Resurrecting my Star Trek models, part deux

This is what my Polar Lights Star Trek models were starting to look like prior to the disaster I wrote in the post right before this one. You need to read that to avoid making the same mistake I did. These pictures were taken almost a year ago. The models were basically waiting for minor details like the dome "light" that goes over the Enterprises' shuttle bays, a good gloss coat to help the decals adhere properly, and some paint corrections, like the copper rings behind the Pilot Enterprise's Deflector (I don't think both versions have the second copper detail).

They are currently being sanded down and repainted. I suppose it's for the better. Maybe this will motivate me to get the grid lines on the production Enterprise's Saucer.

Back from the Ashes - Reviving my damaged Star Trek models

It has been nearly a YEAR since I started on these Polar Lights kits of the Original Series Enterprise and Klingon D7! And now 11 months later I find myself having to repaint them entirely due to the fact that I used what I consider generic Clear Gloss Spray that almost completely ruined them! For ethical reasons I'm refraining from naming the evil product in question that gave my children a tacky(sticky) finish. But it is not gloss spray from Home Depot like Krylon or anything like that. It was a domestic and very common brand of "model paint" found at any Toys"R"Us or Michael's. 

I had gone to some time-consuming lengths investigating and gathering all the resources I could find such as studio photos and magazine articles containing interviews with Matt Jeffries and others to try to get the most accurate color schemes possible. And since I wanted to not just replicate exact studio colors but to tweak them to what I call "Screen Apparent" colors, I had to mix the crap out of the violet grays and the blue grey on the D7 for example. Even the cool blue-violet grey on the pilot Enterprise is hand cranked (I despise yellow-grays, with few exceptions). All modelers have to go through this process of making that "special color" you can't buy anywhere.

But how frustrating to have to sand everything down to start all over again after weeks of cutting, puttying, sanding, etc... So these are my shots of these models undergoing sanding and repainting refit. I was put off for months but I'm not giving up that easily.

Fast Forward to 1967

Here is an overhead of the 3 Star Trek models I have that are closest to completion. From left to right: 1)USS Enterprise, 2nd Pilot version, 2)Enterprise, production version and 3)Klingon D-7. The three are mostly painted and have a few small parts that need attaching. They are still not adorned with decals, as I'm awaiting the decal solvent solution that has to be ordered.

Personally, I think I nailed the colors on these babies. That said, NAILED them from an "interpretive" stand point. If I am making models, especially at this small scale, WITHOUT any electrical lighting installed, I will usually color them in a way that gives them an on-screen appearance. But even then, I'm attempting to color them in such a way that only appears to REMIND you of what you saw on the tv or wherever. The 1st ship on the left was originally painted almost white. The final production Enterprise (center) was a much paler gray that was actually more greenish. Those are the correct colors without question. But the Enterprise sometimes appears somewhat bluish in scenes. So I have painted them all a darker shade to emphasize their on-screen looks under certain lighting conditions. Even then, I might augment a color.

Three Sisters (well, almost)

Hello folks! Nearly two decades later, I'm making plastic models again. And that's thanks to the evil of Polar Lights and their 3 foot long Starship (TMP) Enterprise model with clear parts for lighting. Not pictured here, and still in its beginning stages, its parts have been separated, sanded and primed and are sitting in a box, for the time being.

In the meantime, since I'm rusty after all those 18-19? years, I'm handling these smaller and simpler 10inch long ships from the original series at 1/1000 scale. With basic colors worked out, they are awaiting a gloss coat and decals. But the decal adhesive solution has to be ordered because there are few hobby shops in Miami nowadays and they are quite limited in terms of selection and supply, appealing more to the radio-control race car enthusiasts.