IndianaCook

Thanks. I'm really pleased with how it's turned out

Thanks guys

Thanks guys

Enterprise D ready for inspection:

Hi all, Uploading some final shots of my restore. I'm really pleased with the overall result, considering she's been at the bottom of a box for at least the last 10 years I've learnt quite a lot, I've made some mistakes and there are a few things I would have done differently plus there's a bit of silvering around some of the decals but hey ho! As I've said, she's not perfect, but she's mine The only thing left to do now is buy the stand and show her off A couple of quick before shots: And PLENTY of after shots: There are a few imperfections, but at least she's no longer at the bottom of a box Thanks for looking guys LLAP \V/

Hi all, Sorry for the delay in updates... Had my head in this project quite a bit, barely any time to look up! But, as I've made significant progress I felt it was time to update So, finally my detailing decals turned up: This was the part I was really looking forward to: I'd been waiting to do this for aaaages They went on really well: I eventually finished applying the decals to the bottom of the ship: And started applying them to the top: She was starting to scrub up rather well And to be honest, I couldn't resist having a quick mess around in Photoshop: Not the best but it was a quick job, trying to be sneaky while in work Eventually I made a start on the top of the ship: Aaaaaand top done!! I covered her in Microsol... that stuff is amazing! Actually, at this point there were still a couple more details to apply but application was pretty much done! It was at this point I realised she was actually starting to look mighty fine... and was starting to feel quite proud of myself! Almost there... Added in the final details, some windows round the edge of the saucer and a couple other things too. Bit of a mini disaster right at the end though; I gave her another coat of Microsol and accidentally scraped the underside registry off! However I was able to salvage it as I had spare numbers on the decal sheet, I only needed a 7, 0 and 1 in the end. And finally I've given her a couple of coats of clear matt... I really don't like the glossy look. I've really enjoyed working on my Enterprise D and am proud of how she's turned out, I'm glad she's no longer stuck at the bottom of a box in a cupboard somewhere, she will soon be on proud display! There are a few imperfections and I probably would have done some things differently but overall I couldn't be happier. Considering too that this is the first time in a few years I've had another crack at modelling (not including the rescue of my Bird of Prey which really didn't need much doing to it) As I've finished I will take some nicer shots and add post a link to Ready for Inspection. The only thing left now is to buy the stand and display her proudly Thanks for looking guys... LLAP \V/

Thanks I have detailing decals now so hopefully they'll go on as smoothly too!! I'm in the home straight now

Howdy all! How have you all been? Good I hope. Bit of an update for you, sorry its been a while. First up after the gloss coat was applied I went back and added a bit more detail... Painted in some detail where I'd used filler... Then I picked up some supplies... ... ready for Azteking This was a massive task!! Here I go! So far so good... Thats the underside of the drive section sorted! Top of the drive section... Then on to the dish Getting there... Looking not too shabby!! Top of the dish now The Bridge... Half way there... Wooooahoooh!! Livin' on a Prayer!! Sorry guys, I couldn't resist aaaaand DONE! Phew!! That wasn't as bad as what I thought it would be. It hasn't been completely error free though; a few bits ripped on me, and it was really awkward applying the decals to the engines for some reason. But it went smoother than I expected I have applied a 2 or 3 coats of Microsol to the entire Azteking. I think I will apply what I have left of the gloss coat to seal the Azteking in and in preparation for applying the detailing decals (which haven't turned up yet ) Once they're on I will give her a clear matt coat finish. I really don't like the glossy look There are definite imperfections, where the decal had rolled over on itself for example and I creased it trying to put it back, and some areas which are torn and don't quite go back together. But overall I'm happy with how she's looking now and I've really enjoyed the time i've spent on her so far. Hopefully my detail decals will turn up soon... I'm itching to finish her off!!! Thanks for looking guys LLAP \V/

Thanks

Good evening all, Sorry for the lack of updates. Been busy beavering away like a mad man at this. However I believe it's time I caught you up. As Mr Arnold says from Jurassic Park "Hold on to your butts!" :-D So payday finally came and I was able to get my supplies: I'm not aiming for any particular colour scheme here, so it might not be "screen accurate" but the colours are looking nice I think maybe the bussard collectors are a little red but ho hum!! I've gone for Humbrol Acrylic Grey 64, and made sure I got 2 cans this time hopefully the light grey will bring out the Azteking when its applied. Finally managed to give her an all over coat of primer, in fact she's had a couple coats: Masking off the areas I want to paint, around the engines and deflector dish: Starting to paint, been looking forward to this Looks alright so far I think I let her dry for a couple days then masked off the coloured sections, ready for the grey base coat: and I painted in some detail: I purchased some gloss clear and applied, ready for the Azteking decals I applied a couple of gloss coats. I've also order the Galaxy class detail decals from Federation Models and some microsol and microset. The microset should (hopefully) arrive tomorrow so fingers crossed I'll be starting on the Azteking very very soon! Thanks for looking LLAP \V/

