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Polar Lights Models: Klingon K’t’inga test shots are coming!
It is great to see all of the attention our new Star Trek: the Motion Picture 1:350 scale Klingon K’t’tinga model is getting. Folks have been oohing and ahhing over the photos of the new mockup we showed off at Wonderfest. Test shots are shipping and they should arrive by the weekend. I just wanted to share a small teaser and fill you in on what we’ll be sharing in the next couple weeks.
Jim Small is our go-to buildup guy. He is a consultant on virtually every sci-fi kit we put out. As usual, I am super-busy and Jim is willing to share his progress on the test shots and buildup as he works on it. So we will be posting his progress here and simultaneously (give or take a few minutes) on his Small Art Works Facebook page. He’ll get more in depth with it than I would be able to do anyway.
I might pop in to show photos of my test build. I also hope to squeeze in some time to discuss the color research we’ve done on the ship and share some of that… and maybe even get some help or feedback on finding some specific paint colors to match. More on that soon (hopefully).
But now… more of these…
And some of this! (from our friends at the factory) It is getting real, folks!
Round 2 Models: Wonderfest USA 2018 and K’t’inga update
We had a wonderful time at Wonderfest USA last weekend. It is always great to see everyone and see the reaction to our new kits and news. Rather than posting a bunch of pics here and linking this post to our Facebook page, I’m going to do the opposite. I’ve posted two albums there. One of the show in general and the other specific to the K’t’inga. (click the colored underlined words to go to look at the pics)
Our biggest “NEWS” announcement of the show was that we have obtained the license to STAR TREK DISCOVERY. We realize opinions are very mixed on the show and the ship designs, but we feel that there needs to be product in the market for those for whom this will be their introduction to Star Trek. Our first kit will be a 1:2500 scale U.S.S. Discovery which will measure just short of 12″ long. It will include a few clear parts which is a feature our other 1:2500 scale kits lack. We were polling attendees to get feedback on what to do next.
- Which larger kit size would you prefer? 1:1000 OR 1:1400 (look at the poster to see the difference)
- After the 1:2500 scale U.S.S. Discovery, which would you rather see next? 1:1000/ 1:1400 U.S.S. Discovery OR 1:2500 U.S.S. Shenzhou and U.S.S. Enterprise (essentially, in 2019 we can either do a big Discovery next OR do the other two ships in the same scale as our first Discovery kit)
- Which ship design do you prefer? U.S.S. Shenzhou OR U.S.S Enterprise (Both have merit, but which should we do first?)
This seems to have caused no small amount of confusion with some people online interpreting this as us doing all three ships in all three scales. Oh well. these things happen these days. Here is a closer look at our board. Feel free to let us know your thoughts by leaving a comment.
KAT CHAT: Totally Tubular Tires!
Hello Automotive Modeling Enthusiasts,
Here’s a quick “snap Kat” photo showing the beautiful gold lettered and pinstriped Firestone tires that are included with the upcoming Tiger Shark reintroduction – in big and little sizes! Also shown is the upcoming AMTPP020/24 “Wild Wheels & Wide Ovals” parts pack which includes four sweet white lettered Firestone Wide Oval tires and four “street is neat” five-spoke mags!
Grab the glue, it’s all for you! COMING SOON
Polar Lights Model Kits: Quick update
[UPDATED] I know it has been a while between posts and that is due purely to getting super-busy. (It happens all too often… but that’s a good thing, no?) I just received something to share that is worth interrupting my busy workday, but it will need to be quick. But while I am writing, a few updates…
POL952 U.S.S. Defiant – Arrived at our warehouse this week. You should be seeing it available from your retailers in the next couple weeks.
MKA028 Eagle Weathering Panel Decals – I totally overlooked the announcement of this. It is essentially the same sheet we included in the Brian Johnson special edition we did of the 22″ Eagle kit. These should be available in mid-late June.
MPC881 Hawk – Should be available from your retailers by the end of June.
POL957 U.S.S. Grissom & Klingon Bird-of-Prey – Due to delays in getting the test shots refined, this kit is slipping back to August. The shots look pretty good, but refining fit for a snap kit is always tricky. Packaging for the kit is being worked on now and we’ll show that off soon. We are thrilled to announce that it will feature a box lid illustration from Star Trek production designer John Eaves!
