Star Trek: USS Magellan
This is the Constellation class ship USS Magellan. It's the same class as the Stargazer that appeared in Star Trek: The Next Generation. I just wanted to make a different name since in the show, the Stargazer was a little messed up.
This model was a vacuform model that I got from Sci-Fi Spaceship Miniatures. I can't seem to find them online anymore, and I think they may have gone out of buisness. There is a Warp Models kit that is the same scale available on Federation Models if you are looking for this ship.
The Sci-Fi Spaceship Minatures models was a decent model, but it was a vacuform model. It was my first, and it shows in a few places. It wasn't too difficult to make, but it take a little more time and care than a normal injection mold model.
One of the problem with vacuform models is that the details can't be as fine as a regular styrene-injection or even a resin model. But I wanted to build this model, and it was the only one available in this scale. The instructions that came with the kit were pretty good, and they gave good instructions on how to build vacuform models. It helped a lot, since I was new to them.
I wasn't happy with all the details, so I made a resin copy the Reliant's bridge and copies of the Enterprise-A's front engine grills. The model just has smooth engine fronts, and I decided to make them a little more accurate. I also added some details here and there, but I can't remember all the stuff I put on. There used to be a detial set for this model, but since the model isn't made anymore, the detail set is also OOP.
Painting and Decals
I used the Walker Enterprises painting masks to paint the aztec pattern, and just regular old masking to do the rest of the paneling effects. You can get the painting masks on Federation Models if you want a set. I got the decals from McDaniel Models, which is now closed. They worked pretty good, but the pennants were a little messed up.
The names on one set needs to me turned upside down. I just carefully cut the decals and positioned them myself. The phaser, thruster, and red stripping decals are from Don Matthys's Enterprise-A detail set. There are new decals out there for the model, and from what I can see, they are the way to go.
At the time, this was a challenging kit to build. I have a few bad spots on the model, but it turned out pretty good overall. I don't think I spent enough time doing the details, and I had poor references. I have would liked better decals and that details kit, but that's ok. I thought about redoing it, but it was pretty messed up from mutiple moves. I saved two of the nacelles for future use and dropped the rest into the trash. It wasn't worth saving.