Tyken's Rift

Klingon "Warbird" Style Cruiser Primed

2010-09-17T08:24:00.001-07:00

Here's a few picks after I sprayed some gray primer.
It really helps show the details a little bit more.

1400 Scale Klingon "Warbird" Style Cruiser

2010-09-14T08:34:00.001-07:00

Here's a few pics of my 1400 scale Klingon "Warbird" Style Cruiser. Over a decade ago I attempted to convert a 1400 D-7 into a Ktinga by added hull plating and styrene details...then Ravenstar's Ktinga came out with 10x more detail than I could produce on mine so I threw the partially finished scratchbuild in a box somewhat defeated.

Recently I unearthed it and felt it was a waste to have come so far with the extra detailing and not do "something" with it, so I decided to merge the design of the Nu-Trek Warbird with a Ktinga and make a previously unseen Klingon Warship.

Based the additions off of orthos HERE

I finished the feather pattern detail out of thin sheet styrene, built custom nacelles form assorted styrene shapes, added the wing mounted disruptor pods and scratched the disruptor cannons, used assorted putties to build up the underside "hump" and the rear impulse engines and then added a few details of my own like the neck mounted "sails".

On The Bench: 1400 Cardassian Ocett Class Light Cruiser Part 2

2010-09-10T08:10:00.000-07:00

NOW WITH MORE GREEBLES!

Over the past few weeks I've added a ton of extra plating & greebles, improved sensor wells, impulse engines, disruptor pyramids and a large underside cargo bay.

The next step is to prime her gray, sand and smooth any seams I might have missed and begin the painting process. I also plan to make some custom decals as well.

On The Bench: 1400 Cardassian Ocett Class Light Cruiser

2010-08-20T08:40:00.000-07:00

Here's a few pics of a Kitbashed Cardassian Ocett Class Light Cruiser.

The core of the Ocett Cruiser is a Kazon Torpedo (the most useless Trek kit ever) with wings fused from an AMT Galor and detail parts form a Warp Models Keldon Class Cruiser.

I've been slowly adding extra surface detail all over and plan to eventually design a very comprehensive sheet of decals and insignia for it as well.

She is only about 50% done currently. The underside still needs a lot of work, I need to scratch nacelle bussards, add disruptor pyramids, impulse engines, a ton of more surface detail and fill seams.

There will be updates in the coming weeks. :D

Fresh out of Drydock: 1400 Early Klingon Bird of Prey

2010-08-17T08:00:00.000-07:00

Here's some painted pics of my 1400 Scale Early Klingon Bird of Prey produced by Starcraft Models.

First, I have to say that this kit is amazing, the detail is spot on, super crisp casting, virtually air bubble free and all the pieces fit together like a charm. That being said the only addition I added to it was floral wire on the bridge/neck section and the rear wings.

I primed the model Grey, painted it with 2 shades of Tamiya spray, then dry brushed it with 3 shades of dark green. I applied Vallejo Smoke Wash over the whole model, then hit some specific areas with Citadel Badab Black wash. After that I sprayed the first douse of Matte Varnish, went back added the few decals, Starcrafts klingon emblems and JT Graphics Klingon script. After the decals were varnished I applied some Black and brown weathering powders and a sprayed the final coat of clear matte varnish.

Fresh out of Drydock: Romulan V11 Stormbird

2010-08-13T08:14:00.000-07:00

Fresh out of Drydock: 1400 Scale Bajoran Freighter

2010-08-11T08:13:00.000-07:00

Here's some painted pics of the freighter. The sheen is a little too glossy for my tastes.
I ran out of my fav matte varnish and need to hit the hardware store soon to stock up.

I used a combination of weathering powders, and citadel inks over top of a brown spray.
The Impulse and nacelle decals were custom. The underside Bajoran Emblems were form a PNT decal sheet.

EDIT: Here's a few pics sprayed with Matte and photographed under different lighting.

On The Bench: 1400 Scale Bajoran Freighter

2010-08-05T08:00:00.000-07:00

What do you do if you have extra parts? Make a 1400 Scale Bajoran Freighter!

I recently was left with an awesome part form a Warp Models 1400 scale Keldon freighter, not knowing what to do with it... I was rummaging through my bits box found a few things and decided to make it into one of the dozens wedge shaped style freighters seen throughout Trek in TNG / DS9/VOY.

