Jeff's 1/350- Refit Enterprise

Brandomack, thanks brother...


Hello everyone, as promised here is the first of two quick tutorials.
LEDs 101
Take time to read this:
Light-emitting diode - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Ok so you can wire LEDs in three ways:
Single LED- one LED not connected to any other LEDs
LEDs in Series- The basic idea of a "series" connection is that components are connected end-to-end in a line to form a single path for electrons to flow. A series circuit allows electrons to follow only one path. The loads (LEDs, resisters) in a series circuit must share the available voltage. In other words, each load in a series circuit will use up some portion of the voltage, leaving less for the next load in the circuit. This means that the light, heat, or sound given off by the device will be reduced.
LEDs in Parallel- The basic idea of a "parallel" connection, on the other hand, is that all components are connected across each other's leads. In parallel circuits, the electric current can follow more than one path to return to the source, so it splits up among all the available paths. Across all the paths in a parallel circuit the voltage is the same, so each device will produce its full output.

I tend to run LEDs in Parallel and I tend to put a resistor on each LED rather than on resistor in the circuit.

Ok so once you know what kind of LEDs and how many you will be working with, you will need to know the specifications of the circuit you are building.
Power supply
LED Voltage
LED Current in Milliamps

Since different color LEDs have different specifications, I recommend you stick with white LEDs and paint the ones you want to be a different colors. I also recommend that if you are running LEDs that will blink or Strobe LEDs you run them on separate circuits from the general lighting LEDs

Starting off I also recommend that you work with a 6 or 9 volt system. My reasons are; getting an ac/dc converter is easy (radio shack) and making a battery tester to test the LEDs is easy. I prefer a 9 volt system. I made a 9 volt tester with three items I got from radio shack.
Alligator clips (Small)
Battery power connector
9 volt battery

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Simply solder the battery connector ends to the alligator clips and heat shrink or tape the connection points. Snap in the battery and here you go.

Ok, so once you have the LED specifications and you know the power supply you can go here to figure out what resistor you will need:
LED Resistor Calculator

Also here is a link to the color band code on resistors
Resistor Codes - Transwiki

In addition to the LEDs, Resistors, wire (I recommend 24-28 gage stranded, like speaker wire) you will also need a Soldering Iron, some Lead free resin core solder, Heat shrink that will fit over your resistor and wire with just a small amount of space, and a heat gun or hair dryer. It’s also a good idea to get a hot glue gun (with a low temp setting) and some light blocking material like aluminum foil tape (wall mart for $4.00).

So like I said this is a basic tutorial. If you read the first link I posted you should now understand that an LED has a long positive lead (Anode), and a shorter negative lead (Cathode) and most LEDs have a flat spot on the Cathode side. When connecting LEDs I start with the Anode side.
Here a 5mm white LED and a resistor

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I cut the Anode lead about 1/4” from the LED and I cut one end of the resistor lead about 1/4” from the resistor (note: resistors do not have different ends, you can cut either end)


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Next, solder the resistor to the LED


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Next, cut the Cathode side about 1/4” from the LED, solder you negative wire to the Cathode, cut the remaining (long) lead on the resistor about 1/4” from the resistor and solder you positive wire to the resistor.


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Once everything is soldered, test the LED then heat shrink the connections


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If I have left anything out or if I have anything wrong here, please let me know so I can correct the post.
Well I hope this Helps
 
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Hello everyone, as promised here is the second of two quick tutorials.
Light blocking 101

Ok so since this is my first lighted model I have been learning about light blocking and if I had found a consolidated tutorial on what it is and how to do it, I would have been further along than I am. So in hopes of helping someone out here is what I have learned.

Light blocking- since plastic and resin are relatively thin, light passes through the media. If you plan on lighting a model you will need to light block the plastic. The first method I used and most likely the most common is also the messiest.

Paint
It was recommended to me that I would need to paint at least two coats of flat back and two coats of flat white on the inside of all my parts. This paint would most likely be thick enough to block out any light from passing through the plastic.

The truth is that different pieces are cast in different thickness so a trial and error method was employed to see how many coats would be needed. Further, one thing to take into consideration is that I planned on painting on a coat of primer and then the final color coat on the exterior. Since this kit came with several extra parts (secondary hull) I used it to experiment with.

What I learned:
I tried auto primer, model primer, etc... All were too thin and required 6-10 coats on the inside of the plastic to achieve light blocking. In the end, I used cheap flat white and flat black plastic spray paint from wall mart. The hardest part of this process is the masking and the mask removal. I masked everything on the outside to prevent any paint from getting on it. Once the paint dried, I removed the masking and had several areas that had to be sanded to ensure the parts fit together correctly. Another issue was gluing the parts together, often one of the parts needed to be glued where it had been painted and the glue would stick to the paint but then pull away from the part.

