AMT Round 2 Romulan Bird of Prey

[toejrb]

Longtime lurker, first time poster.

Here's my cut at the AMT Romulan Bird of Prey.

This is my first try at lighting, so I kept things simple. Lighting is various LEDs, controlled by the Madman starship lighting card. The model has Nav lights, internal lights, warp bussard(?) lights, and a strobe on the tail that doesn't show in the pics. Power is a 9v. Everything is inside the model, controlled by a switch at the stern. The belly is affixed to the top with screws.

I'm leaving the bird decals off for now. Don't think they'd go with the grey/green color scheme.

Next is the Reliant. I'm working my way towards the 1/350 refit E, but need lots more electronics experience.

[MEATLOAFr]

that the original one? or the new 1/1000 one?

looks nice, good job

[toejrb]

that the original one? or the new 1/1000 one?

looks nice, good job

Thanks!

This is the repop of the old one.

[andyh]

: that'd be a great substitution for VFX enhancement of ST:Ent. This looks more apropos in place of the ST:ENT bird of prey - the ST:ENT BoP looks like it belongs in TNG or Post Nemesis era hehehe.

I agree completely.

[trekriffic]

Nice change from the traditional grey RBOP motif. Great job on the weathering and lights.

[toejrb]

Thanks for the kudos!

I did the scribing with a scribe I picked up at Ace hardware. I aligned it with a metal ruler and/or dymo plastic tape, and with a compass for the forward shield grid.

The sensor bands are not scribed. Rather, I added 1/8 styrene strips horizontally all around the sides of the hull, with slight spacing between strips. Presto, perfect sensor bands.

romulan starboard side.JPG (112.01 KiB) Viewed 2170 times

The weathering is a mix of airbrush pre- and post-shading. There's also an aztec on there. Squint hard at the first pic and you can see it. It's more visible from directly overhead. That's it. No pastels or washes.

Same techniques I used many years ago for my Estes USS Enterprise rocket. Say what you will about the Miarecki "restoration," it's a good excuse to practice your m4d airbrush sk1lz.

[trekriffic]

Same techniques I used many years ago for my Estes USS Enterprise rocket. Say what you will about the Miarecki "restoration," it's a good excuse to practice your m4d airbrush sk1lz.

Your Estes ship looks familiar. I used gel pen inks for the weathering on my own 18 inch "Miarecki-prise" when I built it almost 10 years ago.
At the time I had no concept of how overboard he'd gone on the prior restoration. I just wanted it to look like it did at the Smithsonian at that time...

AMT 1701 Stbd on Stand.jpg (42.96 KiB) Viewed 2169 times

[toejrb]

Sweet Ederprise. What are gel pens, and how do you get that fade with them?

[Lonewolf]

Very nicely done! I really like the green color scheme. It's so different from what's normally seen, and it makes a very nice and believable color. Totally in line with the later TNG Warbird. I might have to pilfer your idea and use it on one of my 1:2500 kits, if that's okay.

I have one of those kits somewhere. Might be in the shed or over in storage, but I can't for the life of me remember which!

[trekriffic]

Sweet Ederprise. What are gel pens, and how do you get that fade with them?

Gel pens are water based ink pens, most craft stores have them. I used black, gold, green, and brown pens for the most part. Application involves scribbling on a piece of glossy paper, foamcore board, or even aluminum foil then picking up the ink with a cotton swab (or microbrush) to apply it to the model. You can also apply the ink directly to the model with the pen if you are careful not to push down too hard into the finish. A flat finish works best. Then you can drag the ink out with the swab and/or rub with a soft cloth to get the fading the way you want it. Since it's water-based it will rub off so you need to seal with a clearcoat once the ink is dry.