I based the design roughly off of this design: HERE

The original Studio Model was built for DS9 in season 1 or 2 and reused as several different vessel for different races, however it was most notable as a Bajoran Freighter or the Bajoran Assault Vessel.

I completely scratch built the underside from sheet styrene and styrene shapes trying to simulate the detail on the topside as much as possible. The nacelles were made from extra pod form a Kazon Torpedo Model. I'm making some custom decals for the nacelle warp grilles and the rear impulse engine. I have a a few Bajoran emblems from a PNT decal sheet that will go on as well.

On The Bench: Romulan V-11 Stormbird

2010-08-03T10:20:00.000-07:00

Recently I procured 3 Ravenstar 1400 scale K'tingas from a friend (a very awesome deal) and I decided to make one of them into a Romulan V11 Stormbird based off of old FASA schematics shown HERE

I started by building custom nacelles based off the diagrams out of various styrene shapes and 2 nacelle struts form the old 3 piece starship set. I sanded off the K'tinga wing pattern on the top and bottom of the model and I designed a custom decal sheet in Adobe Illustrator for the feather pattern that fits over it.

Dorsal view, primed with feather pattern shaved off:

Scratch built Nacelle:

The Illustrated Custom decals:

Decal test fit of the Dorsal Wing Patterns:

Decal test fit of the nacelle grill:

Fresh out of Drydock: 1400 Scale USS Kelvin

2010-08-02T07:58:00.000-07:00

Here's some painted pics of Starcrafts USS Kelvin in 1400 scale.
I painted it with the exact formula I used to paint the Newton located here: Click me

I used Starcrafts wallpaper decals and mix of Citadel washes, Vallejo acyrlics and Tamiya spray.

Fresh out of Drydock: 1400 scale USS Nobel

2010-07-19T08:14:00.000-07:00

I've had this Starcrafts model for years. I painted it about a decade ago and recently decided to strip it down and paint it again. I've always loved this ship design and I felt that my former paint job just wasn't up to snuff with my current collection. Not to mention the fact that when I bought this kit the JT graphics decals for it were not even available yet! That's how old it is. Heh :P

Here's a link to what the ship looked like before the repaint as the USS Pasteur:
Old pictures here

There was some minor damage I made to the model during the stripping process, tried to fix what I could. I just hope the paint job covers up any imperfections I added.

I based the model with Tamiya AS5. I then hand painted the Aztec pattern based off the few pics of the studio model I could track down as well as the tan areas on the Dorsal side of the vessel and shuttlebay. I used JT graphics decals and designed 2 decals for the warp grilles.

All in all, it took me about 4 nights to strip and repaint this lovely little model.

2010-07-12T08:33:00.000-07:00

Here's the USS Jenolan from the TNG episode relics. When I bought this kit off of evil bay it was listed as 1400 scale, which obviously it was not when I finally got it in my hands and realized it was 2500 scale. It turns out the guy selling the kit from Ebay was a known re caster and if I knew that then I would not have purchased it form him.

Even though the detail was very nice for it's scale I was still dissappointed that it was not 1400, however, since I cannot find a 1400 scale kit I thought I might as well at least build this one.

The paint job was standard. The kit didn't come with decals of any sort, so I made those form scratch and the weathering was done with Doc Browns powders.

Fresh out of Drydock: 1400 scale Klingon D7

2010-07-08T08:00:00.000-07:00

Here's a few pics of my recently completed 1400 scale Klingon D7.

The model is form the old AMT 3 piece set with major modifications made to it on my end to accurize it.

I was going for the look as it was seen in the DS9 Episode Trials and Tribbilations. To achieve this I made a comprehensive set of decals designed to simulate the K'tinga style aztec pattern Greg Jein added to his studio model.

All in all I think it turned out pretty well despite some frosting on the larger decal sections when I applied my final clear coat.

Fresh out of Drydock: 1400 Scale Klingon Winged Defender

2010-07-06T08:33:00.000-07:00

Here's some painted pics of my Klingon Winged Defender.
It was painted with a combination of Vallejo & Citadel hobby paints and washes.
Decals came from a Polar Lights decal sheet.

