New MR Enterprise problem over time (Dome blotching)

I decided to pull my Enterprise back out of storage for a look-see. Relieved that no blotching is present, however, one of the nacelle motors was stuck! I let it just run and after about 10 minutes, it started up. It's been about a week and it still comes on every time I turn it on. I got lucky. There are a few very minor finishing issues, but overall it is a good one. Mine's #350. I do love this thing and it would be heartbreaking if it developed these new problems. I really sympathise with you guys on this. :/

My nacelles have a case of the blotch too.

Proper said:

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All good points, Artman. Yes, she is a thing of beauty, flaws and all, particularly when lit. She is the best of her kind to date, by far. And no matter what Polar Lights, or anyone else, can produce in the future in the form of a kit, one would be hard pressed, I think, to create such an authentic replica... especially considering the amazing spinning bussards and superb paint and markings.

And speaking of the bussards, my E is brand new, maybe lit up for a total of a couple of minutes and the port bussard shows symptoms of the "disease" already (see pic). Note: although new, having purchased her MIB on Ebay, she had been sitting unopened in her box for several years now before I pulled her out just a few days ago.

Actually, my main complaint is the crooked deflector (see pic), and to a lesser degree the slight sag of the nacelles and saucer section. It is slight but both the nacelles and the saucer section seem to be slanting equally slightly in opposite directions.

[FONT=Verdana]I'd suggest taking the deflector dish off by gently pulling and rotating it at the same time. Then check the deflector coupler, it is the part attached to the center of the amplification rings. If that is on strait than rotate the deflector dish back into position, it should have some slight adjusting ability even though it fits on quite tight . . . just don’t push it in to far.[/FONT]

[FONT=Verdana]I just put my E on the worktable and examined that nasty blotch up close . . . it would appear that some oily residue has leaked out onto the upper part of the nacelle around the red beacon light. Anyone else notice that? It’s interesting that this blotching seems to be happening only upon the port side nacelle, why not the starboard side as well? [/FONT]

[FONT=Verdana](port side is indicated by the red navigation light the starboard by the green one) [/FONT]

Mine has spread to at least 25% of the starboard dome and a little spot has started on the same dome on the other side of the hemisphere.
So much worse since my pic in the first post.
Lights on you can't tell.

But I would love to fix this.

Proper said:

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You mean on the *outside* of the dome, on the outer surface of the nacelle?? That really sucks. No, I don't think I've noticed that on mine (yet), but I'll have to take a closer look when I can; I have mine under acrylic and it's a bit harder to get my nose right up to it and examine it really closely.

[FONT=Verdana]Actually it's not that big a deal, I just wiped it away with some paper towel and all seems fine.[/FONT]

[FONT=Verdana]As Cessnadriver indicated it's spreading. Even though it does not seem to be affecting the way she looks when lit up I must admit it looks a tad unsightly when she's not. [/FONT][FONT=Verdana]Here are a few images taken of the MR-E I own, the first picture shows the port nacelle as it appeared a day or so after I got it . . . sometime in August of 2007. [/FONT]



[FONT=Verdana]It looks fine but in truth I noticed the frosting was more translucent than the starboard side. [/FONT]


[FONT=Verdana]And here are some images taken of the port nacelle as of Thursday December 9, 2010.[/FONT]

Artman said:

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[FONT=Verdana]And here are some images taken of the port nacelle as of Thursday December 9, 2010.[/FONT]

Yep, looks very similar to my port dome, Artman. The transition from frosting to oil-slick is somewhat more subtle on mine, but give it some time. Like i said, I just took mine out of the box last week. You know, it probably wouldn't look all that bad if it just went all the way and lost ALL the frosting. The thing is, the frosting has not been removed, I would think, it's just... coated with suntan oil.

Here's to hoping at least that the lights never go out or the motors don't stop rotating.

Wow after seeing those photos I looked at mine which is high up on a shelf. The starboard side (which faces out) is perfect but the port side which is hard to see is about 40% covered which is WAY more then last time I looked. Strange how it seems to be the one side. Does it seem to be on everyones port side? Perhaps Steve can shed some light on the problem.

