This kit is taxing even for the most experienced modelers. A marathon build. I would definitely assemble everything first, do all putty work and sanding. When it’s all built with lighting installed THEN prime and paint and do aztecs and decals. I do wish Polar Lights would offer a lighting kit for this.
Agreed..I'm hoping that in 2022 they do..the theme seems to be 1 350 scale new releases. This year it's the u.s.s grissom.so I'm hoping they do a re-tool of the enterprise refit..maybe even a reliant variant in the same box..how cool would that be
It's not the kit, it's the builder. Just look what others have done with this kit and see what is possible. Yes, there are minor fitment issues. But those can be overcome. They have to be dealt with but this kit presents no problems that don't have solutions. A simple blanket statement "assemble everything first, then putty sand light and paint." is way over simplifying it. You must break this down into major sub-assemblies. I recommend: 1-Saucer / 2-shuttle bay / 3-secondary hull with neck and pylons / 4-warp nacelles / 5-display stand. Working into each sub section internal lighting, basic construction order, external clean up and surface prep for a primer coat at least. The sub assembly method is obvious for making painting the azteks easier. You can get carried away with this though, and think it is easy to paint each part (i.e. top saucer and bottom saucer) then assemble. Try to avoid literally painting yourself into a corner on this one. Too many builds I see have an absolutely gorgeous 5-color pealescent paint scheme only to be utterly ruined after glue, clamping, putty, sanding, etc. If not actually ruined, at least creating A LOT of extra work with re-finishing and re-painting.
I just found this of your build and my heart goes out to you, I am in the middle of the same build and I know just how you feel, the whole kit needs to be redone from the ground up, there are so many issues with it and it is very frustrating at times but also very rewording when you figure it out, but well done to you for taking it on and making it.
Thank you! I've been watching your series and wished I've done some of the techniques you are using. I don't think I'll ever attempt this kit again until they completely remake it. My next build will be the USS GRISSOM that's coming out soon🙂
Another way to diffuse the blue deflector dish ids to dust it with flat white. That's the way the studio model was lit. I got the idea from boyd at trekworks and my dish looks on point. I just finished the first one took me almost 2 months. I'm now building another one with the tenacontrols mega board! I have a much clearer idea how to go about this model now. Definitely a ton of modifications are required to light it. And yea this model will test you. But the sense of accomplishment once completed........... priceless. That secondary hull is a total pain in the ass.
Did you do any videos on it? I would love to see your work. Right now I'm working on the 1 1000 scale voyager, the 1 537 scale reliant and the 1 350 scale grissom(I plan to do the Pegasus in the asteroid version) I'll be doing a final thoughts on all three some time in 2023 lol
I built this Enterprise as well, and I used my own lighting only to have the lighting stop working after I buttoned it up, ended up doing major surgery and using a pound of filler to repair the Dremel cuts.
Hey bud Im in the middle of my build and I know what your saying. its a very difficult build, the masking, all the lights and everything, there was many times I just wanted to give up but at the mid build stage im not going to give up now. Its a incredible build but it takes alot a patience. Thanks for sharing.
Hey..how's the progress on yours going? I'm in the process of finishing mine off and have noticed a few more errors on my part which I'm trying to correct , good luck man😊
I tried the large scale, epic fail. Now on the polar lights 1:1000. Same issue with the gap on 2nd hull. Great job. Yes, like to do again, would like to move on to the Reliant
For Christmas I got 4 more startrek models, a couple of 1:1000 scale ships and the shuttle with interior. My first attempt at lighting a model was with the 1:2500 scale enterprise c. Maybe after building your smaller enterprise it'll give you the confidence to tackle the bigger ships. Good luck
I’m going to attempt this model soon as I’ve had mine in the box for a few years. You’d suggest building the entire thing first? Then spraying primer and painting it in one shot? I’m not going to bother with lights I don’t think, I’ve never used them before and don’t think I could figure them out.
