Looks great! All you need to do is attach it something that spins at variable rats of speed and she is done!
STAR TREK in 1:2400 scale
- Thread starter Albertese
- Start date
Cool, it looks just right. 
-Ricky
-Ricky
Thanks, guys!
I finally got to printing some decals. I dunno what the heck is going on, here. My CHEAP ASS printer can't print a decal to save it's freakin' life. I wanna throw the dang thing against a wall! I made a sheet of graphics up in Photoshop and printed it four times. Each print was unacceptable. I tried different settings each time. I included names and number for a few different starships.
Questions for anyone who's made decals this way before... any advise? I've done this before myself and it worked great. But I can't remember if it was the same printer or my previous printer. But any tips?
Anyhow, though the lettering will not pass muster, some of the just graphical stuff was more usable. I hunted through my many and sundry decals trying to find the least offensive markings and got some decals on there.
I made a "wallpaper" style decal for the upper and lower surfaces of the saucer. And I'm using Micro-Sol and Micro-Set for the first time. It sure seems to take a long time to set up/dry/cure... but dang, it sure seems effective and laying the film down flat. I'm sorry I never tried this stuff before! There are very faint grid lines on there but they are tough to see, even in person. Just the look I was hoping for! So, I'm happy with how that turned out at least.
Anyhow, I want to give it all the time it wants to be dry before I lay more decal on top of this. Plus I have yet to put my "wallpaper" decal on the upper saucer, and that'll take time to dry. But I'll keep posting as the model progresses.
Thanks for looking!
--Alex
I finally got to printing some decals. I dunno what the heck is going on, here. My CHEAP ASS printer can't print a decal to save it's freakin' life. I wanna throw the dang thing against a wall! I made a sheet of graphics up in Photoshop and printed it four times. Each print was unacceptable. I tried different settings each time. I included names and number for a few different starships.
Questions for anyone who's made decals this way before... any advise? I've done this before myself and it worked great. But I can't remember if it was the same printer or my previous printer. But any tips?
Anyhow, though the lettering will not pass muster, some of the just graphical stuff was more usable. I hunted through my many and sundry decals trying to find the least offensive markings and got some decals on there.
I made a "wallpaper" style decal for the upper and lower surfaces of the saucer. And I'm using Micro-Sol and Micro-Set for the first time. It sure seems to take a long time to set up/dry/cure... but dang, it sure seems effective and laying the film down flat. I'm sorry I never tried this stuff before! There are very faint grid lines on there but they are tough to see, even in person. Just the look I was hoping for! So, I'm happy with how that turned out at least.
Anyhow, I want to give it all the time it wants to be dry before I lay more decal on top of this. Plus I have yet to put my "wallpaper" decal on the upper saucer, and that'll take time to dry. But I'll keep posting as the model progresses.
Thanks for looking!
--Alex
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Alex,
For this small scale your hand painting looks great. The colors on the cube look perfect.
Re: The Decals - I've never printed my own decals so I can't rule out a problem with the printer or the paper. I do have a fairly extensive graphics background and those top three examples look a lot like the "fuzz" you get in low quality .jpg images.
Jpg files are small because the format compresses the images by approximating the color transitions across the image. The lower the save quality, the more the colors tend to smear and bleed. Especially at high contrast edges like the black letters and numbers on a white/clear background.
If you can, I would recommend saving as .png, .bmp, or .tif. Those formats don't create the fuzzy edges. You could also try saving at a higher .jpg quality setting.
A potential problem here is that once an image is saved as a low quality .jpg, you can't reverse it and go back to the original quality. You may need to recreate your decal graphics in whatever program you used and then save at higher quality.
I hope this helps,
- David
For this small scale your hand painting looks great. The colors on the cube look perfect.
Re: The Decals - I've never printed my own decals so I can't rule out a problem with the printer or the paper. I do have a fairly extensive graphics background and those top three examples look a lot like the "fuzz" you get in low quality .jpg images.
Jpg files are small because the format compresses the images by approximating the color transitions across the image. The lower the save quality, the more the colors tend to smear and bleed. Especially at high contrast edges like the black letters and numbers on a white/clear background.
If you can, I would recommend saving as .png, .bmp, or .tif. Those formats don't create the fuzzy edges. You could also try saving at a higher .jpg quality setting.
A potential problem here is that once an image is saved as a low quality .jpg, you can't reverse it and go back to the original quality. You may need to recreate your decal graphics in whatever program you used and then save at higher quality.
I hope this helps,
- David
ZStar, thanks for the advice, I might try some other formats. The thing is, though (and the reason I suspect it's something to do with the printer and the decal paper team-up) is that I always practice print it on standard printer paper and it came out as sharp and crisp as ever. It was only on the decal paper this happened. I though maybe the printer heads needed cleaning, so I ran all the maintanance stuff in my printer, and I even tried printing it at different image quality levels and on different settings, like for glossy paper instead of normal. (BTW the decal instruction say to set as if normal paper, so that's what I tried first, I just wanted to see what would happen).
