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1/350 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.

Me holding the model to show it's relative size.

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