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Revisit and restoration of old Star Trek models


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Hi guys,

So, this is my second ever post on here, the first being an introduction of myself in the Newbs section.

Been reading through posts on here for quite a while, checking out some of the builds by some truly talented people, and I thought now was the perfect time to contribute.

So, i'll give a little background on my project.

A few weeks ago the Missus and I were cleaning out our spare bedroom and I came across a box of old Star Trek models in various states of disrepair.

I'd put them in storage with the intention of displaying them once we had settled in to our home, but life got in the way. So they remained in there, unloved :(

Anyway, upon finding them I was instantly hit with the modelling bug again. It brought a wave of nostalgia to me that filled me with joy!

The ships I have are:

Polar Lights 1:350 USS Enterprise A (which was never properly assembled)

Polar Lights 1:350 Enterprise NX-01

AMT USS Enterprise C

AMT USS Enterprise D

AMT USS Enterprise E

AMT USS Defiant

Revell USS Voyager

AMT Klingon Bird of Prey

I decided that these ships had been in storage long enough, and should be displayed in all their glory! But they do need some TLC. Unfortunately they were stored incorrectly and some of them have bits that have fallen off, and decals which have ripped or gone yellow, and paint jobs that are just, well, bad!

My intention is to repair them and give them fantastic new paint jobs and display them.

The first ship i'm going to have a crack at is the Klingon Bird of Prey. Its in quite good condition, the paint job is actually not bad, but it could use some little details.

I have found these fantastic stands: http://tshobbies.com/uss-enterprise-d-1-1400/

I'm going to purchase the Ent-C/D stands and I think, even though this is for Diamond Selects BoP: http://tshobbies.com/diamond-select-bird-of-prey/ I think it will be just the right size for my AMT BoP.

For the other models (aside from the 1:350 Ent which has its own base) I'm going to use these:https://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/B00B4C09TA/rocketfin-20

or something very similar.

I will be saving the 1:350 Ent a for last, as its a beast, however, when that is done I think i'll have a go a the new JJPrise :)

Anyway, I started my rescue and restoration journey last night with my BoP. I've attached some images for you guys to look at...

64a362f8-a290-4e1d-83aa-37d351b15a02_zps

The Bird of Prey in her broken state.

7045bc2f-147e-4a58-8539-21e05130af36_zps

Fixed the right wing and filled in the hole that the original stand fit in to with putty. I'm going to sand it down and paint over it.

20160727_193207_HDR_zpsnt1s07t6.jpg

This bar fell off while I was handling her. She needed to be handled delicately. You can also see where the stand used to be attached... such a poor effort I did of that :(

20160727_212613_HDR_zpss50jwz8l.jpg

Fix complete, glue drying. Next up, a little upgrade in the paint job. Not much like, just highlighting some details, as I think she has a pretty decent one at the moment :)

I also fancy trying to weather her a little, a bit of rust here and there, make her looked used!

Looking forward to sharing more with you guys and getting your welcome feedback

More updates soon...

LLAP \V/

Edited by IndianaCook
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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...

20160804_204920_HDR_zpscbyqrtjw.jpg

She doesn't look too bad from the top, but from the side...

be3bac46-5d06-406a-984d-f1687d1d2cfb_zps

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!

20160804_204948_HDR_zpsulwc5wna.jpg

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?? :shrug:

You can see also the massive gap between the saucer section and the drive section. I will fill this with some filler.

20160804_210813_HDR_zpsb77m55bz.jpg

I will fill this gap too on the top section!

Wish me luck!

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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.

20160804_210229_HDR_zpsxxsonpla.jpg

My plan was to fill the hole, I think I got a little generous with the filler :yikes:

20160804_210756_HDR_zpswekh0stk.jpg

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)

20160804_211639_HDR_zpshptu9g1g.jpg

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!

20160804_214041_HDR_zps6nym7cdw.jpg

So I masked the area off and used (you guessed it) filler, to clean that bit up.

IMG-20160807-WA0002_zps90uztk3v.jpeg

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!! :boom:20160807_124308_HDR_zpsb3latohb.jpg

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

20160807_160413_HDR_zpsewlj9ai2.jpg

20160807_160418_HDR_zpsu7xzplfy.jpg

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.

