Federation Commander

Here's my in progress pix of a DNL and my almost finished Frigate. Let me know what you guys think. Oh, can someone tell me if a DNL is a "Fast" Starship? I want to decide what color to paint the warp engine caps (orange or blue.)

http://www.flickr.com/photos/31396370@N ... 279283318/

That FF is very nice indeed. It's got a very attractive "worn" look like it's spent most of its time slogging up and down some border or another, or escorting convoys to who-knows-where, just as a frigate should.

If I had to criticise, I would say that the grey used to pick out details on the engines (such as the bits at the rear) is perhaps a tad too dark. I like the Bussard Collectors on the nacelles though, is that a metallic red? It really does the job, whatever you used there.

These look really really nice Darren. Any chance you could take the time to walk us
through your process and color choices? I'm sure I'm not the only one that would
like to read it.

EDIT: ...and what color/brand paint did you use for the "star fleet hull grey?"

Darren, yes the DNL is considered a "Fast" Warship/Raider but because of reduced "mass" not because it has "Hot" Warp Engines. So if you are wonder it does use the normal (ORANGE) Cruiser/Drednaught engines not the Hot Rodded (BLUE) engines you see on the Fast Crusier.

See the Cover Art used on Booster #16...

http://store.starfleetstore.com/merchan ... e=FCBA[url][/url]

Davec_24 wrote:That FF is very nice indeed. It's got a very attractive "worn" look like it's spent most of its time slogging up and down some border or another, or escorting convoys to who-knows-where, just as a frigate should.

If I had to criticise, I would say that the grey used to pick out details on the engines (such as the bits at the rear) is perhaps a tad too dark. I like the Bussard Collectors on the nacelles though, is that a metallic red? It really does the job, whatever you used there.

When I do my Fed ships (and others) I'll paint the nacelle either gold or silver and then coat with a clear red or orange paint. Tamiya makes them and I think there's another Japanese brand (which I forget) that has them as well.

Someday I'll take the time to figure out how to get good close up pictures w/ my camera and put up a gallery of my ships.

Those are really nice! The FF is quite nice. It has a great shine to it.

The DNL appears to be a modified Zocchi DN, is that correct?

Wow. Really nice paint work on that FF. Not shades I would've chosen, but very nicely applied. Edge-work is super clean - I could never get the gray ridges/grille just aft of the dome as clean as you got yours.

I'm also pretty blown away by the amount of work your putting into kitbashing your own DNL. It looks like you're modifying the shape with putty and also scribed the deflector grid in. Very nice scribe work.

Thanks for the advice on the DNL. As for the build inquiries - I'll give a quick overview: The nacelle caps are bronze coated with Tamiya clear orange. Both the FF and DNL are modified from the original miniatures.

The FF had its nacelles cut off and replaced with scratchbuilds based loosely on Neile's artwork. I'll post in-process pics soon. It also got a new scratchbuilt deflector dish.

The DNL started life as the original mini. I figured that I could rebuild the primary hull but the secondary and nacelles were so poorly done, there was no saving them. I felt that it would take less time to kit-bash a Zocchi DN than try to make the cast mini presentable - and it did.

I'm an old school Starline Miniature fan who fell in love with the original issues way back when. The new casts just don't do the wonderful designs justice. So, if I'm going to model one - and use Starfighter Decals; I am going all out.

So, I corrected the thickness problems on the primary and added styrene "shims" to the side in an attempt to correct the shape. I used a stick-on template (printed on label paper) based on Neile's schematic. I added impulse engines and scribed the new deflector grid by hand. I used the Zocchi third impulseas well.

The secondary hull was cut in half vertically and a "shim" was added to increase the hull length. The nacelles were carefully cut off the pylons. the pylons flattened, and then both were reattached. Minor alterations allowed the pylons to slip into the secondary hull slots at their new horizontal position.

I primed the mini tonite and am happy with the results More pics soon!

What sort of scribing tool did you use Darren?

I use a two part approach: First I scribe the grid on using templates that I custom make for each saucer type. At this stage, I scribe with a very sharp awl which allows scribing curves. Then I deepen the lines using photoetched scribing tools - 1.5 mm thickness. I fill in mistakes with Mr. Surfacer and finish with a rub-down using fine steel wool. This gets rid of burs caused by scribing.

Then I get treated for carpal-tunnel and get new glasses!

Again, I am blown away by the amount of detail that you put into such a small miniature.

I bow to your greatness...

I love the frigate, truly fantastic.