Starcrafts' USS Enterprise |
| By Billy Lehner |
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This 1/1400 scale solid resin Enterprise is not new; it has been around awhile. I think the four piece model is expensive at $35. It is a fairly good mold job with well defined details. There were a few resin bubbles and I did have to repair one of the rear dampeners and only doing a fair job on the repair because the resin is so soft. The ship has the right proportions with the exception that the engineering section behind the warp engine to the shuttlebay seems too long. The warp engine domes were striped with car stripe, airbrush "dusted" with florescent red. The strips were removed then dusted with more of the red. The darker gray in the trim areas of the ship were painted Model Master Schwarzgrun gray. The ship was painted a flat black then airbrushed Model Master Gull Gray. Intentional areas are left a thinner coat of gray to simulate weathering. Is there weathering in space where these is no oxygen to oxide metal? I consider the weathering more of "warp fatigue." As I was finishing the airbrushing of the Gull Gray I had a burst of inspiration and I fired an intense burst of Gull Gray where the name of the ship would be decaled later. |
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That shot of gray was exactly what the ship needed; with the decal in place the upper front of the saucer has a creamy, luminescent, glowing quality that makes the name of the ship and the numbers seem a darker black. More weathering was made in the seams of the ship with my son’s toy watercolor set. A black wash highlighted sharp angles around the ship. Some engraved areas were filled with red watercolor. The decals looked nice and went on well with the exception of the saucer landing gear doors. The decal doors did not match the saucer engraving so I simply masked and airbrushed the doors a mist of the darker gray. The recessed windows did not have to be painted because that is the black primer showing. The saucer’s large round nose windows were painted white but the smaller white windows were made by scraping or pin vice drilling through the black primer to the white resin below. Many coats of Future Floor Wax give this ship a beautiful shine. The finished ship is quite an eye-catcher. Image: Dorsal view Image: Ventral view Image: Forward port quarter Image: Dorsal view from bow Image: Starboardside saucer |
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