My first show build: AMT Enterprise-E First Contact

[dantheman]

I've been cruising the internet for sometime, looking at all the awesome Star Trek builds.

Now it's time to try my hand at it.

There's a model show in my city coming up in about a month, and I'm going to enter the First Contact kit that I bought on eBay.

I've also already purchased some Acreation Aztec decals, and the photoetch details for the kit. I want to light the kit. Nothing too fancy, just some windows and engine stuff. It's been pretty inspiring to see all the finished kits out there, and I'm really trying to do a good job on this build. It's sort of my first 'big build' and I'm kinda nervous about some of the details.

I would really like some advice from people who have built this kit before. How did you run wires through those warp pylons? They're really thin and I'm nervous that I'll cut a hole right through them! If you have pictures that'd be great...

I'd also like to use this thread as motivation. Keep me excited! I'll post pictures of my progress!

 

[lobo734]

Good luck. Time will be the enemy. A month is a shorter time than a lot of people think. I look forward to seeing your progress. If you hit a rough spot their is a lot of great people here that can help you through.

 

[dkev]

Acreation aztec's are a pain. DON'T clear coat them. There is no protective coating on the decals. I bought a set for the 350 NX-01. Didn't even bother putting them on. Not a fan of Acreation. But like Lobo said, time is your enemy. Keep us updated and good luck!!!

 

[Grendels]

Good luck! and post here if you need help.

 

[hook1169]

No backing out now! ;D ... Keep us in the loop.

 

[dantheman]

It's been a few days...lots to say!

My first task was to lightblock the interior. Initially I thought doing a coat of primer followed by a coat of silver would be enough to work...After some testing, it didn't really work out. Back to the hobby store!

Purchased some Faskolor black paint to run through my AB. After more testing, I couldn't quite get the Faskolor to flow through my AB correctly. Lots of spatter. It just didn't look right!

After some head scratching, I find out that I need to set my air pressure much higher. On to some pictures:

Washing parts before masking:


Masking:



Kinda looks like a toilet bowl cover IMO.

After first coat of Faskolor black:




Waited a few a few hours, then put on a coat of MM acryl silver:





Also picked up some TINY drill bits (pin drills?). Figured all that window drilling was going to make my hands hurt so I hunted down a collet small enough to use with my dremel:



Now I'm going to spend the rest of the night working on the lighting stuff. ;D

Just out of curiosity, where do you guys purchase electronics for your builds?

 

[dantheman]

Update:

Did some window drilling on the bottom half of the saucer!







Suffice it to say, my hands are tired.

 

[ZOMBIEREPELLENT]

You're making good progress. But just so you know, flat white is better for evenly distributing light inside of a model. Where the windows on this kit is so tiny, it might be worth your while to experiment a little bit. I personally wouldn't spend the money on special paints to spray through an air brush for light blocking. The 97 cent wal mart spray paint works just fine. The acreation models decals are awesome, they can really take a beating, but you will definitely want to cut them down a bit to make them more manageable. They take to setting solutions incredibly well. After putting mine on my enterprise b I hit it with some testors dull coat and it turned out awesome.

 

[Grendels]

You are making nice progress here.

I agree with Zombierepellent, light block with black then white. Silver paint does not usually have a smooth surface, one of the tricks they use to give it that metal look. But white paint will have a smooth surface. This allows for better reflections.

I get most of my electronics from ebay, and I build my own flasher and blinker circuits. When not using ebay I will use Jameco electronics.

For pre-made circuits, there is voodoo fx, don's lighting and magic to name a few.

 

[dantheman]

You're making good progress. But just so you know, flat white is better for evenly distributing light inside of a model. Where the windows on this kit is so tiny, it might be worth your while to experiment a little bit. I personally wouldn't spend the money on special paints to spray through an air brush for light blocking. The 97 cent wal mart spray paint works just fine. The acreation models decals are awesome, they can really take a beating, but you will definitely want to cut them down a bit to make them more manageable. They take to setting solutions incredibly well. After putting mine on my enterprise b I hit it with some testors dull coat and it turned out awesome.

Thanks for the advice Zombierepellent, after I finish drilling windows, I might give that a shot.

You're right about using Wal-Mart paint for lightblocking. I was thinking of going that route, but I'm not so good with the airbrush, and I thought I could use the practice! The Faskolor was only ~$5 anyway.

As for the Acreation aztec set, I was initially worried when I saw this: (I spent $30 on them!)

Acreation aztec's are a pain. DON'T clear coat them. There is no protective coating on the decals. I bought a set for the 350 NX-01. Didn't even bother putting them on. Not a fan of Acreation.

They haven't arrived yet, but now I'm not so nervous about them. Glad you had a good experience with them.

Back to window drilling....

 

[dantheman]

You are making nice progress here.