Future possibilities: Vanguard Station

2010-06-30T11:37:00.000-07:00

I just might build it.
In the meantime, here's some schematics.

On The Bench: 1400 Scale Klingon Winged Defender Primed

2010-06-28T08:16:00.000-07:00

On The Bench: 1400 Scale Klingon Winged Defender

2010-06-28T07:49:00.000-07:00

Here's my interpretation of what a Romulan Winged Defender would look like if it was built by Klingons instead. I based the detail of this ship of off a combination of 3 Klingon vessels; the D-7, the BOP and the early D-7 from Enterprise.

I spliced the classic 3-piece set D-7 with the Ertl 1400 scale BOP form the Adversary Set. I filled in the gaps with putty, added styrene details, then added the support beams with different thicknesses of wires (for the Enterprise early D-7 look)

Fresh out of Drydock: 1400 Scale Retro NX-01

2010-06-18T08:12:00.000-07:00

Here's some pics of a little fun scratch build project I did; A retro TOS styled NX-01. I started this kit years ago and it's sat in a box ever since and just finally got up the gusto to finish her off.

I used the enterprise form the AMT 3-piece set as a base. I modified the nacelles, built up the core section form styrene and putty and a few spare bits on top of the pre-existing saucer. I replaced some enterprise style details with TOS style details (like the lower shuttle bays), built the deflector from sheet styrene and made custom decals for the entire kit.

Fresh out of Drydock : 1400 Scale USS Newton

2010-06-16T08:24:00.000-07:00

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.

On The Bench: Round 2 models K-7 Station

2010-06-14T09:19:00.000-07:00

In anticipation of Round 2's K-7 re-release I decided to do a few quick PS comps of what kind of kitbashed TOS era Federation stations I can make from the pieces. These are the result. I will certainly make 1 classic K-7 and at least 1 alternate station model.

Fresh out of Drydock: USS Enterprise 1701-A

2010-06-02T09:25:00.000-07:00

This kit has been a long time in the making. I bought it about 10yrs ago, built it, modified it to fit JT graphics decals, started painting it, then threw it in a box until about 4 months ago when I unearthed it. I striped it down to the bare resin and started all over again.

The aztec pattern is hand painted, the decals are from JT graphics.

I've always loved this ship. I built the Bandai one and intend to make the 350th scale version someday, but for now at least I have one in my 1400 scale fleet.

Fresh out of Drydock: USS Ptolemey Federation Tug

2010-06-02T09:10:00.000-07:00

Here's some pics of the USS Ptolemey.
I built this guy right out of the box with only one modification, that being the hanger bay door I sculpted into the rear cargo bulkhead and the deflector dish mount, which was missing from the kit when I bought it off ebay.

The Paintjob was pretty standard aside from the gridlines which were done with a pencil, some stencils and a light hand.

I'd like to thank Dennis from Starcrafts for graciously providing me with a replacement set of decals for free. I couldn't have finished the model without his help.

Fresh out of Drydock: USS Kyushu

2010-06-02T08:57:00.001-07:00

Here's some pics of my recently finished Starcrafts New Orleans Class Model, the USS Kyushu. This was one of the ill fated vessels of the battle of Wolf 359.

The model is primarily painted with Tamiya AS-5 spray, with a hand painted aztec pattern. The decals were a combination of the ones provided by Starcrafts and lifeboat / additional insignia from a spare JT Graphics decals set I had laying around.

All in all I have to say this was one of the coolest and most fun kits I've built yet.

Fresh out of Drydock: Romulan Anglerfish

2010-05-17T08:22:00.000-07:00

I started this project about 10yrs ago and recently decided it was time to finish it.

The core of this ship started off as a Star Wars Droid on STAP model chopped, slashed and rearranged with a few other pieces I added from my bits box. It all actually came together pretty naturally. As soon as I started making it I was like "this looks like some evil space fish" hence the "anglerfish" name. At the time I wasn't fully thinking it was going to be Romulan, but it just ended up that way since Romulans are my fav Trek aliens. Since this didn't look like a battleship to me I decided to make it a science vessel instead which is why I added the huge viewports where the "eyes" are. I figured a double level viewport where scientists can observe interstellar phenomena would be cool.

