Adding battle damages to your 1/1000 scale Polar Lights Enterprise Refit may sound easy, but at that scale and without the necessary experience or knowledge, creating battle damages to this kit may actually cause permanent damage to your kit, and may even put you off scale modelling for a while. This is one very difficult area to master and most modellers are just happy to finish off a mint looking Enterprise and stay content that way.
I can tell you now if you do not have the experience or someone to guide you, you'd better make sure you have a spare kit laying around somewhere before you start "applying" those simulated damaged parts. I must have destroyed several of my military aircraft kits when I was younger, trying to make them looked as though these planes went through hell and back, and I'm still trying to master this skill today with very little success.
It used to be that only the seasoned modeller knew how and what to do from their years of experience and sharing, and amateurs like myself should just stick to reading about their achievements. If we dared to venture into this realm, we risk damaging our kits so bad that when mistakes do happen, it literally beckons our will to abandon ship, go to a corner and sulk. Yes, its frustrating.
No more. Paragrafix has now made this possible for everyone that even "
2 trainees and a monkey" could do it. Of course when I say easier, I meant compared to actually cutting and burning through the plastic to get the damage effects. That process has always been tedious and guarantees lots of mistakes. Worse thing is the end result are usually disappointing.
All that changed when I was introduced to Photoetch parts (PE). Photoetch parts (PE) are amazing when you want to create highly accurate and realistic looking kits.
A fair warning to all however. You will need to have some experience working with PE parts before you can start with the
Battle Damage PEs from Paragrafix. If you have not even heard of PEs, my advise is to start with the
Refit Detail Set first.
Please ensure you have the correct tools for the job, and always wear protective glasses when cutting PEs from their tree. Go google "working with PE" to find out more.
*****
Introducing the
Refit 1:1000 Battle Damage photoetch detail set from Paragrafix, a set of photoetch parts you can now use to replace various sections of the ship and make them look like the Klingons or Romulans had a field day.
The PE simulated Damage Sections are based on Star Trek II and III. This set includes three dimensional relief, with scared surface panels, simulated phaser blasts, and recessed interior damage panels for a very impressive effect! Includes detailed instructions.
All you need to do is to cut off sections from the main body and saucer according to the instructions, and place the PE parts over. You can even bend the edges to make it look like metal plates sheared apart, hull breached after an explosion. The end result is so stunning that anyone who sees your kit ends up staring and admiring her for a very long time. For added effects, you could scratch build a secondary section using styrene strips between the PE part to make them look like exposed cabins.
If you want to further enhance your 1/1000 scale Refit Enterprise,
Paragrafix has also come up with PE sets to add more details to your kit. Introducing the
Refit 1:1000 photoetch detail set.
This PE sets enhances the following:
- docking ports
- Shuttle bay
- Botany section and frames
- Officers lounge window frames
- Impulse engine grills
- Warp engine grills
- Drilling guides for saucer windows
- Name plate
Includes detailed instructions.
Impressive, isn't it? You can thank dedicated and committed GK makers like
Paul of Pragrafix who understand a modeller's dilemma and chose to contribute his creative talent to produce interesting and much needed PE parts for the rest of us. In fact, he is among the few scale modellers in this world that makes this hobby fun.
And he didn't stop with the 1/1000 scale Refit battle damage. You can even opt for the coming
Damaged Hull & Fuselage Panels from Paragrafix . They're generic battle damage detail panels you can apply on various spaceships and starships of all scales and sizes, and they're perfect for detailing your Viper or X-Wing.
Features:
- Fifteen different designs and sizes for a variety of alternate damage scenarios.
- 0.005" thick brass sheet provides suitable plating thickness for many different scales.
- Contours to the shape of most simple hulls/fuselages without annealing.
- Enhance the detail by bending the ragged edges inward (for an external hit) or outward (for an internal explosion).
- Generous 1/16" (1.6mm) border around each "breach" for glueing.
- Can be (carefully) trimmed to shape with shears for fitting in tight areas.
- Suitable for all types of models: science-fiction, aircraft, armor, automotive (makes great rust) ... you name it!
- Modeler can add internal details to enhance the realism.
Preorder yours today cause once these sets complete their run, that's it. You'd be lucky to find them on eBay at reasonable prices
