AMT 1/650 Star Trek TOS Enterprise by Brad Hagen

AMT 1/650
Star Trek TOS Enterprise
by Brad Hagen

I originally built this model
as a kid, so I was really happy to see that Round
2 had rereleased it again. I picked up the limited edition
tin box at a scratch and dent sale, there was very little damage
to the box, really only on the bottom and I got it a little
cheaper than a cardboard box version, plus it comes with a nice
poster of the box art.

Here is a good article on the
history on the AMT Enterprise, A
History of the AMT Enterprise Model by Jay Chladek on
the CultTVMan
website, the site also has a good store for sci-fi items, I
have been very happy with their service.

Model Man on Hobby
Talk has some good videos
on putting this model together and also using this model for
making other starship configurations.

I wanted to build this model
straight out of the box like I did when I was a kid, just hopefully
better! I know there are some accuracy issues, I just wanted
this as a fun build and to hopefully be a bit of a step back
in time.

I mostly use Model
Master liquid cement which has a gel like consistency, I laid
a bead around the saucer and then used all the close pins and
clamps I could get around it. It has a pretty tight fit, I didn’t
make sure it was perfectly lined up on each side so I had more
sanding to do then I should have. The impulse engine was glued
on a little later.

This photo shows
the size difference between the AMT Enterprise and the Polar
Lights 1/1000 Enterprise.

I was going to
lay in a lot of glue where the pylons and neck glue into, I
didn’t want a lot of the plastic goo squeezing out, so I filed
down the corners of the tabs that they glue into so there is
a little bit of an opening where the plastic goo will hopefully
squeeze out of. It’s kind of hard to see in the circle on the
photo, the top one has been filed down.

I saw on the forums
where some guys had problems with the sides of the engineering
hull cracking as they were handling it, I think part of the
problem is using super glue as it just doesn’t have the strength
for that small of a butt joint that is also somewhat flexible.
I have an allergy to superglue’s which is why I stick with plastic
cements, superglue’s can be great for modeling and are a whole
lot quicker, but for some things like this, I do think it’s
better to use liquid cements as they weld the plastic together.

To give a little
more gluing area and strength, I cut a number of tabs from some
plastic sheet and glued them on, they were a big help in assembly.

I had to scrape
away a slightly raised injector pin where the shuttle bay doors
glued on to get a nice flush fit.

Before I glued
the top of the engineering hull on, I used a piece of plastic
rod to plug up the hole for the kit stand. That stand is pretty
unstable, so I decided to make my own.

I used my #11 blade
and twirled it around until I got a hole the size I wanted.
I then cut a piece of tubing to length and glued a tiny piece
of tubing into the bottom of that as I wasn’t sure if the rod
would slide up into the neck. I then glued it in place and filed
it flush.

I glued and taped
the top sides of the engineering hull together and before that
was completely dry, I glued it to the bottom of the engineering
hull and spent quite a bit of time while it was drying working
it into place. A couple spots needed clamps, I definitely need
better clamps than I have though.

I didn’t have any
gaps anywhere on the model which surprised me, but I did have
some lips on all the parts which did take some filing and sanding.
Overall, I am pretty happy with the fit so far.

I painted the front
of the deflector dish copper (Plaid acrylic from the craft section
thinned with Future) and then glued it on and put on a little
Tamiya putty, probably half of the putty needed was from me
being a little heavy-handed with filing. I need to touch up
the copper in a couple spots.

The nacelles went
together nicely, I wish now I would have glued some tabs in
these as well as it would’ve made it a little easier. I had
to remove the locating pins from one of them to get it to line
up correctly. After filing and sanding, I brushed on some Krylon
primer thinned 50% with water where I had sanded and was pleasantly
surprised to find it was pretty smooth, not normal for my models!

I will be trying
out my Kustom Kolor airbrush system on this model, it will be
the first time I have tried an airbrush. This system is a little
different although I did pick up their airbrush adapter recently.
Hopefully it works well as it will be quicker and easier than
brushing.

(click fot full size)

Since I needed
to make a base, I decided to do a little diorama from the episode
Space Seed. Here is the base I am planning on doing (you can
click on it for full-size). The main part is 8 x 10 and will
be from 3/4 in pink insulation, the Starfleet insignias will
also be made from 3/4 in pink insulation, they are partly for
looks, mostly to give more support for the pylons. After I file
out the holes for the pylons, I will line them with plastic
tubing. The text will either be made out of 3/16 in foam board,
balsa, or tag board, whichever looks better after its cut out.

Here is the base with drawings
of both models scaled to size over it. Still deciding whether
I should move the Enterprise back a little. Since the base will
be pretty light, I’m thinking about carving some depressions
into the installation and gluing in some weights. It will be
covered giving it a hard and smooth shell for painting. Haven’t
decided on the colors for it yet.

I’m farther along than the photos
show, just haven’t gotten around to taking any more photos lately.