Timothy S. Johnston Builds AMT 666 Romulan Bird-Of-Prey
This one took me by storm. I loved building it, but it was one hell of a journey.
The model was first released in 1975, re-released in 1979, then there was a long period before the next iterations. According to Scalemates, it came out again in 2010 with new parts (I believe the energy weapon at the ship’s bow) and then in 2011 the company re-released it with a tin special-edition box. These more recent versions also feature clear domes at the front of the nacelles, for those model-builders who want to light their creations.
The most recent release, AMT 666, is the one I discovered online. It’s the one you see pictured above. It was a challenge to find because it has been thirteen years since it hit shelves. I found two of the recent kits at online stores, and one from 1979 on eBay.
I hope Round 2 and AMT reissue this kit, especially since they’ve just done the same for Enterprise and the Klingon D-7. It would makes sense. Although the kit from 2011 was in great condition, the decal sheet was in rough shape — it was dry and brittle — and it made this model even more of a challenge.
Here are the box contents:
I just love making these classic models from Star Trek: TOS. It is so nostalgic for me. I was born in 1970, so the show had already ended, but during the next fifteen years or so, I watched every episode after school repeatedly. I could name the episode within the first few frames and notes of music. Star Trek played a massive role in my creative formative years, along with other great Science Fiction shows, movies, and books of the 1970s (while I was under the age of ten), which I’ve written about here, here, and here. Those links include Horror/Suspense/Sci-Fi influences on me before the age of ten, my list of the best Science Fiction movies of the 1970s, and books that inspired me to write genre fiction that I read as a child.
Here is my blog post about creating USS Enterprise, AMT 1296.
Here is my blog post about creating the Klingon D-7 “Alien” Battle Cruiser, AMT 1428.
My goal in undertaking the task of building these three models was to display them on a shelf in my office.
This piece (pictured) was a new addition in the newer AMT release. It is the plasma energy weapon located at the bow of the Romulan vessel. I decided to paint it metallic copper, to match the other model on my shelf, specifically the Enterprise’s deflector dish.
As with all models, after removing them from the plastic sprues, you have to also remove the excess plastic and sand it down. I had that issue in a few places on this model, like here:
Along with this task, I began gluing the hull pieces together and then filling gaps with putty and filing any sharp edges down.
You can see lines of white putty above. Sanding is essential to smooth it all before priming.
Here is the front of the ship with the plasma weapon attached:
And here it is, primed and ready for the final coats of paint:
I painted the ship the same hull colour as Enterprise, Tamiyah’s Neutral Gray.
The domes at the front of each “engine pod,” or nacelle, were my next project. I am not yet at the stage where I can light my models. It is my next goal, but I won’t attempt that until I’m ready. I decided to paint them “metallic red” to match my previous models Enterprise and the Klingon D-7 Battle Cruiser.
And here is that plasma weapon, painted metallic copper to match the Enterprise’s deflector dish:
And the aft ends of the engine pods got the same flat steel gray as Enterprise’s:
And here is the finished ship before decal application:
I gave the Bird-Of-Prey a glossy clear coat (TS-13) before the decal application. This was a hard lesson I learned from building earlier models. The decals need to lay on a perfectly flat surface. Sometimes the hull is curved, convex, or concave, and this makes things very difficult. But if there is dust, debris, lumps, or areas that should have been sanded, this makes the process even more challenging. When building Enterprise, I experienced this issue. I hadn’t cleaned the hull well enough before priming and painting. If you want to learn more about how to do this, I described it in detail in my Enterprise series, here. This being said, I had an even more difficult time with these, because of the shelf age of the model. The decal sheet was thirteen years old. It was dry and brittle and the decals shattered in the water during the soak process. I had to piece them together on the hull, resulting in unwanted seams and breaks. It was brutal.
Before decals:
It is an absolutely beautiful ship. Wah Ming Chang built the Bird-Of-Prey for TOS, and according to canon, it is based on stolen Starfleet technology and components. As the story goes, however, creation of the model was constrained by budgetary concerns, and therefore Chang was forced to use pre-existing hull pieces. According to lore, Chang built the ship in two weeks, but because he was not a part of the propmakers’ union, he built it off site and the studio claimed they had purchased it along with other props he had made. When the union discovered he was doing unsanctioned work, the studio never paid him. Apparently, he stated this during an interview in the 1980s. In frustration, while TOS was still filming, he took the model home and destroyed it with a hammer in his backyard. When Star Trek needed to use the ship again, they couldn’t find it, so they had to substitute a Klingon D-7 in its place. In later remastered versions of Trek, however, the BOP has been added back in (in The Enterprise Incident) and it is now so iconic that it has also appeared in Star Trek: Enterprise and Star Trek: Picard. Chang’s creation, regardless of the events surrounding it and its disappearance, remains totally iconic and one of the most stunning ships in the Star Trek universe.