I spent hours carefully masking and measuring the decals. I designed them in Adobe Illustrator and printed them on Micro-mark decal film. Some JT Graphics Romulan emblems and script finished off the insignia.

Romulan D-7 Stormbird

2010-05-05T08:06:00.000-07:00

Here's a Romulan D-7 Stormbird I made using a Klingon D-7 From the AMT starship set and some decals from JT Graphics. I heavily modified the AMT kit in an attempt to get rid of all the glaring errors and imperfections. Some remain, but it is still way more accurate than it was and it compliments the rest of my 1400 fleet well.

Soon there will be a Klingon D-7 and a D-10 to match this ship.

Fresh out of Drydock: S.S. Botany Bay

2010-04-21T09:58:00.000-07:00

This lovely little fella, produced by Larson Designs (Formerly MiniModelMadness.com) was purchased off of ebay for $10 and finished in about 2 days. Several details were missing that I added, mainly hull plating and the rear solar panels. I also took some creative liberty by adding the rear thrusters (since the original model had no visible form of propulsion!) and formation lights in a few key areas.

The hull was painted to match what was seen in TOS remastered, with a subtle 2 tone plating pattern followed by 2 layers of pastel powder dirt smearing to give it that "been floating in space for 200yrs" effect. The solar panels were decals from a left over JT Graphics sheet.

Fresh out of Drydock: Romulan Winged Defender

2010-04-20T07:38:00.000-07:00

Here's a lovely little kit I built up from Odyssey Slipways; The Romulan Winged Defender based off the schematics from the old Trek Fasa game. I found a good CGI render online that I used as a paint reference and also a touch of 70's color aesthetic dubbed "Shag Rug" by my Fiance. The few decals were clipped from a JT Graphics sheet I had laying around.

Fresh out of Drydock: 1400 Cardassian Civillian Transport

2010-04-19T09:46:00.000-07:00

This was a quick and dirty little kitbash I threw together while I was working on my Njal cruiser. It's mainly the head and tail of an AMT Cardassian Galor kit spliced with pieces from the Klingon BOP kit and a couple of extra details added to help them blend together.

I decided to go with a totally radical color scheme for this ship completely diverging from the usual Cardassian Ochre and going to a more blue/gray scheme. My logic behind this was based on the fact that this isn't a military ship, so it probably doesn't have to conform to the usual Cardassian Military painting aesthetics. Several layers of black wash and a few PNT Graphics decals later I have the finished product.

Fresh out of Drydock: 1400 Cardassian Njal Class Attack Cruiser

2010-04-19T09:37:00.000-07:00

Here's some painted pics of my newly finished 1400 Cardassian Njal Class Attack Cruiser.

The cruiser was painted with Tamiya & Testors spray paints, CItadel & Vallejo game color and a healthy amount of washes / drybrushing. The Cardassian script was hand painted and the insignias were from a PNT Models Decal sheet.

On The Bench: 1400 Cardassian Njal Class Attack Cruiser

2010-04-07T08:43:00.000-07:00

Quick update, just some primed pics.
The detail really comes together now that it's even toned, however I see a few airbubbles in the resin I missed and a few areas where panel need more cleaning. I just need to fix those, give it one more quick coat of primer, then the painting can commence.

On The Bench: 1400 Cardassian Njal Class Attack Cruiser

2010-04-06T08:05:00.000-07:00

Recently I managed to win an OOP Federation models Cardassian Hideki class scout ship off of ebay. One of the first things I noticed about this model was the superb casting quality and the over all nice size of the model, however the detail was very inaccurate based on the reference I have of the studio model. I still wanted to build the kit regardless but I decided to have some fun with it and make it into a smaller 1400 scale Cardassian vessel.

The first thing I did was add much more surface panel detail all over the dorsal and ventral sides of the vessel made out of thin sheet styrene. Tons of greebles were added to the dorsal sensor strip along the spine and built up a shuttle bay in the rear of the vessel between the crab claw. Circular panel lines were scribed on the top of the crab shell with styrene scribing tool mounted in a large compass and very small pyramid shaped disruptor pods were added from a regular AMT Cardassian Galor model I had lying around.

I decided to add some crazy piping along the sides to bulk up the section behind the crab shell using interior sketches of DS9 as reference to mimic Cardassian pipe work with tube styrene. Then I built up some cowlings on either connecting end of the pipe work and added more greebles in the recess areas of the cowlings.

