So… things are going to be a little different this week. Because I decided to try something different, and then life went crazy, and I’m way behind on my other build posts, and I can push this one to the top of the queue and finish it much more quickly than my other builds. Because I decided to try my hand at recording audio with my build… and narrating what I was doing. Nowhere near the production quality of actual YouTube or Twitch builders, of course, but thought it would be a good idea for a beginner build, like one of the classic silver Space Shuttle (namely the Enterprise).

And while this post is mainly focused on sharing the YouTube video, I’m going to keep at least a little to my normal format (thus the 360 view above). As I mention in the video somewhere, this video and post are applicable to all the classic silver shuttles, as they are all identical in build process, simply differing by etch pattern (specifically the vessel name being etched). I bought this model specifically to do a post on a more basic starter model, because I realized that I don’t really have much in that way, other than the Legends models, on the blog. I’d already built most of them before starting the blog. But I wanted to have something for people that are just getting into the hobby. And this is a great beginner model, some simple stuff, and some curves and cylinders to test your mettle. Plus it’s a Space Shuttle that looks great in the end!

Okay, well that gets us through the bulk of my standard format of posts for the blog (header picture, intro, 360-video, comments about model, photo gallery) and leaves me with the review of the build itself and then the YouTube video of the build. I’m going to switch around that last part for this post, and bring the YouTube embed up here, and then give a light version of the review below that.

I might suggest that you pull up the YouTube video on a device where you can set the playback speed a little higher, and slow-down in any area you want the details. I ramble a bit (sorry) and it ends up taking a little longer than I expected.

So, this is going to be brief. I apologize, but the complications of life during the past couple of weeks has not left me much time to work on the blog, or much building at all…

Anyways, like I said before, this is a good beginner model, as it’s not an overly long or complicated build, yet it throws some interesting challenges at you. I’ve often suggested some really simple builds for beginners… but I think having some difficulty in a first build is a good test of whether you’ll be stubborn enough to finish some of the more complicated / challenging builds as you continue with the hobby.

So, unsurprisingly, the challenges mostly come in the form of curving stuff. And there are both partial curves and full cylinders. But probably the most challenging curvature is the cockpit window section, which has several adjacent curves that are designed to form a partial dome-like shape, and will test your ability to work in tight spaces. The next most challenging bit are the two teeny-tiny cylinders on the back of the shuttle. If you have access to some drill bits, they will help you out a lot in forming those (and the rest of the curves).

Finally, one of the weirdest things you’ll encounter in this build, as a beginner, is the final two tabs, which slide in place flush against another surface of the model. I struggled with trying to get those folded over the first time I built a Space Shuttle, and scratched the heck out of the model under there. This time, I was prepared, having found my favorite oddball-tool for building… a dull hobby knife. You can easily slide it in behind the tab to start it folding over. You could probably use any sort of sharp knife, but just be careful – sharp is dangerous and all that. I guess this is where I should say “Don’t try this at home, kids!” Be smart, be responsible, and take care.

Anyways, that’s about it. I enjoyed revisiting this model. And I think I may even have, in a twisted sort of way, enjoyed trying to build again without all the various tools I picked up along the way. Still not sure how I felt about recording the audio… reading the auto-captions to make sure they weren’t totally useless made me realize that I was babbling a bit. I also stumbled over (or missed completely) a few words that I was meaning to say. But I don’t think it was too bad for a first try, with no prepared script.

Oh, and in case you were wondering, the build took roughly an hour and 45 minutes, what with all the rambling and rabbit trails.