So, we'll see. I need to do some more research. I may end up trying to get some decal paper for laser printers and go that route. Though, I checked, and all my Local Hobby Store stocks is for inkjets.
Thanks again for the advice. The adventure continues!
--Alex
So, we'll see. I need to do some more research. I may end up trying to get some decal paper for laser printers and go that route. Though, I checked, and all my Local Hobby Store stocks is for inkjets.
Thanks again for the advice. The adventure continues!
--Alex
Looking like ink bleed to me, while jpg concerns are good I doubt unless it was JPGED heavily a inkjet often wont "see" it. Id try a simple test pass at a lower ink flow if that is possible. I have not used a inkjet in ages but I did print on some strange stuff back then and anytime I got results like above it was because too much ink was being put on or it was just too WET. Even material dampness or humidity affected things. (my old photo printer used to soak paper so I had to cut down the ink put down per pass) Some printers call the lower ink flow settings things like Lower quality, econo mode etc. Just test print it on plain paper to make sure it does not void (white spots) or stripe on you.
Cleaning the heads is a good thing some rubbing alcohol and a swab and then a cleaning print on some rough paper would help clean up any streaking or voids as well as any depositing.
Some day i gotta try decal sheets on my laser printer. Just not sure how well that stuff will deal with the fuser pass EXP as mine is a single pass unit.
OH also do remember vaugley some one on youtube making a comment about spraying some matte coat or gloss on the sheets PRIOR to printing then after.
Cleaning the heads is a good thing some rubbing alcohol and a swab and then a cleaning print on some rough paper would help clean up any streaking or voids as well as any depositing.
Some day i gotta try decal sheets on my laser printer. Just not sure how well that stuff will deal with the fuser pass EXP as mine is a single pass unit.
OH also do remember vaugley some one on youtube making a comment about spraying some matte coat or gloss on the sheets PRIOR to printing then after.
Madkoifish, this is what I'm thinking too. I'll tray again with a lower ink mode. Also, I'll give it plenty of time to dry before spraying the sealing lacquer on it. One of the prints wasn't so terrible, but has a weird ghost image on it and I think I sprayed it too soon and the ink ran. Also, maybe I sprayed too heavy a coat. Experimentation is in order.
--Alex
--Alex
Looks great!
How did you finally fix the ink problem?
-Ricky
How did you finally fix the ink problem?
-Ricky
Oh, I haven't yet. Of my home made markings, I simply chose the least bad ones. That lovely lettering you see is what's included in the kit.
There are some curious omissions on the kit's decals, like the lack of the gray triangles for the lower saucer, and lack of landing target lights for the stern. Also the decals for the windows around the saucer's rim are not quite right. But I went ahead and used them anyhow.
--Alex
There are some curious omissions on the kit's decals, like the lack of the gray triangles for the lower saucer, and lack of landing target lights for the stern. Also the decals for the windows around the saucer's rim are not quite right. But I went ahead and used them anyhow.
--Alex
FIN!
This was a fun project and I learned a lot. I used a bit of Bare Metal Foil for the inner tracks on the warp nacelles. My first time with BMF. I weathered the ship with as many pics of the original model in it's production paint as I had up as reference. I used powdered pencil graphite applied with a small brush and adjusted with judicious use of an eraser. And I wasn't as diligent as I ought to have been regarding dust on the model and there are some unaddressable issues with the decals. They're small, but you can find them if you're looking at them. And I kinda suspected I installed the pylons backwards, but I couldn't tell for sure until now that I have the engines in place and they are definitely on there at an unfortunate angle.... I might saw the pylons off and glue them back on straight...? But I dunno. It'd be dicey getting the re-paint just right so I have to weigh which issue bothers me more.
Anyhow...pics!
--Alex
This was a fun project and I learned a lot. I used a bit of Bare Metal Foil for the inner tracks on the warp nacelles. My first time with BMF. I weathered the ship with as many pics of the original model in it's production paint as I had up as reference. I used powdered pencil graphite applied with a small brush and adjusted with judicious use of an eraser. And I wasn't as diligent as I ought to have been regarding dust on the model and there are some unaddressable issues with the decals. They're small, but you can find them if you're looking at them. And I kinda suspected I installed the pylons backwards, but I couldn't tell for sure until now that I have the engines in place and they are definitely on there at an unfortunate angle.... I might saw the pylons off and glue them back on straight...? But I dunno. It'd be dicey getting the re-paint just right so I have to weigh which issue bothers me more.
Anyhow...pics!
--Alex
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I think it turned out great!
-Ricky
-Ricky
Funny you should ask!
I'm currently fiddling with my own set of tabletop Star Trek rules and fully intend to use these ships in that endeavor. That's part of the reason I chose to use a gaming style base as a stand. Whether or not they are a good scale for that depends entirely on your taste. And how big a table you have.
They are probably about double the size of ships you've seen from the 80s and 90s for tabletop, like from FASA and from SFB. But some of the current table top space combat games, like Firestorm Armada and such are tending to use larger models. In fact the SFB joint venture with Mongoose Publishing, A Call to Arms: Star Fleet, has miniatures made for it that are just a little smaller than these Cadet Series models. Though those models are painfully under-detailed.
