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Old 08-05-2014, 10:58 AM
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bgt01 bgt01 is offline
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U.S.S. Reliant - NCC-1864

Saucer Top

If you know anything about me from previous posts, it's that I like starships. And, since I love to have more projects going at one time than I can finish, I decided to finally launch the Reliant build that's been on the desk awhile.

This is my build of Makino's Reliant. It's similar to the Enterprise I built some time ago. It's a nice model with nice art, but the finished versions I've seen all look really flat and boxy. So I'm making every effort to detail mine out and give her a little more character. I also remade all the hull markings in Illustrator for better accuracy and added anything that was missing. Also, to keep it in scale with my Rawen models I'm building this at 76% its original size.

First up is the saucer section. As is my preferred style, I cut off the outer tabs that come on the model and cut new tabs at the inner edges in "Rawen style." I like this because it gives a better gluing area, works just as well as gluing new tabs from behind and saves time. I used a silver Sharpie on the tabs to hide any potential gaps. I placed the lower ring flat on the table and dropped the upper ring into place, then used my hands to gently nudge it until the deflector grids lined up as best as possible.

The upper saucer ring is curled with a wooden dial rod and glued from behind at the joint. Then the top base for the bridge goes on. For Deck 2 of the bridge module, I cut off the front triangle tabs but kept the ones at the rear. I curled the outer skin and glued it in place on one side. I pushed the "roof" up and glued the other side of the outer skin at the rear to make sure was no gap at the rear on either side. That looks terrible and I can't stand it. I pushed down the "roof" flat and glued it from behind using paper strips. Then the bridge module was built and glued to Deck 2, which then went on the saucer ring.
Attached Thumbnails
U.S.S. Reliant - NCC-1864-a_1.jpg   U.S.S. Reliant - NCC-1864-a_2.jpg   U.S.S. Reliant - NCC-1864-a_3.jpg   U.S.S. Reliant - NCC-1864-a_4.jpg   U.S.S. Reliant - NCC-1864-a_5.jpg  

U.S.S. Reliant - NCC-1864-a_6.jpg  
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  #2  
Old 08-05-2014, 10:59 AM
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bgt01 bgt01 is offline
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Saucer Bottom and Hull

I broke up the flatness of the bottom as best I could by printing out extra parts and adding raised details where possible, trying to mimic the studio model. I recessed the blue grill areas at the rear, which were tricky because they are so close to the trim/fold line. One thing I really wanted to jazz up was the blue impulse crystal area and make it more like the model. I recessed the crystal area as a start.

I really wanted to make the model straight and keep the saucer as flat as possible. I've gotten better at saucers, but they still always have a wave or a gap that drives me nuts. This time I decided to try using chipboard. Again, I cut new tabs for the saucer bottom and edge colored them silver. I glued the whole bottom and the top outer saucer ring to 1mm chipboard, being careful not to glue the tabs down. This gives a strong, flat base that is perfect for me.

After that, I decided the impulse crystal section still needed more detail. I glued a spare to 1mm chipboard to raise the whole quasi-diamond section. I glued another spare to two 1mm pieces, since it's the tallest area, and cut out the ring around the crystal. I cut a section out of the spare crystal, curled it with a toothpick and glued it from behind to make a dome like the model has. The final ring is a little rough but it works, I edge colored it with silver Sharpie and glued the whole thing on. It looks much more like the model.

After that I assembled the lower saucer dome, gluing the ring and sensor dome from behind as previous. With the chipboard keeping everything flat, the lower dome went on beautifully and the deflector grid lined up the best it ever has! I added the rear window/vent areas to finish.
Attached Thumbnails
U.S.S. Reliant - NCC-1864-b_1.jpg   U.S.S. Reliant - NCC-1864-b_2.jpg   U.S.S. Reliant - NCC-1864-b_3.jpg   U.S.S. Reliant - NCC-1864-b_4.jpg   U.S.S. Reliant - NCC-1864-b_5.jpg  

U.S.S. Reliant - NCC-1864-b_6.jpg   U.S.S. Reliant - NCC-1864-b_7.jpg   U.S.S. Reliant - NCC-1864-b_8.jpg   U.S.S. Reliant - NCC-1864-b_9.jpg  
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Old 08-05-2014, 11:01 AM
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Hull Assembly

Next, I assembled the outer saucer ring. This is another area I've never been happy with on previous builds. I've always used the tabs and they cause gaps and odd fits a lot of the time. I've gotten better with practice, but still it gives me fits! This time I glued the two strips together from behind and recessed the port side airlock to add detail. Because I used the 1mm chipboard on the saucer, I had an edge to glue to. I cut the tabs off the top of the ring and SLOWLY edge glued it to the saucer top. This gave me a very nice, straight and tight fit. I knew the bottom wasn't going to be so easy because it would be a tight fit and it sits inside the hull at the rear. So I cut the tabs off the bottom of the ring only to the point where it inserts into the hull. Those tabs I left on. It took a lot of slow spreading of glue with a sharpened toothpick, but I got it to go and it's the best looking one I've ever done! The RCS thrusters still don't quite line up everywhere, but that's how it goes.

