AMT U.S.S. Enterprise NCC-1701 Refit with Lights - Album
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This is, sadly, one of the last kits that Don Matthys of Don's Light and Magic cast and shipped before he passed away in November, 2019
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These panel lines have to go
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A giant tube of Bondo will do the trick
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I slopped on the Bondo with my finger. Much quicker than using a spatula.
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Sanding order: 180 grit wet with rotary followed by 400, then 1500
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This filling was about a four-hour job. It would have taken much longer without the rotary machine wet sanding
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Cutting out stock impulse deck
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Don's clear part
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Filled with Milliput
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First lighting test. Going to paint the impulse engine white for reflection
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IMPORTANT TIP: I should NOT have removed this. All I needed to do was leave it and mask it. The stock white plastic would have diffused the LED strip lights very nicely. Now I'm stuck with having to make my own diffuser and it's not as effective because it's pressed up against the LEDs and you can still detect individual lights rather than one continuous glow.
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I got a little ahead of myself by installing this airlock at this point.
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I want a little bit of diffusion so I sanded to dull
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I carefully put liquid mask in the notches around the dish. Who knows if I'll be able to get it out once it's painted.
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Trying this stuff to diffuse the lights in the warp nacelles
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That's better.
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Ready for base primer coat.
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The Bondo had shrunk and all the filled lines were showing, so I needed another round of sanding and priming
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Following another coat of black after the sanding, the lines are much less apparent now. Whew.
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One final coat of gray
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LOTS of filling and sanding to get the edge and light panels smooth.
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Wiring done, diffusing corrugated plastic installed, ready to assemble
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The fit on these nacelles is terrible. Huge gaps, warps, chunks, all manner of problems. Lots of putty and sanding around the entire assembly.
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I placed some plastic laminate in as window and then filled with Micro Kristal Clear
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Filling the outside with Micro Kristal Clear. You can see how clearly the far-right one dried.
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Light bleed check. You can see how all that sanding and filling thinned the plastic. More primer!
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Light assembly for primary hull and main deflector
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I ran a bead of opaque JB Weld quick epoxy around the light assembly to reduce light bleed
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Wire leads soldered onto a little board.
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I like to secure and strengthen them with non-conducting hot glue.
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I made a little riser out of a wooden dowel for the board to sit on.
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I used quick-setting epoxy to help me attach and square the "neck" to the primary hull.
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Success! All lights working
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At 9 volts, all the lights draw 0.35 amps. I'm no electrician but it seems OK based on my extremely limited experience. This is only the third kit I've lit.
Opmerkingen
1 2 April 2020, 21:39
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Taking a holodeck seat for watching this viewscreen. Are those DLM upgrade parts?
2 April 2020, 22:17
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Excellent. Welcome! Indeed, these were some of the last that Don cast; he shipped them to me in June of 2019. In corresponding with him during the order process, he mentioned that he would be retiring in a few months, in November. Sadly, he passed away in the very month he intended to retire.
2 April 2020, 22:31
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Yes, I was lucky to decide on buying all his items last year for everything that I had kits for, to close out that wishlist. I'm not able to see everything you've added to this project, but Green Strawberry also has some nice upgrade sets for this kit.
2 April 2020, 22:37
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Wow - glad you were able to get all those parts and it's too bad Don is not here with us still hobbying along and making the world a better place for nerds.
2 April 2020, 22:59
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Posted some progress. Lighting works and all of the major modules are ready for the next big phase: painting.
25 April 2020, 21:09
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@Mike, correct - I chose not to go with the arboretum. Maybe if I ever do a 1/350 scale? 😮 Thanks all for comments! 🙂 Taking a break for likely a couple weeks as I move to a new home.
26 April 2020, 21:59
Album info
I spent over a year accumulating add-ons and building up the gumption to start this kit. Here goes...