PL Enterprise Painting Scheme

[FilmmakerJWA]

Hello...

I've recently built my first PL Enterprise Refit and am going to do another one after the New Year (I didn't like the way the first one came out... it's been a while since I've built models). Well, I want it to too look as close to the studio model as possible and I saw the website by the one of the men who made it, but...

He mentions the use of using pearescent paints to bring out the paneling on the Primary and Secondary hulls, and that otherwise it's simply a flat white. Has anyone done this? And if so, what was the difficulty? And how did it come out? Any recommendations?

THANKS!!

[JMChladek]

Well, the trickiest bit will be deciding how to go about it. Pearl coat paints can be tricky to apply evenly as they are thin and the color coverage can alter depending on how much you shoot. Plus, if you shoot too much, you'll build up a ridge of paint that is visible when the masked gets pulled up. So one needs to be quite familiar with the paint, the airbrush and what they want to accomplish when trying this.

The effect that was pulled off on the movie ship couldn't really be seen on film and today the model has been overcoated so many times that the effect is lost anyway. So it is really going to be tough to duplicate the appearance of the model as it appeared in 1979 unless there are some REALLY good pictures of it from that time period.

The same results could be achieved I think by mixing a similar coloring agent into bottles of white paint and spraying those instead of overcoating. That I am more familiar with and it tends to be a bit more forgiving in terms of what can be accomplished. At least two main colors are needed of course and three or four can really sell the affect. Granted it appears that one of the advantages of the pearl coating is that in some areas where two panels were "painted" different shades, a third pearl color was sprayed over them for an additional accent with a third and a fourth color being created.

I would highly recommend doing at least two things before tackling this on the big E. The first is to try the pearl technique out on something else first (the saucer of an AMT Enterprise kit perhaps or a large flat piece of styrene). Primer and paint it exactly in the way you plan to do it with the model to get a feel for the amount of color agent you plan to add to the pearl shade and paint technique. Secondly, not only use it for paint practice, but also to see how well your masking materials work. The one pearl clear coat that I know of is available in the Testors car color line and it is an enamel, meaning it will dry slowly compared to lacquers or acrylics. Tamiya has clear coats in acrylic, but no pearl coats that I know of. By testing out the masking materials, you can see how well they cover and see if they pull up the base coats by accident. Of course if you keep the coats very light, then they should have enough tooth to stick just fine and not pull up.

One thing is for sure, this is going to take awhile to do. But the best models ultimately are those that don't get rushed and that goes for both the painting as well as the building. Good luck.

[Thomas E. Johnson]

Tamyia does make a clear pearl coat, as well as a pearl white, in the rattle cans.

[d_jedi1]

probably few will care... but Krylon makes a pearlescent paint in spray cans... They have an iridescent paint too... I have been using these two (I'm poor... cant afford a decent airbrush ) and have had good results.
I use a flat or satin white (also Krylon) as my base-coat

[Gerry]

I'm digging up this old posting... it's still relevant.

I am doing Polar Lights Enterprise.
Instructions recomment a pearlescent white UNDER the decals.

You experienced people out there... have you done that?
does the effect show well enough?
Do you prefer a pearl-ized clear coat?

Just looking for tips and reviews before deciding which way to go.

Your help's appreciated.

[Ace Airspeed]

I'm working up to building my big PL Enterprise, and I question the pearl finish in this scale. The pearl might be justified for the giant Northern Lights Enterprise with the flat aztecing, but I think the pearl is probably a little off scale at 1/350.

At 1/350, I'm looking at a a slightly of white base, with very light grey aztec panels..........................the entire finish in semi-flat.

Many years of modeling and bending wrenches on airplanes has taught me to spare gloss finishes. A gloss finish on the real article calls for semi-flat to flat on the model, depending on scale.

Finishes need to be scaled.

[Born Again Modeler]

I picked up a smaller 1/1000 PL refit Enterprise today, but a couple of days ago I was nosing around on the net. Saw a modeler who posted up several YouTube videos regarding the build and he finished the model up with a pearl white before decal application. While the effect was nice I think it was out of scale with the smaller kit...the bits of pearl appeared a bit on the large size, but it would probably be better with the 1/350 scale E.

Since I'm jumping back into modeling after an interim of well over a decade I plan to finish mine thus:

Primer white.
Gloss white.
Decals.
Semigloss clear to seal everything up.

Hope this gives you some ideas!

PS: I've had good results with spray cans. I keep them immersed in warm (not hot!) water during spray sessions. This gives a more consistent spray coat.

[Ace Airspeed]

Primer white.
Gloss white.
Decals.
Semigloss clear to seal everything up.

This is also what I'm planning - could very well be subject to change by the time I get there.....


****EDIT***********

After receiving my PL Enterprise kit and looking at the aztec decals - sheets of them................my plan now is primer white / gloss white / decals / clear coat / more decals - Enterprise logo and everything on top of the aztec / clear coat / dull coat to satin finish.

[Pengbuzz]

I'm doing the pearl undercoat for my 1/350 PL Refit. That being said, I am already applying the decals and have found that spraying some dull cote afterwards dulls down the pearl a bit and it looks pretty good; not too pearl or too flat. But use your discretion on this, as everyone else who has spoken about it is correct: finishes do need to be scaled to fit the model in question. I had a 1/1000 refit E that i completed, but after shooting it. with pearl, it just didn't look right.

I also plan on doing a light wash on my E to bring out some of the details, but we'll have to see.