Wednesday, June 16, 2010

Fresh out of Drydock : 1400 Scale USS Newton



Here's my first attempt at painting a ship form the fleet of 09'



First off I have to say that the model itself is amazing. The detail was incredible with very little air bubbles or flash in the casting and all the pieces fit together perfectly. I was hesitant about wallpaper decals at first just seeing them on the paper, but when I applied the first section to the model I knew it was going to work out. However it was not without some major trial and error.

You will notice that there is battle damage on some of the hull, thats from areas where I messed up the decals too bad and had to cover it up! Good thing I had some PNT battle damage decals handy! Heh.

My recommendations for using the wallpaper decals.

1. Decal softener should become your best friend. You will need it for all the major detailed areas like the bridge domes, sensor domes, around the nacelles, etc.

2. Do not get rough with these decals, they are very very thin and will tear on you.

3. Do not assemble the whole model then attempt to decal. This was my mistake and it caused some problems I had to fix in the end. However, to my credit, the wallpaper decals were not available when I started making this model. I would suggest to painting the model in subsections, applying decals, clear coating then assemble it all as the last step.

4. In the instructions it said to cut the saucer section panels in half before applying. I cut it into quarters, made it a bit more easier to move around.

5. Don't be afraid if there are gaps between the dried decals where some of the under color shows though. You can always custom mix a cover up paint that will blend the seams, and once a good coat of enamel clear is on everything, the sheens all blend together.


No comments:

Post a Comment