Correcting the Lunar Models 41" Excelsior

[Vidar 710]

Dorsal assembly in-progress images.

The entire assembly is scratch-built. However, the inserts in the front of the dorsal will be 3D printed.

Cutting the styrene by hand.

41 plates were cut. More than half that didn't quite make the grade were relegated to being trimmed down to be the spacer plates.

The Large plates and Spacer plates were clamped together for sanding to unify their shape.

The Upper Adapter that attaches the dorsal to the primary hull is framed in styrene...

... then shaped with Apoxie Sculpt.

Here, the ruffed out parts are stacked unglued at this point to check for alignment.

Clean-up of the individual plates and the cutting of the two forward ports is the next step.

Thanx for lookin'!

Tracy

 

[EDGSW]

This looks fantastic! Exciting to see one of these kits being completed so wonderfully!

 

[publiusr]

Such a great build.

 

[Vidar 710]

Work on the dorsal section continues...



I assembled in 3 sections. The reasone is to keep the Torp recess section separate until I determine how big to cut the opening for the 3D rendered Torp Launchers.

The lower section, the Torp Trench section, and the upper/Adapter section.

Here they sit stacked.

Further work on the adapter is being done. The addition of styrene to fill where the saucer trench passes over the dorsal assembly. I roughed out the shape of the trench 'blocks', then applied a thin layer of Apoxie Sculpt and allowed it to set up. I then pressed the Adapter into the bottom of the primary hull to cast the profile of the trench. Once fully cured the excess was sanded away and polished to check for flaws.



Top View

Bottom view.

Side View

The top section of the Dorsal Assembly test fit into the bottom saucer's master.

Once Bob "Aptiviaboy" Morgan has finished modeling the Dorsal Canon parts, I'll order them printed from Shapeways. Once I receive them, I can then determine how wide to cut the ports into the mid-section of the Dorsal Assembly.



Tracy

 

[Vidar 710]

Plastic Stacking in another section of the ship is complete. This is the Conduit Blister between the Warp Nacelles.



A slab of Resin inaccurately portraying the base of the blister is removed.

7 plates... 3 large, 4 small spacers are cut from .7mm thick sheet styrene.

Spacer plates are made after holes are drilled through all plates so they can be stacked on a jig for assembly alignment.

Large plates and spacers.

After plates assembled on a jig with the Conduit Blister.

Tracy

 

[MlCrisis]

Incredible job so far, the updated parts look light years better.

 

[Vidar 710]

More work in progress to the dorsal.



Determining the dorsal's lean angle using images of the studio model.... I have an earlier measurement of 31 degrees on another image, 29deg on this one. More than likely due to slightly different perspectives, so I "meaned" it out to 30 deg.







Work on the Torp Launcher inserts is almost done. Much coordination between me, and Bob "Activaboy" Morgan.



Studio model...





3D model images



front





upside down side view





right side up oblique





Tracy

 

[MlCrisis]

I also forgot to post a link to a ton of great reference shots of the studio model someone posted to imgur awhile back. Not sure if you need them but thought I'd share anyway: http://imgur.com/a/V98w5

 

[Vidar 710]

I have all of those, but thanx for posting.

Tracy

 

[Harish]

Did you continue this build from last year?

 

[Vidar 710]

Been working on it on n off since '14.

Tracy

 

[edge10]

I think you have crossed the line, it is no longer a Lunar Excelsior, it is yours!

 

[Vidar 710]

Small update while waiting for the 3D Dorsal Torpedo Launchers to show up.



Wrapped up the final stages for the master of the lower half of the Primary Hull. Added the aft bottom plate the saucer's superstructure under the impulse engines will glue down to.

There is a raised paneling detail that covers this section and surrounds the dorsal adapter to the saucer outside the radius of the ring trench. Here the paper template is in place.

The thick plate detail is in place, but further refinement to the part is still needed.

Once the 3D printed dorsal canons arrive, I can finish up assembly of the entire dorsal section and do the final sanding to shape.



Tracy

 

[Vidar 710]

The Dorsal stack is finished then sanded to its final shape.

The 3D printed Torp Launchers are finalized and given a light primer coat with some light dry brushing to pop the detail.

The Nacelle grills are next!



Tracy

 

[Vidar 710]

Making the Nacelle grid process.

One big piece of .7mm sheet styrene. Each nacelle has 17 plates (8 Large, 7 smaller spacers) for a total of 34 plate to hand cut.

Strips were cut for ease of handling each plate.

Holes were drilled through all the plates to accommodate an assembly jig to ensure alignment.

Plates are stacked to test alignment and sand to shape.

Once they are sanded to shape, the plates that don't cut the mustard are designated to be trimmed down as spacer plates.

Once the spacer plates are all trimmed, they go back on the jigs to be sanded down to "their" final shape.

Once the spacers are finalized, everything goes on the port and starboard jigs to test shape and alignment.

To save some weight, I desided to "core out" the plates by removing material down their longitudinal axis by drilling holes just inside the end jig dowels, then cutting away at the edges of the holes.

Once all the plates were cored, they are stacked and glued together on their respective jigs, after some set time they were removed and clamped to a flat surface (my drafting table) with a piece of wood to ensure a flat assembly sporting no waves in the grill.

It took 85 individual plates to reproduce this interesting characteristic of the Excelsior Class.

Now back to modifying other parts of the kit for improved accuracy...

To Be Cont....

Tracy

 

[Inquisitor Peregrinus]

You are insane and a master of your craft. This is so beautiful... (My only nit is that the neck greeblies are part of the deflector array -- the forward torpedo launchers are the semi-recessed greeblies around toward the sides of the "gunwales", the slightly wider bit at the top of the secondary hull.)

I so wish there were a 1:350 Excelsior. But this is some nice vicarious enjoyment of the next best thing.

--Jonah

 

[Vidar 710]

Yeah, some fan sites have called them that. In Generations, the E-B had one open like a door with Work Bees flying in and out of what is called a cargo bay in the dorsal.

I call them Dorsal Torp Launchers because that's what ILM called them.

Tracy

 

[Vidar 710]

Images of how the secondary hull were fix aren't shown here. Here ya go!

Determining the shape of the bow of the secondary hull using scaled images.

The correct profile is re-inforced to help maintain its shape.

The original hull piece is cemented to the new profile. You can see the difference here.

Apoxie Sculpt was used to reshape the bow just like the nacelles seen earlier.

The step in the fantail was misrepresented with a swoop instead of a step. Here the flaw is cut away.

Strip styrene was glued into place to create a better gluing surface for the new skin.

New skin is in place, then filled and sanded.

.

Multiple sessions of filling and sanding the new master took place to ensure a smooth and accurate shape.

The master is primed.

Now creating the lip in the bow... It is the same height as the thickness of the fantail.

A mold was built with 90deg braces to ensure a virticle wall.

The secondary hull master was coated with mold release and placed into the mold, then resin was injected into the mold..

The hull was removed, then the resin was flat sanded down to the mold.

The new lip was removed from the mold and cleaned up.

Then it was glued into place, then filled, sanded, and blended into the secondary hull master.

Some adjustments were made, then finally checked to a scale image of the studio model's secondary hull.

Tracy

 

[stevielewis]

You are doing an awesome job with this build. I had, at one time, two of these kits. I never got close to what you are achieving now. Looking forward to more updates and seeing the final results.

 

[Vidar 710]

I built the Lunar Models Excelsior right from the box back in 1991/2. I had no idea how bad this kit was in regards to accuracy. The net wasn't around to look up references back then.