Hi everybody! I'm currently working on restoring my AMT 1:1400 USS Enterprise D and so far its going well. It is the second stage of my many headed beast restoration project: http://www.britmodeller.com/forums/index.php?/topic/235006480-revisit-and-restoration-of-old-star-trek-models/ So I decided that I was going to use Acreation Models Aztecing decals instead of painting the Aztecing on by hand! My question is what is the best way to apply them? By that I mean, what would I use to prepare the area I am applying the decal too before hand, and what is the best method to seal them afterwards? Any help and advice is greatly appreciated LLAP \V/

Hi Mike, Yes it is a big target, I must be crazy!! I've had some of these models for 20+ years and I could never bring myself to get rid of them, so the only option is to restore them It will give me a few months of joy and nostalgia. I think you might be right, in regards to the order of restoration. NX-01 doesn't need that much doing to her so I think she will be next on my list Thanks for the advice too re the decals. I thinks, as I'm going to be ordering new decals for my 1:350 Ent I could use the sheet I have for spares, rather than using a Sharpie! LLAP \V/

Hi again guys. I realised that in my first post I'd described which ships were in my collection that needed restoring, but I actually haven't shown you them in their current state! So, while I'm taking a break from the restoration of my Enterprise-D (enforced break as I can't do anything else until payday **2 more days!!**) I figured I would photograph and show them to you Hope you enjoy... I'll start with: Polar Lights 1:350 Refit Enterprise As you can see she mostly remains unbuilt, aside from the main body, most of the parts are still on the sprues I'd ordered Acreation Models Aztecing for her and made a start applying the decals, and painting, but I was all over the place, no plan!! I think she was too much for me at the time See, I thought I did a decent job with the body, but it is a poor poor attempt She is still very much salvageable. The plan for her now is: * Remove the paint and decals * Paint her PROPERLY * Order new Aztecing and decals and apply Her stand is still in its packet along with the poles that hold her up which I'm pretty pleased about, as she is some model and will need supporting! I'm not sure whether to save her for last as I feel she will be the biggest challenge for me. I will see how the wind blows once I've finished with the-D Revell USS Voyager - 1:677 (Released in 1995) So I've had this one quite a while too. This is not the latest version with the added shuttlecraft, I wish I had them extras now Maybe I will try and source them from somewhere, if anyone could help me with that it would be much appreciated. Anyway, I digress... I think she was the first one I had a "proper" go at, and I was quite proud with the results. but, as with all my other models I neglected her and she's become damaged, not to the point of no return but still more than she should have been: Her engines no longer stay in their down position and just droop and you can see where she is coming apart just below the aft torpedo bay. Also I still have the stand but as with my Ent-D unfortunately is busted and I did a poor job of reattaching it, causing some damage underneath, Notice the damage just next to the phaser strip. I really am bad at remounting these things The most awkward thing I can see on this is the fact that one of the thrusters is missing. Not sure how I'm gonna sort this The plan for her now is: * Remove the paint and decals * Paint her PROPERLY * Order new Aztecing and decals and apply * Source a decent stand and mount her properly USS Enterprise NCC-1701-E - 1:1400 So, there isn't much wrong here, other than her engines have fallen off and I've lost her stand The plan for her now is: * Reattach her engines * Remove the paint and decals * Paint her PROPERLY * Order new Aztecing and decals and apply * Source a decent stand and mount her properly USS Enterprise NCC-1701-C - 1:1400 Again there is not much wrong with her, she could just be, well... better! The paint job is looking a little tired and the decals are yellowing!! The eagle eye's amongst you might notice that that stand doesn't actually belong to Miss-C. Its actually the stand that holds the separated saucer section on the Ent-D but as I made the connection between the saucer section and drive section permanent I decided to put this to good use here.... because, as you may have guessed, I'm pants at mounting models correctly I think she needs some TLC thats all. I have spotted on Federation Models battle damage decals and I'm seriously tempted to get them and give her a little more character, like in "Yesterdays Enterprise". I'll also have to remove that stand! The plan for her now is: * Remove the paint and decals * Paint her PROPERLY * Order new Aztecing and decals and quite possibly the battle damaged decals and apply * Source a decent stand and mount her properly USS Defiant - NX-74205 - 1:420 Not much really wrong here, a couple of pieces have come loose but nothing a good blob of glue will fix. I still have her stand and I quite like the paint job she has. I'll have to have a think about this one I think for now my plan might just be to repaint the stand... No no, i've decided the plan for her now is: * Remove the paint and decals * Paint her PROPERLY * Order new decals and apply * Paint the stand stand and mount her Enterprise - NX-01 - 1:350 Out of all the ships I have made I think the fact that I neglected this one annoys me the most!! Simply because I'd put a lot of effort in to it, I masked the ship of (using Aztec Dummy which wasn't cheap) and painted it! Fortunately there is not much wrong with her other than a few pieces that have come off, and the "0" on "01" being scratched. I can sort that easy enough with a Sharpie The only big thing that might be an issue is that one of the struts on the stand is gone dunno where too but it looks like I'm gonna have to remount it! Also, the deflector dish appears to be damaged so I may source a new one. I'm sure i've seen one on Federation Models The plan for her now is: * Reattach the missing pieces * Source a new deflector dish * Source a decent stand and mount her properly I also found the old stand for Miss-D... Look at the state of it!! I really shouldn't be allowed to mount models Anyway, thats it for now. Thanks for reading LLAP \V/

