Logo
scale modeling database | stash manager
Starbase101
Starbase101
US

Hobby Room Remodel - Star Trek Themed

Album image #1
One of a few "inspiration" photos for the theming. 
 

Album image #2
A "before" picture of my hobby desk (and work-from-home office) after everything was removed. 
 

Album image #3
Ready for destruction! 
 

Album image #4
One of the "stash" closets ready for destruction (had to empty hundreds of kits from it). 
 

Album image #5
Carpet and padding removed. 
 

Album image #6
Carpet, padding, and closet doors removed. 
 

Album image #7
Prepping for new paint is always the most time-consuming, patching all the holes and re-texturing. 
 

Album image #8
Door casings will need trimmed for aligning with wall base to accommodate the new flooring as well as a uniform bottom edge around the room. 
 

Album image #9
Casings are trimmed around the room (necessary for the new flooring). 
 

Album image #10
Wall texture is applied over all the patched areas. Won't know for sure how well it turned out until primer is on, but luckily much of it won't be visible anyway. 
 

Album image #11
TOS studio set color "Online" versus "Distant Star" color. 
 

Album image #12
The walls are painted Behr MQ5-31 "Distant Star". 
 

Album image #13
The OEM closet handles are brass. Haven't been able to find these in satin nickel without "universal" nail holes in them. 
 

Album image #14
Yes! Finally starting to get that Star Trek look! Closet doors painted Behr P180-7 "Top Tomato" 
 

Album image #15
Main door is painted Behr PPU13-9 "Tahoe Blue". 
 

Album image #16
These are the 3 color sample cards in overcast natural light. 
 

Album image #17
Carpet tiles preview. Using tiles for durability, chair and cart castors rollability, ability to swap out single tiles if damage occurs (since it is a hobby room after all), and for a Star Trek look. 
 

Album image #18
Laying out tiles before applying adhesive so everything can be pre-cut and fitted. 
 

Album image #19
Naturally, the plywood flooring is now suddenly lava! 
 

Album image #20
Laying out carpet tiles. The pattern is "Fast Lane" color 6674. 
 

Album image #21
Carpet tiles are all dry-fitted and looking good. 
 

Album image #22
Shelving has also started going back up. 
 

Album image #23
"Looks like I picked the wrong week to quit sniffing glue!" 
 

Album image #24
My side of the room, new desk hasn't arrived yet. 
 

Album image #25
Wife's side of the room, ready to rehang the large peg board and second shelf. 
 

Album image #26
Front of the room ready for doors, which will start triggering the theming. 
 

Album image #27
Doors are installed, need to see about a different bottom guide for the closet. 
 

Album image #28
Wife's side of the room is put back together and started packing in all her crafting stuff back in. 
 

Album image #29
Too many? That's just one closetful to be sorted out and put away. The other kits are in another room. 
 

Album image #30
Vintage rocker switches (the same kind used on the original "Star Trek" series) and laser-cut black plastic bezel. 
 

Album image #31
Vintage Honeywell 12MA6 Micro Switch, which has a 1.5" diameter bezel (not very "micro", but the exact kind of switch used on the original "Star Trek" series). 
 

Album image #32
Screen-accurate intercom fabric, available on eBay. 
 

Album image #33
12" x 12" x 1/4" red acrylic from U.S. Plastic Corp. 
 

Album image #34
Wall intercom red alert solid resin block. 
 

Album image #35
Intercom push-button switch replica. 
 

Album image #36
Ugh! New furniture doesn't match the wall color. Gotta repaint the walls! 
 

Album image #37
New paint color is significantly darker, but matches the new furniture color. 
 

Album image #38
The darker gray looks much better, and more-importantly now matches the furniture color. 
 

Album image #39
Custom color-matched gray paint. 
 

Album image #40
Shelving is being painted from white to match the gray walls. 
 

Album image #41
The "Top Tomato" color is much too bright for the new gray color. 
 

Album image #42
The original red doors were darker, so a different paint color will be needed. 
 

Album image #43
Painting new smooth-faced closet doors a better color of red, Behr PPU2-16 "Fire Cracker". 
 

Album image #44
Applying silver chrome striping to the walls. 
 

Album image #45
Finally starting to bring in the new furniture! 
 

Album image #46
The larger desk piece had to be disassembled to fit through doorways and getting upstairs. 
 

Album image #47
The wall color matches the furniture nicely. 
 

Album image #48
Wall base needs to be removed in order for the new desk to fit. 
 

