Yes, Swanny's build motivated me to finally knock the dust off and crack the box open! I hope SWanny doesn't mind if a small attack group starts forming up?
Decided to pull one out of the stash and get to it.
Started on some nacelle mods first by replacing the rear portion with brass tube to improve the uniformity which will look better after lighting. Sank the bologna cut sleeve into the trimmed nacelle which will not only look a lil better at that joint but also help with light leakage more than if I had just glued it to the end cap.
Started to search for a replacement "dome" on the front end and when I first looked at some references I thought the dome was almost an entire sphere perched atop the end. SO, I actually cut apart an automotive bulb (seen in background) and was pretty happy with the effect. Then the majority of references I eventually looked at went contrary to my perception and it appears a 'half sphere/dome cap' is closer. No need to seperate the lightbulb assembly and dress it with diamond bits that way so I'll forego the work.
Opened up the kit's molded in portholes while leaving the lil surrounds (frames?) of each just because I like that look.
And I'm now scratching my head on how much further I wanna go to accurize the various missing portholes/windows and sensor openings? That includes pondering wether or not to rebuild all the sidewalls to include the missing angle and step from the surround into the plane of the top surface?
This will be lit for the "interior", nacelles, weapon, and thrusters.
If anyone is interested in stepping in now and getting it built to your own specs please PM me while changes can be accomodated.
Thanks for looking in.