May 6, 2004 and Wonderfest 2004 was just 8 days away. The J-57 (Jefferies Station) model was still being desperately worked on as it was itself ‘drydocked’ in pieces in a basement in South Elgin, IL.

What was also needed were 8 federation style ships to be placed in each of its 8 docking slips. Each ship would be based on parts taken from the (then) just released Polar Lights Enterprise kit.

I was always a Star Wars-type modeling fan so I tend to gravitate towards a Star Wars type design sensibility. When I found the time to transform a Polar Lights Original Series Enterprise kit into some sort of previously unseen sort federation ship for the J-57, I knew I had to turn the beloved Enterprise into a pseudo Millennium Falcon.

Due to the amount of work we were currently investing to complete the J-57 (Jefferies Station) for it’s premier at Wonderfest 2004, I practically had less than a day and a half to complete my Federation Falcon. So it was going to be a rush job.

Most of the parts and detailing used were from the kit itself. Sheet styrene and a few resin bits from past projects were utilized too.

Painting was very straightforward using just plain Black, Gray and White Plasticote Primer. I used a very subtle preshade technique that I learned from one of the members of the build group and used prismacolor colored pencils to do the quick streaking weathering effects. Further airbrushing with thinned black primer dirtied the ship up even more.

Decals from the kit were used but a few had to be custom made using Photoshop on my G4 Powerbook. They were then printed out on decal paper using an Epson C80 printer with waterproof inks.

Gunze Sangyo clear flat was sprayed for the final finish.

Bam! Less than 2 days work and this hunk of junk is ready to be docked.

In retrospect I think I painted it a tad too dark, but I plan on redoing this ship with better details and lighter paint job.

Image: Underneath

Image: Another angle

Image: Top

Image: Another angle

Image: Above and behind

Image: A top view plan found on the internet is used as a template.

Image: A top view silhouette is cut from thick styrene sheet. Two are needed.

Image: Strip styrene is sandwiched between the forward mandibles for the proper thickness.

Image: The two modified halves of the Polar Lights kits are cemented and clamped down onto the styrene piece.

Image: The top view. The bridge is made from the extra optional parts from the Polar Lights kit.

Image: The rear propulsion deck is made up of nacelle cap ends and resin bits from old projects.

Image: The bottom is detailed very simply with more optional parts from the kit.

Image: The bottom rear. Again very simple details.

Image: I had to scrap most of this sheet of decals because I printed it too large.

Image: The first coat of primer is sprayed on.

Image: Another view from the front.

Image: The pre-shading technique has begun on the top with black primer.

Image: The bottom is pre-shaded.

Image: An overspray of white tones down the black.

Image: Weathering is started with Prismacolor pencils. Not what I would recommend since the pencils are wax based.

Image: Decals are now being applied.

Image: Two of the 8 ships are now complete. The station awaits in the background.

Image: The U.S.S. AGUSTIN is being fitted into a berth while the other 7 drydocks await.