POL950 Klingon K’t’inga – Good news/ bad news … Delays in refining the CAD has caused this to slip all the way back to October. That’s only part of the bad news. The other is that this delay also pushes the test shots past Wonderfest by a few weeks. So we won’t have a fully built and painted model on display. On the good news side, the revisions were definitely worth it, because the factory was able to supply a second mockup based on the final CAD data and it has been assembling like a dream! We will have a new primered prototype with the lights on to show off at the show along with all of the buildups of the rest of our new kits mentioned above. We really look forward to seeing everyone at the show!
Now on with the thing I mentioned. A behind the scenes look at the K’t’inga nacelle tooling being created…
Polar Lights Models: More K’t’inga goodness
It has been a great week. Thank you for such an overwhelmingly positive reaction to our K’t’inga kit announcement. We knew Star Trek modelers everywhere would love it, because you’ve made it perfectly clear how badly you wanted it. But still, the reaction was better than we could have predicted. A set of test shots for another kit did not show up this week as expected, so we’ll share some more images and info on the K’t’inga kit.
First, let’s answer some questions.
How long is the model? – In our excitement last week, we neglected to mention the length of the model. It will be 24″ long and nearly 18″ wide. Some have suggested that seems small, but the length was based on existing information that was widely accepted. Could one debate that it should be longer? Sure, but in process of developing a kit of this stature, weight has to be given to tooling space and the cost that incurs. So, it comes down to A) we can make an argument that at 1:350 scale the ship would be 24″ long and B) we can afford to tool up a 24″ long K’t’inga. We can’t afford to do a bigger one. If you disagree with the scale, you can call it what you want. No hard feelings.
Yay! Now when can we expect a 1:350 D-7, Reliant, 1:1000 Enterprise-D or 1:32 Galileo? – Your guess is as good as ours. Our history speaks for itself. So, don’t expect them soon. But, let’s consider this… what would there be interest a Galileo without a full interior? Deleting the interior would make it an affordable option at some point. No promises one way or another, but feel free to offer feedback on that notion.
It looks like the white parts in the mockup represent the clear parts in the kit. Is that how you plan to address the windows on the bulb? – For the most part, the unpainted resin parts in the mockup represent parts that are to be included as clear parts in the kit. However, part of the purpose of doing a prototype is to see what you think will work actually works in practice. After seeing the cobra head windows knocked out, we are considering knocking windows out in the bulb. Those windows will be tiny. A clear backer will be included, but if you want those portholes to filled to present a flush face window, we will be suggesting liquid window maker to fill them.
Is the hull plating symmetrical? – On the kit yes, on the filming miniature not so much. It mostly was, but not 100%. We are going to KISS it. (Keep It Simple Stupid)
What will prevent neck sagging? – Good engineering. The mockup had no locators whatsoever. We will be sure we have accounted for the possibility of the neck to sag or break at the bulkhead. It is a lot like the pylon issue on the 1:350 TOS kit. We know well enough to figure it out.
Will ALL the detail be maintained? – Yes and no. The work in the mockup had not fully taken into account tool drafting. In some spots details might be compromised, or we will break parts up a bit differently to get as much detail as we can. In some instances we aren’t satisfied with the result and we’ll see if the factory can find a way to do better. I predict we will be able to maintain about 95% of the detail by the time it is done.
The photos below will show some “behind the scenes” shots of the mockup in various states of assembly. They should provide a decent sense of scale. It also gives a preview of how the light kit will look. A thin coat of primer wasn’t enough to hide the light, but we needed to install as much as we could to be sure we had enough light where we needed it and adjust as needed.
Lastly, you’ll see an image with yellow arrows pointing to some parts on the filming miniature. As most people realize, many of these details were pulled from plastic model kits available during production of the film. Our consultant team identified nearly all of the “greeblies” that were used. This is the most noticeable piece one has evaded our attempts to identify the kit (or thing) it originally comes from. If you know, please let us know. We used the limited reference we have to draw up the part. If we can make it more accurate, we would like to.
Star Trek Model Kits: All-New 1:350 K’t’inga Model Kit
To say the least, we’ve teased this announcement for too long already. So without further ado… THIS!
Yes, Round 2 has been developing a 1:350 scale Klingon K’t’inga as featured in STAR TREK: The Motion Picture! This is one of the kits we have been asked about since Round 2 got into the model kit business 10 years ago. Rumor and/or speculation has been that development of this kit started back at Playing Mantis before Polar Lights was obtained by RC2, but I’ve found little to no record of that in the development notes I’ve encountered in my role as the chief sci-fi kit product developer here at Round 2. We have been working with Charles Adams for well over a year now on this project. He has supplied the CAD model for the basis of the ship. Steve Neisen is also consulting on the add-on model kit bits that were used on the original filming miniature. Jim Small is also involved in the development and will be building our publicity model. I have been discussing with Charles the possibility of writing some guest blog entries about the ship to share some of his years-long research into the model.