Album image #49
Testing the new desk's fit before starting modifications. 
 

Album image #50
Lot's of hobby space now! 
 

Album image #51
Assembly completed for the initial furniture shipment. The tackboard will be customized for matching the wall panels seen in crew quarters. 
 

Album image #52
Evaluating paint colors for the desktop's 8 rocker switches. 
 

Album image #53
Red acrylic is too dark and prop panel from Trek Props & Stuff is the wrong size, so going to make my own panel from MDF. 
 

Album image #54
1" Clear Reed glass for the red alert light. 
 

Album image #55
Holes cut into walls for intercom panel and red alert light. 
 

Album image #56
"Some assembly required." 
 

Album image #57
A quick light test just for fun. 
 

Album image #58
The red alert light and wall intercom panel will be powered by a nearby AC line inside the wall. 
 

Album image #59
Evaluating gel filters for behind the red alert glass. A diffuser will also be needed. 
 

Album image #60
Tackboard ready for fabric and paint. 
 

Album image #61
Closet doors are repainted to better match with how the doors looked in the TV show. 
 

Album image #62
Red alert light box under construction. 
 

Album image #63
Test fit of the red alert light box. Magnets at the corners will hold the glass and frame in place. 
 

Album image #64
One of the 3D printers is running again, and already making a part for modifying the Elegoo Saturn. 
 

Album image #65
A Wham Bam flexible magnetic build plate will be installed on the Saturn, which meant making a spacer for its Z-stop to compensate for increased platform thickness. 
 

Album image #66
Designing a chamber for UV curing of resin prints. 
 

Album image #67
UV curing chamber being made from MDF wood. 
 

Album image #68
Preparing the UV curing chamber's electronics. 
 

Album image #69
UV curing chamber's main circuit board assembled. 
 

Album image #70
UV curing chamber's main circuit board backside (designed, printed, etched, and masked myself). 
 

Album image #71
Painting the UV chamber's cabinet and front panels. 
 

Album image #72
Assembly finally begins on the UV curing chamber. 
 

Comments

32 2 November 2020, 19:47
Starbase101
The voyage begins - removing carpet and the tedious task of prepping the walls for paint. If anybody's got ideas I'd love to hear them. Wait till you see what the new desk will look like!
5 November 2020, 02:48
Greg Baker
Oh, cool! I'm doing my own 1:1 scale diorama of a hobby room... can't wait to see how this deluxe version pans out.
5 November 2020, 04:57
Treehugger
Btw, I also have white walls and I recently used a dry microfiber cloth wiping the walls and ceiling, and found that I had some minor green yellowish coloring on the cloth, so apparently some of the spray, perhaps for my first high psi airbrush job (too high) is to blame for the pigments finding their way to the walls. So, imo, best to avoid wiping walls with moist cloth.
5 November 2020, 10:30
Whiskey Actual
Wow, this is going to be EPIC!
5 November 2020, 12:14
Starbase101
Last night all the walls and baseboards were cleaned with Simple Green and water, revealing a few more areas needing patched. Any place paint is worn away (from furniture rubbing against it, "oops" bumps, etc) turns slightly darker during washing as the exposed drywall paper gets damp. The most troublesome area was where the door hinges were removed because they always "leak" black residue, but Simple Green did a fair enough job cleaning it up.

No spray painting had yet been done in the room and I've got a desktop spray booth with ventilation fan for future painting of smaller parts. Larger jobs are always painted outside. I'm considering maybe installing a sort of dryer duct vent for connecting the spray booth's exhaust hose, but that wall faces the front of the house so I'd need to attach an inconspicuous vent cover to the outside and it's a second-floor room. I don't like climbing that high on a ladder, so my hope is to have it close enough to the window that I can just do the installation by removing the window screen and reaching outside.

Covid has made it to our house due to one of my wife's coworkers going to work with symptoms before testing positive, so I haven't made as much progress this week as I had planned by today. We're not seriously incapacitated, just a feeling of being tired, achy muscles, a little chest "tightness", and coughing. No fever or any of the other symptoms - in fact for the first few days/week we presumed it was just a cold, until my wife's sense of taste got affected (with regards to food, not the remodel, thank goodness). We're told the "serious" cases involving hospitalization occur fairly promptly (as in hours rather than days) so as long as it doesn't become worse we should be one of the recoveries. My wife's positive result was 4 days ago and I've got symptoms but see no point in being tested until feeling better, because frankly test results aren't going to change how I feel and our household is already "represented" by my wife's test.