The front disruptor bank was where the cockpit used to be on the ship, but a cut slice with a Dremel tool and some sheet styrene took care of that. I made the disruptor bank itself out of Kneadatite putty and thin strips of sheet styrene. Kneadatite putty was also used to sculpt the impulse engines and fill in gaps around the bridge dome.

The next update will be of the vessel primed gray.

Fresh out of Drydock: USS Chekov

2010-03-29T11:50:00.000-07:00

Here's some painted pics of a custom 1400 scale TNG Era Federation ship; The USS Chekov. Construction details and WIP pictures can be found: HERE

I used a Tamiya seas grey for the base color then hand painted the aztec pattern. After the pattern was dry, I "misted" more of the Tamiya base color over the while ship to smooth out and blend the pattern. Everything else was painted pretty standard. The windows were hand drawn on with micron markers before the final clear coat was applied.

I Used JT Graphics decals for the lifeboats, transporter arrays and thrusters. PNT Graphics decals were used for the phaser banks and assorted Spare AMT decals were used for all the misc. federation insignia. The shuttle bay landing pad, and all the name/registry numbers were home made deacls.

Fresh out of Drydock: Cardassian Freighter Groumall

2010-03-29T11:40:00.000-07:00

One of the few times I will build a Trek kit in 2500 scale is either when the ship would be way to big to display in 1400 scale or it just simple isn't made in 1400 scale. This is an instance of the latter. The Groumall is Gizomtron's 2500 scale "Military Freighter" packed with awesome detail and an awesome price of $20. Great for a weekend build. Here's some painted pics of this tiny beauty. The only thing I added was color PNT Graphics decals instead of the black and white Gizmotron decals for the Cardassian emblems on the rear engine unit.

Fresh out of Drydock: S.S. Newport a 1400 Scale Federation Freighter

2010-03-29T09:40:00.000-07:00

This lovely little fella started out as the USS Jenolan in 2500 scale which I bought off of ebay under the assumption that it was 1400 scale as it was listed. That was a burn, but as I was determined to use the model for something, I decided to chop it, flip it and mod it to make it a 1400 scale ship instead.

I added a TOS styled front deflector dish, sculpted a proper scale bridge module, made underside cargo bays, added Bussard Collectors and beefed up the rear engine area. A clean simple paint job and a some custom decals mixed with some spare PNT Decals finished off the job.

Fresh out of Drydock: TOS ROM BOP

2010-03-29T09:01:00.000-07:00

Here's my Original Series Romulan Bird of Prey.
The model started out as the ROM BOP from the 1976 AMT 3 Piece Ship Set then it was extremely modified to fix some glaring errors in the original kit.

The front Nacelle Bussard Collectors were chopped off and replaced with more accurate half spheres. The rear curve was increased and then the rear tail fin was modified accordingly. Dorsal panels were added, windows drilled out, a front disruptor was sculpted and the decals were replaced with JT graphics decals.

Fresh out of Drydock: 22nd Century Cardassian Freighter

2010-03-09T08:54:00.000-08:00

Ah here's one I resurrected from the grave; a very old-school 22nd Century Cardassian freighter.

I built this puppy from scratch about 8 years ago from an assortment of leftover pieces and broken models. Design wise I wanted something that was a cross between the Merchantman styled vessels and the Sulaco from Aliens. The main hull panels are a chopped and rearranged AT-AT walker. Most of the front sensors are from a Nostromo kit, a Droid STAP, some more AT-AT and some Gundam Missiles. The engines and assorted piping is primarily from Anakin's Podracer kit with the remaining pieces coming from assorted Gundam models and a Klingon Bird of Prey.

I pulled him out of storage recently and decided to give him a new and improved paint job. Primarily brown and desert Sand with a simple masked panel pattern and a lot of dirty washes. I added hull damage from a PNT Models Battle Damage decal set. I also added Cardassian insignia from a PNT decal sheet.

Over all I'm very pleased with the new paint job. There were a lot of happy accidents during painting that normally would be an issue, but in this case worked out just fine. Such as all natural paint chipping, cracking, splotchy ink washes and hull distortion. I think in the circumstance it adds to the over all junker look I was going for with this freighter.