At least put the secondary hull together, do all the seams etc. The saucer is easy enough to do by itself. I just messed up by getting a little carried away with the aztecing without doing all the prep work first. As for the lights, it's easier than you think, just get a roll of led tape. They're prewired so all you need is a 9v power source, if you just want static lighting. The only thing is you'll have to replace the rod that comes with the kit
@@drone-tario9693 ok, I get what you mean about the LED strip, never thought of that. That’s definitely the easiest option. And simply paint the colored lights and dish with clear colored paint accordingly.
@@annstevens6223 you should get a soldering kit yes, when I said to get prewired led's that's just the resistors pre attached(finding the right resistor is complicated) Once you practice attaching led strings together you'll get the hang of it pretty quickly..it's super easy🙂
Don't let the electronics intimidate you. I hear this often. "I don't know anything about electronics...." So, USE that as the impetus TO LEARN about electronics. It's fun and rewarding and really not that difficult. Instead of boring academic work in an electronics engineering textbook, you can learn how light up a model. Much more interesting and fun to learn.
I built that model a few times & didn't have any problems the only real gap is where the nacelles pylons meet the secondary Hull that's a poor fit on your model your everything is off alignment the nacelles are dropping the saucer is crooked what went wrong 🤷🏾♂️ nice paint job though 👍🏾
I had it perfect, then all my lighting blew(I used low grade wiring) so I had to pry the model apart, in the process most of the tabs from the neck to the saucer broke off. The nacelles aren't glued in yet( to the top pylos)
Prior to seeing your video I asked Santa for one of these. Maybe I'll be better off with a lump of coal? I didn't realize the secondary hull was in so many pieces. It does look like a pain.
It all depends on how much skill you have with seams etc. Might I suggest choosing the original series 1 350 scale..that kit has a brand new 3 version variant that you can choose from
@@drone-tario9693 If you can get them to not sag, I'll be impressed. When I attempted to build one of these, I almost thought the nacelles were just going to fall off at some point. I could never got get them to stay straight.
@@AlexandarHullRichter yeah it's quite a shame that they haven't done their own version of the refit enterprise instead of re releasing the amt kit. Hopefully in the future they will
Nope..as I stated in one of the previous comments, this kit was NOT made to be lighted. All the available lighting kits are after market and NONE are endorsed by polar lights. However it's not difficult to make your own lighting. Just order some various led lights and choose what voltage you want(9v is my choice) it's easier to by the lights prewired with resistors included as it will save you alot of time
I've watched many a build video on this and none of the others have mentioned about the poor fit of the secondary hull. Forgive the question, but what is your modeling experience in years or how many kits have you've done?
As i said in the video..i'm not a pro modeller. I was comparimg this kit to the TOS enterprise kit. The TOS kit is far superior when it comes to fit. If i had to build this again i would definatley do a better job with the seams ect. Also as i mentioned i had to tske the whole model apart when the lights blew, which pretty much made everything worse As to how many models ive built..just these two at the time the video was made.
Your tone is just way too depressing. Yes, this is a challenging kit. Honestly I don't know where they get the "skill level" they print on all these boxes. The basic assembly is fairly simple. That is, if you just glue it together and that's it. All of us want to do the "ultimate" Enterprise when we dive into this kit. I used the 1/350 ToS as a primer for this one, just to get back in the groove after years of hiatus. But all the excuses you expressed like, "I rushed it...That part was too time consuming so I skipped it.....So and So's video wasn't clear so I didn't do that part..." THESE are the very reasons I decided to build this kit. So many people see my models and love them, but always with the qualifier, "I don't have the patience for that level of detail..." This is where you lose me. It is precisely because I have no patience that I build something like this. I do it TO LEARN patience. My goal is absolute perfection. I also realize that won't happen. Mistakes will be made. Some of the best modeling skills you can acquire is learning how to recover from mistakes. Basic and advanced modeling skills will be employed to add detail, realism, authenticity, etc. Time is not a factor. If it takes me 6 months or 2 years, I don't care. Careful planning, test fitting, determining the best assembly order are all crucial. What sub assemblies can be done. Do I paint first? What new techniques do I want to try? Can I practice on scrap material? Honestly dude! ALL the excuses you made are WHY I build models. Too time consuming? That's WHY I build models is to pass the time enjoyably. That's the creative or artistic part about this hobby that I love. Basic skills and techniques along with having the proper tools are all prerequisites. Too difficult? That means there are new skills and techniques that I can have fun learning. Don't let this model kit beat you. If you get done and are unhappy, buy a new one and start over. Take the bad experience and turn it into something positive. See what others have done with this kit and know a studio quality replica is possible. Take what you have experienced and think how to solve that problem if you could start over. That's the fun and enjoyment of this hobby. Always improving, always learning, always stretching my boundaries. If you want it done quick and easy, then you're in the wrong hobby.
