Round 2 1/350 refit enterprise build tips/advice/quiet musings

[Miketastic]

Ok, im going to try to post these now that I have a good internet connection.

first pic is from the rear view. the pylon on the left is not modified, the one on the right is after i trimmed the tabs. these pieces are just dry fitted and held together with just some masking tape. so once you actually glue and clamp these pieces down, the little gap that you do see all but is GONE. a little sanding, and youll love the results along with the added striength of your E-hull.


the next one shows how on the left side, witout modifying the tabs, even the upper E-hull doesnt fit flush to the side by the pylon because of the tabs


the next ones are of front of the pylons, note the left and right gaps and how different they are


The last pics are of the tabs themselves, first pic is untouched, the other is after i trimmed them. the pin points to the affected area that keeps the pylons pushed out and thus keeps the E-hull from sealing properly. the pylons ride on this edge, instead of riding on the pylon mount like they are supposed to. and since the ehull can not seal properly, this tab mount, becomes an unstable mount for the wieght of both pylons and nacelles. hince droopage. also since the ehull can not seal properly, it also makes the saucer have about a 2 degree droop as well. the ehull can not support the weight of this(lets be honest, ungaingly desgin) hope this helps RossD, and sorry i didnt get it sooner. Have fun with your build! need anything else, just ask.

Mike Cothern

 

[Miketastic]

ALMOST FORGOT!!

make sure you trim tabs as shown on both sides of E-hull as well as top of E-hull. if you want to do alittle sanding to get it even tighter, sand on the pylons where they fit into the openings, not the E-hull itself the only material you want to remove from the E-hull is the tabs themselves. but you shouldnt have to remove too much material from the pylons. the fit is almost perfect with just removing the tab material.

 

[RossD]

Mike thanks for the pics, I would have definitely cut off the wrong bits of plastic otherwise! I'll try that out and see how I get on!

The next greedy request, you lighting circuit sounds/looks amazing, how did you build it? Did you build your own circuit boards?

Thanks

Ross

- - - Updated - - -

I saw this video:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=go7bLGZXC2o&list=UUPvxZhYFJ-Es28RJIgizEjQ

and if I could recreate something even close it would be amazing! Its the custom built circuit boards and how to build one myself that is causing me the most research at the moment.

 

[Miketastic]

Thanks Ross, there are some things I would do different now that I have seen some of the builds on here as well as that video link you posted, but i think it came out pretty good. I haven't quite progressed to the point of desgining my own circuit boards... yet... haha. I'm still looking into that option myself, Im thinking some sort of programming setup with micon chip for most functions, but I havent really looked around at what is available. hey, If tennacontrols and voodoofx can do it, I'm pretty confident we can too. but for this past build, I used pre-built effects boards. the interior lighting was all cool white, led tape and 3mm LEDs, and the spot lights are warm white 3mm and smd LEDs. all using 800ohm resistors, on a 9v regulated wall outlet with a max 1200 ma rating. now for interior lighting, i tied that directly to the main on/off switch. that way when main power is on, only windows and shuttle interior is on. the shuttle landing lamps circuit is also wired up to main power, with a seprate switch so that the landing lamps can be on only with interior windows.

The spot lamps, deflector/thrusters/impulse/warp, and nav/stobes, are tied into the main circuit too, but on a sepreate switch. when this switch is turned on, however, only the spots and nav/stobes come on. the deflector is still off until you press the momentary switch for the defelctor control/ engine circuit. and then you have various modes for that ciruit as well as an auto mode that cycles through all the engine/deflector modes contiunously. the weapons are also tied into yet another branch of the main switch and can be either off all together, on in "armed mode" (torps are steady red) or fire mode, red ramps up then white flashes for FIRING. I also threw in some ultra-viloet lights in the stand just for looks on another switch. as far as circuit board placement, I put the speaker for weapons, as well as the navi/weapons board in the stand, the deflector/engine control board went just behind the main deflecotr dish, and the landing chaser board went under the shuttle bay. I chose not to put any boards in the saucer because I didnt want anything to block my Raytheon effect. plus Ive had saucer sealing issues from trying to squeeze boards in there in the past.

