Jeff's 1/350- Refit Enterprise

Hi Jeff! Fun build progress! I forgot who mentioned it - good advice I read here somewhere - about boxing the lights individually to prevent light leaks. Or maybe wrapping them in foil (save for the tips) in addition to your foil on the inner wall.
 
This is coming along nicely. Good Job!! I am still not sure i want to tackle mine yet but threads like this make me want to try.
 
Last year I saw a on-line build up of the 1/350 Refit Enterprise where the builder used a cheap hobby store translucent blue plastic "crystal" that he cut in half, then drilled a hole in and mounted the LED in the drilled-out hole. He also painted the front of the deflector a very light tan color.

The finished result was very impressive. When the light was off, the tan color looked correct. When the LED was lit, the crystal diffused the light perfectly.

I think I have the link at home, but I'm at work now and a quick Google search yielded nothing. I'm sure if I spent more time using Google, it could be found.

Great work so far! I'm watching this thread with great interest.
 
Ok guys just a quick update.

First Off, thanks Brandomack, Crackerjazz, Zombie Killer (love the name), and DS Operative (great avatar, Logan’s Run Rules!!!) for the comments and suggestions. I was beginning to think that everyone lost interest. Truthfully I have been spend a lot of my time playing Call of Duty Black Ops.

Brandomack, I have been using Ian’s WIPs links for some time. He really is a great builder. Anyway I think I have settled on the sand paper and dull coat for the deflector. The foil tape in the areas that need it. But as I will explain here the LEDs that blink are giving me a bit of trouble.
Zombie Killer, build it but I suggest you build your own light kit rather than buying it. Besides, you have no idea how long you will have to work on it as the Zombie Apocalypse could come any day...

Also, I have just procured a Bandai 1/350 Space Battleship Yamato. I should have it in about two weeks and you do not want to know what I paid for it... But that will be my next build.

Ok so here is my update

I have almost completed my display base. It’s made of Oak and stained ebony. I do not know if I will paint the post black or leave it the way it is. But here are some pics. BTW I am having a devil of a time with the LEDs. When I soldered them all in the saucer, some worked and others did not. When I test each individually they work just fine. WTH??? Anyway, I am following the directions exactly from trek modeler. I think I may scrap the red and green LEDs and paint some white ones so that they all have the same specs. I think it’s the Amps or something but if they are all the same they should work fine. Anyway here you go.

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Everyone, Merry Christmas and Happy Hanukkah.
 
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I may tackle mine next year. I am toning down my prop purchases next year cause i went all out this year and concentrating on all the projects i have been collecting. This is one of them. I will definatly make my own electronics.

TIP. when you use LEDs put a resistor on each one. Some LEDs don't like to work with others. ie, mixing reds blues yellows and lrg and small LEDs. Sometimes you can bundle colors too and put one resitor on each group type. Also different color LEDs have different brightnesses at the same voltage so you want to adjust your values according to the LED if you want the same brightness from them. I have a resistor decade box that i can switch between values and find out what i need .

Hope this helps.
 
Great looking build so far, I have one of these and all of the parts to finish is but I have been busy with other things, all I got done so far is the shuttle bay with lighting did not light my shuttles, maybe next time. Any way great build I am looking forward to progress, and I hope to get started on mine again in the year ahead. Just not enough hours in the day.
 
Thanks guys, I am having a devil of a time with the trek modler kit, but I am getting there. Brando, anytime brother.
 
29 Jan 2011
Hello everyone, I am sorry it has taken so long to update this.
Ok first up, with the level of detail I put in to the Officer’s Lounge, I wanted to be able to see it. So I decided to not use the included glass for the window, instead I am using .25mm clear sheet styrene. This presented several issues. First off the sheet styrene is about 1/10 the thickness of the included window this meant that I needed to devise a way to insert the window and have it not be recessed the total distance in to the thickness of the haul. I also wanted to use the Photo Etch window frame. The Photo Etch piece extended about a 1/2 inch on each side of the window and I did not want this look either. So I framed in the opening with some styrene and filled in the gaps with putty. Once sanded I cut the Photo Etch piece to fit and painted it. Then I cut to fit a piece of the clear sheet styrene. Then I inserted the window from the inside. I am pleased how it turned out. In these pictures I highlighted some of the added styrene to give you some idea of how much alteration was needed. Also I had to build up the walls for the bridge dome to allow the front spot light the needed clearance to properly illuminate the front of the saucer. Here are some pictures of it correctly aimed. Keep in mind that bridge dome has not been permanently mounted so there is some light leak.

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Saucer illumination.

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Lastly here are some piece of the bridge dome and the strobe LED.

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Well that it for now. Thanks for the interest.
 