Hi Mike, Thanks for the welcome The removing of the paint was so far the toughest and most time consuming part. I believe though that applying the decals will trump that, but I can't wait to do it After 20 years she does deserve a bit of love and I'm more than happy to provide it Thanks LLAP \V/

Hi again guys.Hope you're all doing well. Just stopping by with a quick update. So, I finally managed to remove all the paint now, not 100% but i'm happy. Was a tough scrub but worth it I think She looks a little manky (as we say up North ) but that's I'd say 98% of the paint removed, and all ready for a nice couple coats of white primer While I was scrubbing the engines they actually came apart think the paint remover thinned the glue. To be honest it made the job easier. I managed to fix various joins across the ship, such the join between the star drive and the engine pylons. I've improved it more since taking this picture. And my Aztecing decals turned up yesterday!! I can wait to get started on that!! Patience Anthony.... patience The Star Drive with a couple coats of white primer. She's starting to scrub up rather well I had planned to mask off the Saucer section first and coat the Star Drive, then paint the saucer... all was proceeding as planed... ...until I ran out of white primer!! :-O So now, there is just the top section of the saucer to do, and I will probably give the bottom section another going over. But so far so good. I'm more than pleased at how she's coming along, but I can't get any more paint until pay day, so for now I will be taking a break!! Thanks for looking guys LLAP \V/

Morning guys, Just a little update. Cleaned the back and under the neck last night. It was particularly awkward to get the toothbrush up in there, but I managed There's a lot more detail on here than the saucer section so I'll have to get in there and scrape the paint out with my trusty little screwdriver! Here's a few images: I managed to make the join between the saucer and the drive section look a lot better too. Will just need sanding down, I don't plan on doing that until all the paint is removed! Still need to sort those phaser strips too!! Thanks for looking guys LLAP \V/

Hi all, Just a quick update on my progress. I have been scrub scrub scrubbing the paint away on this thing whenever I could, for the past week! Got a bit more more to do, but she's getting there. Its hard going but really rewarding Here are some pictures of my progress... The bottom of the saucer section: Cleaned up the join a little more between the saucer section and the drive section. Just needs sanding down. Think I will attempt to fix the phaser strips once the paint has been removed: Made a start cleaning the bottom of the ship. I damaged the phaser strip made of filler whilst cleaning so once I'd cleaned around it I fixed it again The paint you see remaining is encased in glue. I told you, I did a really bad job at mounting it It may look a bit of a mess but I've sanded it down to a point where it is nice and smooth, and hopefully hardly noticeable once painted: Here is a closer view. As you can see the phaser strip just needs smoothing off: My plan, once all the paint is off her, is to give her a couple of coats of white primer, then a coat of grey. I plan to cover everything in white, including the engine grills, bussard collectors and deflector, so when the new coat is applied (blue, red etc) it really pops!! Does anyone have any thoughts around this? I mean, will it work like I'm thinking (hoping) it will? I also ordered the Aztecing decalls from Acreation models, hopefully they will turn up soon. Still need to order replacement decalls for everything else (ship name, registry, escape pods etc) I can get all that from Federation Models. Thanks for looking guys LLAP \V/

