Stage 1 - Refurbishment & Repairs
Due to their condition, it was decided that the raw parts should be refurbished and repaired as accurately and sympathetically as possible, before moulding them to create new casts for the actual build. The original parts would then be returned to the museum to be preserved in their archives. In general, the parts were in good shape and had faired quite well over the years, but there were a number issues to correct due to several factors. Aside from the expected wear and tear from years of being handled and moved around, there were some significant problems inherent in the parts that occured during their original casting and demoulding.
The upper secondary hull was cast in one piece - no easy task considering the complex shape of the part. The original mould jacket appeared to have been slightly mis-aligned during the casting process which resulted in significant scarring along the seam lines (seen in the photo's below). There were also large areas of the surface where the raised panel details were all but obliterated and needed to be recreated as closely as possible to the original. Finally for this part, some slight warping (no pun intended!) needed to be corrected, and a number of fairly large holes needed to be filled.
The mis-alignment is quite pronounced along the upper dorsal surface
One of those scars can be seen on the original 4' filming miniature in some close up shots
The lower pylon wing and keel parts were in slightly better condition than the upper secondary hull, although the wing in particular had warped quite a lot. The phaser details on every part had suffered some damages over the years, as well as having bubbles in the surface coat during casting which needed to be repaired. The upper saucer part was in fairly good condition, generally. There were some scars on the surface, the expected air bubbles and some general warping. The sensor band detail around the outer rim was pretty much obliterated where the original mould had deteriorated and perished. In some spots there were even lumps of old rubber torn away from the original moulds still lodged in place, which needed to be dug out! The part in worst condition was the lower saucer. There were large deformations in the castings which needed to be rectified and any detailing restored. As well as all the deformations, there were a lot of problems arising from general mould fatigue and damages sustained over the years. This part alone would require a large amount of repair and reconstruction work.
The rear sensor band recess on the lower nacelle pylon wing part. The detailing is almost non-existent, the original moulds were clearly in bad shape when these parts were cast.
An example of the deformations found in a few of the parts, this one seen on the lower pylon wing.
The damaged phaser strip detailing on the keel part.
Sensor band recess on the upper saucer part. Remnants of the original RTV rubber mould still lodged in place! Again, the detailing is almost non-existent and would need to be recreated.
Aside from some slight general warping and wear & tear, the upper saucer was in pretty good shape.
Some examples of the deformations and damages on the lower saucer part. This part was in the worst condition by far and needed a lot of work to repair all of the issues. A lot of surface details needed to be repaired, or totally recreated in some cases, as close to original as possible.
The Repaired and Refurbished Parts