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Hello everyone
I have been working and to be honest, obsessing on a few small details. After my last post I was not happy at all with how the Recreational room window turned out. Frankly the windows for the detailed areas like the rec deck, arboretum, and officer’s lounge are way too thick and distort the view inside and all the hard work I have put into this. If I had a point of contact with round 2, this is one change I would recommend, they really need to change the window material for these areas. As with the officers lounge I decided to use the clear styrene on the rec deck. Since the plastic walls of the model are about 3/16” thick and the included windows are about the same, when I use the styrene (it’s less than 1/16” thick) I can choose to flush mount the windows with the outside wall, or with the inside wall or somewhere in the middle. Each presents a host of challenges. For example, to flush mount with the outside wall the windows has to be precisely cut to fit the opening and conform to the curves of the opening. Note that all of these windows have some curvature to them. To ensure that the window stays in place a frame would need to be scratch built and inserted into the opening fist. Then light blocked, then painted, since once the windows was glued in place it would still be seen and you would not be able to paint it later. This would make it easier to mask when I do the exterior painting but I have chosen to go another route. If I mount the window in the middle as I did with the officer’s lounge, I built a frame on in the opening but flush with the outside wall, light blocked it and painted it. Then I glued the window in from the inside to the frame. This let the window sit in the middle of the wall of the hull, splitting the difference if you follow me. Anyway with the rec deck I decided to flush mount the window to the inside wall. This is by far the easiest but is means that the window will be fully recessed when viewed from the outside of the ship. Here is a photo of the included window for the rec deck.

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Ok, so back to the rec deck. The major complaint that I read from everyone was that even if the window is extremely clear, the divider in the center prevents you from being able to view most of the detail inside. To combat this and deciding to go for aesthetics rather than dogma, I cut out the divider. Note the saucer is upside down in some of these pictures.

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I wanted to use the photo etched frames for the window but they would no longer work since I enlarged the opening. So I taped them above and below the opening to use as a reference.

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Next I cut some strip styrene to fit and glued it in.

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Next I sanded, light blocked, and painted the frames and inside to the opening. Once dry I cut the window slightly larger than needed for the opening then glued it to the inside of the wall.

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Now this is something I can live with and be proud of.

Ok next is some more detailed pictures of the window of the officer’s lounge.

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One thing I have noticed about the clear styrene is that it scratches very easily; however is does not fog up when glue is on it like the clear plastic I used on the shuttle craft.

Next, here is a trick I learned about light blocking. (I do not know how well this would work with the entire model) Rather than painting on several layers of paint on the inside or using the foil tape, simply paint on a coat of Chrome Silver. It completely blocks out the light, is very quick, and very thin. Here I used it to light block the ends of the pylons. (Nice wire work
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)

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Next, I cut down the control board to get it to fit in the smallest place in the primary hull that I could find.

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Next, a test dry fit of the neck.

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Lastly, I mounted the lower part of the primary hull to the display to see the dry fit.

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Well that is it for now, thanks for the comments and interest.
 
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This is so going to be a very spectacular build. Good job and keep up the good work.

Seeing that this is still alive and well and going. I would just like to add...

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Mauiman, Wes, Brandomac, and everyone else; thanks so much for the support. If I had not started this thread with all of you checking back from time to time, I most likely would not be anywhere close to where I am now. I would not have quit because that is simply not me, but I have been know to procrastinate from time to time. Anyway, I have just been reviewing all three pages and I wanted to say thanks sooooooooo much for the support.

I can not believe that I have been working on this since October 01 2010. Damn that is new record for me on any single project. I am having a bit of trouble with the lighting control board still. There is a single circuit for the navigation lights and they are suppose to blink in a "movie correct" way but mine do not blink at all???? I wrote Treck Modeler a month or so ago and the responded with some suggestions. I just can not figure out why the lights are not blinking. I am hoping to have my friend Christo over this weekend and will most likely be able to diagnose the issue but it has been driving me crazy.

BTW, the guys at trek modler have been great. I know in some of my post I have talked about not buying a kit for my 18" Enterprise and yes 160.00 is a lot of money for the 1/350 kit but I have to say that without the kit I would have been totally lost. Choosing to get the do it yourself kit was one of the best ideas I went with on this project. I have learned a lot about how to work with LEDs and all the components used for lighting models. I have had some questions e-mailed to me about working with LEDs so I will include a short LED tutorial in the next week to address what I have been asked and what I have learned.

I am considering ordering DLM impuse engine replacement part but have not decided yet.

Also, in my previous post I talked about using Chrome silver enamel paint to light block so I may do a short tutorial on that as well. I am curious to see if this stuff can be air brushed?? If so I may do the entire interior of my 18" Enterprise with it rather than the 6 coats of white and black paint.

Currently my biggest fear is that I will get everything buit and working great but that I will screw up the exterior paint or decals. I may scan in all the decals in advance so I print new ones if I mess them up. Either way, I really won't know until I am at that stage. And judging by how long it has taken me to get to this point. Helipilot has it about right, 7 months to complete. I honestly did not think that it would take me that long but I can see how that is a realistic estimate.

Well that is it for now, More pictures and tutorials to come in the next few days. Thanks again for the interest.
 
Dont be afraid of finishing, it's only plastic and there mare many more models where that one came from. Take your time, figure out what you are going to do in advance and enjoy the ride.

every model is a learning experience.



You can do it, Jeff!!!!:thumbsup
 
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