Chris Crossland’s Larson Destroyer

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When I saw the 1/1000 scale PL TOS Enterprise kit I went nuts. Bought five of them in one shot, then three more on subsequent trips to the local Super Center ($9.88 each, what a bargain!). I used my first one to re-create the USS Exeter, but I thought I would get adventurous with my second and kit-bash a Larson Class Destroyer. Here are my chronicles:

First I used some stencil sheets (also bought from the Super Center) and created patterns for the side wings as well as the extended saucer piece (Larson1.jpg). Then I used the wing pattern and traced it out on some .08″ styrene. After cutting the shapes out of the styrene I rounded off the leading and trailing edge of both wings into a ‘V’ shape. They seemed to be wide enough on their own to warrant not having to cut out two separate pieces and glue them together. I then used .04″ styrene for the extended saucer section.

When I was happy with my cut outs I made some .08″ styrene strips to fit in between the two extended sections as ribs. I then glued the two sections together and let it sit over night.

The next day I used some Squadron Green and filled in the huge gaps on the sides of the completed saucer piece. I sanded it smooth and hit it with a light coat of gray primer to check out the spaces I missed.

I glued the upper and lower saucer sections from the PL kit and aligned it with my homemade extension. After a little coaxing I got it all squared up and glued it together. I went back over the entire thing with squadron green filling in all of the gaps left in between the now merged saucer pieces. Afterwards I sanded all smooth, primered it, then filled the spaces I missed the first time.

After I was satisfied with the outcome I attached the two wing pieces. I used a combination of super glue and baking soda. That stuff creates an awesome bond that’s very hard to break. I sanded down the excess, filled the gaps, re-sanded and primered.

I took the nacelle from the PL kit and put it together. I’ve looked at various pictures on the configuration of the Larson nacelle and decided to work it to where the groove faced down and the two grills near the end cap faced up and down respectively. In the pictures the two grills faced left and right, but the rookie in me didn’t think I could pull it off. I filled in the lines where you see the concentration of Squadron Green, sanded, and primered it.

Now came the daunting task of connecting the nacelle to the wings. I read somewhere that lego’s can be a modeler’s best friend, so I bought a set of big blocks and they worked perfectly. The nacelle sat square until the glue dried and I was ready to press on

Now it was time to start with my final base color. I used Testors Model Master Acryl Light Gray #4765, which is just a smidge darker than the model color. I put on several coats before I was satisfied with the result

In an old FASA photo, I noticed that the Larson had some sort of heat dissipation grill near the rear of the saucer section. I created my own grill from .08″ and .04″ styrene, painted it with Testors Light Ghost Gray (which is also what I used to paint the other darker gray features) and glued it on. Then I added both end caps to the nacelle, coated the whole thing with a gloss finisher, and finally applied the decals.

I had to decide what the registry and number would christen my finalized destroyer. Thumbing through the Startfleet Recognition Guide I came across the USS Bolivar. It just happened to be the same name as the small town in Missouri where I worked my first post-high school job. So that was the name I chose along with the registry NCC-4411. Then it all started to just flow together.

I took my best guess as to where the rest of the decals should go, and I used the PL instructions as guide when I needed a space or two filled. I scanned the decals from a TOS 1/650 Enterprise kit, shrunk it to 65% and used it for the ship name as well as the registry identification on the bottom of the ship.

I constructed a base out of wood I had found at the local craft store. I sanded it, stained it and applied several coats of Future. The last step was to drill a hole and attach the finished model.

All in all it took me about a month of working off and on to complete the project. I am quite satisfied with the end result, and I hope that all those who view this page enjoy it as well.

Chris Crossland