Remember.. as I said in the video, most of the problems I had was at the end when the lights blew. I made this video shortly after I stuck it back together, so the "depressing" tone was an honest reaction to my experience with the kit. Also when I went back to work after covid restrictions lifted, I was working as much as 16 hours a day . So all of those factors contributed to a rather negative impression of my time with the refit build. When I retire I plan to get deeper into the hobby. Thanks for the feedback
This kit is taxing even for the most experienced modelers. A marathon build. I would definitely assemble everything first, do all putty work and sanding. When it’s all built with lighting installed THEN prime and paint and do aztecs and decals. I do wish Polar Lights would offer a lighting kit for this.
Agreed..I'm hoping that in 2022 they do..the theme seems to be 1 350 scale new releases. This year it's the u.s.s grissom.so I'm hoping they do a re-tool of the enterprise refit..maybe even a reliant variant in the same box..how cool would that be
It's not the kit, it's the builder. Just look what others have done with this kit and see what is possible. Yes, there are minor fitment issues. But those can be overcome. They have to be dealt with but this kit presents no problems that don't have solutions. A simple blanket statement "assemble everything first, then putty sand light and paint." is way over simplifying it. You must break this down into major sub-assemblies. I recommend: 1-Saucer / 2-shuttle bay / 3-secondary hull with neck and pylons / 4-warp nacelles / 5-display stand. Working into each sub section internal lighting, basic construction order, external clean up and surface prep for a primer coat at least. The sub assembly method is obvious for making painting the azteks easier. You can get carried away with this though, and think it is easy to paint each part (i.e. top saucer and bottom saucer) then assemble. Try to avoid literally painting yourself into a corner on this one. Too many builds I see have an absolutely gorgeous 5-color pealescent paint scheme only to be utterly ruined after glue, clamping, putty, sanding, etc. If not actually ruined, at least creating A LOT of extra work with re-finishing and re-painting.
Rome wasn’t built in a day
Like owt else taking your time is the key
Took 3 years mine did 😂
I just found this of your build and my heart goes out to you, I am in the middle of the same build and I know just how you feel, the whole kit needs to be redone from the ground up, there are so many issues with it and it is very frustrating at times but also very rewording when you figure it out, but well done to you for taking it on and making it.
Thank you! I've been watching your series and wished I've done some of the techniques you are using. I don't think I'll ever attempt this kit again until they completely remake it. My next build will be the USS GRISSOM that's coming out soon🙂
@@drone-tario9693 thank you for your kind words and your support
@@drone-tario9693 Thank you for your kind words and your support :)
Yes well done
Another way to diffuse the blue deflector dish ids to dust it with flat white. That's the way the studio model was lit. I got the idea from boyd at trekworks and my dish looks on point. I just finished the first one took me almost 2 months. I'm now building another one with the tenacontrols mega board! I have a much clearer idea how to go about this model now. Definitely a ton of modifications are required to light it. And yea this model will test you. But the sense of accomplishment once completed........... priceless. That secondary hull is a total pain in the ass.
