Building the AMT Refit Enterprise by Don Matthys part 7

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Botanical Gardens

I decide to tackle this feature and not be to anal about it. I only wish to place enough detail to suggest that there is Botanical Gardens that can be viewed through the clear resin filled windows. I can not have the gardens go from one side of the Engineering Hull to the other. After all the power jack is located there to supply power to the models lighting system. Therefore a few painted details and a hand painted facade will be created to give that illusion.

Reference to do this is the “ST:TMP Cutaway Color Poster” , “Star Fleet Assembly Manual #4” and “Mr. Scott’s Guide to the Enterprise” Note: These references are for the ST:TMP model, since ‘destroyed’, so a variation is allowed in Garden layout.

I used .010 sheet plastic as the floor and backdrop. I hand painted details like a small pond, foot path and grass. For added dimension some Woodland Scenics foam was white glued on for tree leaves and small shrubs. An Evergreen Plastics “U” Beam shape was sliced for benches. As a final touch I have a 1/700 scale brass ship detail fret that has people silhouettes on it. Painted red and black they we super glued on to the foot paths. OK now, that’s enough!

The a ceiling of .010 styrene pained Tamiya clear blue and placed on top. The two Garden sides where then glued in place on top the plastic reinforcement of the power jack. It worked out fine as this was planned all the long and the bottom of the gardens matched up well to the bottom of the resin filled windows. When the exterior resin is polished up the view inside should be more clear. All in all about 3 hours work was put into the Gardens.

The last thing to get set for lighting the Engineering Hull was to get another lamp situated in the forward center that will illuminate the ports, window, fiber optic strands leading to the ports on the Connecting Dorsal, spot lights, Botanical Gardens and the Main deflector Dish. The fiber optics that go to the spots where oriented close adjacent to the lamp.

That done another lighting function check was made with the hull halves dry fitted together. Results of the lamp placement was good only two lamps are required and very effective That being successful I started to glue and clamp the hull halves together. AT LAST SOME GLUEING!

Cement used:Tenax reinforced in some areas with Super Glue.

Tools used : C-clamps and rubber bands

Now since the Engineering Hull and Connecting Dorsal halves have been glued together. I took the opportunity to fill and clean up the the join seams. Then I went in and re-scribed the panel lines and scribed in new panel lines with a Squadron Scribing tool. The Pocketbook General Plans and the plans from “Mr. Scotts Guide…” where used as reference. The new lines are located at the bottom of the hull and some lines near the font of the hull. Finish sanding was done down to 400 grit in the seam and fill areas.

PRIMARY HULL LIGHTING

Moving onto the Primary Hull, I prepared several areas for lighting. In the Thruster cluster areas .030 mil fiber optic was installed into the clusters three opening points. Then the Navigation Running Lights where opened wider to 3/32″ for the modified LEDs. Next the bottom of the Primary Hull was cemented onto the connecting Dorsal and allowed to dry and set up overnight.

Note: Countersink a drill bit into the plastic (inside) to fit the outside diameter of 3mm to fit the modified T1( 3mm) LED*. Be careful not to go all the way through and test fit often.

At R2 I used a 150k and 4.7k ohm resister in series. This will give a slower flash rate than the Nav Strobes. A 100 ohm resister was soldered in for the red (Port) LEDs to dim them down and balance the brightness with the Green (Starboard). After a bench test it was wired into the complete system and it works well. The board was super glued into place in the interior between the Dorsal and the bottom Nav Dome.

Next the wires and Navigation red, green and blue modified LEDs where run out to the saucers light holes along the edges. The modified ‘nub’ of the T-1 LEDs where super glued in. The upper saucer section LEDs are wired in parallel with about 3″ of slack. I’ll glue these in during final Primary hull assembly.

NAVIGATIONAL SENSOR DOME

Navigational Sensor Dome kit part # was wrong shape and to small. The domed area provided by the DLM update kit is the best solution to fix this. With .040 plastic sheet I cut a pattern 1/16 inch (2-3mm) smaller than the outer outline of the shape. A mold will be made and this will be easier to cast in a opaque gray resin. The kit hull piece will be cut out with the same pattern.

The piece will drop in supported with the outer rim. For lighting purposes, trenches will be dug out with a motor tool to accommodate fiber optics (and clear plastic) that will run to a central lamp light source.

These trenches are now dug out with a motor tool cutter and cleaned up with a jewelers flat file (the actual ideal width). The rear has three spot lights. One rectangular light projection and two .030 dia fiber optics with the flared ends flattened on two sides. Others will have one rectangular clear piece. The clear plastic that I used to bring the light to the exterior is small strips of plastic cut from a plexiglass like plastic. In this instance plastic cut from a parts bin divider or a discarded audio tape cassette box. This will act as a horizontally orientated “fiber optic” and bring the lamps brightness to the exterior. A small Grain of Wheat lamp is mounted in the center. Then wired into the system and the resin replacement was super glued (lightly) into place.

PRIMARY HULL PORTS AND WINDOW LIGHTING

This tip helps to eliminate 8 lamps around the Primary Hull outer rim by the use of a 1/8th inch thick plexiglass disc. The plexiglass will transmit the light from one lamp located in a notch in the the center of the disc that will also serve as illumination to the center of the hull as well.

The lighting for the top piece of the Primary Hull will include these features already done:

  • Thruster clusters, four sets located at the triangular shaped edges with .030 fiber optics.
  • Impulse Engine Crystal, clear blue resin insert piece. 1 inch dia. area around the crystal left non opaqued on kit part plastic.
  • Holes and countersinks for the Navigation Position lights with modified T-1 LEDs, red (port) green (starboard) blue (bow)
  • Upper level deck has fiber optic ports, resin filed windows and resin filled VIP Lounge windows, aft.

For the bridge area spotlights I drilled a hole to fit a Grain of Wheat lamp located 1/8 inch just forward of the center. Next clear pieces of plastic, just like the Nave Dome lighting, prior log entry, where cut to fit into the three spotlight locations on the new corrected resin replacement piece. Super glued into place and filled with epoxy putty and then sanded flush to the outer edge. Then polished.

The Navigation Strobe light on top the Bridge was drilled through and countersunk on the inside to fit a modified T-1 blue LED. On the corresponding location below on the upper decks roof a larger hole was drilled for the LED leads to run through. Finally at the rear of the bridge piece very tiny holes where drilled to fit .010 dia. fiber optic on the sides of the Docking hatch.

I made interior details for the VIP Lounge and Recreation Room similar to the Botanical Gardens. I used plans from “Mr. Scott’s Guide…” and base it slightly on that. but this is for the NCC-1701A Enterprise vessel that replaced the self destructed original. Decor of the VIP lounge for example was based on the movie “Star Trek V: The Final Frontier”. Scenes in this movie was used as reference for general detail and color. At the center is an old ships wheel from a etched brass ship detail fret. Since Paramount movie producers have little regard for continuity like the stars moving forward and no Stern eye-view of the Warp Engines like ST:TMP, it is still logical to locate the lounge on the “B” Deck in this manner.

Now I can begin to fit the two Primary Hull pieces together. First I had to grind away some plastic material on the lower Primary Hull to allow the LEDs to fit in. I used a Dremel cutter. Another check of the lighting was made and then the LEDs where super glued into the upper hull piece. Fit checks are made and lighting checks. Then the hulls where clamped together with cloths pins and C-clamps.

Next is part 8