Polarlights Enterprise 1701-A Refit 1/350th Scale


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Slowly Getting The Act Together.
Sorry for the delay in updates folks, been up to me neck in it elsewhere for the past 2 weeks.

So then, the saucer wiring all but done, time to put the stand pole in.

Simple affair, a length of 10mm diameter brass tube, some 1mm spring steel wire,
two small squares of 2mm clear plastic, some epoxy fast curing putty and away we go.

2mm clear styrene either side of the rear lower saucer part, glued and left overnight.
10mm hole drilled and pole pushed through, marked the pole where it came through top and bottom,
extracted and holes drilled for steel wire.

After a measure up, four holes were drilled in a line inside what will be the secondary hull to take the wiring
that would go to the aforementioned secondary hull and the engines.

Pole refitted and pins put in place, one on the top going front to back,
one on the underside going left to right,
a goodly dollop of epoxy putty and left alone to cure.

While all that was settling it was onto a quick build up of the impulse drive.
Nothing special here just a straight assembly then mount two 3mm LED's with a dab of Tamiya clear orange
on each and a lick of same on the clear un-foiled parts.
These will be wired separately, just for the sake of display I will be wiring the warp and impulse engines toggled together in a one on/one off fashion.

So that done and onto the impulse crystal.
Again nothing too technical, a plastic bottle cap shaved down to 3.5mm depth,
a 3mm LED with some clear blue applied,
add some foil,
glue to kit clear part and install.
Literally as simple as that.

All set and settled, time to put the saucer together.
Some scrap lengths of wire were run through the pole, wires were soldered to these and just pulled through.
Each wire pair tested then tagged before the next one was pulled through.

The two parts of the saucer were then just glued together,
tube glue for the internal pins and thin liquid for the saucer edge...
well that and about 20 clamps to make sure the seams met without fuss.
Done and left aside for about a day to settle and cure fully.

Neckin' it.
While all that was happening, onto the neck/dorsal fin part.
No real fartin' about here, foiled up on the inside, portholes pushed through and clear epoxy done
to said holes and windows sorted.

A quick template for the neck spotlight, some cut and scrape, that much done.
Four 3mm LED's fitted and wired for the 4 lights that sit in pairs either side of the rear bottom of the neck.

Relevant parts fitted and the whole deal glued together. The photon launchers will be unlit on this one



Once all joints cured, the neck was fitted and that about does it for this deal apart from some lighting testing.
Just couldn't resist it mate!



All seems to light up nicely and minimal light bleed to clear up.



The light bleed thing is a curse but the extra effort paid off.
On this job the less paint I have to plaster over the exterior to hide light bleed, the better.



Looks the part and seems to work out ok so onward and upward to the next round of hoo-ha.
A Tale Of Light Boxes And Warp Drives.
Well now while the saucer and neck part is almost done assembly wise, we shift along sharpish to the warp engines.
First job was to get rid of the moulding ridges on the clear parts.
Now don't get me wrong, nothing actually wrong with the parts as cast
but the inside ridge shows up quite obviously when backlit,
or at least it does when I try lighting this bit so out with the flap sanding attachment for the mini drill and it be gone.
The pats were then given a brisk back rub with some 400 grit wet and dry.

Now having made a rod for my own back by wanting the warp drive lights independent,
this meant boxing the light in.

So one strip of 2mm clear plastic, holes drilled and LED's fitted to
form 4 bunches of 4 LED's.

A fair wedge of quick curing epoxy 2 part putty and when cured, the 4LED bunches were just sawn apart. Hey presto, 4 light blocks.

A couple of coats of clear blue with some flat base added.

The clusters were trimmed and then fitted one each end.
When set I took some A4 paper, and foiled both sides then trimmed and taped it over the end LED clusters
and sealed up with even more tape to stop the light going where it shouldn't.

A quick check to see the outcome. Not perfect but once all the paintwork is done, it should look the part.

So the the light at the front of the warp engine grille on the outside if the nacelles.
A little bit of foil, the clear plastic kit part added,
one 5mm LED in place with the assistance of some fast cure epoxy putty,
popular item this lately ain't it.

A dab of the fogging paint over the LED and the inside of the clear part, thrown in a small foiled paper part and...

cover the whole deal over and wire up the LED.

Just a battery test to get an idea if it works ok. I'd say yes meself.

Now to the rear spotlight thing. As before, boxing the light in.
Nothing too spectacular, A foil coated thin sheet plastic shape just a wee bit bigger than the cutout in the foil on the engine part.

A strip of foiled paper with three holes in the bottom to take 5mm LED's with the ever helpful fogged coating.

Just wrapped the foil strip around the sheet plastic shape, mucho foil to hold the bugger in place,
slide three pre-wired LED's into place,
a dab of epoxy putty for final seal and light bleed curing and done.

A test for light bleed with the hellhole lights on...

and with hellhole lights off. Well light is only coming out where it should do so a win for our side so far.

And that be that for this update, more as soon as possible folks. Untill then you all take care of yaselves !


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