Weathered Ertl Enterprise D

[Dr_Corsa]

Hi!

The deflectro looks so good! Great job, man!

Greeting,
Michael

[arcticfox]

Many thanks!

So the warp nacelles...

Assembled:


A layer of Vallejo USN Light Ghost Grey 70.615 Surface primer, applied with the airbrush.


Then a layer of the Vallejo Model Air UK Azure Blue 71.108 and green panels using Army Painter Goblin Green:


And then, as before, a couple of coats of Vallejo Wash Blue Grey 76.524

So the warp nacelles are tricky because of how much of them is illuminated. I started with the blue on the sides, by building it up. First, a layer of Vallejo Light Grey 70.990, covered with a layer of Vallejo White 70.951.



Then, a layer of Vallejo Game Color Electric Blue 72023. To make it look lit form the inside, I mixed 50/50 with the Electric Blue and white, then brushed it along the centerline of the blue. A quick coat of Vallejo Black 710.950 for the ribbed section of the Bussard Collectors, then some Games Workshop Black Ink 61-75 in the indents at the top of the nacelles, in the back and in the Bussard Collectors.

[arcticfox]

Home stretch... First I masked the nacelles with the liquid frisket and blue masking tape.



Then, a coat of Vallejo Light Grey 70.990 on the Bussard Collector tips, followed by a coat of Vallejo White 70.951. With that dry, I went over it with two coats of Vallejo Transparent Orange 70.935.



Lastly, pushing my meager airbrush skills to their limit, I added a layer of Vallejo Transparent Red 70.934 shaped to look like the dual illuminated points.



*phew*

Let dry.

Request permission from Utopia Planetia Dock Control to leave spacedock and...





I'll post some more completion pics later after I set up the background and attach the hang line.

[Tesral]

Sweet job. I had my doubts. I was wrong. Great build.

[SKO]

Very impressive

[arcticfox]

Thanks guys!

I wound up doing less weathering than I had originally thought, because with the darker hull shade I felt that to add the black dusty weathering would have made it look dingy, which isn't what I wanted. The darker hull was meant to make it seem like it was in the darkness of space already, and that would hide a lot.

As it is, I just did slightly more wash shade around the phaser emitters and around the impulse exhausts.

[Tesral]

Thanks guys!

I wound up doing less weathering than I had originally thought, because with the darker hull shade I felt that to add the black dusty weathering would have made it look dingy, which isn't what I wanted. The darker hull was meant to make it seem like it was in the darkness of space already, and that would hide a lot.

As it is, I just did slightly more wash shade around the phaser emitters and around the impulse exhausts.

Scale effect. The smaller the model the darker a given color looks on it. It is why if you paint a 1/48 plane in the official colors it looks like a toy. It is one reason I tend toward a white or off white for my Feds in the Sacred Scale.

As it was explained to be (Fine Scale Modeler I believe) a scale model looks to our eyes as an object in the distance. Distance mutes color. It also kills any gloss the object might have. Ergo scale models look best in more muted colors than the original. There are even charts for how much white to add to the official color depending on the scale of your model.

[arcticfox]

Thanks guys!

I wound up doing less weathering than I had originally thought, because with the darker hull shade I felt that to add the black dusty weathering would have made it look dingy, which isn't what I wanted. The darker hull was meant to make it seem like it was in the darkness of space already, and that would hide a lot.

As it is, I just did slightly more wash shade around the phaser emitters and around the impulse exhausts.

Scale effect. The smaller the model the darker a given color looks on it. It is why if you paint a 1/48 plane in the official colors it looks like a toy. It is one reason I tend toward a white or off white for my Feds in the Sacred Scale.

As it was explained to be (Fine Scale Modeler I believe) a scale model looks to our eyes as an object in the distance. Distance mutes color. It also kills any gloss the object might have. Ergo scale models look best in more muted colors than the original. There are even charts for how much white to add to the official color depending on the scale of your model.

That makes a lot of sense. I have a weathering guide produced by FSM in the '80s on how to handle different scales... like if you wanted to represent chipped paint on a 1/48 fighter you'd use silver, but on a 1/144 bomber you'd use white to achieve the same effect. Same thing with windows, etc.

[MadManMUC]

This really is a lovely build. Bravo, sir!

[arcticfox]

You are too kind sir, thank you!

I still plan to take a few more pictures after I give the model another clearcoat and attach a hanger hook to it. After that the model counts as "done" for me and I have to decide what to work on next...