Star Trek Surya (Miranda) Class 1:2500

[opus999]

I picked up a VA miniatures Surya class for a song. It looked simple enough that I thought I'd crank it out (having just come of a couple really lengthy builds). The USS Reliant was always one of my favorite starship designs and the idea of a "pre-refit" Miranda class intrigues me. Now, I realize this is a "Surya" class (I've seen a "Coventry" class too), but I think it was just the fandom version of the Miranda class before that name was canon.

 

Anyway, the decals that came with the kit are pretty sparse (just the saucer top and bottom registry numbers and the banners for the nacelles) and are Kirk-era movie graphics, so I bought J-T Graphics Surya class decals.  Those are much more complete, but were still lacking some of the detail I wanted, so I also ponied up for PNT Graphic hull markings (good thing I got the original model on the cheap, eh?).  Here's the whole set all together:

 

 

And here's a close up of the kit:

 

 

I believe this is resin, which I've never worked with before. I read some where that resin is supposed to be primed with automotive primer (???).  Can I get some advice on what to use for primer? Will Mr. Surfacer 1500 work OK, or do I need to get the automotive primer I read about somewhere?

 

My first hurdle is going to be improving the slots that the engines fit into, as they are practically non-existent.

Edited October 2, 2018 by opus999
Fixed typo

[Stu_davros]

The Mr surfacer should work fine, generally I tend to wash the resin first to remove any oils or release agents from the surface.

Another thing with resin is that the dust produced when sanding can really damage your lungs, so wear a filter mask.

Good luck and I look forward to seeing the finished ship.

 

cheers,

Stuart 

[opus999]

On 10/2/2018 at 2:54 AM, Stu_davros said:

I tend to wash the resin first to remove any oils or release agents from the surface

Yes, the model seemed to have an oily surface.

 

On 10/2/2018 at 2:54 AM, Stu_davros said:

wear a filter mask

Duly noted!  Thanks!

[opus999]

Decided to use my Dremel to cut slots for the engine pylons -- it didn't seem like they would work the way it was.  Worked great! But, I managed to snap a pylon in half somehow. 😡 It's going to be a clumsy fix whatever I try to do, so I'm pretty unhappy about it right now.

 

Pictures to follow...

[Stu_davros]

Sorry to hear about your problem.

Resin is fairly fragile, however it normally breaks cleanly so repairing it is pretty straightforward.

A line of superglue along the break and hold the parts tightly together while the glue sets. It takes a long time to set as there is very little air available to the glue because the joint is tight so find a way to clamp it securely.

Cheers,

Stuart

[opus999]

It's been an aggravating weekend at the workbench so far, between my MiG-15 and this model.

 

I repaired the broken pylon, but repeatedly re-broke it, so I shored it up on both sides with 0.010" thick styrene.  A little filler on the front and back of the pylon and I think it will not be noticeable at all. Pictures to follow...

 

As mentioned before, I cut the slots for the engine pylons using my Dremel.  The smallest drill bit was exactly the right size:

 

 

Some drilling along the grooved lines, and cleanup with an exact-o knife:

 

 

Except... the port side slot isn't parallel with the centerline. So, last night I had to get out the exact-o knife again and cut it straighter.  I think I've got it.

 

I drilled a hole just behind the planetary sensor on the bottom for a stand, cleaned up a couple bad seams with sandpaper and then primered with Mr. Surfacer1500. Unfortunately, after it dried, the primer would just flake off! I did some research and everything I read indicated that lacquers should adhere fine to resin, so what the heck? I had washed it thoroughly with soap and water and even a little isopropyl alcohol before painting.

 

I went to clean the paint off (with my fingernail -- that was easy!), and found that where I'd sanded, the paint wouldn't come off.  I guess maybe the surface was too slick.  It was extremely shiny, almost like it was polished.  So last night I went over the whole thing thoroughly with 1500 grit sandpaper until the surface appeared dull.  Shot it again with Mr. Surfacer 1500 -- its drying now. We'll see what happens!

[opus999]

After the Mr. Surfacer dried and cured, I gave it the scratch test with my fingernail.  It looks like it's going to stick just fine.

 

Got to do a little painting tonight. I mixed 1 part Testors FS36440 with 2 parts Mr. Color leveling thinner. I've seen quite a bit of debate about the "true" color of the Enterprise, and did some serious research on it a few years ago and I've been satisfied that FS16440/36440 is right (for me  ). I did a "marble coat" first:

 

 

 

Then a little dry brushing (black) to get some appropriate pre-shading:

 

 

For the nacelles, I used Tamiya yellow masking tape and dry brushed the black backward...

 

 

The lines look a little thick, but when I put the top coat on, I expect they'll appear thinner.  We'll see. I still need to dry brush the panel lines on the edge of the saucer, but I'll let things dry overnight before I do that.  Then, a thin overcoat of FS36440 and it will be time for detail painting.

Edited October 10, 2018 by opus999

[opus999]

A little dry brushing of the "panel lines" on the edge of the saucer and then I put on a thin overcoat of FS36440 (1 part paint to 3 parts Mr. Color leveling thinner).  The pre-shading may seem a little much in this picture, but when I get clear coat and the bright red pennant decal on, it (hopefully) will look just right.