here's where my boards and leds came from
3 boxes cool white led tape at 36" per box- Paragraphix.com
3 boxes warm white " " " " " "
25 warm white mirco SMD LED's
25 cool white 3mm LEDS
25 warm white 3mm LEDS
100 800ohm resitors all from ultrabrightleds.com
Deflector control board- Starling-tech.com
torpedo and navigation dual circuit board- starling-tech.com
landing chaser circuit- tennacontrols.com
1/4mm fiber optic fiber from old AMT enterprise D kit haha

 

[Miketastic]

The deflector control circuit uses one RGB 5mm led. and instead of being orange, it comes out a rose-copper color. the pictures do not do it justice, it looks kinda too violet in pics. It really looks amazing in person. and the fading between copper and blue is jumpy on screen, but smooth and beautiful in person. im trying to post a link to my vid on youtube, but if you cant see it, just type my name in search. Michael Cothern

Jul 22, 2013 - YouTube

1 350 refit 2 - YouTube

Refit enterprise deflector test 2 color tweak. - YouTube

 

[Miketastic]

Good morning! or afternoon, depending on where you are or when you read this haha,

Just wanted to update with a few more pics of E-hull construction, stand detailing, and the difference between window brightness vs. spot light brightness. Hope you enjoy, and thanks for looking!


The Paragraphix photo etch parts really makes a HUGE difference, especially in the aborieum windows. Deffinitly a must!!



I knew i wanted to do something special for the stand, to me, this kit has one of the best stnads of all the 1/350 kits, so I detailed it with some silver trim over a light brown overall, to simulate the TMP spacedock and added some pannel lights. I decided against adding stand spot lights as i felt itmight call too much attention to the stand and take away from the ship itself. note my "switchboard" haha



the beauty of this ship is all in the exterior spot lamps. On the E-hull, most of these can be done pretty "screen acurately" with just a little bit of aiming, time, patience, and careful preplanning. what i did was to mok up my parts,(lower saucer to neck, to upper ehull, with pyons ans outer engines also attached, then wired up my warm white 3mm LEDs, and position them while on. when i got them to the desired position, i held them while i hot glued them into place. Now a key thing to remember, you want your spot lamps to LOOK like spot lamps, not bright windows, and you want your windows to not look like dim spot lamps either. Try to think of not only your ship in scale, but your lighting also in 1/350 scale. that means that some things will not be as bright as you think at first they should be. some windows might be into rooms that only have low lamps on etc. It all depends on how realistic you want vs. on screen acuracy. Like i said earlier, i try to find a happy medium. thanks again for looking!

 

[opal1970]

Hi Mike,
welcome to the RPF. Great thread you have going here I love all the attention to detail that you are putting into this. I have a Big E sitting patiently on the shelf waiting its turn. You are absolutly correct, there are a lot of aftermarket parts out there that just give it all new dimensions. I also have the DLM parts and the photoetch parts from both ParaGrafix as well as the old kit from PNT (but I do not believe they are producing it anymore)... but the paragrafix kit is the 1st Generation and now it looks as though I will have to go out and get their upgraded kit.

How will you be doing the aztecs? I have the Acreation decals, but I decided to change my plan and to go all out. I will do it like the studio model with irridescent/Pearlescence paints inch by inch.

I do my own electronics, admitadly, it is a hassle sometimes getting everything working, but much more rewarding and individual as the kits out there. I can definitly recommend using the Arduino to do this if you every decide to give it a go. I have a couple tips about it in my galactica thread if you are interested.

You might want to check out Federation Models, George has a great 350 Shuttle, 350 Workbee and a 350 TravelPod that are IMO much better detailed than any other aftermarket offers out there and far, far better than the kit pieces. It is kinda hard to find things on his website if you dont know where they are, best is to open up the PriceList page and navigate from there.

I did quite a bit of research to prepare for this upcoming build, if I think of anything else I will jot it down for you. Looking forward to your updates.