I guess they just over lubricated things or whomever they got their gearboxes from did, odd that it is able to seep out to the dome.

All I can think is to work your way around the joining gap with a very sharp and fine exacto blade and try to pop that sucker off very carefully.

Assuming it can even be cleaned off at this point. It may not.

Or get some Testors dull coat and nuke it in hopes it masks it down. Of course you have to do both domes so they will match.

Though we should be able to test that theory on something else.


I wonder if it could be some bad chemical interaction between the paint, glue, plastic of the nacelle with the dome material?

Though you would expect both domes to suffer if that were the case.

question for you guys? is the outside a matt finish too....if so get some fine scotchbright and going in small circles, frost it. if you are going to cut it off, do not use an exacto, blade thickness is too wide, use a razor or photoetched fine toothed saw blade... I have this

http://www.rollmodels.net/ninbox/Too...azor%20Saw.php

Will

that blotching looks like the kind of thing you get from the fumes of superglue. I'm just wandering what they used as lubricant inside the nacelle?

That whole engine assembly should have been removable.

Perfect spot on the front of those nacelles to twist-lock them on/off the front.

Too bad. Cost considerations I am sure.

We did a lot of things on the licensed B9s to ensure longevity, but I still have nightmares that ten years from now, I'll be flying to someplace fixing a B9.

Proper said:

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The outside does look matte. My impression is that if you abraded/sanded the outside of the dome it would become very white. Not sure how that would look.

A crazy idea I had was to drill a tiny hole somewhere on the dome and inject lubricant into it so that it floods the dome. Then drain it. Voila, no more blotchiness; you have a consistent finish to the dome. Crazy theory, no?

[FONT=Verdana]Well yes, you would have a consistent finish I suppose but you would then have to do the same to the other, as yet, unaffected side . . . and then there would be the holes from the drilling to contend with. Sounds like a delicate operation with the potential for unforeseen complications to arise. It's a damned shame we don't have a wrecked one to experiment upon, one like my first replacement was. I think someone did an Ace Ventura on it; it was busted up pretty bad when I lifted it reverently out of the box. Still if we could get our hands on one of those numerous rejects (and I'm pretty sure there are a lot of them) we would have our perfect Guiney pigs upon which to begin our experimentations [/FONT]

[FONT=Verdana]This would be where what's left of "Master Replica" or whomever is still attempting to sell these models might actually be of help to us here on the [FONT=Verdana]RPF[/FONT]. Rather than offering words and condolences they could actually help us find a solution (if there are any to be found) to the various issues this model seems to be cursed with. Send us the wrecks to operate upon.

By the way, looking at some older photos I took of my first MR -E I saw this.



This is on the Starboard nacelle . . . so it looks like that side of the equation is not immune to this blotching conundrum either. Perhaps given enough time it will all work itself out with one big blotch and we'd have our consistent finish back on both sides. Yes, yes I know, in my dreams. The Curse of the MR-E continues.


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I just aqquired this model and can't get power to the ship from the base tube I don't know the connection set up between the base tube and the ship and the previous owner didn't have any info on it. I found a small metal tube with a spring over it which I think is part of the connection. Could use a picture or info on how this connection is made. Would love to see this lit up. Thanks, Mike

I assume the "metal tube" is the electrical jack, it should have been installed on top of the black tube and the whole ship plugs into it.

If it was loose from the base tube, the it's been broken off.

Pics would help.

Should look like this.

I think the electrical jack will unscrew from the tube.

You can see how far into the model the tube goes from the scratch marks.

That connection sucks!!!!
My MR only comes on if if you move the ship around a bit and then only stays on for about 20Sec and then dies. I have tried everything to fix that connection (without cutting the ship apart and replacing the connector altogether). I have no idea what they were thinking using that headphone jack as a power connector.

Actually I think it's a great idea and I have used it on several other models and it works great on all of them. The problem on the MR E is the female connector inside. Apparently it is secured only by glue of some sort. Multiple times of removing the E on some have loosened the female glue connection and caused problems and shorting out of the wires attached to it. As far as I know there have been no problems with the male plug part of the design. Good concept poorly executed.

I'm glad I found this thread as now i know to avoid this thing. Are all MR products this full of problems?