Enterprise C - Ambassador Class

I think the Enterprise C or Ambassador Class is one of the best Star Trek ship designs ever. This is good, since I have eight of them: I bought a case of them though I already had one and a clear plastic Yamaguchi lighting model. Why did I buy so many? Civil Defense.

I heard that the AMT/Ertl Enterprise C was a well cast ship, unlike many of their other Star Trek kits. In building this kit, I found that to be a pretty good assessment. It went together like a dream compared to my Enterprise D which required a dremel tool and a temporary contract with a lesser imp to connect the two hulls.

The only problems I faced in the assembly of the Ent-C were the usual seam lines removal. One of the worst ones was the attachment of the nacelles to the hull ( you can see my poor puttying in one picture). Another was the secondary hull connection on the bottom which I almost got rid of. However, the worst the fit of the primary saucer hull, which gave me troubles even in my dreams. The problem with the seam was not so much eradicating it as creating it. I had a devil of a time gluing the pieces together strongly enough to hold it. It popped open during construction several times, again after I primed it and even during painting. I used two kinds of plastic cement and then CA to try to hold it down. Finally it looked like it was holding and I puttied it. Then I primed it and then it cracked. GAWD! I glued it again and puttied it again - very carefully -, then re-primand and painted. I treat that connection with kid gloves. It laughs at me, I know it.

Unlike most of my models, this one I painted before it was fully assembled. Hey, I can change. Really, just give one more chance, please Michelle, just one more stinking chance, I CAN CHANGE I PROMISE!

.....Didn’t expect that flashback. Sorry. Back to the show.

Okay, I mixed the colors from my favorite Liquitex basic acrylic collection (I’m trying to keep the collection under 20 tubes). I think I hit some great, and mostly accurate colors of gray, blue gray and bluer gray.

For the nacelles and deflector dish, I did my usual trick of painting the god-awful clear parts with Tamiya clear colors from the inside and then covering it with shiny aluminum foil for reflection. Clear parts always bug me. In my hands, they’re more misbehaved than a rabid crack crazed pit bull in a Tribble pit. On the Enterprise C, only the clear red ends gave me trouble. Since there are only 7 clear parts, that’s a third. I guess I was impatient, because my clear Tamiya red paint pooled nicely at the bottom of one of the domes. I had to clean the paint out and polish the plastic so it would be partially clear again. On my second ridiculously careful attempt at painting them, it worked. ? The top and bottom halves of the nacelles matched up, by the way. This is the first time I’ve had a trek kit do that. Usually, it’s live with it or mutilate it with a file trying to line up the grooves.

I laid down a based coat of my mixed gray over the ship sections and then wondered how I was going to add a little Yankee to the Confederate ship I had here (Grey and Blue, get it?). I tried masking with tape, but I could tell immediately that that wasn’t going to work - I couldn’t see where to cut the tape for the circular pattern on the saucer. Then I remembered hearing about Frisket paper. I went to my art store and bought a roll of it. They usually sell it by the inch, so when I wanted a roll, they didn’t know what to do. Luckily a manager was nearby and eventually, they sold it to me.

Frisket paper is great. It’s clear and sticky - but not too sticky - and heavy enough to be easy to use. I cut small pieces of the stuff rather than a single big piece because of the curvature and then masked for the light blue. Using a sharp hobby knife I cut along the panel lines and made a perfect mask. A bit of airbrushing and drying time later, I masked again for the bluer gray. It was perfect. I used frisket masks on the nacelles and most of the secondary hull. I had to resort to a regular brush on a couple of panels, just seemed easier at the time.

I used a blue oil wash to accentuate the panel lines. This was painted over a heavily “Future” protected model. This is the best wash I’ve ever had on a ship. It might be my first wash, but it’s still the best.

I picked out the details with a fine brush, like the phaser strips, weird yellow things around the saucer (what are those?). For the windows, I used black and white artists pens,.

To finish off the model, I hit it with airbrushed Future floor wax and then used JT Graphics after-market decals. They’re worth it if only for the lifeboats. The rest of the graphics are great too.

Although it offered some resistance, it was futile and this model is one of my favorites. (I can’t believe I said that. I’m ashamed). The Enterprise C is my best Federation ship yet. Good thing I have seven more.