Exterior Lighting: PL 1:350 Enterprise 1701

Big Jim, you are a BIG TEASE!

I wanna see!  I wanna see what you've got finished so far!  Turn on them lights an' turn off the room lights, an' gimme some PICS!!!!

My suggestion for the nacel is to coat the inside with foil. There is this foil they sell in the hard ware store that is adhesive on one side like bare metal foil for model cars. If you cover the inside with it will reflect the light evenly. It worked on my Voyager where I placed it on the top and bottom halves of the nacel. I know those nacels are shaped different but because it is metal  it works great on interiors and prevents light from bleeding through the plastic so well that you dont have to paint the plastic black where it is applied.

If you're looking for an idea or two...

http://www.auak20.dsl.pipex.com/

gallery/startrek/enterprise 1701a etc...

It's got a series of switches that allow the ship to be seen in 'spacedock' or 'fully powered' and traveling modes...

That's a very good link - exactly the kind of thing I was looking for. It was interesting to see the ways in which I had tried similar things and those in which I was different.

For example, both of us independently came up with the idea of raising the bridge to get light on the saucer. However, this one one raised the existing opening 2mm apparently to about  (.008" + .003") .011" allowing a direct light on the saucer. I shaved off the existing opening, made my own bridge base  to create .008". The lighting is dimmer but the hole is smaller.

On the other hand, we completely diverged doing the forward dish.

I also tend to use mountings made out of I-bar or tube rather than direct gluing to the kit pieces.

So it was interesting to compare and contrast.

 

Fish-Head Aric wrote:

Big Jim, you are a BIG TEASE! I wanna see!  I wanna see what you've got finished so far!  Turn on them lights an' turn off the room lights, an' gimme some PICS!!!!

Yesterday I got a new battery for my digital camera. I took a number of pictures, went to the fine scale forum and it won't let me post. It says I'm logged in but have no posting privilege. I can post from....errrr....work but no pictures here.

On the other hand, I can't say the pictures came out great. The hange looks bright to the eye but comes out a dark tunnel with some side glow in the pictures.

Sorry.

yah, the pics I took of my nacelle lighting in the group build came out looking brighter than they look, so I know what you mean about lighting not being what it seems.

I store my pics online at photobucket.com .  It works very well for online posting.

You may want to try putting the white reflective tape inside the nacelle.  I believe its reflective properties are greater than foil and will more evenly diffuse the light.

Excellent idea!  Been trying to decide something to mount behind the lighting for my 1/1000 nacelle domes.

In making the light box for the "impulse engines", I found that if I made the back oversized it creates a secure gluing point for the angled side pieces that wrap around the engine.

bigjimslade wrote:

That's a very good link - exactly the kind of thing I was looking for. It was interesting to see the ways in which I had tried similar things and those in which I was different. For example, both of us independently came up with the idea of raising the bridge to get light on the saucer. However, this one one raised the existing opening 2mm apparently to about  (.008" + .003") .011" allowing a direct light on the saucer. I shaved off the existing opening, made my own bridge base  to create .008". The lighting is dimmer but the hole is smaller. On the other hand, we completely diverged doing the forward dish. I also tend to use mountings made out of I-bar or tube rather than direct gluing to the kit pieces. So it was interesting to compare and contrast.

Yeah i agree. It is cool to compare. As i said above I use the sticky foil from the hardware store and he lines his kits with something similar and I came up with it independantly as well. I didn't have internet when i started building my Voyager...That's one sweet site and he even has wiring diagrams for all to see!! I love this guy! I have been looking at some AMT Enterprises on Ebay for cheap that I have been thinking about toying with...LOL

1. Colored lights look better than colored plastic with a white light.

2. Use square tube to create the windows in the hangar.