Cheers,
Jason

 

[JerseyGuy]

"Damn fine ship, if you ask me."- Scotty, ST:G

Amazing build, and fantastic thread, Mike! Thanks for taking the time to help the rest of us out!

 

[Miketastic]

Thank you Opal!! I did check out your thread, Youve done some amazing work! And Ive seen a couple of people on here use the Arduino board. I am VERY interested in this board. The idea of being able to build and probram my own light effects, possibly have only one circuit board, and able to tinker and experiment with what I like, and not what someone else does, for cheaper, is AWESOME. I'm going to pick one up next week. I have always gotten my effects circuits from companies such as tennacontrols, voodooFX, or Starling-tech. and they are always great products, good effects, but i wind up modifying them to get the desired effect that i want. not to mention the JOY of getting all these different effects boards to "talk" to one another on a similar circuit, or trying to run two or three different voltages. And the wiring... wiring for DAYS. so much that it takes away from the room for window lighting if one is not careful. Thanks for posting the Link to their site on your thread. My next Refit will definitly have this in it. I used the Acreation decals for aztecing on this one, and to be honest and unbiasd... I did not like them. The colors are off, the pearlesence is too pronounced, and the decals themselves are SUPER thin. also once dried, they have a tendency to seperate from the hull due to not enough glue. but if you try to use a solvaset solution, the decals are so thin, they warp, twist, or just disolve!! My next 1/350, I will be using my new airbrush. Im doing a NX right now, and ill be airbrushing the aztecs on that as well. I saw the links for the updated shuttles,pods,workbees, etc. I didnt get them this time, as when I tried they were sold out, and by the time i got going, I am ashamed to admit I forgot about them.. haha I agree the research on this ship is the key for a good build. Thank you so much for the compliments and the advice. I'm always looking for new and better ways to improve my builds. good luck with your Refit!!

Thank you Jersey Guy! Its my pleasure, I'm no expert at all, I just have my share of horror stories about building this kit... Lots of ways for things to go wrong FAST if one is not careful and doesnt pre plan a few things.

 

[opal1970]

LOL, yes, the joy of getting two boards to talk to one another... but you are forgetting the week preceeding of sleepless nights trying to find out why they aren't talking to on another.

another thing that would be really cool to do is that you can hook up all the microcontrolers in your model and connect them to a wireless chip, Bluetooth, or even wireless LAN avoiding squeezing all the cables into a small tube connected to the base and all the buttons... hell, you could even connect it to an app and control it with your iPhone... the sky is the limit. which is a mixed blessing to be honest... with so many possibilities, it is hard to stop planing and actually begin the building.

Yes, the problem with the sold out kits is always a dampener, but (as with all aftermarket kit sellers) give him a call and ask about the availability... many times updated web sites are not always on the top of their list of priorities.

Regarding Acreation, that surprises me, I have always heard that they are a $%&§ to work with (which is an inherent trait of printed Decals and not an Acreation fault) but that the end result was quite good. To aid with the application and making sure that they stay put, it is best to use the Micro-Sol products, they make it much much better. And always seal them with a coat of clear or Future, etc., after that there should not be any problems. Regarding the colors being too pronounced, this can be corrected with a couple washes of white until they are "whited-out" to the desired level. Same idea as weathering just using white instead of black.
if you do it with pearlescence paints, the whole thing looks solid white, until you start lighting it at different angles, which is something altogether different (abet much more time consuming to create) as the decals. To be honest, when all this aztec-ing began, I never realized that the Big-E was anything other than white, when you pull out the film(s) you only really see it when you look explicitly for the aztecing. But that subtleness is what makes it so magical. *tear in my eye*

Glad you like it here, there is a ton of information buried here just waiting for someone to dig it up.

 

[Miketastic]

HAHAHAHAHA yeah, exactly about the boards, or how about the pure pleasure of having to purchase new boards because your first attempt at intigrating together brought out the "smoke genie"? or better yet, you get an entire section, Like the E-hull all sealed up, and then a solder joint comes loose in one of the boards so you have to, very painfully, perform surgery to try to take as little apart as possible but still fix the board... that happened, on THIS build... keep in mind i tested the damned thing at least a thousand times before installing, hmm, maybe I tested too much?

