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Polar Lights TOS USS Enterprise


This
kit was one of the preordered versions which I ordered and waited
for. Round2 had a big program to get presales before the kit was
produced, and by preordering you recieved a T-Shirt (in gold,
red or blue - mine is blue).
I
think it took about a year and a half, as far as waiting for the
model, but it was well worth it.
The
pre-ordered version has extra parts to make other versions of
the Enterprise, and a certificate of Authenticity. The boxes are
numbered, They only made 1701 of these special kits in the program.
Mine is number 1498.
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I
have started on this kit and am slowly getting it together. The
kit was molded in a light blue color, but I want to paint it white,
like it shows on TV. So I've been shooting the parts with white
primer.
All
the windows attach from the inside. So if I glue the parts together,
putty and primer any seams, I can't add the windows later. If
I add them before gluing, I'll have to somehow mask them all off
(a daunting task, they are tiny).
I
haven't decided what to do yet.
I
have painted the bridge. Considering it's the size of a Quarter
coin, I think it came out well. I used the smallest brush I had.
Round2 provides the decals for the console screens, and the main
viewer. (you get 3 for the viewer, I used Balok)

The
saucer halves, secondary hull and a warp nacelle.
Nothing glued yet, just test fitting.

Saucer
primered, and the bridge portion has been glued in place.

More
parts that have been primered.

Here
I've test fitted the secondary hull on the stand. I wanted to
see how that fit. It seems sturdy enough, and ready to take on
the wieght of this huge kit.
The
primary hull has been glued together and is practically done.
I'm debating on if I should add decals now. No fitment issues
at all at this point. I am using small clamps to hold everything
together on parts when the glue dries, to keep the seams at a
minimum. I rough sanded the big rectangular "windows / lights"
on the inside to they couldn't be seem through on the saucer,
and the two clear parts on the impulse engine.

These
are mostly parts that I won't be using, since they allow you to
build other versions of the model ship. (NOTE:This model was the
first Special Edition kits that specifically had extra parts in
it, but the regular kit will not have all of these as far as I
know.)

Parts
are laid out while drying. Everything gets primer. Primarily white
primer. Then a coat of Tamiya White. Together with shades of silver
and greys for verious other parts. The box bottom and sides have
the color call outs for painting the ship.(and the box is in full
color).
The
windows come in clear (for lighting the ship) a black tinted clear,
and translucent white. I'm using the black ones where I can. The
two nacelles thankfully don't require any parts attached from
the inside, so I can glue them together and deal with any seams
before painting them.

Below
I've assembled the warp nacelles. I had to put some work into
them filling and sanding the seams, but otherwise, they assembled
easily. Polar Lights has some creative ways to make the parts
accurate that works out well. The seconday hull is only mocked
up at this point. Just to see how the parts line up and fit.

The
Bussard collectors on the front are molded in clear. Since I'm
not lighting the kit, adding those clear globes with clear (or
painted) "lights" inside it looked kind of weird. They
would be very distracting. If they were lit up I'm sure they would
look spectacular, but not as just clear parts.
I
chose to go old school on the nacelles and paint the globes like
the older AMT 1/650 Enterprise kits. On those boxes, the bussard
collectors always seemed to have the same gold color as the front
deflector shield, so I painted mine the same way. I think it looks
much better. Is it accurate? Not really. But your eyes don't get
stuck on the front of the nacelles which really looks "fake"
when not lit up.

The
secondary hull gets glued together. Make sure you don't forget
to add any interior parts. Getting it apart later might be impossible.
The rear shuttle bay is made up of 5 individual parts, which are
tricky to assemble. You then have to fit the bay into the hull.
Joining the two parts of the hull was fiddly, working around the
shuttle bay and the way it fit. So far on this build, this was
the most stressful area. Note that Polar Lights gives you an open
and a closed clamshell door for the shuttle bay, so if you don't
want to add the interior, you can use the closed door.
I
used two clamps to force the sides together and lots of glue in
hidden places to reinforce everything to bond it all as best I
could. I think the seam will be minor, and will only need a slight
bit of putty spread with a finger tip to fill it.