Next I used fine point markers to add the red and green running lights where they were missing throughout the hull. I glued the upper saucer into place and everything lined up really well. Next, I detailed the recessed blue areas in the upper hull using more raised areas and cutting out the grill areas. I also recessed the shuttle bay doors. I really didn't like the flat navigation deflectors on each side of the hull. I printed out extras and cut out the domed areas. I cut a little of the edge of the center of the dome and folded it down, then trimmed it until it sat flat on the base. I edge glued the domes to the base and glued that to the hull. It's not the greatest fit, but it looks much better than the flat versions.
Attached Thumbnails
U.S.S. Reliant - NCC-1864-c_1.jpg   U.S.S. Reliant - NCC-1864-c_2.jpg   U.S.S. Reliant - NCC-1864-c_3.jpg   U.S.S. Reliant - NCC-1864-c_4.jpg   U.S.S. Reliant - NCC-1864-c_5.jpg  

U.S.S. Reliant - NCC-1864-c_6.jpg  
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Old 08-05-2014, 11:02 AM
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Hull Assembly

The upper impulse crystal area got the detail treatment also. I raised and recessed sections similar to the model. I glued the cutout piece to a second uncut piece to create the recessed areas and keep a flat bottom. I put a black Sharpie mark on the bottom piece at the front so the I wouldn't have to worry about lining up the little window sections. I made another domed impulse crystal and a raised ring just like the bottom one and glued it in place. This entire area is really tall on the model, so I glued it to two 1mm pieces of chipboard and trimmed it out. Because this is on top and very prominent, I wanted the sides to look better than just silver Sharpie. I cut strips of scrap hull and glued them around the edge. I glued another scrap piece of hull to the bottom because it sticks out over the rear. All in all, not too shabby!
Attached Thumbnails
U.S.S. Reliant - NCC-1864-d_1.jpg   U.S.S. Reliant - NCC-1864-d_2.jpg   U.S.S. Reliant - NCC-1864-d_3.jpg   U.S.S. Reliant - NCC-1864-d_4.jpg   U.S.S. Reliant - NCC-1864-d_5.jpg  

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Old 08-05-2014, 11:02 AM
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Torpedo Launcher

Next up is the torpedo launcher. It's OK as-is except for the top. There's only so much you can do with the domed piece on top. I notched the front area and folded it in to create the flat recess, curled the sides and glued the front area from behind. The rear area sticks up and out and I have no way at present to make it look like the "bulbed" area of the model. I did glue a piece of scrap hull to the bottom so you wouldn't see a hollow area when you look at it from behind.
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U.S.S. Reliant - NCC-1864-e_1.jpg   U.S.S. Reliant - NCC-1864-e_2.jpg  
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Old 08-05-2014, 11:24 AM
vipers7 vipers7 is offline
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You do love starships: it shows in your fantastic building report
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Old 08-05-2014, 12:15 PM
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Nice work! I am enjoying your progress!
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Old 08-05-2014, 02:05 PM
Cforrest900 Cforrest900 is offline
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WOW!! Really great build! I love all of the extra details you are adding
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  #9  
Old 08-06-2014, 09:13 AM
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Thanks everyone. Here's the latest from Starfleet Intelligence:

More Details, Impulse Engine and Torpedo Launcher

I added some more raised detail at the rear of the ship. I took a spare and cut out the tractor beam emitters (triangle areas) by the shuttle bays and glued them on the model. I used a yellow marker to add "lighting" to the emitters and docking lights around the shuttle bays.

The impulse area of the studio model is a boxy, more contained section. I can't really recreate that with this model's design and proportions (plus I'm not that skilled at scratch building). I got a little closer by raising up the area behind the impulse drive to push it more toward the rear of the impulse deck overhang. On the studio model this sits flush and wraps around back to the hull, but this engine is too small for that. I didn't want to scale it up because it wouldn't be in proportion to my other models. So, this is my attempt at middle ground.

The torpedo launcher needed some detailing at the firing ports. I glued spares to two pieces of 1mm chipboard and cut out the ports. They are VERY SMALL!!!! Somehow, I managed to not lose them. I wanted to add the vertical divider on the front side of the launcher between the ports, but it was too small and fell apart when I tried to cut it. I edge colored the ports with a less than perfect shade of blue (closest I had) and glued them in place.
Attached Thumbnails
U.S.S. Reliant - NCC-1864-f_1.jpg   U.S.S. Reliant - NCC-1864-f_2.jpg   U.S.S. Reliant - NCC-1864-f_3.jpg   U.S.S. Reliant - NCC-1864-f_4.jpg   U.S.S. Reliant - NCC-1864-f_5.jpg  

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Old 08-06-2014, 09:15 AM
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Roll Bar

I'd been dreading the Reliant's roll bar. It's like the pylons on the Enterprise and for the life of me I can't figure out how they are supposed to be built. To me, the proportions are off and they just come out twisted they way I build them. For Enterprise, I switched to gluing the sides to 67 lb. cover stock, gluing those together and trimming them until they were somewhat flat and straight, but they still aren't very good. The actual model roll bar is very curvy and varies in thickness and this flat version threw me for a loop, but it's vital to Reliant's look that this be "nice" so here's what I came up with.

I recessed the blue grill areas like on the model, gluing spares CAREFULLY from behind. They are right by the trim edge so I made a lot of slow cuts with little pressure to keep it from tearing. I cut off the tabs and cut the top and bottom apart. I glued both to white 67 lb. card stock for thickness and strength. That gave me two nice, flat pieces. I glued both together used the natural curl from the glue to approximate the curve or the actual Reliant's roll bar. That left me with a wide, white edge all the way around. I didn't want that, so I cut strips of spare roll bar and glued it around the edge as needed. That, along with some edge coloring with markers, mostly covered up the white. I managed to weasel the bar through the torpedo launcher without crushing it! The finished piece is certainly something I can live with.
Attached Thumbnails
U.S.S. Reliant - NCC-1864-f_6.jpg   U.S.S. Reliant - NCC-1864-f_7.jpg   U.S.S. Reliant - NCC-1864-f_8.jpg   U.S.S. Reliant - NCC-1864-f_9.jpg  
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