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AMT Models SCALE actually 1/528 not 1/537

MANOLO

Cadet
Newbie
Hi there, I've been lurking on these forums for a while now and decided to start sharing and hopefully conversing with like-minded enthusiasts.

Since the nineties I have owned and built Sci-Fi model kits and shared in some frustrations about inaccuracies, bad fitting, and models not in proper scales to one another...I have restocked on models in recent years but also faced procrastination: buing all sorts of supplies but not actually doing much on the kits, except here or there...

So my latest obsession was to figure out the inaccuracies of the AMT TOS/Movies kits and maybe come up with ways to make them closer to the filming miniatures...

I will slowly build up this thread with my research and maybe share progress in adapting these to the model kits:

Disclaimer: BIG Thanks to @yotsuna and your thread on the research of
Enterprise Evolution from TOS to TMP
I printed out your works in progress to scale 1/528 based on measurements of the AMT Refit Model kit's Saucer and went from there to see where which part of this kit and the other KIts

- Klingon K'T'Inga
- Reliant
- Cut-away Enterprise

were out of proportion.

I also am in the process of scaling up the AMT D7 to be a 228 m model kit in 1/528 scale.

Stay tuned for my progress on these projects in the next months and years ahead ;)

One of my working hypotheses is that the Scale issues of the Refit AMT Kit are due to it being developed from the Phase 2 proportions and not the actual later Richard Taylor Refit proportions...

Another hypothesis is, that in Canon there are actually at least 4 different Refit-Type Nacelles in use across the different starship classes we know:

1. Constitution Class (based on Filming Miniature)

2. Miranda class (based on ILM Filming miniature, which was slightly different to the Constitution Class Nacelle, slight deviations in details but overall proportions of elements are similar)

3. Constellation Class Nacelle (Filming miniature was presumably made to resemble AMT-Refit Nacelle of the yellow desk top Model on Picard's Ready Room - the Black areas, the power-state magnatomic flux chillers on the AMT Refit are significantly shorter than on the Filming miniature, anf both AMT Model Nacelles are overall wider and lack the outward curve from behind the flux chillers (which the models from POLAR LIGHTS replicated properly)

4. The Curry type features AMT-Miranda Nacelles which are distinct from ILM Miranda, Refit Miniature and AMT Refit Nacelles, thus comprising a whole new type and can be understood - in universe - as a precursor to the Titan-A nacelles and increased retro-Design in Starfleet - I thus have no problem with Excelsior-scaled Curry types.

For the Sydney Class ic have to do further research...
 
the saucer of the TOS Cut Away 22 inch Enterprise is actually closer to 1/516 scale ... however, like on the Revell kit, the lower saucer "lip" for a lack of a better word, is too wide, resembling the first miniature and not the series 11 footer minature... from my ballparking the proportions it appears, the saucer is 4 mm too wide - yet if you take these away from the top have, and from there angle the rim correctly you should be able to correct the lower saucer rim to be exactly like on the 11 footer and the polar lights model kits...the center cone of the lower saucer seems to correspond to 1/528 scale, as does the nacelle of the Cut-Away Enterprise.
 
I share your frustration about buying kits and parts and having them sit around because I’m tinkering with 5 models at once, not getting any of them done, and having a ton of other models waiting in the wings…
 
I know the proportions of the AMT refit aren't perfect, but some quick math shows that a 1000' long starship* is 12,000" long, and 12,000 divided by 537 is 22.35 inches. I don't have an assembled kit at hand to see how close that is to the exact length (it's marketed as 22 inches), but it sounds right.

*Thanks to Andy Probert for his appreciation for round-number spaceship lengths.
 
I know the proportions of the AMT refit aren't perfect, but some quick math shows that a 1000' long starship* is 12,000" long, and 12,000 divided by 537 is 22.35 inches. I don't have an assembled kit at hand to see how close that is to the exact length (it's marketed as 22 inches), but it sounds right.

*Thanks to Andy Probert for his appreciation for round-number spaceship lengths.
The problem is: the different modules on the AMT Refit (Saucer, Secondary Hull, Nacelles and Pylons) are not scaled to each other in proportion: I will soon add my photographic evidence.

the overall length of the AMT Refit is maybe 1/537 - but the proportions are a bit like a 6 feet toddler: too big saucer, to stubby nacelles.

as i said i came to 1/528 by measuring the saucer diameter of the model kit and relating this to the polar lights 1/1000 model and the most accurate reports on the miniature proportions i could find...which correspond to the modern polar lights kits (Richard Taylor blueprints).

The nacelles of the AMT refit for example have the proper height, yet are for the most part to wide and definitely too short in relation to the AMT Saucer.

The AMT secondary hull is around 5-6 mm too short, but mostly of the appropriate girth...and so on...

I will add photos, when i will be back from holiday...
 
so i am not argueing, that the overall length of the AMT Kit out of the box is scaled to 1/537 ... but that based on the saucer and the height of the nacelles, the neck and the girth of the secondary hull, the model kit should be thought of as 1/528 and correcting all modules in that scale would lead to a most accurate representation of the filming miniature at under 60 cm...
 
Any plans to draw the outlines of the AMT models as compared to the filming models?

Shaw did an excellent drawing of the 1/650? AMT Enterprise that started it all.
 
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