I agree with Zombierepellent, light block with black then white. Silver paint does not usually have a smooth surface, one of the tricks they use to give it that metal look. But white paint will have a smooth surface. This allows for better reflections.

I get most of my electronics from ebay, and I build my own flasher and blinker circuits. When not using ebay I will use Jameco electronics.

For pre-made circuits, there is voodoo fx, don's lighting and magic to name a few.

I've never heard about Jameco, I'll check them out.

Right now I'm shopping on Digikey for LEDs/power supplies and Sparkfun in case I need to use any surface mount stuff.

For effects, I've been using an Arduino: http://arduino.cc/en/. It's definitely overkill for just blinking LEDs but you can do some incredible stuff with PWM. I'm also more inclined to write a few lines of code than deal with my nemesis: 555 timers.

 

[Glorfindel]

Big Dan good luck with this in a month. I'm watching with enthusiasm as I have this kit and all the same AM goodness you have there. Have to agree with the other guys about the light blocking thing. Give it a whirl, I think you'll love the results.

 

[Boxster]

I think this kit will build up very nicely! Is it still selling?

B

 

[Glorfindel]

I think this kit will build up very nicely! Is it still selling?

B

Discontinued but you can still find these on EBay as they tend to pop up from time to time. 1400 scale kit, builds up to about 18"-20" when complete. This version needs to be in 1000 scale. push it to 27" or so.

 

[dantheman]

Update:

Spent ALL day drilling! I finished both engineering hull sections and put a decent dent in the top of the saucer.

Tomorrow I'll put together a shot of the various pieces with a couple of LED's.

I think this kit will build up very nicely! Is it still selling?

B

Discontinued but you can still find these on EBay as they tend to pop up from time to time. 1400 scale kit, builds up to about 18"-20" when complete. This version needs to be in 1000 scale. push it to 27" or so.

I got mine on eBay for about $50. It took some time to find one sub-$100, but it was worth the wait.

I agree with Glorfindel. They need to make this kit in 1/1000. I'd buy that kit in a hurry.

 

[Boxster]

Thanks, Glorfindel and Dantheman!

I have to agreed that they should push this sucka in 1/1000.

I am looking forward to more of your build!

B

 

[Mr Minus]

Just joined this site and forum, all new to me, so just thought I'd say Hi to your good self and good luck with the build. Huge sci-fi fan so really looking forward to your progress.

 

[Grendels]

You are making nice progress here.

I agree with Zombierepellent, light block with black then white. Silver paint does not usually have a smooth surface, one of the tricks they use to give it that metal look. But white paint will have a smooth surface. This allows for better reflections.

I get most of my electronics from ebay, and I build my own flasher and blinker circuits. When not using ebay I will use Jameco electronics.

For pre-made circuits, there is voodoo fx, don's lighting and magic to name a few.

I've never heard about Jameco, I'll check them out.

Right now I'm shopping on Digikey for LEDs/power supplies and Sparkfun in case I need to use any surface mount stuff.

For effects, I've been using an Arduino: http://arduino.cc/en/. It's definitely overkill for just blinking LEDs but you can do some incredible stuff with PWM. I'm also more inclined to write a few lines of code than deal with my nemesis: 555 timers.

I started off with 555 timers, not a problem any more, but I can see why you wouldn't want to mess with them. They can be a bit complicated.

 

[dantheman]

Just joined this site and forum, all new to me, so just thought I'd say Hi to your good self and good luck with the build. Huge sci-fi fan so really looking forward to your progress.

Hey! Welcome to the site! I'm actually pretty new around here too...huge sci-fi fan as well. Time spent drilling windows is time also spent re-watching Star Trek on Netflix. Tonight I watched Wrath of Kaaaaaaahhhhhhhhn! 8)

I started off with 555 timers, not a problem any more, but I can see why you wouldn't want to mess with them. They can be a bit complicated.

Yes they can. Have you read the datasheet on that thing? Might be easier to understand if it was in Klingon! Glad you have them figured out. If I ever want to take another shot with them again, I guess I know who to ask.

Update:

More drilling on the top end of the saucer. Here's some photos as promised with some LED's. They aren't placed perfectly. I borrowed the LED's from another build that I'm working on. I apologize in advance for the poor image quality. Cell phone cameras get confused when the only light source is a bunch of tiny windows.

Engineering Hull




Saucer with more windows:




Lots of light leak! I'm pretty terrible with the AB.

Initially, I only put one LED in the saucer. Very little light was getting through, so I swapped it out with 6 identical LEDs driven with a bit more current. Still had to turn the lights off in the room to see anything... I suppose it's time to buy some flat white paint... Oh well...live and learn. That's why I came here!

Oh, my Acreation stuff came in the mail today! w00t!



The detail on the deflector dish pieces is incredible! I can't wait to use them!

Off to Wal-Mart...

 

[Grendels]

Those decals look sharp, and should really add to the model.