Polar Lights NCC-1701-A Reissue

[Robiwon]

Close on the "silvering" description. What causes a decal to "silver" is when the surface is not completly smooth and air is trapped underneath. Your seeing light reflected from millions of tiny microscopic hills and valleys being reflected up into the clear section of decal film. That's why military modelers gloss coat tanks and planes before decaling and then dull coat afterwords. Yes, Future Floor Wax is great as a top coat as it is just a clear acrylic. It provides a great base for decals.

 

[neosporing]

i had used a cotton ball and plenty of hot water to push out the air and get the decals to conform to surface features and panel lines, are the decals too think for this technique to avoid the silvering?

 

[Robiwon]

If the decals are thin you may get away with it. Not all decals silver the same way. Some do so more than others. You may want to pick up some Micro Sol and Micro Set. These are solutions you can get online or at most good hobbyshops. These solutiones go either under or on top of the decal. They actually soften the film after it is put in place and allows the decal to conform to the surface better. However until it is fully dry the decals can be destroyed if touched due to them being "that soft". For smaller decals instead of just using water to release the decal put a few drops of good ol' Elmers white glue in your bowl of decal water. This seems to helps eliminate silvering as well.

 

[Bryancd]

Thanks for the clarification, Robiwon. That describes the condition I see perfectly.

 

[Bryancd]

...almost there....

 

[Rhett J Martin]

She looks great B! Well done!

 

[PHArchivist]

Looks fantastic!

 

[Bryancd]

FINISHED!!!!!
I had some difficulty attaching the neck to the secondary hull. It fit great into the primary but I had a bit of a gap in the bottom of the neck that came back to haunt me. It took some real wrestling and some contour puddy touch up to make it look seamless. It wasn't the fault of the kit, it was my lack of skill. At the end of the day, I am thrilled with how it came out. This kit is very doable for the less skilled among us and I can't recommend it enough. Polar Lights did an outstanding job and although i didn't do it 100% justice, I made this model and I couldn't be more pleased with the results. Oh, and it really is HUGE.
Thank for following along and offering so much support, guys. I have so much respect for the incredible talent here and you have all inspired me to try and do that which i didn't think I could. :thumbsup

 

[Hedjii72]

WOW! That is inspiring! I'm very proud of you, man. That really looks great. I may even attempt one of these.

 

[Zodou]

That is really nice, well done Bryancd! If it weren't so massive I would consider building one myself. I guess I'll just live vicariously through all the great builds I see floating around.

 

[Lord Abaddon]

That my friend came out fantastic!!! I so want to do one someday but even having built hundreds of models it just seems so daunting at times. But the more I see it the more I just want to have it!

Now you need to rest a bit, then buy another one and put lights in.

 

[Mechamaniac]

What's the dimension of the primary hull?

 

[robn1]

Very nice! I'd never have believed it, but those aztec decals do look great.

 

[Jedi Dade]

whoa the decals costs the same as the kit?! Are they better, has anyone done a comparison between the the new re-issue's decals and these?

If you go over to http://www.starshipmodeler.com/ there are people there that have used them. in general people seem to think that they are as good as the PL decals as far as fit etc., but they have a lot more color variation like the original refit had (blue, gold and red IIRC). and if you purchased an older kit it did not come with decals... so you're either painting that lady or ...

Jedi Dade

 

[Robiwon]

The primary hull (saucer) is 16 inches in diameter.

Great job! Looks fantastic.

OT, the new Moebius Jupiter 2 will be bigger than the Refits saucer!!!!

 

[Bryancd]

That my friend came out fantastic!!! I so want to do one someday but even having built hundreds of models it just seems so daunting at times. But the more I see it the more I just want to have it!

Now you need to rest a bit, then buy another one and put lights in.

Do it, Mike! It's a really great project.
One last tweek, I needed to darken the blue on the wings.