20160807_160317_HDR_zps0cvoqyvp.jpg

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!

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Next time use masking tape around the area you are going to be using filler in. Once you have enough filler in place remove the masking tape and let it dry.

Before you start to samd the filler put fresh masking tape around the dry filler that way you won't loose any of the detail from the surrounding area.

Hope this helps

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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...

20160809_200629_HDR_zps2ezyzjxh.jpg

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 :)

20160809_211215_HDR_zpswsyriqmf.jpg

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/

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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....

20160811_233349_HDR_zpset81i5ot.jpg

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 :yikes: however I'm finding it strangely relaxing :)

20160811_233340_HDR_zpszsbycc9u.jpg

Looking clean and almost like new :)

Thanks guys

LLAP \V/

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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:

20160817_070450_HDR_zpsk544avqb.jpg

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:

20160817_070526_HDR_zpsqy73cbhx.jpg

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 :banghead:

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:

20160817_070458_HDR_zpskyrjenhj.jpg

Here is a closer view. As you can see the phaser strip just needs smoothing off:

20160817_070510_HDR_zpscub60wsb.jpg

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/

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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:

20160819_061752_HDR_zpsiprzt2hl.jpg

20160819_061814_HDR_zpsm5rnsibi.jpg

20160819_061802_HDR_zpsgavi23an.jpg

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!

20160819_061840_HDR_zpswozyrdl3.jpg

Still need to sort those phaser strips too!!

Thanks for looking guys

LLAP \V/

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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 :)

20160820_005821_HDR_zpsqiqrwjyp.jpg

She looks a little manky (as we say up North :P ) but that's I'd say 98% of the paint removed, and all ready for a nice couple coats of white primer :)

20160820_115311_HDR_zps3nypd1yq.jpg

While I was scrubbing the engines they actually came apart :D think the paint remover thinned the glue. To be honest it made the job easier.

20160820_115326_HDR_zpsq9ptp7iw.jpg

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.

20160820_115335_HDR_zps0yuad7iq.jpg

And my Aztecing decals turned up yesterday!! I can wait to get started on that!!

Patience Anthony.... patience :)

20160820_115505_HDR_zpssvhvnbd4.jpg

The Star Drive with a couple coats of white primer. She's starting to scrub up rather well :)

20160820_135503_HDR_zps2j9jhpmo.jpg

20160820_135514_HDR_zpsf9xalgtg.jpg

I had planned to mask off the Saucer section first and coat the Star Drive, then paint the saucer... all was proceeding as planed...

20160820_142751_HDR_zpslevarfdj.jpg

...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.

20160820_143401_HDR_zpszrg1zawd.jpg

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/

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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/

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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

20160822_201927_HDR_zpsup1acvey.jpg

As you can see she mostly remains unbuilt, aside from the main body, most of the parts are still on the sprues

20160822_201933_HDR_zpsgu2nnufl.jpg

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 :(

20160822_201938_HDR_zpsdohynfvo.jpg

20160822_201946_HDR_zpsgidieeqc.jpg

See, I thought I did a decent job with the body, but it is a poor poor attempt :weep:

20160822_201952_HDR_zpsbvkemjyu.jpg

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 :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,

20160822_202544_HDR_zpsbisgfbne.jpg

Notice the damage just next to the phaser strip. I really am bad at remounting these things :banghead:

20160822_202553_HDR_zpsjmcpa8mw.jpg

20160822_202608_HDR_zpshozvr4lg.jpg

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 :shrug:

20160822_202623_HDR_zpszhf0dwev.jpg

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 :shrug:

20160822_202644_HDR_zpsslpmo8lo.jpg

20160822_202700_HDR_zpsrtihazle.jpg

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!!

20160822_202722_HDR_zpsdgyggktx.jpg

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 :banghead: 20160822_202821_HDR_zps2bx2tphp.jpg

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!20160822_202830_HDR_zpsfzyiii40.jpg

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 :hmmm:

I think for now my plan might just be to repaint the stand...


20160822_202926_HDR_zpszdbk0rlv.jpg

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!! :angry:

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!

