I bought the kit about seven years ago, and for much of that time it's been up in the attic. Every time I opened the box I recoiled in horror at the size of the thing. I'd had the Aurora Enterprise as a kid (only for a few months before one of the nacelles snapped off, if I remember) and fancied something similar, but I don't think I quite grasped what I was biting off. Although I like to build model aircraft in 1/48th and 1/24th scale, I've never really tackled anything as big as the Polar Lights kit, or with as many internal details. And my main modelling focus is railways, particularly building brass and white metal steam locomotives, quite a step away from a 35 inch long starship.
My intention was to do build it more or less out of the box, without it becoming any kind of epic project. I wasn't intending to put lights in it or add any after-market bits, since it was meant to be a nice, approachable side-project, to act as a bit of a change of pace from locomotives. To start with, I decided that masking all those windows was going to be a major pain, so I decided not to install the glazing parts, but to add them later from the outside once the model was painted and decaled, using one of those PVA-type glazing products.
I started building the saucer section.
Then when I mentioned the project, someone asked me if I was going to light it, and after I said no, they said it would be a shame not to. That's when I discovered some of those amazing builds on the internet. OK, so let's put lights in it! That meant stripping down the partially assembled saucer, breaking glued joints where possible, and that point I decided I might as well use the kit glazing anyway. Then I had a chance conversation in a model shop and learned that there are some nice etched brass parts to add extra detail to the shuttle bay, etc. OK, so let's order those!
Then I discovered a relatively inexpensive LED lighting kit on ebay, and I ordered that as well. All of a sudden, what had started as a quickie project was turning into a bit of a monster. And I quickly discovered that once this thing is on your modelling bench, there isn't much room for anything else! For a while I could still get the partially worked-on parts back in the box, but not any longer, so the rush is on to get it done and dusted now.
This is the progress so far, with the saucer section lit up and with the light-blocking almost done. I'd have to say that light-blocking is by far the most tedious part of the project, in that I seem to have gone through endless pots of Revell matte black in the process. I'm just about ready to seal up the secondary hull and start working out how to mate all the parts together. The one thing that I've found beneficial from railway modelling is that the soldering's no problem, and locomotives sometimes need quite a bit of internal wiring too, so that feels like reasonably familiar ground, keeping tabs on wiring colours, common returns etc. LEDS are also used in model railway applications, especially with digital control and so on.
I gather it's generally considered better to paint and decal the sections individually? Has anyone any experience on building the whole thing as a single unit, then finishing it off? For some reason that appeals to me more than finishing the individual parts, perhaps because I'm concerned about light-blocking the joints.
All seems to be going OK so far, anyway. My only slight concern is that I'm not 100% convinced that the neck is sitting exactly square-on to the saucer. I keep checking it with rulers, etc, and it looks bang-on, but my eye keeps insisting that there's a very slight lean to one side. I'll need to keep a careful watch on that when I attach the saucer/neck to the secondary hull, as I want it all sitting square and parallel, as it should be.
I must say that when I bought this kit, I'd have chosen the original Enterprise any day, except Polar Lights hadn't put out their 1/350th kit for the earlier version at the time. But having spent so long with the Refit, I've really come to appreciate its lines and proportions.
best,
Al