Consequently, work has been getting done in short sessions with plenty of rest. Tonight's goal is to sand all the patched areas smooth and blend new wall texture onto those areas. It doesn't need to be perfect because most of it will be covered anyway by cabinets and shelving. For me it's just a matter of principle (work ethic) to have all the walls patched up before painting, except wall anchor placements that will be preserved for keeping some of the previous shelving.

Sorry for the "essay"!
5 November 2020, 15:25
Starbase101
I think it will finally be ready for primer tomorrow.
7 November 2020, 02:04
Ben M
hope the space comes out great, this is a fun idea. feel better!
7 November 2020, 02:36
Starbase101
Thanks. Ibuprofen and albuterol have been effective at calming symptoms.
7 November 2020, 03:16
Alec K
Cool project. Wishing you a complete recovery 👍
7 November 2020, 16:13
Maciej Bellos
This will be very interesting! Not the usual scale modelling per se.
7 November 2020, 18:03
Robbie
Ditto on the interesting part. I like to see how this turns out since being a Trekie from the '60's.
Maybe I might do over my man cave in a Lost in Space theme since at the time both shows were running.
7 November 2020, 23:01
Starbase101
Before creating the photo album I emailed Tim to get his opinion of it since there have been other posts showing people's "hobby cave", and he encouraged uploading photos. I guess you could call this a 1:1 hobby room diorama.
8 November 2020, 04:19
Gerald
Nice idea, good luck 👍
8 November 2020, 09:25
Starbase101
It's been a few days, because I've just been too exhausted and achy to work on this, but finally got two coats of the color on. I've been told that paint matched to the original studio sets is Sherwin-Williams SW 7072 "Online" sherwin-williams.com..family/SW7072-online , but in normal room lighting this is too dark in my opinion. Filming sets are typically brightly lit with studio lighting, so the color appears lighter onscreen and that's how I'm wanting my room to look under normal lighting. Consequently, I went with a slightly lighter shade having a cooler name to boot - Behr MQ5-31 "Distant Star" behr.com/consumer/ColorDetailView/MQ5-31 which is similar to the difference between cool white versus warm white - "Online" looks like a "dirty" gray with a tinge of brown to it, whereas "Distant Star" is a "cool" gray with a very slight tinge of blue to it. The color will look better later when the ceiling bulbs are changed from incandescents to LED (that's why the slight yellowish glow on the wall). Next up will be taking advantage of the bare floor to get doors painted.
10 November 2020, 22:19
Starbase101
The closet doors will be TOS orangish-red color. At first I was planning to replace the pulls (handles) with satin nickel to match all the other hardware replacements in the room, but all the aftermarket pulls have ugly nail holes in them. So now I'm thinking maybe just leave them as the OEM brass as a nod to TOS uniform shirt trim (chest emblem and sleeve rank). The red/gold combination may look better than red/nickel. I could cut out black vinyl Engineering symbols or Starfleet Command "stars" on our Silhouette Cameo to place within the circles. Thoughts?
10 November 2020, 23:19
Starbase101
The first coat of paint is on the closet doors. The color is Behr P180-7 "Top Tomato" behr.com/consumer/ColorDetailView/P180-7 which is a much more orange-red in person than how the online sample appears. Heck, my iPhone photo even shows the color better than the Behr website. This color range is not part of the one-coat-guarantee line and at least two coats will be needed.
11 November 2020, 01:34
Clifford Keesler
Very very cool project.
11 November 2020, 03:52
Starbase101
Started painting the main door, the other side to be painted tomorrow. behr.com/consumer/ColorDetailView/PPU13-9
13 November 2020, 19:46
Scott Hastings
Cool. I hope the door slides and makes the 'sweeeerk' noise too
14 November 2020, 05:57
Starbase101
Converting a hinged door into a pocket door after the house is already framed and built would be a huge task, so no sliding doors except the manually-operated hanging closet doors.
14 November 2020, 14:22
Starbase101
It's carpet day!
15 November 2020, 19:06
Starbase101
It took all day, but all the tiles are dry-fitted. They felt heavier than I expect they would have been under normal circumstances, especially towards the end of the day. Sad it was, to lift them all back up for re-boxing in reverse sequence. Tomorrow night after my day job the plan is to cover the floor with adhesive.
16 November 2020, 04:52
Starbase101
Floor adhesive is on - now need to wait 4-8 hours for it to set before applying the carpet tiles. Because of the day job, this will translate to ~24 hours (which they said at the store is even better for being able to lift them up when one needs replacing). So now the whole upstairs stinks like glue.... I think I'll keep downstairs for awhile.
17 November 2020, 02:18
Starbase101
Carpet tiles are glued in and I'm now ready to start moving back in. But, waiting for my Star Trek themed desk to ship.
18 November 2020, 01:24
Spanjaard
really curious to see how the final result 🙂
18 November 2020, 08:59
Treehugger
If you use an office chair mat, they come in large sizes btw, makes it safer against paint spills, and easier to find parts that fall off the table and onto the floor. A goal of mine, is to try keep that (my) room tidy, so that I can easily clean the dust on the floor. I have positive pressure I am sure (filtered vent blows air into the room), so that helps prevent dust from the living room going into the hobby room I think.
18 November 2020, 10:03
Starbase101
Thanks, we've used chair mats, the last ones being more-expensive thicker mats, and just don't like them. I've got nearly a full case of leftover carpet tiles so if there is a paint spill or something it will be simple to just swap out the affected tile(s). This carpet has practically no pile to it so in the unlikely event a small part does escape from the desktop it should be easily recaptured. One good thing about a darker hue floor like this is that any "foreign" material stands out obviously - this I know from the two days spent laying them down, where each little spec of wood, carpet fiber, etc kept showing up (probably tracked in from my socks as I was in and out of the room) and had to keep getting picked up so the floor could be pristine at least once before all the furniture is moved in. I think dust and cat hair will always be an issue, and maybe will need to be running an air purifier in the room - we'll see.
18 November 2020, 14:55
Starbase101
My new desk isn't estimated to ship until Dec 4th, so this gives me a little time to sort through some boxes putting away the various photoetch, decals, and resin parts that didn't have access for storing in their respective kit boxes when they were stacked in the closet. Finally everything can get put away properly as I fill the closet back up.
22 November 2020, 02:23
Starbase101
Vintage rocker switches, the same kind used on the original "Star Trek" series, arrived today along with a laser-cut black plastic bezel. The fun part now is getting paint to adhere to the rockers. (They're a type of nylon plastic that won't want to play nice with paint.)
28 November 2020, 00:05
Jerry Meeuwse
Amazing project. Looks like you got it down to a science. Excellent workmanship.
28 November 2020, 05:33
Treehugger
You could have a motion detector outside the door, warning of intruders..
..with matching red light and alarm sound to go "Intruder Alert". 😄 Maybe a low volume sound effect would do and no flashing red light.
28 November 2020, 11:03
Treehugger
Do you have any 1:350 Enterprise NCC-1701A refit kit in your stash?

