Studio Scale
Klingon Vor'Cha
Another "pinch me" project for The National Film & SciFi Museum here in the UK. A replica of the Klingon Vor'Cha from Star Trek: TNG, built entirely from casts of the original studio model!
I won't post a deep-dive into every aspect of this one, if you want to see what goes into these types of projects then have a look at my 4' Enterprise D break-down...the same steps applied here too!
This was another treasure hunt of sorts (similar to the 4' D project) in that a lot of the smaller details and hull plant-on parts needed to be tracked down and procured, to maintain 100% authenticity by using entirely original castings only. I have to give special thanks to Eric Gunzinger in particular here, as his incredible generosity and trust really did most of the heavy lifting in terms of getting hold of most of the missing parts - including some of the original pattern masters Greg Jein used to create the original moulds! Amazing!! Huge thanks also to Lou Zutavern and Gary Kerr, who both very generously provided the last hard-to-find parts needed to complete the model!
Here's a gallery of the project in-progress, or click the image below to go to the finished model gallery.
Finished model gallery
The raw castings, pretty much in the same condition as when Greg Jein pulled them from his original moulds a few decades ago!
Above - Some of the reconstruction work needed for the finer details. The moulds were pretty worn by the time these castings were pulled, there were several large chunks of perished RTV rubber embedded into some of the parts - torn out of the moulds when the parts were removed!
Above - The original casts repaired, refurbished and moulded, ready for casting new parts.
First parts out of the moulds. Cast with an opaque black gel coat to capture all the surface details, and reinforced with fibreglass
We were extremely fortunate to find some original pattern masters of some smaller parts, which Greg Jein used to make the original moulds and then cast parts for the hero and pyro models! VERY rare, and VERY special to have pieces like this!
Above - The construction of the model gets underway. Assembly of the parts around an internal metal armature is absolutely critical for these types of models! Not only does the armature physically hold everything together, it also acts like a giant heat-sink for the internal lighting system, helping to keep all the LEDs cool while they're running.
By a stroke of luck (there were many during this project!) I was able to get hold of a screen-used casting of the front bussard collector from a pyro model, which was used to film a ship exploding in a scene. This solved two issues in one go - I needed a casting of the part to complete the engines, but I also needed some good colour reference for the base colour of the original studio model! I was able to colour scan the screen-used part and have custom paint made which matched perfectly!
Lots of gap filling and fixing seams, these things aren't your typical commercial model kit...! Then, after the main green base coat was applied, a TON of masking, pin-striping, stencilling, and panel shading had to be done to give the model a sense of size and scale...and hopefully transform it into something which looks almost real. The hull graphics were traced and redrawn from one of Greg Jein's production made decal sheets in my collection, then printed as custom decals and applied where needed.
The final stages of dirtying and weathering the model were then completed, to make it look like it had survived more than a few space battles. Those Klingons love a fight, after all......!
Job done!
Click the image below to see the finished model gallery