4
- Quick Grip Model Bar Clamps

I
decided to add the decals to the saucer. The more I build on this
model, the more I see it's going to be huge and hard to handle.
So I think it will be easire to add the decals now. The last "1"
on the 1701 decal broke. I want to say the decals might be brittle.
They
have a matte finish, and the kit is a couple of years old, so
it's not unusual. Just be careful. Don't "tug" on them
when laying them down. use lots of water to slide them. I fit
the number back together, so it won't be noticed unless someone
looks to closely.

Here
are the decals for the bottom. The two long "triangle"
shapes were made so they are a little bit transparent, they have
a great look to them (Round2 did something similar to their Mystery
UFO model decals, and even the 1/72 MPC Eagle decals).It's
a nice effect when used.The
rest of the decals were no problems at all.
I
have already glued on the connectiing fin to the saucer, with
lots of glue. But Round2 has some tight fitment here, nothing
sloppy at all. I don't think it will ever come apart. It's rock
solid.

The
secondary hull for the model. The seam was minor once it was glued
together, but you could still see it. I used Zap-A-Gap super glue
to fill it. Once dry overnight, I sanded it down, ready to reshoot
some primer on.

I
went ahead and added the decals for the the other parts. When
I was finished, I was glad I did. It would have been much more
difficult to add them, and keep them straight once it was assembled
all the way. They all fit fine. Treat them gentle when you add
them.

My
plan was to assemble the major parts one at a time, and let the
glue set. I was thinking this might take a day or two. I glued
on the secondary hull the day before, and that set overnight.
It was rock solid.
I
added the pilons to the warp nacelles next. The fitment was so
tight (because of the coat of primer and paint I'm sure, and Polar
Lights exact tolerances) that I could not get them out. So there's
no glue on them. But they are not going anywhere.
I
pushed the pilons into the secondary hull and it was the same
thing. Extremely tight. And I didn't use any glue there either.
As far as I can tell, the nacelles are perfectly straint. Polar
Lights doesn't mess around. There is no sloppiness here. None.
Nil.
If
you want to use glue, I would recommend you sand off any primer
and paint at the contact points so you can slide the parts in
and out to test the fitment, then use your glue.
I
don't want to risk breaking mine, so they will stay as is.

I
still need to paint the green running lights. I have to get some
transparent green (not a color used often, and I don't have any
right now). The shuttle was painted, I added the decals (tiny!),
and then glued it in the shuttle hanger.
The
stand was simply painted flat black. It has no problem holding
the model, and the model sits parallel and level.

I
highy recommend this kit. It's not that hard to build. An average
builder (like me) can easily do it. It really depends on how accurate
you want it to be as far as the painting (and there are 3 versions
to choose from for that issue). I build models the way I want
to, whatever looks best to me, so I'm not concerned that every
little color is perfect or every small part.
If
you just want to buld it out of the box like I have, the parts
are large, easily handled, and easily glued together.

These
are the voyages ...

I
measured the model, and it's around 32.5 inches long from
the front of the saucer to the back of the warp nacelles.
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- Paints
used:
- Plastikote
White Primer
- Tamiya
Gloss White TS26 (the overall color I used)
- Tamiya
Neutral Grey (I used this in a few places, notably inside
the inner panel on the wap nacelles).
- Testors
Silver 1246 (this dries flat, and was used on some of
the warp engine parts)
- Rust-oleum
Stainless Steel # 7519 (I used this color on the Impulse
Drive, and the rear portion of the warp nacelles. I love
this color, I use it a lot because it's such an uncommon
metallic shade).
- Rust-oleum
Metallic Copper # 1937830 (I used this on the main deflector
and the front bussard collectors on the warp nacelles).
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Me
holding the model to show it's relative size.

Here
is the model on display at a local model event.
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