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.

Over and Undership

As I mentioned earlier, the models are still under construction. I may have to putty some areas and repaint others. Most obvious is the missing white dome that needs to be attached over the Enterprise's hangar bay. I MIGHT spray the insides of the Enterprise's bussard scoops clear orange. The models still need gloss-prep for decal placement. But the solution needs to be ordered. A local store has Testor's decal solvent, which I'm tempted to get, tho I've never used it before. From my experience Micro Set and Solvaset are really good for this sort of thing.

I wanted to show some of the weathering I applied on these, mostly in the form of dirt or maybe chemical streaks. While that effect can be seen on the original Enterprise to some degree or another, the Klingon vessel's weathering was usually more of a subtle tonal staining. But I like my Klingon ships really dirty, even the classic design. The streaking around her photorp tube is a bit exaggerated and resembles the K'Tinga'a design elements around her launcher, but that doesn't bother me. I may wind up repainting her entire underside anyhow and I'll get into my color choice for the D-7 later.

Aft Torpedoes Armed!

Here are some views of the undersides of my Polar Lights models. Again, still decal-less for the time being. I'm definitely not the best photographer in the world and I have to say that the harshness of the camera has captured many flaws that I couldn't see with my naked eyes. but that helps to make them better, even if it does mean more puttying, sanding and repainting.

It's also hard to capture the colors correctly. The Enterprise in the middle is actually a greener blue-gray, Tamiya's Dark Ghost Grey to be exact. And the blue tones on the Klingon vessel are more aqua. I'll explain more about my color scheme for the D-7 later on.