USS Endeavour
Here is the Nebula class USS Endeavour. This class ship made it's first appearance as the USS Phoenix in the Star Trek: The Next Generation episode 'The Wounded.' It had a rounded pod on top, and a few other differences as well. They changed the pod in later episodes to the heart shaped version and that is the version here.
This model is the USS Sutherland conversion kit from WARP models, but it isn't for sale any more. It's been replaced with the new conversion called the USS Honshu. The original studio model didn't have as many windows on the saucer section, so WARP modified the Enterprise-D model, which you need to make the conversion, and included the saucer in the kit. Later shows had the ships with as many windows as the Galaxy class ships, so they took the saucer part out of the conversion.
Construction
The model isn't that hard to put together, but the one I got was slightly warped (no pun intended). I had to put the two halves of the pod under hot water and clamp it together to get it to fit right. The piece that connects the saucer and engineering hulls together also needed tweaking, as well as the replacement tops to the nacelles. There was also a bunch of flash to be removed and seams to fix up. I think the newer version has corrected some of these problems, but I'm not sure.
Also, the model is made of glass reinforced plastic, GRP. The problem with GRP is that it picks up finger prints quite easily if you touch it. Because of this, I had to do all my touch-ups with minimal handeling. I also decided to paint the base coat as quickly as I could so I didn't have to touch the GRP. (It had a bad smell, but, again, painting it helped.) It also doesn't have a nice smooth surface when you sand it. The little pieces of glass make tiny divots throughout the area you have to sand. I would have preferred a resin model, but this one worked well enough.
Painting and Decals
I did the 'aztec' pattern and details by hand. It actually went pretty smoothly, since I learned from all my past mistakes made on the Enterprise-D. The windows were 'painted' with a fine artist's pen, and this time the ink didn't splatter when I did the gloss coat. The ink in the new pen seemed to be the same as the 'normal' pen that I used on the Enterprise-D , but I let the ink dry for a week this time. I don't know if the pen helped or not, but I'm sticking to this pen and letting the ink dry for a week the next time I do windows. Better safe than sorry.
The decals went on with only minor problems. I bought JT Graphics decals this time. They are super high quality and are very accurate. The instruction sheet clearly explained all the extra decals, and there was even a diagram. The only thing I didn't like was that the decals were overspayed with Testor's clear flat overcoat. It makes the decals nice and dull, and it works fine for most surfaces, but the small raised lines on the saucer and the engines gave the larger decals a little problem. Some air pockets formed under the big decals, and there wasn't a good way to remove them. It doesn't show much though since they are small and the surface is really irregular. So all in all, no big deal.
I made a stand out of a 'Starfleet Arrowhead.' It's something I made up out of a stand for an old Enterprise-A model. Nothing special. It looks good next to the Enterprise-D and really helps fill out the 1/1400 scale fleet.