The photos show the mockup (prototype) of the kit and it needs a little bit of explaining. The factory has been working over Charles’ CAD work and adding details that he would have supplied as model kit parts on his own studio scale model. We sent kit parts to the factory to scan. In some instances they used scans and in some cases, they tried to rebuild them from measurements. In some cases you can’t tell the difference. In some cases you can. Our partner factory in China recently took their annual holiday for Chinese New Year and did their best to get the mockup to us before leaving for their break. They were up against the ship date with some details needing adjustment and with minimal engineering to fit the parts properly together. No locator pins, etc. This was a freshly printed rapid prototype and they had no time to test fit or make adjustments, so I’ve been doing my best to cobble it together. have no fear of gaps and obvious glue bombs. All will be revised well before production.
Let’s see what else… answers before there are questions…
- The target retail price will be around $100.
- Yes, we will be putting out a light kit. We’ll show some candid pics of that in a post later on.
- Yes, we plan to do a ST:VI Kronos One version later down the road as long as sales on this first release supports that notion.
- The kit is currently scheduled for September release. Yes, that soon. If we can stick to the schedule, that would mean we’ll have a test shot built to display at Wonderfest in June.
- Distributors can look for this product to appear on our next price sheet which will go out within the next week. (By 3/9)
For now, enjoy a look at the mockup. We’ll put higher res pics on our Facebook page. Feel free to ask questions here and I’ll come back and answer a slew of them all at once in a future post.
Qapla’!
Round 2 Models: Something wicked-cool this way comes…
So you are thinking “Enough with the box! What is in it already?” To be honest, it is probably one of those things that can’t possibly live up to its hype anymore. I’ve poked around a little bit to see what the speculation might be, and if all goes as planned, we will reveal it tomorrow. But for now, more hints…
- Once assembled, it won’t fit back in this box.
- Someone in a message board or Facebook thread HAS guessed what it is.
- Its name does not start with an E or 24 other letters in the alphabet.
See you back here tomorrow…
Coming off the Shelf – Not What Most Expected
A few weeks ago we posted a teaser on Facebook, and many of our followers thought they had the kit pegged as a reissue of the 1969 Hurst Olds we did just a few years back. We are happy to announce that it is indeed NOT the Hurst Olds, but rather a close relative—the 1969 442 W-30. This classic Olds, though similar to the Hurst, comes with its own set of surprises, including W-30 parts, four pad printed Firestone Wide Oval tires, two pad printed Goodyear Blue Streak drag slicks, and an all new decal sheet with improved (and more accurate) striping and emblem options—all boxed up in a new vintage style package.
Coming to a hobby store near you, and online, this March!
Space:1999 Model Kits: All-new Hawk update
I’ve been hip deep in other matters this week, but I wanted to be sure I upheld my promise to show something cool this week. You could skip to the bottom of the post if you want another clue about “what’s in the box,” but you’ll miss a closer look at our new 1:72scale Space:1999 Hawk kit box art and test shots!
Here is a full view of the Hawk box illustration followed by a closer look at the ship and the illustration placed in the context of our box face layout. The rest of the packaging is still underway.
As with all first test shots, this one DOES have some problems that will get worked out before release. The most noticeable problems are sink marks due to the injection machine not being fully primed for injection. Additionally, there are fit problems with some of the locator pins. Some parts appear to be bent, but straightened out during assembly. Here is a look at the full sprue followed by various looks at the assembled test shot. Don’t mind the mess. These builds are usually hastily assembled glue bombs. Photos of our publicity buildup will be available soon.
And as promised…
Round 2 Models: 2018 off to a good start
It has been a while since I’ve showed a pic like this. It doesn’t show the stacks of boxes and test shots immediately to the right of this view.
In the life of a Round 2 model kit developer, there are ebbs and flows just like in every other job. Sometimes you are working at a breakneck pace to get a release (or several) out on time. Sometimes the work you are doing just isn’t all THAT interesting such as when we are retouching vintage model kit box art or working on assembly instruction sheets (tedious work and the most undervalued part of any kit). And then sometimes, every once and a while, within a week’s time you get deluged with new and exciting stuff to review and comment on and you realize it is all stacked up in one place. So you snap a pick like this one. I’ll be unveiling closer looks at all of this stuff in the coming weeks.
