liqued resin can’t escape the laws of nature!! :stuck_out_tongue_winking_eye: )

but i saw the problem of the bubbles in the resin before pouring <= saw some pictures of a guy using some kind of special paper making a funnel out of it, which acted as a strainer (hope “strainer” makes sence, dont know the english word, had to open a dictionary for it…)

anyway, the paper blocked all the bubbles and the bubblefree resin was poured into model. dunno if that works though, and, what kind of paper to use for it.

thanks again for youre advice!

s.

4

Pouring clear resin to do the windows seems a trifle excessive, particularly when the windows are that small.

Another option would be Microscale Krystal Kleer or the Testors “clear parts” glue. Both are “one part” (no mixing) and far less messy (also far less toxic and much easier to clean up).

5

talking about great tips! cheers!

any advice on the paints to use though? im still building my first ship, and have non experience what would give the best finish…

thanks again!

6

Hello you can check out my thread on here for the Excelsior.I had a friend give me a color reference I used to do my Excelsior with,I think it will be helpful,here it is just copy and paste it to your browser: http://www.finescale.com/FSM/CS/forums/613792/ShowPost.aspx The color reference is “cannon” for the Excelsior and details the color and color detail exactly how it should be.Hope this helps

7

Nah… If you want to build it right… You are better off going to an expert build… Check out Dons build here… This guy gets down to the stuff, us normal builders dont think of… Just amazing the amount of work he puts into his builds…

http://www.culttvman.com/don_matthys__ent_b_excel_pt_1.html

Cheers, Chris

8

both ships mentioned here are looking the buisness!

thnx for the tips, but now i got another problem: which one should i choose? LOL JK!

thnx again for the tips! once lightning is done, i will def. take an example out of the model from don.

but, as first things first: get the RGB-controller for lightning developed for all starships, which may take some time. Because i dont wanna get bored while waiting for this card, i bought myself a level 5 F15-strike eagle model, just to pick up some usefull skills, and simply practice!

still building my first kits ya know.

9

Use both examples,every little bit of info helps me when I am building a model.

10

oh obsolutely! couldn’t agree more.

and besides, its part of the fun looking at other peoples projects, and, how they did it. (allways apreciate a well documented starship :slight_smile: )

11

Yeah, it always amazes me when I look at a project from Don… Just the amount of intrical work that goes into his builds… His Reliant is a top notch build also… I agree with looking at other builds aswell… But as they say. If you are going to do it well… Do it well the first time!.. Or second, or third…

How will you be painting it Capt…

Chris

12

with time and patience chris… lol jk.

after i filled the windows with clear resin (probably…) i will “steal” colors from others. it’s clear though, that for both the white/grey and the blue/light-blue panneling i will use both non-gloss and medium-gloss paints, imho, that gives the nicest finish if i look at other peoples builds…

For aztecs, i found a few templates, but not really happy with them. so, i will use the panneling on the saucer as a base, count the number of “pie-slices” (does this make any sence?) then in illustrator, make the same ammount of slices in a circle (with a few testprints, make the circle exactly as big as the saucer) so i have a schematic copy of the saucer, add more circles as there are rings on the model, once complete, i will use this:
http://www.starshipmodeler.com/tech/sh_aztec40.jpg

as a template, sketch and skew this until it fits on the schematic copy, testprint, it should fit then, if ok, print it on a low-tag masking film. Airbrush the first color, apply the mask, seal it with the first color, then paint it with the medium-gloss for the aztec effect. Should be a lot of work, since there are different aerea’s to be aztec-ed (yes, the whole ship needs to be done, but i mean blue-lightblue, and broken white-grey area’s.) i havent tried yet, but i presume i can’t mask off azteccing both at the same time…

Again, which colors to use, im not sure yet, having too much fun looking at others buildups (too bad though only a few people thought of telling what paints they used…) If the RGB-card is done (can have it etched now, but need some $$$ first…) i have to first worry about lighting, then comes the paint… so im FAR FAR away from a endresult. (which is ok, best thing about hobby is that there is no deadline right?)

i know i mentioned this before but, im a real noobie’s noob, so im kind of experimenting a long the way. I know i should start more simple, do a few buildups first before i try more complecated things, but hey, thats just not me. I have a degree in civil-engineering, so i’m expecting from myself i can do this.

13

Sounds like you have a plan there…

As for colours… I havnt built an excelsior as of yet… I did however build one to represent the Enterprise -B because I hate the actual enterprise -B design… And so it was painted in Ent -B colours… It has since been destroyed by children…

Doesnt Don say what colours he uses in his build?.. Otherwise go check out the SSM photo album…

Post pics as you go… Really would love to see it!

Chris

14

would like to take pics as well, but i dont have a decent cam. so i have to wait till i can borrow my parents cam; but since they are on holliday for a few months(!!!) to south africa (sight… we dutch have a saying: there HAS to be some difference…)

nothing to do but continue and take pics when they are back… please be patient. If i come across another cam i can borrow, i will take pics sooner…

and the plan: yup, first things they learn students on engineering school, is to think 3 times before you actually do something. Prevent mistakes by just THINKING. This is great advice in general, but also applies to moddeling. Then do up more and more experience, and include that experience into the next plan.

second thing they will learn you, is to become handy. no shortcut here, learned it the hard way, just by doing. in my last year, for my endproject, me and 3 classmates build our own scale model house.

that project was sooo kewl. in drawing class we came up with our own design, with all the local rules and regulations in mind. then we actually build a scaled down version of that house. it was approx. 10 meters by 15 meters, 2 floors, and a pointed roof (which gave us quite a few headaches while building it…) All the wall were double walls(dont know the english word) with real isolation and electronics, working water taps etc. We build our own windows and doors, all according to specs used in real-life.

The only uncool aspect of the project was, after half a year of building, we had a very big green PASS on our house, and after that we had to break it down ourselves. can you immagine, the coolest house, half a year of back-breaking work, with the pride still in our eyes, you can immagine the reaction we had when we heard to break it down. :frowning:

so yeah, i allways come up with a plan before i start anything.

Later when i started programming, i quickly discovered that this way of working also applies to programming / scripting.