AMT/Ertl Enterprise B Build

[Griffworks]

I’m in the “strip and start over” Camp, as well. Worst case scenario, use Aztek Dummy masks and paint it instead of decal her

[arcticfox]

Thanks for the compliment and don't worry about what mine look like just make it your own. Truthfully a lot of the look of my kits are because of the aztek decals.

Oh I was kidding. I don't really try to make my starships look technical, I go for more of an artistic approach exactly so that they're more unique. I like to try to paint them up as they'd appear in the darkness of space. (I have a couple build threads on here as examples.)

Yeah sheet plastic is you friend on a Excelsior class model and I to have had to make the fins out of it. For some reason everyone thinks the fins on the Enterprise-B are longer then Excelsiors so Round 2 didn't put the extension in the new Excelsior kit.

So I shouldn't bother? These are the horizontal fins.

I understand about the after market parts they cost a lot anyway and you can still make a great looking kit without them but I would diffently make the top plates for the top of the secondary hull just to bring it up to date a little. You can use the engraved lines on the model as a templet cut them out in painters tape and move the painters tape to the sheet plastic and cut them out, really fast and easy mod that makes the kit look way better, Those deep engraved lines are unrealalic IMO anyway.

I'll look into that, thanks for the tip!

[holt35]

No you should put the fin extensions on. All the Excelsior kits have never come with them but AMT added them when they came out with the Enterprise-B in 95 because they had made them to short on the Excelsior so the Round2 E-B also has them like it should. For some reason Round 2 didn't put them in the new Excelsior kit that came out in 2016 but that's the least of that kits problems.

[arcticfox]

No you should put the fin extensions on. All the Excelsior kits have never come with them but AMT added them when they came out with the Enterprise-B in 95 because they had made them to short on the Excelsior so the Round2 E-B also has them like it should. For some reason Round 2 didn't put them in the new Excelsior kit that came out in 2016 but that's the least of that kits problems.

I okay I gotcha. I had it backwards.

I did see a diagram showing Excelsior's fins the same length as those of Enterprise-B, but I was hoping to find some actual screenshots to see it since any diagram is a secondary source. I wasn't successful searching the Web so I guess I'm just gonna have to watch some more Star Trek

Thanks for the heads up on that though. Since I know I'm going to be building at least one more Excelsior class ship I may as well save the template I use to make this fin for next time, in case the kit I wind up getting doesn't have them.

[arcticfox]

I'm looking at the vinyl masks on Starshipmodeler since the decals may not contrast enough if I do a darker hull color. Pricey, but if I can get at least two models out of the set then it'd be worth it.

[Tailgunner]

No you should put the fin extensions on. All the Excelsior kits have never come with them but AMT added them when they came out with the Enterprise-B in 95 because they had made them to short on the Excelsior so the Round2 E-B also has them like it should. For some reason Round 2 didn't put them in the new Excelsior kit that came out in 2016 but that's the least of that kits problems.

I okay I gotcha. I had it backwards.

I did see a diagram showing Excelsior's fins the same length as those of Enterprise-B, but I was hoping to find some actual screenshots to see it since any diagram is a secondary source. I wasn't successful searching the Web so I guess I'm just gonna have to watch some more Star Trek

Thanks for the heads up on that though. Since I know I'm going to be building at least one more Excelsior class ship I may as well save the template I use to make this fin for next time, in case the kit I wind up getting doesn't have them.

All the reference you need:

https://imgur.com/gallery/V98w5

https://www.mutara.net/Christies/Lakota.html

https://www.modelermagic.com/?p=2932

[arcticfox]

All the reference you need:

https://imgur.com/gallery/V98w5

https://www.mutara.net/Christies/Lakota.html

https://www.modelermagic.com/?p=2932

Many thanks!

[mophius]

I just need to find a way to do this bit nicely.

Anyone else have a problem deciding what to do with this?

ZW6nJmC_d.jpg (20.66 KiB) Viewed 1219 times

[arcticfox]

The shuttlebay?

I'm looking at mine and thinking... is it just me, or does it seem like the shuttlebay makes more sense if we look at it as upside down? In space, up and down are completely arbitrary and it feels like that's what they had in mind when designing this...

If that's the case, it might be interesting to add a shuttle or two to the bay to illustrate that.

[mophius]

It wouldn't be so bad if they had fighters like the Starfury in B5 or Deathgliders in SG-1