I'm not sure how practical this scale would be for TNG type games, though, as the models get a lot bigger. The E-D is about 7.5 " wide (I haven't assembled it yet to see how long). You can see how that might get awkward in a tactical game.
Although, if you are playing a role playing game and just using the models to show relative position in a super abstract way, like the Chase rules in Savage Worlds or the space combat mini game in Diaspora/FATE, then these models would be a fantastic choice!
--Alex
Well, for my next model, I will do the Romulan Bird of Prey.
Initially, I had the idea that I would do these in the order they were done on the show, but I'm not so tied to that any more. The RBoP was first in "The Balance of Terror" and I think the only other appearance was reuse of the footage in "The Deadly Years." In that episode, Commodore Stocker, having taken command of the Enterprise during an emergency, bumbles into to a fleet of possibly as many as ten ships and only survives by Kirk's nick-of-time recovery. In the original effects, we only see one Bird at a time, but in the remastered one, there are as many as four on screen at a time. I'm using that precedent to only bother making four of these.
This kit, especially when compared to the Enterprise in the same box, is stunningly accurate. Well, not really, it has some "webbed-feet" areas due to compromises in the tooling, but they are easily filed away. And the domes on the front of the engines are very soft. I took a file to them to create a sharper specific edge between dome and nacelle.
But overall, the parts are very nicely thought-out. None of the seams even need puttied as they are all concealed by the design.
My question for you all: What color was this thing? My only references of the original model are the admittedly rough prints that ended up on-screen, and a collection of very nice, but black and white stills of the model from 1966. I get the impression that it may have been simply sprayed silver and had the bird markings painted on over that. But for so many years, I grew up thinking it was more white-ish, so I don't know. All I do know is that I don't care for the heavily plated look the CBS model had and I won't go that route. Any opinions?
Also, I don't want all four to have the same bird artwork. I read somewhere (possibly an old FASA book?) that each ship had a bird of different color or type to distinguish it's identity, and I like that idea, so I'm gonna come up with some designs of my own and possibly print some decals if I can work out my printer issues.
So, what do you guys think about the base color?
--Alex
Initially, I had the idea that I would do these in the order they were done on the show, but I'm not so tied to that any more. The RBoP was first in "The Balance of Terror" and I think the only other appearance was reuse of the footage in "The Deadly Years." In that episode, Commodore Stocker, having taken command of the Enterprise during an emergency, bumbles into to a fleet of possibly as many as ten ships and only survives by Kirk's nick-of-time recovery. In the original effects, we only see one Bird at a time, but in the remastered one, there are as many as four on screen at a time. I'm using that precedent to only bother making four of these.
This kit, especially when compared to the Enterprise in the same box, is stunningly accurate. Well, not really, it has some "webbed-feet" areas due to compromises in the tooling, but they are easily filed away. And the domes on the front of the engines are very soft. I took a file to them to create a sharper specific edge between dome and nacelle.
But overall, the parts are very nicely thought-out. None of the seams even need puttied as they are all concealed by the design.
My question for you all: What color was this thing? My only references of the original model are the admittedly rough prints that ended up on-screen, and a collection of very nice, but black and white stills of the model from 1966. I get the impression that it may have been simply sprayed silver and had the bird markings painted on over that. But for so many years, I grew up thinking it was more white-ish, so I don't know. All I do know is that I don't care for the heavily plated look the CBS model had and I won't go that route. Any opinions?
Also, I don't want all four to have the same bird artwork. I read somewhere (possibly an old FASA book?) that each ship had a bird of different color or type to distinguish it's identity, and I like that idea, so I'm gonna come up with some designs of my own and possibly print some decals if I can work out my printer issues.
So, what do you guys think about the base color?
--Alex
Light greys or metallic greys...
The original appears to have been painted grey, and then the bird o' prey art was applied. There's still debate (I believe) on the domes being it blue or green.
The original appears to have been painted grey, and then the bird o' prey art was applied. There's still debate (I believe) on the domes being it blue or green.
Here's the first test.
On the left is one sprayed in a Krylon chrome color. I underestimated just how shiny it would be. This definitely ain't the way to go for this ship. (Although I think I found the paint for my upcoming Endoskeleton project...)
On the right is Insignia White, which honestly does look very good to my eye. I think I'm going to go out tomorrow and find some other silvery spray, possibly an aluminum color, something not as mirror-like, and try again on the silver one. But I think Insignia White is probably going to be the color to beat.
--Alex
On the left is one sprayed in a Krylon chrome color. I underestimated just how shiny it would be. This definitely ain't the way to go for this ship. (Although I think I found the paint for my upcoming Endoskeleton project...)
On the right is Insignia White, which honestly does look very good to my eye. I think I'm going to go out tomorrow and find some other silvery spray, possibly an aluminum color, something not as mirror-like, and try again on the silver one. But I think Insignia White is probably going to be the color to beat.
--Alex
