This is my AMT/Ertl Enterprise-E, from the initial First Contact production run. It's my latest attempt to restore some older models to display-worthy status. My first efforts produced something I wasn't happy with: the assembly work was sloppy, and the paint job was far too dark. Also, each decal had a white border because the ink layers were not lined up. Considering the price of "vintage" E-E kits, it was far cheaper to rebuild than start fresh. It took 4 months of work, but the result it a model that stands up to close scrutiny.

Re-assembly consisted of puttying and sanding the gaps and seams. Nothing special, just had to make sure not to break anything in the process. I hated the stand from the first time I saw it; the hole was filled in and covered over. The ship is currently displayed suspended with clear fishing line.

When I started the project, avg temps around here were about 30 F. Airbrushing outdoors was out, so the whole model was brush painted. After sanding the old paint off with 150- and 400-grit paper, I started with the light grays and moved on to the details. The rear edges of pylon plasma vents were the only items I masked, everything else is freehand. Wet sanding with 1000-grit wet-dry paper took care of my brush lines.

As usual I shoved the ERTL paint guide in the closet and went to the source: screen shots from Nemesis when the ship is in spacedock for repairs. To me, that scene most likely has the correct colors since the ship is in bright, authentic Sol sunlight. I realize nitpickers will say it should be painted as the MoCo model because it's a First Contact kit, but I like the Nemesis CG version better, so there. The hull colors are custom-mix warm and cool grays made from whatever I had around. The sensor areas, nacelle sides, impulse ports and phasers were all painted the same dark gray, but with the decals applied the sensors became the correct (darker) color.

The underside of the secondary hull is a bear to paint by hand, with all the thin lines I needed a 5/0 brush most of the time. The fantail detail is based on Nemesis screenshots too. The deflector is gold toned down with green & tan. I used a 0.2mm drafting pen to draw the little black lines. The same pen was used on the impulse engines.

There are exactly 600 decals on my kit, which is by far the most I've ever done. I don't want to do it again anytime soon. I used the STModeler set (highly recommended), plus the AMT lifeboats, which I had skipped when first building the kit. In my opinion, there are so many lifeboat stations on a Sovereign that their visual impact cannot be ignored; doing them right is essential to having a great-looking model. Based on my research, STModeler had the right borders, and AMT's hatches were the right color - so I cut out all the AMT lifeboats and little trapezoid-thingys, and placed them over the STModeler decals. And I have the pictures to prove it!

Thanks go to Pedro's Shiporama for providing excellent reference material. Pedro's has close-up shots of the MoCo model that show the little red and black boxes on the hull. If you're gong to do those, it's a good idea to paint a wash over most - otherwise they'll stand out too much. Thanks also to SSM and especially the gallery members for ideas and inspiration.

Image: Port side view

Image: Aft starboard closeup

Image: Saucer from aft

Image: Ventral closeup

Image: Ventral saucer

Image: LIfeboat detail