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The translucent cast resin dome atop, and on the bottom, of the Primary hull were glued in place and their seams addressed with
the thinned touch-up putty, applied with a brush.
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After very careful wet sanding with descending grades of sandpaper, the translucent dome is ready for masking as I work its
perimeter with primer and paint.
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The Bridge dome and windows masked off ready for another coat of primer. The masking/priming/sanding/masking/priming...
operations repeated until the entire sanded surface of the model is blemish free. Note that I've used a narrow strip of masking to align the sweep that the side square windows make around the Bridge
structure. This guide is pulled once the four adjoining window masks are in place, before the next coat of primer/paint goes down.
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My favorite spray gun for laying down primer and paint is the Passche Model-H. I've used this same gun for going on fifteen
years without a tip change (maybe now is the time?). The wonder of the 131S DuPont automotive acrylic lacquer primer is its versatility. This industrial grade automotive primer can be laid down as thick
as mud or cut to a point that it will not hide the most subtle and delicate of surface detail.
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Applied 131S is typically ready to wet sand after only fifteen minutes of drying time! Very versatile stuff. And it will not
attack Styrene plastic!
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After laying down a primer coat, all masking is removed and the models surface checked closely under bright light to check for
tool marks or other blemishes. Such problem areas are filled with putty and later sanded smooth. With each new coat of primer the masking has to be re-applied. Tedious, but necessary.
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After about the third coat of primer the window surfaces become significantly lower than the built up thickness of the primer.
To get the clear parts back flush with the primed model surfaces, a very small stick is used to transfer thick 'gap-filling' CA adhesive atop each lens. Later, After the CA had cured hard, the entire
model is sanded with #600 used wet to even out the level of the clear CA with the level of the primed surface. Masking is again applied and the model is ready for... finally!... paint.
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Periodically, during sub-assembly preparation, the model parts were put together to check for fit - to check that neither filler
nor primer build-up had significantly acted to prevent fit of the two Warp Engine pylons into the Secondary Hull support crutch or fit of the Dorsal within the slot provided in the underside of the
Primary Hull.
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The 'colors' for the ENTERPRISE model are various shades of gray. Here I'm applying the first coat of light gray to the Bridge
structure - again using my trusty Paasche Model-H single-action spray gun, this time equipped with the 'medium duty' tip.
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Other than Greg Jein and I no one... and I mean, no one.. has built a proper looking TOS ENTERPRISE model that so accurately and
faithfully captures the look of the original(s).
Continued in part 9
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