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Don Matthys' Enterprise B/Excelsior
part 2

Don Matthys continues his latest project, builting the USS Excelsior and the USS Enterprise-B simultaniously. Part one of this project involved drillingout the ports and filling with clear resin. Be sure to check out of his previous projects have included the Enterprise A and the Reliant. Don also markets a resin detail parts.

The AMT kit of the USS Excelsior has detail design errors on the Primary Hull these are at the locations of the Maneuvering Thruster arrays and along the indented rings around the edge of the Primary Hull. It should not be indented but as  on the same level as the rest of the kit plastic. Check the web site of Pete Savin's (Pedro's Shiporama) for the true nature of the studio model. So I went ahead filled them in like this:

Using .020 plastic sheet I cut the 5 panels to cover the Thruster Arrays on the hull sides. The little notches are cut in as the openings. Hopefully there will be yellow lights shining in this area using small diameter fiber optics later.

The new pieces are glued into place. Then a plastic piece was cut to size and glued to the top of the Truster Cluster array.

I next troweled in some red putty at the gaps around the thruster arrays and indented rings all along the primary hull. The next day the entire side was filed level and wet sanded smooth.

This next Bench Cam Project entry deals with some of the new clear resin parts and  resin detail parts developed for the models of the Excelsior/Enterprise-B kits.

Bridge: A clear part replaces the kit detail of the bridge. The purpose of this is to  use the clear part as a light conduit by masking small areas on the part where you want light to shine through. I find that tiny masks of adhesive tape for windows/  ports/ beacon lights are easier to make than drilling small holes out, filling with resin or fiber optics. In this case I can mask the desired area any shape or size I want.  Then the clear part is opaqued with flat black paint applied through an airbrush. Then the primer and regular finish is applied. Then remove the masks upon completion

Impulse Crystals: These clear blue parts replace the kit provided details to low a blue glow emanate from the Impulse Crystals.

Using a drill, motor tool cutter and rounded sided files, I open up the areas to fit the new parts. I always cautiously test fit the new parts into place often with small files  to make the clear replacement parts fit in snug.

This next section deals with the spotlights on the lower hull. On the bottom of the  Primary Hull is the kit molded on part of the Planetary Sensor Array. I fabricated some tiny clear pieces to fit into the ends of the Array

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