Hi again guys, Last night I spent a bit more time cleaning the paint off her. Its pretty time consuming but is coming off really well. One of the thrusters came off while I was cleaning but no big deal, I'll glue it back on before I paint her.... That filler is looking a little rough, gonna have to sort that out when I'm done cleaning Having to scratch out all the paint from them windows was one thing I did't anticipate doing however I'm finding it strangely relaxing Looking clean and almost like new Thanks guys LLAP \V/

Hi PhantomMajor, Thanks for the feedback, and the advice. I didn't lose much detail if I'm honest, while sanding down the filler. I just used too much of it, just made work harder for myself!! But, we live and learn So, last night I started the epic job of cleaning the paint off her, using Revell Paint Remover https://www.emodels.co.uk/revell-100ml-paint-remover-39617.html This is really good stuff for removing paint, and a lot easier than I thought it would be. I can't remember if the horrible paint job was acrylic or enamel (I'm sure I used a combination of both) but this stuff did a really good job of taking it off... I've not seen that light blue of the original plastic for almost 20 years Now don't get me wrong, this is a hard scrub!! Basically, apply the remover, let it soak into the paint for a couple minutes and then scrub like crazy!! I used a new 25p toothbrush from Tesco, and one of those sponge scrubbers you use to wash the dishes. With the paint off, the detail pops There's still congealed paint around the phasers and in the windows, so that will take a while to get out. To get to this point was about an hour, so I can see a few more hours spent scrubbing away, but she's getting there LLAP \V/

Thanks guys. It was a nice way to ease me back in to modelling. I have bigger challenges ahead facing me

So guys, i've been working hard on the Enterprise D and thought I'd show you some of my progress. I managed to remove the weird q-tip thing I'd glued on the bottom of the ship and sanded it down as much as I could to remove the residual glue. It gave it a nice smooth finish, even if it looks a little rough around the edges. My plan was to fill the hole, I think I got a little generous with the filler I decided to use filler on the join between the saucer and drive section. I got a little over eager here too and used a little too much filler again (you'll see shortly what I ended up doing) The saucer section from underneath where I've used filler again! You can also see where I've sanded down the very bottom of the ship, from when I felled the hole. Notice how the phaser strip looks really rough.... I couldn't have that! So I masked the area off and used (you guessed it) filler, to clean that bit up. Worked pretty well I'd say This image you can see where I have cleaned up the sides of the ship (not sure if the actually have a name) But I noticed the deflector dish needed sorting. Gaps everywhere!! Another shot of the dorsal phaser strip looking a lot cleaner I have used filler (what else?!) to sort the gaps out on the deflector dish. You can see also where I've started trying to remove the paint. I think that might be hard going that :-S As I mentioned early, I got a little generous with the filler here, totally covered the detailing and the phaser strips :-O So I had to get a little creative. Took me a while with a very small screwdriver but I managed to etch back in some detail. I used the same technique on these phaser strips as I did on the dorsal one. All in all I'm pleased with my progress. One thing I noticed was how flimsy she had gotten spending all those years in storage, now she's starting to look solid, and sturdy. I think that's why, in some parts, I got a little generous with the filler!! :-D Anyway, keep watching guys. Hope you like what you see!

She is the first one of my "damaged" collection. She wasn't badly broke but I'm pleased with how she's turned out

Hi everyone again. So I have made a start on my Enterprise D 1:1400 scale. She wasn't damaged that much. Just in an unloved state. I've had her for close to 20 years I'd say, and she is my favourite ship. I want to repaint her and apply some fantastic detailed aztec decaling. Here she is before I go at her... She doesn't look too bad from the top, but from the side... You can see where she is coming apart at the join, and where I did a poor job (quite some time ago) of fixing it. Notice the little pipe thing near the stand hole! Underneath is the poor attempt I did at mounting her, after her stand busted. I think that white thing is the plastic bit of a q-tip. What was I thinking?? You can see also the massive gap between the saucer section and the drive section. I will fill this with some filler. I will fill this gap too on the top section! Wish me luck!

Hi guys, Have completed my KBoP and she's ready for inspection... http://www.britmodeller.com/forums/index.php?/topic/235006886-amtertl-klingon-bird-of-prey/ On to the Enterprise-D

Hi guys This is my first completed model of my overall project, the Klingon Bird of Prey.