Did you do any videos on it? I would love to see your work. Right now I'm working on the 1 1000 scale voyager, the 1 537 scale reliant and the 1 350 scale grissom(I plan to do the Pegasus in the asteroid version) I'll be doing a final thoughts on all three some time in 2023 lol
@@drone-tario9693 toy know i didn't take videos. Ill have to video it to show the final project.
I built this Enterprise as well, and I used my own lighting only to have the lighting stop working after I buttoned it up, ended up doing major surgery and using a pound of filler to repair the Dremel cuts.
I feel your pain...I haven't done any work on her since I made this video. Maybe soon though 🙂
Difficult build indeed! Involved lighting and Aztec painting! Still in the box!!
Amazing!!!!!!
lovely work
Thankyou 😊
Beautiful
Hey bud Im in the middle of my build and I know what your saying. its a very difficult build, the masking, all the lights and everything, there was many times I just wanted to give up but at the mid build stage im not going to give up now. Its a incredible build but it takes alot a patience. Thanks for sharing.
Hey..how's the progress on yours going? I'm in the process of finishing mine off and have noticed a few more errors on my part which I'm trying to correct , good luck man😊
Be still, my beating heart! What a gorgeous ship! 🖖😀
From some angles lol
@@drone-tario9693 I have faith in your ability. 😇
An artist is always their own worst critic.
Looks great..
Thanks for the compliment 😊
Looks awesome to me 👍👍👍❤️
You're too kind lol❤
I tried the large scale, epic fail. Now on the polar lights 1:1000. Same issue with the gap on 2nd hull. Great job. Yes, like to do again, would like to move on to the Reliant
For Christmas I got 4 more startrek models, a couple of 1:1000 scale ships and the shuttle with interior. My first attempt at lighting a model was with the 1:2500 scale enterprise c. Maybe after building your smaller enterprise it'll give you the confidence to tackle the bigger ships. Good luck
Nice work
A model that complex takes time and skill to build. Great job however.
Thanks, I might try again if they release a new kit🙂
I’m going to attempt this model soon as I’ve had mine in the box for a few years. You’d suggest building the entire thing first? Then spraying primer and painting it in one shot? I’m not going to bother with lights I don’t think, I’ve never used them before and don’t think I could figure them out.
At least put the secondary hull together, do all the seams etc. The saucer is easy enough to do by itself. I just messed up by getting a little carried away with the aztecing without doing all the prep work first. As for the lights, it's easier than you think, just get a roll of led tape. They're prewired so all you need is a 9v power source, if you just want static lighting. The only thing is you'll have to replace the rod that comes with the kit
@@drone-tario9693 do you need a soldering iron for the light kit? I don’t want to start a can of worms I can’t finish.
@@drone-tario9693 ok, I get what you mean about the LED strip, never thought of that. That’s definitely the easiest option. And simply paint the colored lights and dish with clear colored paint accordingly.
@@annstevens6223 you should get a soldering kit yes, when I said to get prewired led's that's just the resistors pre attached(finding the right resistor is complicated)
Once you practice attaching led strings together you'll get the hang of it pretty quickly..it's super easy🙂
Don't let the electronics intimidate you. I hear this often. "I don't know anything about electronics...." So, USE that as the impetus TO LEARN about electronics. It's fun and rewarding and really not that difficult. Instead of boring academic work in an electronics engineering textbook, you can learn how light up a model. Much more interesting and fun to learn.
I built that model a few times & didn't have any problems the only real gap is where the nacelles pylons meet the secondary Hull that's a poor fit on your model your everything is off alignment the nacelles are dropping the saucer is crooked what went wrong 🤷🏾♂️ nice paint job though 👍🏾
I had it perfect, then all my lighting blew(I used low grade wiring) so I had to pry the model apart, in the process most of the tabs from the neck to the saucer broke off. The nacelles aren't glued in yet( to the top pylos)
@@drone-tario9693 ouch 😢
Prior to seeing your video I asked Santa for one of these. Maybe I'll be better off with a lump of coal? I didn't realize the secondary hull was in so many pieces. It does look like a pain.
