JMChladek
Sr Member
I got my lighting kit a little over a week ago at the hobby shop, so after a few preliminary light tests I've started work on my 1/350 Polar Lights classic Enterprise. I was on the fence about whether or not to do it as a pilot ship since I am using the Premiere version of the kit with the pilot parts. But ultimately I settled on doing a series version so I could go the whole nine yards with the lighting.
My first efforts are starting with the bridge. The lighting kit provides a clear bridge insert that allows for the consoles to potentially be lit, but admittedly this can't really be done effectively UNLESS you get your hands on the Paragraphics photoetch set (which I did). It includes etched panels for each station and viewscreens as well. It also includes options for the pilot 1 style ship with its different screens (I'm saving those for another model).
I lightly sanded the part with 600 grit paper before starting the paintwork. One thing I opted not to use from the etch set were the bridge railings as I am not experienced enough with etch to fold parts THAT tiny. Plus, at the angles the bridge will be visible under the dome, one can't necessarily tell if they are etched or plastic if they are painted well anyway.
The flash photography makes things look a little sloppy, but in person things seem to look fine. I still need to plug some light leaks on the part anyway until I get it where I want it. A black wash and a fine line black pen worked wonders to pick out details like the steps leading to the center section.
To do the viewscreens, after painting consoles with clear tints and applying the photoetch (then the black console decals) I next applied the stock viewscreen decals. They have no white backing so light can shine through them, but the entire set of viewscreen decals are clear, so without some type of light block (where the photoetch comes in) they look really funky. Thankfully, the photoetch does its job in that department. I encountered a slight alignment issue with the right side consoles, but the left side ones (engineering, auxilliary systems) seemed to work fine. One final bit of serendipity that I noticed is there is a skinny gap between the console and the viewscreens. So I back painted the areas with some clear yellow, used a fine line black pen to put in some small blinky screen dividers (eight per big station, four per small) and the results looked rather passable.
I painted the inside of the bridge dome silver. There are enough gaps that lights from inside the saucer should spill enough light up and over to cast some lighting onto the floor of the dome. I've been doing preliminary light tests with an LED flashlight and while it has shown I need to plug some light leaks in the floor of the part, I am liking the results a lot.
Once I get this area finished, I might work on the shuttle bay next.
My first efforts are starting with the bridge. The lighting kit provides a clear bridge insert that allows for the consoles to potentially be lit, but admittedly this can't really be done effectively UNLESS you get your hands on the Paragraphics photoetch set (which I did). It includes etched panels for each station and viewscreens as well. It also includes options for the pilot 1 style ship with its different screens (I'm saving those for another model).
I lightly sanded the part with 600 grit paper before starting the paintwork. One thing I opted not to use from the etch set were the bridge railings as I am not experienced enough with etch to fold parts THAT tiny. Plus, at the angles the bridge will be visible under the dome, one can't necessarily tell if they are etched or plastic if they are painted well anyway.
The flash photography makes things look a little sloppy, but in person things seem to look fine. I still need to plug some light leaks on the part anyway until I get it where I want it. A black wash and a fine line black pen worked wonders to pick out details like the steps leading to the center section.
To do the viewscreens, after painting consoles with clear tints and applying the photoetch (then the black console decals) I next applied the stock viewscreen decals. They have no white backing so light can shine through them, but the entire set of viewscreen decals are clear, so without some type of light block (where the photoetch comes in) they look really funky. Thankfully, the photoetch does its job in that department. I encountered a slight alignment issue with the right side consoles, but the left side ones (engineering, auxilliary systems) seemed to work fine. One final bit of serendipity that I noticed is there is a skinny gap between the console and the viewscreens. So I back painted the areas with some clear yellow, used a fine line black pen to put in some small blinky screen dividers (eight per big station, four per small) and the results looked rather passable.
I painted the inside of the bridge dome silver. There are enough gaps that lights from inside the saucer should spill enough light up and over to cast some lighting onto the floor of the dome. I've been doing preliminary light tests with an LED flashlight and while it has shown I need to plug some light leaks in the floor of the part, I am liking the results a lot.
Once I get this area finished, I might work on the shuttle bay next.
Last edited:
opcorn 
