Relearning old skills

[Hossfly72]

I'm not exactly a new modeler. I just haven't built many models in the last 15-20 years. I've always been a fan of Star Trek and I jumped in wholeheartedly with the Cadet Series. The Original Series is my favorite time frame and I have always loved the Romulan Warbird. So I built it. It took all of five minutes. Then I painted it. Didn't like the color. Removed the paint. Repainted (on a REALLY humid day). Removed the clumpy paint. I painted and removed the paint FIVE times on that little four piece ship! I finally blew some Model Master non-buffing aluminum paint on it just to see what it would look like. Too shiny. What the hell! Just finish a model! Blew the sealer on it and it looked "right". I decaled it this morning and will give it a light coat of Future tomorrow and I finally have a really nice little Warbird!
Yay me!
While the decals were drying on it, I decided to decal my third TOS Enterprise with the after market decals I ordered a year ago. They might be one of the last good batch of whichever company was having problems with pink colors on it's decals. Accreation maybe? I put on the underside of the saucer first and instantly thought, "That's gonna look like crap." A little Micro set, a little Micro Sol, a whole lot of Solva-Set, Q-tips rubbing the air out, a hair dryer, a soft cloth, and really delicate cuts in several key locations and they look better than the (Johnny Lightning?) Enterprise I have! I have to say "Thank You" to everybody here for the inspiration, tips, tricks, help, hints, and stories of success and failures that all of you folks have shared. As soon as I finish the Enterprise and knock out the Klingon D-7 I've been detailing, I'm gonna actually share some pics for the first time. I have re-found a hobby!
And it's actually relaxing this time around!
I have at least 3 D-7's in my stash. Two are smooth and one has raised panel detailing. I forget in which set the raised detailed one was included, but if you guys could enlighten me, I'd appreciate it. I really like it and would like a few more of the same. I went with several different greens on it, just to be different. The smoothies will be the purpley-gray color like the instructions say.
Still not a big fan of the Enterprise B I have but will probably do it simple as the instructions show. I bought one of the pre-detailed Reliants and loved it and I'm still trying to get the built up Reliant the PERFECT paint job.
After my little Starfleet is out of drydock, I think I'm going to tackle an old Airfix Dc-9 I have and put it in a Southern Airways livery. The Metalizer experience will come in handy on it.

[Cubey Terra]

Heyo. I found AST not long after taking up model building a few years back. These guys are great for solid advice and feedback.

Hey, do you have any photos of your stuff? Would love to see them.

[Drop_Bear]

The Cadet Series kits are great. I love bigger models, but the little ones are cheaper to play with and more of a challenge.

The clues you provide lead me to conclude that your D7 is actually a K'tinga. It comes in the same box as the Reliant and has raised detail. What colour is the plastic? The K'tinga is moulded in green plastic. That would be the telltale sign, since these kits can be left unpainted and come moulded in the appropriate hull colour.

I look forward to seeing pictures of your work!

[trekriffic]

I concur with what Drop_Bear said. If it's molded in green with raised panels it's most almost certainly a K'tinga.
It would have come in the same Cadet set with the Reliant and Enterprise Refit.
You can see a buildup I did here in the Newbie Modeler Help Desk subforum:

https://www.allscaletrek.com/viewtopic.php?f=62&t=3355

Please share some pics of your work. It would be great if if you could post them in the Newbie Gallery. It's not just for newbies either, it's also for modellers with some prior experience who've been away for awhile but have decided to renew their love for our hobby.

[Hossfly72]

Yup! It's a K'Tinga! Bad news. I committed the mortal sin of all Enterprise modelers last night after the LAST decal was placed and had dried. I picked the darn thing up to look it over, dropped it, tried to catch it, and broke off a warp pylon! I glued it back at what I thought was the perfect angle, only to check it this evening and find that my little E will be warping in a circle due to lopsided nacelles. Since I was seven years old, I've taken great pride in having perfectly aligned warp nacelles. This is a huge blow to my OCD self. The good news is that the wife has been on a Gray's Anatomy binge on Netflix lately. After watching Torres, the bone surgeon, I think I can re-break the pylon and set it at the correct angle. At some future point in time... Until then, I will divide my time between other micro starships and my 8 foot wingspan RC sailplane that MUST be ready for spring flying season. I'll try to get some good pics tomorrow.

[Hossfly72]

Repaired! I cut the pylon,off, drilled out the bottom of the pylon in the hull, whittled ut a new pylon from a piece of styrene sheet of the correct thickness and it works! Now she has to go to the paint shop and I'll see if I can lift the decal from the original pylon and transfer it to the new one.
Now for the big question... Why not mold the things with the pylons as seperate pieces that plug into the hull and into the nacelles, instead of as a single, V shaped unit?

[Tesral]

Repaired! I cut the pylon,off, drilled out the bottom of the pylon in the hull, whittled ut a new pylon from a piece of styrene sheet of the correct thickness and it works! Now she has to go to the paint shop and I'll see if I can lift the decal from the original pylon and transfer it to the new one.
Now for the big question... Why not mold the things with the pylons as seperate pieces that plug into the hull and into the nacelles, instead of as a single, V shaped unit?

You would have to talk to the guys that do the molds. I'm not real fond of the saddle area myself. It always needs putty work. And sanding, lots of sanding on All Sanding Trek.

[Hossfly72]

Maybe a modified hull from Shapeways?

[Tesral]

Maybe a modified hull from Shapeways?

It'$ not that much of a problem..

[shiftdel]

... Now for the big question... Why not mold the things with the pylons as seperate pieces that plug into the hull and into the nacelles, instead of as a single, V shaped unit?

Probably to guarantee the best alignment and angle for the nacelles, and avoid a 10 years old boy to get upset because he could never have the skill and patience to align the nacelles properly.

Anyway, I enjoyed your post, I like this kind of details of trial and error... Welcome back to the hobby!!