I'm back with my PL Refit...

Wow! I'm no expert modeller, but that looks really awesome to me. Great work there Fly-n-hi . Thanks for the pics and I for one, would like to see more.

Rich

Thanks.  It might be a while.  I just had a light burn out on the inside (again) and I'm gonna have to trouble shoot it.  Obviously I'm doing something wrong with the wiring.

In the mean time you can see all of the pics in my photobucket album here:

http://s89.photobucket.com/albums/k206/Fly-n-hi/USS%20Enterprise/?start=0

Well, it turns out I was using reistors without enough resistance in the light boxes that lit up the Warp Nacelle tails.  I've replaced them and I'm in the process of fixing the big holes that I had to cut into the side of each nacelle (for the second time).

I'll get some new pics soon.

I saw this over on the Hobbytalk forums so I can't take credit for the idea but I used foil tape on the inside of the parts.  I cut out the areas that I wanted to be lit then I used LEDs that were pointed at the exposed areas to give it that spotlight effect.

Here's an example:

http://i89.photobucket.com/albums/k206/Fly-n-hi/USS%20Enterprise/EnterprisePoolLights028.jpg

http://i89.photobucket.com/albums/k206/Fly-n-hi/USS%20Enterprise/EnterprisePoolLights031.jpg

http://i89.photobucket.com/albums/k206/Fly-n-hi/USS%20Enterprise/IMGP2218.jpg

Here's an example of one of the LED "bars" that I rigged up to shine on the exposed areas.  I definitely used more LEDs than I needed to:

http://i89.photobucket.com/albums/k206/Fly-n-hi/USS%20Enterprise/IMGP2224.jpg

http://i89.photobucket.com/albums/k206/Fly-n-hi/USS%20Enterprise/IMGP2212.jpg

http://i89.photobucket.com/albums/k206/Fly-n-hi/USS%20Enterprise/IMGP2211.jpg

This is the back of the Warp Nacelle with a light box that I created that contains 3 LEDs shining on the side of the nacelle:

http://i89.photobucket.com/albums/k206/Fly-n-hi/USS%20Enterprise/IMGP2243.jpg

matthew9 wrote:

Wow! The lighting is really something. Good job and very ambitious.

Believe it or not it's not that difficult.  It just takes a long time to get everything soldered and put into place.  Plus you have to create all the lightboxes and LED holders yourself.

I also have a circuit board that controls the blinking Nav and stobe lights.  I'll have to make a video clip of that.

I finally repaired the lighting issue and fixed the big hole that I had to cut out of the engines.  The ship is pretty much assembled, masked, and ready to paint.  Here's a couple of pics that I just took.

Thank you.

I just painted over most of the light leaks.  I still have some filling and sanding to do.  Here's what I've got so far:

Stunning. That's the only word that fits as far as I'm concerned. My wife and I sometimes go to a Silver City Cinema some 24 miles from where I live, and they have a HUGE Enterprise hanging from the ceiling there (I'll guess 12 feet in dia.) and I thought that was the coolest model of it I ever saw. I stand corrected. Yours is better - not as big, but better! Just a terrific project and thanks for posting.

Rich

Thanks alot.  I really appretiate the compliments.  We'll see if you still think its nice after I paint it because if screw this thing up it will be during the painting process. 

I'm gonna experiment on this one a little bit.  I realize that many of the reference materials show alot light blues and greens.  But when you watch Star Trek II, for example, you really just see different shades of gray (maybe grayish greens, as well).  I want my model to resemble what you see on screen, not what you see in the reference books.  Also, I'm going for the Refit as seen in ST 1, 2, and 3...not the 1701-A version.

Anyways, I should begin painting it this weekend.  I still have just a little filling, sanding, and masking left.

She's a real beauty!

Looking forward to following the up-dates on your build.

Please let me know what colors you'll be using for the paint scheme.I've seen many variations ranging from very subtle, to sharply contrasting.

Wonderful work so far!