 

 

I was struggling with my camera to get it focused and had to get a bit close for it to work, so these next 2 photos are a bit washed out. In real life, the pre-shading on the saucer is about as dark as the engines.

 

 

[opus999]

Did some painting on the nacelles late Friday night. It's starting to look like a real Star Trek ship now!  Unfortunately, I discovered that my Dark Ghost gray was bone dry and I didn't have a color close enough, so I was stuck.  So what does a modeller do?  Start a new project (1:2500 Hermes Class Kitbash)!

 

So here are some pictures of the warp nacelles so far (until I get my dark ghost gray):

 

 

 

[Tarkas]

On 10/10/2018 at 11:58 PM, opus999 said:

A little dry brushing of the "panel lines" on the edge of the saucer and then I put on a thin overcoat of FS36440 (1 part paint to 3 parts Mr. Color leveling thinner).  The pre-shading may seem a little much in this picture, but when I get clear coat and the bright red pennant decal on, it (hopefully) will look just right.

Looks pretty good, actually. Definitely nothing like as over-done as, say, the 1994(?) "restoration" of the 11-foot Enterprise -- now, that was overdone! They've fixed it now, but it was dreadful.

 

Your work, OTOH, looks to be nicely understated and just enough to make the point that the section of nacelle are there, which is what you really want IMO. I look forward to seeing this completed. Go for it!

[opus999]

On 10/13/2018 at 3:07 PM, Tarkas said:

Looks pretty good, actually. Definitely nothing like as over-done as, say, the 1994(?) "restoration" of the 11-foot Enterprise -- now, that was overdone! They've fixed it now, but it was dreadful.

 

Your work, OTOH, looks to be nicely understated and just enough to make the point that the section of nacelle are there, which is what you really want IMO. I look forward to seeing this completed. Go for it!

Thanks! I'm glad it looks about right.  I'm happy with it.  I'm still finding it hard to hit that "sweet spot" when I go the pre-shading route.

 

Funny you mention the mid-90's restoration of the Enterprise.  When doing research for this model, I ran across some photos of that.  I'd never seen that restoration before and I was amazed at how overdone it was!!

[opus999]

Got my Dark Ghost Gray and painted the insides of the nacelles.  I originally masked this for airbrushing, but it wasn't going well, so I got out the 10/0 brush and hand painted it. The Dark Ghost Gray turned out well, but the silver wasn't quite as well as I wanted.  This is because the detail was irregular, so it was hard to pull the brush along the raised edge. I finally got it to look decent.

 

 

I need to cut masks for the dark ghost gray parts on the bottoms of the nacelles just behind the bussard collectors.  Then it's gloss coating and decals!

[opus999]

Once those nacelles were dry, things went together very quickly.  I glued the nacelles on, and then hand brushed 3 coats of Alclad aqua gloss on to get a suitably glossy finish to put decals on.

 

Normally, I like to paint the bussard collectors on the warp nacelles a pearlescent orange, since they were orange in the original series.  However, this kit came with transparent red bussard collectors, which I like the looks of, so I kept them. I painted the backs of them white so that they would look a little brighter.

 

Next up... decals.

 

 

 

 

[opus999]

After a quick out-of-town weekend, I managed to get some time tonight to put the decals on.  I picked a name, put on all of the JT Graphics decals, and then picked some of the PNT models hull detail decals to add some interesting details.

 

I finished it off with the navigation lights. My wife taught me a neat trick for making paint circles -- dip the "tail end" of the paint brush (i.e., the back of the handle) in the paint and then put it squarely on the surface you want a circle on.  After a little practice, I have been able to make pretty good circles.  I wanted smaller circles, so I used a pin head instead of a paint brush. Of course, after I put the nav lights on, I figured out that I can make even smaller circles by making the first circle on a piece of scrap, and then the second on the model.  Oh, well -- the ones I made are a little too big, but I can live with them.

 

Tomorrow, I plan to put an acrylic semi-gloss clear coat over the entire thing and make a stand to put it on.  Then I will post it in "Ready for inspection".

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[rockpopandchips]

The decals really make it come to life.

[langy]

very nice indeed.

 

the decals really do make it pop..👍

[opus999]

On 10/22/2018 at 5:33 AM, rockpopandchips said:

The decals really make it come to life.

 

On 10/22/2018 at 1:01 PM, langy said:

the decals really do make it pop..👍

 

Thanks very much! I have to admit I really liked this model once the decals were on it! I was a little on the fence before...

[opus999]

I used Testors Acryl semi-gloss clear coat, which was disappointing for two reasons:

1. It really should've been called "mostly flat" instead of "Semi-gloss"
2. the PNT decals silvered up quite a bit.

I guess I should've experimented with the PNT decals first, darn it. Well, I'll do that before I finish the Hermes class.

 

Still, it looks pretty good and I'm overall pretty happy with it.  The RFI is here.

 

[Mikey-1980]

Brilliant!!

 

You've done a superb job there!

[SteveR]

Very nice opus999! Also, the detail in your posts is very useful to a relative novice like myself! Thanks

[opus999]

11 hours ago, SteveR said:

Very nice opus999! Also, the detail in your posts is very useful to a relative novice like myself! Thanks

Many thanks @SteveR!  I'm happy to hear that my posts are useful. That was one of my goals when I joined -- I can't believe how much I learned by reading others' work in progress reports and I hoped to help someone else the same way.