I did some preliminary work on mine, planning to fit it with led's some time in the way future. I will use a christmas tree clear "ball", cut to shape and painted matte, for creating an interesting diffuser object inside the bright deflector dish, and maybe add another layer as well to diffuse the light. Stopping light bleed is important, so use of metallic paint and black, or maybe foil, and thicker black paint should do.
28 November 2020, 11:04
Treehugger
Ah, on the flip side, an intruder alert might be faux pas if you are supposed to share the room with your better half.
28 November 2020, 11:13
Ben M
The 3D printing folks who print with nylon claim you should use dye rather than paint on nylon. I have no firsthand experience though.
28 November 2020, 15:12
Starbase101
@Treehugger - I like the idea, and I've had one of the TOS wall intercom prop replicas (ecrater.com/p/137701..lectronic-door-chime) NIB in storage just for this project. It includes a motion sensor, light, and sound effects - but it's not very accurate so my plan is to build a better one from scratch and transfer the replica's electronics (along with some of my own) to a more-accurate panel. This will go near the room's doorway so it's activated whenever somebody walks by. (Unfortunately the cats will be too low to the floor for triggering this.) I'm also giving thought to hanging one of the rectangular red alert lights in the room, but only if I can track down the original glass/plastic used on the series instead of the 3D-printed replica on Etsy. (I would light this and pair it to the wall intercom either through wi-fi or blue tooth.) But that's enough upcoming "secrets" on this project for now - today's task is hanging a window shade that just arrived (insulating cellular shade that's gray on one side and white on the other side) while waiting for a $3,200 desk to arrive so I can begin modifying it. Oh, and yes - if you look at pic 29 in the photo album you can spot a 1:350 NX-01, two 1:350 TOS Enterprise, and two 1:350 Enterprise Refit (lower center of the pic). If you peek into my SCM Stash you will see I've got tons of Paragrafix, DLM, Greenstrawberry, HDA Modelworx, and other enhancements for the kits.

