1/1000 Enterprise D for Terry Matalas - Part 1, Secondary Hull Armature

1/1000 scale Enterprise D for Terry Matalas. Part 1 - Secondary Hull Armature.
Take a look at how I go about building aluminium armatures for larger scale models as I build a 2' Enterprise D for Picard Season 3 showrunner, Terry Matalas.

[@lewilsons]

Awesome, I have one of these kits and will be watching closely as you work around solving the hurdles during the build. I already like the internal support structure. Thanks for sharing.

[@johnatsf1564]

Same. Hope you share your build as well.

[@MotionPictureMiniatures]

Thanks for following along 👍

[@andrewskupinski8555]

Great start mate I can’t wait to see how this build unfolds!

[@MotionPictureMiniatures]

Thanks Andrew, should be a good one 😎👍

[@CanadianStarships]

Glad to see you are doing a video series on the build!

[@MotionPictureMiniatures]

Probably won't be able to show every detail, too many plates to keep spinning for a blow-by-blow account, but I'll try to show the kinds of things not really seen in other videos online

[@DoughnutsInspace]

Very nice project indeed.

[@MotionPictureMiniatures]

Thanks for following along 😎👍

[@thekitcave2654]

This is going to be awesome, can’t wait to see progress on this 👍

[@MotionPictureMiniatures]

Thanks for following, plenty more to come soon 😎👍

[@skelbagz]

wow. congratulations on getting the commission. Can't wait to see more.

[@MotionPictureMiniatures]

Thanks for following, more to come soon 👍

[@aaronvandoorn1276]

Can't wait to see more videos of this build It's going to be great

[@MotionPictureMiniatures]

Thanks for following 🙂👍

[@nathanwilkins3039]

Look forward to the build. Perhaps Round 2 will come out with a 1:1000 scale since I can't afford the Fanhome build.

[@MotionPictureMiniatures]

They've been talking about developing a 1/1000 D for over a decade, maybe one day it'll materialise....

[@johnatsf1564]

This is so awsome! I can't wait for the next episode. Any chance of you selling another armature? Thanks for sharing!

[@MotionPictureMiniatures]

Thanks for following along, I'm glad you're enjoying it 👍
Unfortunately, due to the labour intensive nature of building the armature, selling them would be cost-prohibitive.

[@bmused55]

Looking forward to the progress on this!
Did you know there was also a 2ft filming model of the D? Used for distance shots like approaching Starbase, etc. You can tell as ALL the windows seem to be lit up on it and the nav lights looks oversized on it

[@MotionPictureMiniatures]

Yep, this is technically studio scale 😎 The 2 footer was built by ILM, there was no internal lighting system in the model, the engine lights were added in post-production and the windows were tiny strips of reflective tape on the surface of the model which appeared lit in-camera

[@johnatsf1564]

Where did you get a cast of the four-foot model? I would love to see more on that!

[@MotionPictureMiniatures]

I built a replica of the 4' model for the National Film & Sci Fi museum here in the UK, using an original set casts. I was allowed to keep a complete set after I restored and moulded the originals for the project

[@James-rn7dx]

I'll be watching this build; I'm working on the same model. When I built mine, I installed the armature to the top of the secondary hull instead of the bottom, it then runs up the neck and mounts to the bottom of the saucer so that the weight of the model isn't on the bottom of the secondary hull. I was worried about it warping over time with all of that weight on it. What are your plans for painting? Are you going to go with the masks.

[@MotionPictureMiniatures]

Solid plan 👍 Having the block attached to the lower hull part won't make much difference here though, since the armature itself is taking all the major weight and transferring the load through the core block and directly onto the post.
As for painting, I'll be re-scaling my 1/1400 masks and adding/amending where necessary to reflect the hull patterns in PIC S3 👍

[@trekker683]

have you considered using magnet wire to wire the nacelles? they are small enough to 3 maybe 4 wires though those tubes.

[@MotionPictureMiniatures]

Thanks for the suggestion, but the resin is plenty thick enough to carve a channel for heavier gauge wires, less risk of damaging them with all the handling to come 👍

[@Harryofbath]

I've got to ask, how did you get a cast of the 4ft? Insanely jealous!

[@MotionPictureMiniatures]

I built a replica of the 4' filming model using all original casts for a museum and was allowed to keep a complete set of casts after completion 😎