It all depends on how much skill you have with seams etc. Might I suggest choosing the original series 1 350 scale..that kit has a brand new 3 version variant that you can choose from
@@drone-tario9693 Thanks, looks like I’ll be getting one of those as well.
OMG those nacelles are sagging. I've forgotten how weak the nacelle struts are on these.
They're not glued in yet but yeah they be saggy
@@drone-tario9693 If you can get them to not sag, I'll be impressed. When I attempted to build one of these, I almost thought the nacelles were just going to fall off at some point. I could never got get them to stay straight.
@@AlexandarHullRichter yeah it's quite a shame that they haven't done their own version of the refit enterprise instead of re releasing the amt kit.
Hopefully in the future they will
Do the lights come with the kit
Nope..as I stated in one of the previous comments, this kit was NOT made to be lighted. All the available lighting kits are after market and NONE are endorsed by polar lights. However it's not difficult to make your own lighting. Just order some various led lights and choose what voltage you want(9v is my choice) it's easier to by the lights prewired with resistors included as it will save you alot of time
I've watched many a build video on this and none of the others have mentioned about the poor fit of the secondary hull. Forgive the question, but what is your modeling experience in years or how many kits have you've done?
As i said in the video..i'm not a pro modeller. I was comparimg this kit to the TOS enterprise kit. The TOS kit is far superior when it comes to fit. If i had to build this again i would definatley do a better job with the seams ect. Also as i mentioned i had to tske the whole model apart when the lights blew, which pretty much made everything worse
As to how many models ive built..just these two at the time the video was made.
all of the refit kits are crap to begin with they should do a newer version of the kit thats one reason why i hate the refit kits to begin with
Absolutely..polar lights has been releasing alot of kits lately..here's hoping they make this one in a different versions kit like the TOS one
Your tone is just way too depressing. Yes, this is a challenging kit. Honestly I don't know where they get the "skill level" they print on all these boxes. The basic assembly is fairly simple. That is, if you just glue it together and that's it. All of us want to do the "ultimate" Enterprise when we dive into this kit. I used the 1/350 ToS as a primer for this one, just to get back in the groove after years of hiatus. But all the excuses you expressed like, "I rushed it...That part was too time consuming so I skipped it.....So and So's video wasn't clear so I didn't do that part..." THESE are the very reasons I decided to build this kit. So many people see my models and love them, but always with the qualifier, "I don't have the patience for that level of detail..." This is where you lose me. It is precisely because I have no patience that I build something like this. I do it TO LEARN patience. My goal is absolute perfection. I also realize that won't happen. Mistakes will be made. Some of the best modeling skills you can acquire is learning how to recover from mistakes. Basic and advanced modeling skills will be employed to add detail, realism, authenticity, etc. Time is not a factor. If it takes me 6 months or 2 years, I don't care. Careful planning, test fitting, determining the best assembly order are all crucial. What sub assemblies can be done. Do I paint first? What new techniques do I want to try? Can I practice on scrap material?
Honestly dude! ALL the excuses you made are WHY I build models. Too time consuming? That's WHY I build models is to pass the time enjoyably. That's the creative or artistic part about this hobby that I love. Basic skills and techniques along with having the proper tools are all prerequisites. Too difficult? That means there are new skills and techniques that I can have fun learning.
Don't let this model kit beat you. If you get done and are unhappy, buy a new one and start over. Take the bad experience and turn it into something positive. See what others have done with this kit and know a studio quality replica is possible. Take what you have experienced and think how to solve that problem if you could start over. That's the fun and enjoyment of this hobby. Always improving, always learning, always stretching my boundaries. If you want it done quick and easy, then you're in the wrong hobby.
Remember.. as I said in the video, most of the problems I had was at the end when the lights blew. I made this video shortly after I stuck it back together, so the "depressing" tone was an honest reaction to my experience with the kit. Also when I went back to work after covid restrictions lifted, I was working as much as 16 hours a day . So all of those factors contributed to a rather negative impression of my time with the refit build. When I retire I plan to get deeper into the hobby. Thanks for the feedback