The second method I have used is foil tape

Foil Tape
I do not recommend this method for the entire model but I guess you could. I decided to cut down on the possibility of light leak by placing a piece of foil tape on the inside of the model where I planned to mount an LED directly to the wall. I also used that foil tape on the inside of seems between connecting plastic pieces.

The truth is that foil tape is cheap and easy to work with. I bought a roll of foil tape from wall mart for about four dollars and I have not used even half of it. A consideration to be made is that the foil tape is metal. I do not know if it conducts electricity but it is something to consider.

The third method I have used is the Silver Chrome Testors brand Enamel paint.

Silver Chrome Paint

Again I do not recommend this method for the entire model but I guess you could. I also do not know how well this stuff would airbrush on and if it would be at an effective thickness.

The truth is that I have used this method now in most of the places I would have used foil tape. I do not know if this paint will conduct electricity? When I used this method, it was most often in places where I could not get to with the foil tape, like the edges of window openings. I simply painted on the Silver Chrome, let it dry, and then painted (if needed) whatever color I wanted. Unfortunately, the color coat often would re-liquify the Silver Chrome and the colors would mix. I attempted to fix this by painting a coat of semi-gloss clear on top of the dry Silver Chrome and let it dry, then I painted on the color and had reasonable success. The advantage to this method is that it is way thinner that the 4-6 coats of light blocking paint that I first talked about.

Ok so here some of the results:
I had already painted this part with the flat white and flat black so I sanded the paint off a spot on both sides to demonstrate.

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In this picture you can see the LED light bleeding through the raw plastic

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Here is the Foil Tape

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And here is how effective it is

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And here is the Silver Chrome Paint, applied by brush in medium thickness

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And here is how effective it is

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Well I hope this is helpful
 
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Just subscribing to this thread; I just bought this model and will be getting it by Saturday. Can't wait to start on my build. You're giving me a great head start on mine. I've got the Trek Modeler kit coming, and will be ordering the photo etch kit too.

I may have missed it, but where did you get the fiber optics?
 
As always guys, thanks for the comments.
Havok69, I got the fiber optic cable from fiberopticproducts.com, here is the direct link: EGP48 Fiber Optic End Glow Cable 11/32" - Fiber Optic Products, Inc.

I got about 5 feet (@ 3.65 per foot) of the EGP48 cable. It is a 11/32” cable that has six 1.5mm, thirty two .75mm, and ten .5mm cables inside it. I cut the outer shielding off and used the inside cables separately. I used the smallest for most of lighting like the Officer’s Lounge lamps, Runway sequential lights, and the work bee front lights etc.

Ok guys this is my update.
#1 When using the Trekmodeler kit, several of the LEDs do not get resistors, when testing these LEDs with a battery tester, add a resistor to the positive side or you may blow the LED. I have managed to blow two of the strobe LEDs in testing and since the kit only comes with enough strobes to complete model, I have had to order some more. The only 3mm white strobes I could find were a set of two LEDs from a hobby web site @ 4.00 a set or in quantity on ebay. So I ordered 50 from ebay and they are coming from China, so it well be several weeks till I see them. The Trekmodeler kit comes with a few extra LEDs but I recommend you order 25-50 white 5mm and 3mm LEDs to help when you blow some of the supplied ones. Also, order extra resistors and extra heat shrink.

#2 When I finished the base, I started testing the different circuits from the control board and discovered that the brown circuit that controls the navigation lights, was blinking way too slow. It blinked at about 28 seconds on then 28 seconds off. I emailed trekmodeler and eventually called them. When you call you will most likely get a voice mail, leave a message and he will call you back quickly. Anyway, he asked me to mail the board back to him and he would check it out and fix it. I told him that I had cut the board down. I did not want him to say that I damaged the board when I cut it down. I have had bad experiences with other companies when I experience issues with products that I have altered. Trekmodeler said it would not be a problem. BTW, I did not damage the board. Anyway, I mailed it off on a friday and I had the board back on the following tuesday. I can not say enough good things about Trekmodeler. This company knows customer service. I highly recommend them.

#3 I stated painting the side (blue) windows to the nacelles. These clear plastic parts are well made but I messed up the paint job. So I striped them with Testors (made for plastic and “safe” for plastic) paint remover. Well this caused the plastic to crack. I considered making replacement parts from plexiglass using a very small (4” blade) hobby table saw I got from Harbor Freight and Tool. I planned on cutting the parts then shaping them with a heat gun. But after messing with them for a few days, I called Polar Lights. I had no idea that you could order replacement parts! Well they wanted 15.00 for the two parts and that was a no brainer. So I am waiting on them and they should arrive in a week or so. As far as I know, Polar Lights is the only company you can do this with. I was very impressed with this option.