Fresh out of Drydock: Romulan Science Vessel

2010-03-09T08:29:00.000-08:00

Here's some painted pics of my Romulan Science Vessel. I decided to add a 1400 scale Scout Vessel from Federation Models to the base to better illustrate the size difference.

On The Bench: Romulan Science Vessel

2010-03-05T09:54:00.001-08:00

This is a project I've wanted to do for a long time. Build the Romulan Science Vessel from the Star Trek Next Gen episode "The Next Phase".

The actual Studio model of this ship was a re-dress of the Romulan Scout SHip from the episode "The Defector". The scout ship was intended to be a little larger than a federation runabout, where as the Science Vessel according to the script was about half the length of the enterprise, placing it at around 300m.

What I decided to do was use Federation Models 1:537 scale Scout Vessel Kit and modify it to represent a 1/400 scale science vessel. The federation models ship is about 6" long when built, however with the modification made to the kit my Science vessel comes to about 8", 1" shy of what it's "supposed" to be. But then again there never were any written specs on it that I have. So it's good enough for me.

The main changes made were as follows: The original cockpit was sawed off and replaced with a new nose cone made from sheet styrene and some Warhammer Battlefleet Gothic bits. the rear wing areas were filled in in some spots to more accurately match the studio model. The sides of the neck area were fleshed out with styrene shapes and a rear fin was made form styrene bits and a Warhammer 40k flying base sawed in half and glued together. It worked out more perfectly than I could have hoped for.

Next on the to do list. Finish making custom decals for all the "greeble" areas on the top and bottom of the wings as well as the rear wings and paint the sucker.

Fresh out of Drydock: 1400 Scale Klingon Brek'Tal Class Cruiser

2010-02-25T09:04:00.001-08:00

Here's some painted pics of my Klingon Brek'Tal (Ritual) Class Cruiser.
I used a few shades of Vallejo green, some citadel colors (Tau Sept Ochre & Mechrite Red) and plenty of Badab black wash to get it nice and dirty.

From the Archives: Classic USS Enterprise

2010-02-19T10:11:00.000-08:00

Here's an oldie I pulled out of storage, fixed and re-displayed; a 1400 scale Classic USS Enterprise. This lovely little kit is produced by Starcrafts models, built it up with JT Graphics decals. It's pretty standard for the most part, the only painting addition I made to it was the subtle grid lines, not sculpted in the kit. These I achieved through the use of several circle templates, a ruler and a fine line ink marker. Took forever, but turned out well IMHO.

Fresh out of Drydock: 1400 Scale Klingon Bird of Prey

2010-02-18T09:24:00.000-08:00

This model has been a long time in the making. I think it's the oldest model I own really, and I just now finished it... over 20 years later.

It started out as the Klingon BOP from the AMT/ERTL 3 piece adversary set. I painted this once as a kid, played with it, broke it, glued it back together, rebroke it, etc. Eventually years later I decided to strip it down, and add some of the detail I noticed was missing. I scribed new panel lines, bulked out the cowlings on the wings, rebuilt the rear engine and added misc detail all over. It was at this point that it went into a box for years until it resurfaced a few weeks ago. It was at this point that I put some final touches on it, rebuilt both disruptors from scratch (previous battle damage), primed it and painted it in one shot.

It took about 3 hours to paint using an assortment of Vallejo and Citadel hobby paint and washes. The base is an old STTNG Playmates Klingon base, repainted for this purpose.

Well, finally I finished her and she can be displayed with the rest of my 1400 scale fleet.

On The Bench: Scratchbuilt USS Chekov.

2010-02-18T08:56:00.000-08:00

Here's some pics of a custom 1400 scale TNG Era Federation ship I'm working on; The USS Chekov.

This ship started out as a 2500 scale Enterprise D kit bashed with 1400 scale Enterprise E pylons. Most of the design was based around a similar concept to the New Orleans class ships. I added 1400 scale lifeboats, enlarged the main shuttle bay, added a hanger observation deck and used 1400 scale impulse engines on the saucer. The Nacelles were standard for the most part with the exception of dorsal mounted phaser banks in a style similar to the Venture Galaxy Class conversion. The panel lines I hand scribed following the inaccurate raised panel lines of the original kit.