Oh i know about the Arduino, Ive hardly gotten any work done today because I have been researching the possabilites. Why did you have to tell me about this on a friday??? hahah just kidding.

I used a solution called solveset finially, (after destroying my first set and getting another) it did fix a lot of the problems i was having with the first go round. and I sprayed a clear over that to seal them. As far as dusting or toning them down through white washing. I have heard of doing that, I was just afraid to i guess. I dont have a lot of experience with weathering yet, and I'm ashamed to say, the airbrush I was using at the time was the old cheapy CAN-O-PROPELLENT type you get from wal-mart. My local hobby store does not stock airbrushes. I know, a hobby shop... specializing in selling models, refuses to sell a common airbrush... strange. But I have an awesome wife who got me one online for Christmas. Compressor and all.

You are so right on the Aztecing. It makes the ship GRAND, and more realistic at the same time. You gotta figure, something THAT big can not be one piece haha.

Yes I have definitly enjoyed my membership here. TONS of great info from wonderful hobbiest, experts, and humble amitures, such as myself. Its nice to be part of a comunity that shares our passion. for me, when I'm building something, It makes the show more real, it might sound silly or crazy, but when Im in my "shipyard" Im in space. And I have the tangible evidence of my hard work to show my friends and family. For me, its my art. Some people paint, some write music, I build science fiction space ships. haha

 

[Miketastic]

Hello again everyone, the next thing i did was to complete the E-hull construction
... I learned long time ago that the best way to build this ship is in sections. And I try to complete a whole section before i start the next.

I sprayed the whole section with a pearl white so that the Acreation decals would pop out good against the hull. On to saucer now...

 

[wookieefood]

I am in your boat, Miketastic. This summer I am going to commence my 3rd build of this beast. My first build was knocked over by the cat. My second build just frustrated me. I am going to go all out for the 3rd build.

I feel like the king of Swamp Castle. "When I first came here, this was all swamp. Everyone said I was daft to build a castle on a swamp, but I built in all the same, just to show them. It sank into the swamp. So I built a second one. That sank into the swamp. So I built a third. That burned down, fell over, then sank into the swamp. But the fourth one stayed up. And that's what you're going to get, Lad, the strongest castle in all of England. "

Yours looks great, by the way. We should start a support group.

 

[Miketastic]

I love your refrence Wokkieefood! Yeah, this ship is DEFINITLY something to build, and I too have cats, and know how destructive they can be to starships!!

This was by far not my last vist to the wonderful world of 1/350 refits. My goal is to build a version of every ship named Enterprise, from the 16 gun sloop of the 1700's all the way to the Big E. We just moved into our new house, and I have a spare bedroom that I'm going to turn into my "play room" My brother is a contractor, and we have been taking mesurements of one wall to build a floor to celing "display" that extends about 3 feet out. and even going to wire in light controls on the adjoining wall. each ship will appear "floating" in this display, it will start out with the 1700's ship in a blue/sea type background, then fade to sky blue for the shuttle and VSS enterprise, then fade to black with fiber optic stars for the Starship Enterprises. The ships will be sealed in, so little dust. Gonna probably cost a small fortune, and believe it or not, was my wife's idea... hahah

thanks for the compliment Wookieefood, when you start your next one, Id love to see it!

 

[moonlightdrive2]

Great thread Mike !! Thank you for sharing!

 

[Miketastic]

Thank you Moon. That's kind of you, I have really enjoyed sharing and learned a LOT of things from fellow modelers here on the RPF as much as I've shown others my little tips and tricks. This is a GREAT community here. I'm happy to be a part of it.

 

[Acit HaZe]

Where can i get some interior parts (machine room,...,...) for Enterprise Refit 1:350 ??

 

[Guns Akimbo]

Hey Mike, any updates on your build?

 

[RossD]

Hi Mike, well after 3 and a half years I’ve finished my own attempt, enjoy!