Jim James' Enterprise Set |
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The problem with ERTL's selection of big Enterprise kits is that they vary in scale. Modelers were, therefore, pleased
when ERTL released a set of three Enterprises (TOS, A and D) all to the same scale. They recently added a second set (B, C and E) in the same scale as the first set. This means that
modelers can now build all six Enterprises in the same scale..
While the second set is quite good, the first set was severely lacking in detail. It seemed that they only way to detail
the first set was with a lot of freehand painting. Along comes
Clark Bradshaw who has produced a decal sheet that provides a lot of that missing detail that now allows modelers to build accurate versions of all six Enterprises.
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Where the decal sheets really count are the ones for the D. What you get is almost every single window and lifeboat for
the saucer and hull. Considering that ERTL gives you phaser strips and that's about it, the decals make an impressive difference.
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The TOS decals include windows and all those extra hull and saucer markings. It also includes a new side flash to replace
the inaccurate one on ERTL's decal sheet.
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For the A, there are nice windows and phaser panels but very little else. I missed not getting the blue-gray nacelle
strut panels and even the dark blue nacelle panels. However, what you get looks really nice.
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I've used Thomas Model' C decals as a guide to improving the C and printed off my own lifeboat decals (based on the design
found on the SE Voyager). .
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One really useful find was Don Matthys Enterprise B decals. I scanned these and by trail and error, printed off a
set for the smaller Enterprise B. Since most of these decals go over white paint, you don't need an ALPS printer (I used a color laser).
Since these decals are really sharp
to start with, the smaller sized copy held up pretty good as I hope you can see from the attached photos.
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I pretty much completed assembly of all three ships (I left the D's engine nacelles off) and sprayed them with Testor's
GlossCote before starting decal
application. I treated the surface to be decaled with MicroSet and then applied the decals using a liberal amount of water. Once the decals were positioned, I used a clean cloth to blot up excess moisture. I decalled small sections and allowed them to dry before proceeding. Any areas where the decals did not snuggle down were treated with MicroSol. The kit decals were also applied in sections, often at the same time at the detail decals. After all decals were applied, I sprayed the models with Testor's DullCote.
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Apart from heavy decaling, the kits were built out of the box using the painting guides for their larger scale
counterparts. The base is a
wooden plaque from Michael's Craft Store with the B/C/E set stand base. The ships are mounted at 45 degrees on square brass rods. Lining them up was a bear.
-- Jim James
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