Other details I added were a rear underside tractor beam, sculpted the rear torpedo bay and added a dual forward mounted torpedo bay to the saucer underside. The main impulse engine between the pylons is scratch built as well. The Bridge and lower sensor area actually came from a very old playmates enterprise toy. The toy was beyond repair and I decided to hack at it for scraps.

Also, a point of interest: I decided to keep the saucer separation area on the rear saucer "neck". The New Orleans class ships do not have this option even though they are a similar size and concept. I felt that the saucer should still be able to separate and serve as a large lifeboat if need be, like the Enterprise D, however due to it's relatively small size would probably not serve any tactical function like the Galaxy class saucers could.

Fresh out of Drydock: 1400 Scale USS Equinox

2010-02-08T07:40:00.000-08:00

Here's is my newest accomplishment, and the first Star Trek Model I finished since I got back into Trek Models. This lovely little Nova Class Starship was produced by Starcrafts and I used JT Graphics decals to top it off.

The only thing I did not do standard with this kit is add an aztec hull pattern. I achieved this by priming the model white, then using ink markers to paint a hull pattern over it. Then a second layer of white was misted on to blend soften the contrast of the ink. This is the same technique I used on the Tian An Men.

On The Bench: 1400 Scale Custom Klingon Cruiser

2010-02-02T08:45:00.000-08:00

Not sure what I'm going to call this ship yet, but I am sure it will sound like I'm coughing up a hairball whilst saying it.

Overall, this Custom ship is primarily a chopped and repositioned Vor'cha Class Cruiser. I shortened the nacelles and positioned them closer to the wings. I used Federation Models Negh'var upgrade parts for the ventral disruptor pods. The dorsal sensor pod was extended and merged with what used to be the ventral deflector assembly. The gaps were filled with brown stuff epoxy putty and new hull plating was done with sheet styrene over top of the hardened putty.

The Command Module in the front was a minor kit bash, I used pieces from a classic Klingon Cruiser, a Trade Federation STAP droid's backpack, and other pieces from the Vor'cha kit to build it. New hull plating was done with sheet styrene.

The next step, painting the beast and giving it a proper name.

From The Archives: 1400 Scale USS Grissom and USS Pasteur

2010-02-02T08:18:00.000-08:00

Both of these models were all made by Starcrafts Models with JT graphics decal upgrades, available through federationmodels.com

The Grissom was actually 2 kits, the standard Oberth Science Vessel and a Federation Light Corvette.

From The Archives: 3 Federation 1400 Scale Spaceships

2010-02-02T07:59:00.000-08:00

These 3 models were all made by Starcrafts Models with JT Graphics decal upgrades. Both available through federationmodels.com

The Tian An Men, a Miranda class ship was a standard build for the most part. The Aztec Pattern was achieved using various tones of fine tipped ink markers I bought at the art supply store. The Steamrunner and the Saber were both detailed the same way.

Sometime in the near future I will have a Nova class and an Akira Class ship from Starcrafts finished to compliment these 3 vessels.

From The Archives: Macro Trek Resin Carassian Galor Cruiser

2010-02-02T07:40:00.000-08:00

Here's some pictures of an old Macro Trek Resin Carassian Galor Cruiser I built about 14yrs ago. At the time, it was the only Cardassian Galor kit on the market. Recently I dug it out of storage, dusted it off and redid the black base.

This Model has been re-detailed in several ways in an effort to bring the model closer to what few reference photos I had back then. The underside of the command saucer was lacking so I used sheet styrene re-detail that area. The dorsal "hump" was just completely wrong, Heh. I sawed it off sanded the area smooth and completely built a new "hump" from expoxy resin & sheet styrene. Everything else was minor details, filling airbubbles, and fixing gaps.

I don't recall how I painted her, but I know that there were no Cardassian decals at the time, so I tried to freehand the icon. Doesn't look so hot now but it's a reminder of how far I have come since then with my painting skills.

2010-01-13T08:06:00.001-08:00

Hello all,
This will be my Blog documenting my renewed enthusiasm for modeling the various ships of the Star Trek Universe. Most of my previous models were in 1/1400 scale, with a few exceptions.

I will begin posting in the next few weeks my current 1/1400 ships after I spend a little bit of time cleaning them up and retouching details.

-Bela Tyken