@Ben M - That's an interesting idea I hadn't thought of using dye instead of paint and I'll look into that, but there are 8 specific colors being matched to the original set switches. I've got the paint color codes and been told if a degreaser is used and then apply multiple thin coats the paint will adhere. I've got several extra Cutler-Hammer Rockette switches (different housing but same rocker) that I plan to experiment with using 3 different adhesion promoter brands (Dupli-Color, Rust-oleum, and Bulldog) before committing the expensive switches to paint. But I'll keep the dye idea in mind if the paint route ends up not working out.

Thanks for the suggestions and I'm always open to hearing more!
28 November 2020, 16:13
Starbase101
Another component has arrived today for a 1:1 scale prop to be built.
4 December 2020, 00:02
Robbie
I so want to copy you for my man cave. You know, I have an idea for you to become rich and famous. After you finish your new cave you should create the first After Market Man Cave Kit (STO theme). List the paint colors needed and all the buttons, switches sound effects etc etc etc (be wary of the rivet counters). Become the Eduard of man cave AM ;P
4 December 2020, 20:02
Starbase101
Well, here's the problem with that, besides licensing issues - many of the components are near impossible to find if you want to be screen-accurate. I got lucky with the rocker switches that somebody who does work for the Ticonderoga TOS Set Tour was willing to sell me 8 unpainted vintage switches with a laser-cut bezel (these were not inexpensive, let me tell you...). Finding the correct rocker switches (size, style, etc) that fit together with no gaps between them, well good luck with that. The Honeywell switch for a wall panel is also rare and typically sells for over $120 when one shows up for sale. I found a new-old-stock vintage switch for only $60. It took two weeks tracking down very particular glass for another element of this project and 3 varieties are ordered for reviewing them in-person (wasn't cheap). Paint - that's the easy part. Carpet tiles - those were only around $600 (discounted sale price). The desk is over $3K and features a discontinued desktop style where I was lucky that some stock was still available at the factory for building my desk. The takeaway here is components for this project are not easy to locate, and pricey when lucky enough to find for sale. I will be photographing as I go, as this album shows thus far, and fortunately there are no rivets involved (or I'd spend half my time counting them to make sure I've got everything correct!).
4 December 2020, 20:46
Robbie
You could of let me down a little more easier. But hey it sounded like a good idea at the time. Well done so far.
5 December 2020, 14:38
Starbase101
Here's a little something easier to look at: [img1]
 


The reason I've been documenting the project and including identification of the products used is so anybody else who might want to do something similar will be able to reference the research I've already done.
5 December 2020, 15:05
Starbase101
Damn. Furniture arrived today and it matches the wall plates and window shade, but the walls are much too light. This will just not do. I'm repainting with a different color. Damn.
18 December 2020, 01:51
Starbase101
Walls are repainted and working now on changing the white shelving to gray. Also got smooth plain closet doors which will be painted a different red color.
28 December 2020, 16:48
Starbase101
Making a little bit of a temporary mess as silver chrome striping is being added to the walls.
14 January 2021, 01:46
Starbase101
Finally setting up furniture!
14 January 2021, 22:25
Norbert Steffens
absolutley crazy stuff.....
27 January 2021, 06:33
Starbase101
Starting work on the red alert panel while waiting for the next furniture delivery.
31 January 2021, 19:51
Starbase101
Mass Portal Pharaoh printers have the unfortunate design of loading filament from the machine's backside, which is very awkward (if not impossible) when placed on a workbench against a wall. So the 3D printer workbench got a design upgrade today to remedy this situation:

Youtube Video
 
6 March 2021, 03:43
Stephan H.
That is quite a large scale project😉 . My wife would kill me for that stash size. Good luck for the next steps.
18 March 2021, 08:28
Starbase101
My wife likely has me beat on stash size with all her papers, stamps, inks, die-cuts, and loads of other stuff for her hobby, so there's never any debate when I want to buy something.
20 March 2021, 12:51
Starbase101
Youtube Video
 
25 October 2021, 00:36

Album info

It's time to remodel the "man cave" (although half the room is also my wife's hobby area). I have been granted permission to theme the room as inspired-by the original Star Trek series, including props such as a desktop intercom concealing a Google Mini voice-activated assistant.

All albums

View all albums »