Fitting The Casts To The Armature
It should be apparent by now that there would be a lot more to assembling the casts onto the armature than simply glueing them in place and filling any gaps, like a commercial model kit. The main armature had been completed, but there was still a fair amount of additional structure to be added for the lighting system, as well as creating robust contact points inside the casts so they could be attached to the armature, and each other, where necessary. This meant the casts would need to be able to be repeatedly removed and refitted to the armature while all the additional internal work was being done, and their positioning and alignment would need to be repeatable to ensure the armature and lighting system components inside were positioned correctly and doing their jobs properly. So, the casts were carefully positioned around the armature so they all aligned with each other, using specific windows groupings or other adjacent physical features as reference points between the casts. They were then all held in place with multiple M4 machine screws, either threading into the armature below, or through the armature and into anchor points on the inside of the casts, made from epoxy putty. This meant that all the separate parts could be mounted to the armature, removed, then remounted again whenever required during the construction stages, with exact repeatability of their alignment to each other.
The “keystone” part, from which all the other parts would be positioned to, was the upper secondary hull cast.
Anchor points made of epoxy putty, enabling the upper secondary hull cast to be fastened to the armature using machine screws
Outer edge filled with epoxy putty
Keel plate fastened to armature anchor points
Upper secondary hull cast fastened to the armature using machine screws
Drilling through the keel plate to the anchor points below
Drilling through the lower saucer cast, into the armature
The obvious intended assembly method was to cut out the area on the lower saucer cast to make space for the flared “Cobra Head” area of the dorsal, where the saucer section separated in the show. Unfortunately, due to the fact that the pattern masters for the lower saucer and dorsal hull were made independently from each other, the profile of that area on the dorsal hull cast wasn’t an exact match for the corresponding area on the lower saucer cast, and a significant amount of work would be needed to get the two parts to align cleanly along that plane. A much easier approach would be to cut the “Cobra Head” off the dorsal hull and leave the area mostly intact on the saucer, only cutting away enough to match the now triangular top of the dorsal. The scribed panel lines could then be replicated and re-scribed on the undetailed area of the saucer part. So that’s what I did…!
Cutting off the "Cobra Head" section of the dorsal hull
Using the redundant "Cobra Head" section as a guide, the lower saucer cast is marked out for cutting
The redundant "Cobra Head" section of the dorsal hull
Opening cut out for the now triangular shaped dorsal hull cast
Some breathing room was left where the casts meet, to allow final adjustments for alignment
Another issue that arose from the saucer and dorsal hull pattern masters being made independently from each other, was that there was no smooth transition between the parts where they met. This was made worse by the fact that the very upper portion of the dorsal hull (a few decks above the cargo bay doors) was actually sculpted as part of the upper saucer cast rather than the dorsal hull, so there was a chasm of missing material where the parts met - this whole area would need to be built-up and sculpted in later down the road!
Centrelines and other adjacent features marked on each part to maintain alignment. A LOT of filling and sculpting needed for this area...!
Lots of missing material here, it would all need to be built up and sculpted in
Positioning the saucer to maintain the overall angle of the dorsal was critical. All that space would need to be filled
This was clearly a problematic area for Greg and his team on the original filming model too. It’s tricky to see a lot of the time, but there are a few photos where you can see the angle of the dorsal “face” above the cargo bay doors inclines a little on the filming model. This is down to that area having to be sculpted in after the fact and trying to resolve the mismatched profiles of the parts as well as they could.
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With all the casts now able to be “dry fitted” around the armature, it was time to move forward with installing the lighting system and begin final construction of the secondary hull.