Here is my Bird-Of-Prey during the decal process:
And here is the finished product!
And the three models on the shelf, lit from above by a (mostly) hidden LED light strip:
And here is a broader view of the shelf:
Building these three ships was an amazing experience. I implore Round 2 to release AMT 665 again. It’s been thirteen years, and they’ve just released the other two classic TOS ships. It’s time.
I hope you enjoyed reading about this project and the process. Next up is Station K-7, also seen in TOS and issued by Round 2 / AMT.
— TSJ, 24 July 2024
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“Fans of Clive Cussler’s NUMA Files will be delighted with Timothy S. Johnston’s undersea novels. Truman McClusky and Dirk Pitt are cut from the same adventurer’s cloth.” — Nick Cutter, author of The Deep and The Troop
A BLANKET OF STEEL is out now!
WATCH THE GRIPPING BOOK TRAILER HERE.
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A Blanket of Steel from Timothy S. Johnston and Fitzhenry & Whiteside, Ltd.
“Read the book and prepare to be blown away by one of the best writers I have ever had the pleasure to read. Timothy S. Johnston is simply amazing.” — FIVE Stars from Readers’ Favorite
“Innovative technology, Mac taking risks no one else would dare and thinking his way through to brilliant solutions … But the stakes are higher than they’ve ever been before. This is it. The countdown to the final battle … Johnston does an excellent job of keeping the tension taut as he plays with the reader’s perceptions of characters we thought we knew and trusted …” — SFcrowsnest
“Expect to be left breathless. Trust me here. Please. I COULD NOT PUT IT DOWN.” — Michael Libling, author of The Serial Killer’s Son Takes A Wife and Hollywood North: A Novel in Six Reels
Book Cover & Jacket Copy:
AN UNSTOPPABLE THREAT!
A mysterious assassin has murdered Cliff Sim, Chief Security Officer of the underwater colony, Trieste. Cliff was a mountain of a man, highly trained, and impossible to defeat in combat. And yet …
Someone brutally beat him and left his broken body in a secret Chinese facility at the bottom of the Pacific Ocean.
And included a calling card for Truman McClusky, Mayor of Trieste.
Taunting him.
Mac has led the underwater colonies in their fight against the world’s superpowers. Climate change has devastated the surface; nations suffer famine, drought, rebellion, rising waters, and apocalyptic coastal flooding. But now, as Mac leads the underwater colonies to freedom and independence, he’s faced with the gravest threat of his life: a Russian assassin, hellbent on killing Mac and everyone he cares for. Now Mac must uncover the identity of the killer, face him in combat, and at the same time lead people in battle against the largest underwater force ever assembled. It’s Mac’s final test, and to win the war, he must use every tool at his disposal, including the most surprising and devastating underwater weapons ever invented.
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A Blanket of Steel is the most gripping thriller yet in The Rise of Oceania.
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The other books in The Rise of Oceania series by Timothy S Johnston:
The War Beneath 9781771484718
The Savage Deeps 9781771485067
Fatal Depth 9781554555574
An Island of Light 9781554555819
The Shadow of War 9781554556007
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THE WAR BENEATH: FIRST PLACE 2018 GLOBAL THRILLER Action / Adventure Category Winner, 2019 Silver Falchion Award Finalist, 2018 CLUE Award Semi-Finalist, 2019 Kindle Book Awards Semi-Finalist, & 2019 CYGNUS Award Shortlister
THE SAVAGE DEEPS: FIRST PLACE 2020 CYGNUS Award Winner, 2019 GLOBAL THRILLER Awards Finalist, 2022 Kindle Book Awards Semi-Finalist; 2019 CLUE Award Shortlister
FATAL DEPTH: FIRST PLACE 2021 GLOBAL THRILLER Award Winner, 2022 Silver Falchion Award Finalist (Best Action Adventure), 2021 CYGNUS Award Semi-Finalist
Praise for THE WAR BENEATH
“If you’re looking for a techno-thriller combining Ian Fleming, Tom Clancy and John Le Carré, The War Beneath will satisfy … a ripping good yarn, a genuine page-turner.” — Amazing Stories
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“If you like novels like The Hunt for Red October and Red Storm Rising,
you will certainly enjoy The War Beneath.” — A Thrill A Week
“If you’re here for thrills, the book will deliver.” — The Cambridge Geek
“… an engaging world that is highly believable …” — The Future Fire
“This is a tense, gripping science fiction/thriller of which Tom Clancy might well be proud . . . When I say it is gripping, that is the simple truth.” — Ardath Mayhar
“… a thrill ride from beginning to end …” — SFcrowsnest
“… if you like Clancy and le Carré with a hint of Forsyth thrown in,
you’ll love The War Beneath.” — Colonel Jonathan P. Brazee (RET),
2017 Nebula Award & 2018 Dragon Award Finalist
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