Well, I am busy with work for the next few weeks so it will be the end of the month or longer before I can do anymore pictures. Thanks for the interest and support.
 
Thanks for the link to the fiber optics. So, do you just hot glue one end to a LED? Also, great tip that Polar Lights sells replacement parts; knowing me I probably will be calling them. I've got the model and Trek Modeler kit now, next up fiber optics and photo etch kit.
 
Havok69, Sorry I can not post pictures of this but I will try to explain it.

I got some styrene tubing with an inside diameter of a 3mm LED and some with an inside diameter or a 5mm LED. I also got some solid round styrene with an outside diameter almost the same size as the inside of the tubing. I insert an LED into the tubing and estimate about 1/4” past tip of LED then cut the tubing. I then cut a section of the solid round to fill the 1/4” space. I insert the LED then the solid round then glue the solid round in place and remove the LED. Drill out the center of the solid round to fit the fiber optic. Note that several fiber optics can be used on one LED. Then I light block the entire tube and cap with silver chrome paint. Once dry, insert the LED and hot glue in place.
Now here is the tricky part. I hot glue my fiber optics into the cap but you need to use low temp and make it quick because the hot glue will melt the fiber optics. Once everything is dry I wrap the entire section (LED, Cap, and Fiber Optic) about 1/4” past cap on each end with foil tape. then hot glue the foil taped section to the inside of the model.

I will post a diagram tonight.
 
Thanks for the explanation Jeff. Looks like I need to get a micro drill set, my good old Porter Cable isn't going to be able to handle this one!
 
Oh wow... some awesome work, one of my fave ships after the E-D, love all the little extra details, quick question do the little figures come standard or did you make them?
 
Thanks guys for all the support,

On a non-related topic I waited 5 hours at one of my local apple stores and got my Ipad 2. I love it and I can not wait to find all the uses I will have for it.

Ok, back on topic
Havok69, I recommend a micro drill set from harbor freight and tool or similar shop. here is the link:
30 Piece HSS Mini Drill Set
You will need a pin vice set to use these drill bits. I recommend the 4 piece machinist’s pin vise set here
Hobby-Worx Drills and Pin Vises Page
This set comes with a pin vise but its cheap
6 Piece Precision Drill Set
I also recommend this micro file set:
12 Piece Needle File Set
Do it all by hand because power tools spin too fast and the plastic will melt to the drill bit and make a mess. Even an expensive dremel will not run slow enough for these small bits.

Totalusk, the silhouette figures come on the paragrafix photo-etch kit and I highly recommend it. Here is the link:
ParaGrafix™ Modeling Systems - Refit Enterprise Enhancements

GeneralFROSTY, I am only able to put in a few hours each week but I am glad to see some progress since October 1st. I hope to have this wrapped up in two months but all my predictions up to this point were way off so I will have to just see how far I can get.

Like I said no new pictures for at least another two weeks. I am still waiting for the strobe LEDs and Nacelle windows.
 
Great - I live right by a Harbor Freight, so it looks like I'll be checking them out. On a side note; I just got my Trek Modeler kit; they no longer supply an AC adapter with the kit...
 
Havok69, here is a picture of the power supply that came with my Trekmodeler kit. should be all the information you need. If you need the wiring diagram, e-mail me.

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In this photo you can see the flood lighting effect. The blue arrow is where there is light leak and I am not suer how I will overcome this. The yellow arrow shows the shadows from the phaser banks (I like how this looks). The red arrow is a shadow that at first I could not figure out what was causing it. I later figured out that the foil tape I was using was for Heating and Air conditioning and had red markings on it. The red markings caused this shadow. I switched to some unmarked foil tape from Walmart and the problem was solved. Overall I am pleased with this flood lighting.

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Hi Jeff,
I found your thread a little late in the game, but I do enjoy what you have done so far with your build. I don't know if you've worked out your problem with light leaks on the lower saucer as of yet, but from what I've seen so far it looks like you might still be able to try this suggestion out. On my PLE build I decided to open up a larger hole on the lower saucer

as you can see in the pic above the hole is almost as large as the lower dome piece. If your piece is already cemented in you can still open the hole up from the inside of the model. When I got it as large as it could go without getting too close to the edges I then positioned the piece in place and then heavily cemented all of the seams from the inside. This allows the pieces to be completely sealed together, then you can spray the entire inside of that area black or cover it with the silver tape. The point is you want the LED or Flood light to be on the INSIDE of the opaqued piece so no light leaks will occur. You can still get the desired effect of the spot light by doing it this way but without the light leaks. Hope this helps, can't wait to see her finished.
Mark

Home - NemVia Productions
 
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