20160822_203025_HDR_zpsxih3cxl9.jpg

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 :P

20160822_203040_HDR_zpsvwwa07s1.jpg

The only big thing that might be an issue is that one of the struts on the stand is gone :angry: 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 :hmmm:

20160822_203047_HDR_zpsw27m0wyl.jpg

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...

20160822_203118_HDR_zps0eqi9g9g.jpg

Look at the state of it!! I really shouldn't be allowed to mount models :confused:

Anyway, thats it for now.

Thanks for reading :)

LLAP \V/

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You've certainly set yourself a BIG target, haven't you? As you say, the NX-01 is in good shape, so why not do that next? I'd avoid using a Sharpie on the damaged decals because they do fade over time, and you might regret it. I'd use either some paint applied with a fine brush, or a piece of black decal laid over the damage. GIve it a coat of gloss and it should blend in ok :)

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Hi Mike,

Yes it is a big target, I must be crazy!! :banghead:

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 :D

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/

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  • 2 weeks later...

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:

20160827_144000_HDR_zpskn5drrvb.jpg

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 :D 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:

20160827_163813_HDR_zpsgdrtsyfe.jpg

20160827_163827_HDR_zpssemcmudz.jpg

Masking off the areas I want to paint, around the engines and deflector dish:

20160827_172606_HDR_zps3wg6gmdm.jpg

20160827_190033_HDR_zpsoobnayud.jpg

20160827_190120_HDR_zpsvvby7zcq.jpg

20160827_192819_HDR_zps8rkbuiku.jpg

Starting to paint, been looking forward to this :D

20160827_204712_HDR_zpszuzyutpi.jpg

20160827_204712_HDR_zpszuzyutpi.jpg

20160827_210552_HDR2_zpshzgog40h.jpg

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:

20160828_141112_HDR_zpszq5caufn.jpg

20160828_141635_HDR_zpsork1fbjy.jpg

20160828_164703_HDR_zpsy1wqrkdh.jpg

and I painted in some detail:

20160829_142516_HDR_zps1hzfmjma.jpg

20160829_142527_HDR_zpsu6deop72.jpg

I purchased some gloss clear and applied, ready for the Azteking decals :)

20160831_061045_HDR_zps1csy7mho.jpg

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/

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There is something about restoring old models that's very enjoyable,that and all the swearing,blood,sweat and tears :)The Enterprise D is looking much better already,Like Mike says your NX-01 looks great.

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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...

20160902_180415_HDR_zpsf6d0g490.jpg

Painted in some detail where I'd used filler...

20160902_180427_HDR_zps7anz6tlv.jpg

20160902_180434_HDR_zps1imf7fj9.jpg

Then I picked up some supplies...

20160902_180443_HDR_zpsqumcxsdu.jpg

... ready for Azteking :) This was a massive task!!

20160902_180450_HDR_zpsoka8kfo7.jpg

Here I go!

20160902_194401_HDR_zpsyylvkajo.jpg

So far so good...

20160902_194943_HDR_zpsnlgehagd.jpg

20160902_201154_HDR_zpsgib9c3sl.jpg

20160902_210625_HDR_zps4leosswg.jpg

20160902_224742_HDR_zpstnou0tbh.jpg

20160903_003834_HDR_zpsryxtkqba.jpg

Thats the underside of the drive section sorted!

Top of the drive section...

20160904_190329_HDR_zpsxnq6zuh9.jpg

Then on to the dish :coolio:

20160904_200249_HDR_zpseuszrpnw.jpg

Getting there...

20160904_201044_HDR_zps050mfkkg.jpg

20160904_222833_HDR_zps96dn3qir.jpg

Looking not too shabby!!

20160904_224318_HDR_zpsu6aaqbtd.jpg

Top of the dish now

The Bridge...

20160905_210005_HDR_zps303fskck.jpg

Half way there...

20160905_222115_HDR_zps1pmrwipe.jpg

Wooooahoooh!! Livin' on a Prayer!! :guitar:

Sorry guys, I couldn't resist :D

aaaaand DONE!

20160905_234839_HDR_zpsypd76cji.jpg

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 :D 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/

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