USS Ptolemy
This is a semi-canon design that is from Franz Joseph's book "Star Fleet Technical Manual". The book was released back in the 70s and had a few ship designs in it. A couple of the pictures were seen on video displays in Star Trek II, so they have been in a movie, but it's just the pictures. Anyway, I had these left over parts, so I opened the book and got to work.
The Ptolemy was a nice little challenge. I had to make new holes for the pylons and then get the pylons at the right angle according to the diagram in the book. The radar was easy to put on, just a small rod with a hole drilled in the end to attach the dish. The cargo pod is made from a two resin copies of a Chap-Stick tube. I glued the copies together and rounded off the ends.
I then glued a small piece of sheet styrene to the tube and glued it to the neck from the secondary hull. The painting was simple. I airbrushed the base coat, light gray. The stripes and colors on the cargo pod are Light Ghost Gray. The dark parts on the inside of the warp nacelle pylons were first painted Euro I Gray and then dry brushed with light gray to make the raised detail stand out.
Finishing it Off
I couldn't use the decals that I had, so I made some. It was the first time I tried it, and it turned out great. I managed to find some decent decals images that I could base my decals on. I didn't just cut and past from a picture I found online, I actually made my own but I based it off the low-res picture I had. It was a nice was to test my "Mad Graphic Skillz™."
The stand is simply a piece of sheet styrene cut into a rounded triangle with a piece of dowel attached to it. I drilled a small hole in the bottom of both ships and the dowel and then glued a small rod of styrene to hole in the dowel. The models just sit on top of the little peg sitting out of the dowel. Simple, cheap, effective.
This was a fun, quick project that helped me use up my left over parts. It looks great, and my first attempt to make decals turned out great.