In the final episode of Star Trek: The Next Generation, we were given a glimpse forward in time 25 years. In this alternate future, the Enterprise-D was commanded by Admiral Will Riker, and had been refitted with a third warp nacelle, a really freaking big phaser cannon under the saucer, and various greeblies on the top of the saucer that, probably, even Greg Jein doesn't know what the hell they do.

    Starcraft released a fantastic resin upgrade kit, to be used on the Ertl Enterprise-D, consisting of: A new spine superstructure and a new nacelle strut for the third nacelle; a new third nacelle with two clear grilles and Bussard cap; Added phaser packs for the two existing nacelles; additional fins for the two existing struts; the really freaking big phaser cannon (in 2 pieces to maintain the ability to seperate the saucer, if you want to); and the "air conditioner" torpedo pack and two "antenna" weapons (?) for the top of the saucer.
    I can't rave about this set enough! Everything fit perfectly, with either no gaps at the edges, or the tiniest of spaces that gap-filling superglue will handle. Starcrafts provides a solid clear resin Bussard dome for the center nacelle. I bit the bullet and scarfed a hollow one from another D kit, because I paint them from the inside, and the solid one would have looked different. The only lack-of-perfection in the finished assembly is that the center nacelle isn't quite parallel, having a little nose-down attitude. Easily corrected. The mega cannon was meant to be installed over the captain's yacht, but I don't see much point in the yacht if there's a cannon trapping it, so I filled in the recesses.
    The parts match up perfectly with closeup photos of the actual filming miniature shown in Star Trek Mechanics #4, with only the tiniest details omitted in deference to these being less than half the size of the originals.

    In addition to the upgrade kit, I used Jeff Waclawski's (JT Graphics) fabulous Enterprise-D decal sheet (which includes 500 individually numbered lifeboat hatches!), and his All Good Things decal sheet for the extra engine decals.
    Once again, nothing but raves about this product. Jeff also provides various different RCS thruster decals, and different Starfleet pennants and phaser warning markings, for the various eras of Starfleet - TNG, DS9, and Voyager. There are also a dren-load of little tiny stencil markings that he included for the stencil-happy. I used some of them around the hull for accents. I only regret that I didn't have enough patience to actually put the lifeboat hatches on in numerical order!

    The color scheme is based on colors quoted by Rick Sternbach himself. I used "close enough" colors, since exact Federal Standard matches were impossible to find. Believe it or not, the closest colors I found were German WWII airplane camouflage! A base coat of Testors ModelMaster RLM76 blue matched the blue closest, and for the alternating Aztec panels, Aeromaster RLM 84 green, which was a tad bright. I then lightly sprayed the whole model again with a light coat of the 76 to cut the green and make it blend better with the blue. If 84 is hard to find, British Sky Type S will work, although it's a bit brighter. For the phaser strips: RLM 02 greengray was almost exact.

    The studio model was agressively covered with pinstriping. I started to try to match this on the air conditioner and antennas, and then I gave up. I was already blind from putting on lifeboat decals and filling in windows with a technical pen. So, while I was having a good time painting this thing, all good things yaddayadda.

    The Ertl stand has a snap-tab on it that always breaks after the third or fourth time you take the model off of it. What I always do (see the last photo) is put a brass or plastic tube in its place, and insert the next size larger brass (or plastic) tube into the model. One slides nicely into other, and you can remove the model as often as you like. For this one I also put a little felt pad on the stand to protect the model.

I know Gene Roddenberry always said that he hated the idea of 3-engine dreadnoughts, and he'd never condone one in his universe. But, come ON! It looks so COOL!