1/1400 scale Phobos review

[novahobbies]

It's been quiet in here! Maybe this will help. I started a blog for kit reviews and builds, and for my first post, I thought it was high time to show off the beautiful 1/1400 scale Phobos by our own Del of Multi-Verse Models. Take a look!
https://novahobbiesdotcom.wordpress.com ... bos-class/

[Drop_Bear]

Good review! That is indeed a very nice model; be sure to post plenty of eye candy when she's done.

[el gato]

It is a really good looking model. As I commented on another thread, the decal stuff Del threw in there will really enhance the model when it's finished

[novahobbies]

It is a really good looking model. As I commented on another thread, the decal stuff Del threw in there will really enhance the model when it's finished

I agree, the decals in the kit are EXCELLENT. Now that I see these, I kind of want to see how he did my old 1/1400 Hideki class scout. I know he smoothed out the top of the shell and did those lines in decals. Bet they look sharp.

[novahobbies]

FRAKENTHREAD!!!!!! Back from the dead!

I thought I'd post some in progress shots of this model as it has (SO SLOWLY) come together. It's nearly done, so with my rate of doing things, that means it may actually be finished by Dec 2020!

So here we go. Early in 2017 I found myself playing with re-sized decals for the 1400 scale ships. I ordered myself a new Enterprise-A and Reliant class from Starcrafts, and I pulled the phobos class out of mothballs to see how she looked. I had cleaned her, primered, and laid down a nice bright white base coat, and that was it. So I figured I'd get back into decal mode with her to start.

Always start on the bottom. Always, always start decal work like this on the bottom.

Then moved to the top:

Once that was done, I started cutting and pasting to fill in the details. So far all of these decals are the rescaled Round2 Enterprise decals. I just went looking for what would fit best in any given spot.

Starting to look like a starship.

More details getting filled in, and the warp engine decals are coming together nicely. The warp engines are very slightly different, so more decal cutting needed to be done to get them to fit. There are about 15 decals PER NACELLE. My eyes were tired.

I went back to the bottom and started working on the lower sensor:

And then decaling and painting in the bridge areas.

It was about this time that I decided to get really crazy, and I rescaled the old Pendragon decals for Starcrafts Reliant. I figured it would be a sister build!

Everything was going so well. Too well, in fact. By this time I was ready to bust out with the actual kit decals and lay the wallpaper decal for the grid down over my existing beautiful decal work. I prepped the kit with multiple coats of future floor wax. Let everything dry nice and clean in between. And when I went to apply the first pie wedge decal for the grid pattern, disaster struck. The decal film he used wasn't playing nice with either my future coats or the decal film I was using. Things turned yellow real fast, and the silvering that was going on could have sustained a precious metals mine for a year. I tried 3 pie wedges. And had to remove them. Unfortunately, that meant removing....EVERYTHING that went with it. I was back to bare painted plastic in those sections.

Oh well. Setbacks happen. I reapplied new decals for the aztec pattern, then put the model away for 6 months!

Recently I finally got off my duff and emailed MVM about the decal issue and arranged to have a new set of decals printed on the paper I was using. WOOHOO! I was back to it. With some trepidation, I went and applied my first pie wedge to the model. Then another. Then another. I'm happy to say.....the grid pattern is back on!

And that's where I am right now. I'm detailing this and the Brattain (that reliant model) concurrently. I'll update as I get new pictures.

[Gidiot]

She's looking Awesome!

[Kratok]

She's looking Awesome!

Agreed. Really nice decal work.

[novahobbies]

It's been a busy weekend, and these decals are very much like an endurance test. But we're nearly there.

First, the lady needed a name. The USS Luna is officially commissioned.

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These decals I'm using now are finally the official kit decals, and I'm happy to say they were going on without any major snags. The decals on the lower catamaran hulls were added, along with the lower name

As were the details on the inside of the catamarans and the top of the saucer. I really like that the officer's lounge windows were decals....that was a nice little touch.

So....many.....tiny....decals....

I finished the bulk of the decals and got to detail painting. There was much more to paint on the Brattain than there was on this ship, but I did finish up the photorp pod, then did a dark wash to bring out some of those fantastic details.

Not much left to do here. Got some final little touch-ups, and it'll be done.

[novahobbies]

OK, I think it's done. Just a quick clear coat and find a good stand for it, and we're finished.

The kit comes with a standard dome stand. I'm thinking of trying to airbrush it as a planet and incorporating it into a wooden base space scene.

[Del]

The kit comes with a standard dome stand. I'm thinking of trying to airbrush it as a planet and incorporating it into a wooden base space scene.

Wow. And here all along I've been thinking just basic black.