USS Enterprise E from Star Trek Nemesis

[urumomo]

Quite the museum piece !

 

[Quaralane]

Very cool, what you're doing with this

 

[dogfish7]

Amazing work.

 

[trekriffic]

Yesterday I scratched a basic interior for the shuttle bay observation/control room. There are two tiny crewmen seated at the two consoles closest to the windows. The windows themselves are translucent enough that they should show up as dark silhouettes when backlit by the LED yet to be installed. This image was taken after brushing with a coat of Light Sea Grey over a coat of primer. The crewmen have since been painted black while the consoles have been painted with the light grey hull color I mixed up. Overkill perhaps but...that's just the way I roll:


USS Enterprise E - Nemesis-WIP- Shuttle Control Room Interior by Steve J, on Flickr


Next I need to decide if I want to use the holes in the photo-etch shuttle bay doors for the fiber strands, as originally planned, to illuminate them or drill two holes in the floor on each side of my scratched interior. The latter option might work better as the fibers could be bent more easily to point downwards with the holes above and further in front of the doors. Using the holes in the PE the fibers would stick straight out rather than directing the light downward in front of the doors. I could bend the fibers but they would be more easily concealed underneath the control room window overhang.

 

[blakeh1]

Very impressive!

 

[Quaralane]

10-4 on the possible overkill, but I'm sure the results will speak for themselves

 

[trekriffic]

Thanks Q!

The deflector dish photo-etch grills were sprayed with Krylon gloss black lacquer followed by a shot of Testors metallic copper enamel from a spray can. Any holes that got clogged were cleared with the sharp end of an exacto knife:


USS Enterprise E - Nemesis-WIP- Deflector Dish Grills by Steve J, on Flickr

This test fit is to help me decide the sequence of joining the secondary and primary hull so as to allow the puttying of the joining of the shuttle bay side walls to the strongback. The Nemesis Enterprise had a smooth transition joint on either side of the shuttle bay doors which I will accomplish using AVES Apoxy Sculpt:

USS Enterprise E - Nemesis-WIP- Test Fit Saucer to Secondary Hull by Steve J, on Flickr

 

[BeebleBrox]

Inspiring stuff!

 

[trekriffic]

Update... Impulse engines...

Plastic sheet was cut to make the walls to house the red impulse engine LEDS. Adhesive backed foil covers the inside face of the walls:


USS Enterprise E - Nemesis-WIP- Impulse Engine LED Compartments by Steve J, on Flickr

It will be cool to see how much brighter the impulse engines glow bouncing light off these mirror-like surfaces:


USS Enterprise E - Nemesis-WIP- Foiled Walls of LED compartment by Steve J, on Flickr

A diffuser panel of milk jig plastic will be stacked against the back of the kit clear plastic to eliminate the major hot spot in the center of the engine vent grills the LED would make:


USS Enterprise E - Nemesis-WIP- Impulse Engine LED Test Fitting by Steve J, on Flickr

Took this picture with some external illuminatIon from my work lamp:


USS Enterprise E - Nemesis-WIP- impulse Vent Light Test by Steve J, on Flickr

Low light test:


USS Enterprise E - Nemesis-WIP-Impulse Engine Exhaust Vent Lit by Steve J, on Flickr

I'll finish installing the starboard LED then make two foil covered floor panels to glue to what would be the bottom of the compartments and seal in the red glowing LEDs.

Next up... I finish the shuttle control/observation room and light it.

 

[Quaralane]

Looking very good there

 

[trekriffic]

Thanks Q!

Skipping around and did something for the Raytheon Effect lower saucer...

Ventral saucer internal forward floodlight for Raytheon Effect:


USS Enterprise E - Nemesis-WIP- Raytheon Effect Lower Saucer by Steve J, on Flickr

3mm diffused cool white flat top wide angle LED is mounted at a slight downward angle about 3/8" above the root of what would be the lower forward floodlight for the ship name and registry. A curved section of white styrene sheet is glued at a downward angle at the front end of the flood zone to bounce light from the LED onto the most forward section of the "flood zone" since light at the root of the beam, closest to the LED, dims the further you get away from it.

Ventral saucer internal forward floodlight for Raytheon Effect:


USS Enterprise E - Nemesis-WIP- Raytheon Effect Lower Saucer Light Test by Steve J, on Flickr

You can see how bright the cool white LED is. I found that, for the light bounce panel, bare white plastic worked better than bright chrome metal foil to Reflect the most light.

Ventral saucer internal forward floodlight:


USS Enterprise E - Nemesis-WIP- Internal Raytheon Effect Lower Saucer LED and Bounce Panel by Steve J, on Flickr

I had to take into account the location of the upper saucer LED and potential bounce panel before I could determine where these lower RE components would be mounted for the lower saucer flood effect. It is important that the LEDs not interfere with each other.

Ventral saucer external forward floodlight simulated using Raytheon Effect:


USS Enterprise E - Nemesis-WIP- Lower Saucer Raytheon Test by Steve J, on Flickr

Ventral saucer external forward floodlight simulated using Raytheon Effect:


USS Enterprise E - Nemesis-WIP- Lower Saucer Raytheon Effect in Action by Steve J, on Flickr

I'm pretty satisfied with the brightness level after adding the internal bounce panel at the front end opposite the LED. I think it will actually get a little brighter after I install the upper saucer LED which will hang just above and aft of the lower saucer LED.

Next I'll do the upper LED floodlight and see if I can run fibers to the forward bow lights from the upper and lower Raytheon Effect LEDs. Then back to finish off the shuttle bay control room and LED lighting. Then need to finish the impulse engine LED installations before sealing up the impulse engine compartments. Then tackle the flasher board and wiring for the flashing lights and the wiring for the always on LEDs.

So not much more.

 

[trekriffic]

Red LEDS and diffusers were sealed up inside the port and starboard impulse engine compartments using epoxy and adhesive-backed aluminum foil:


USS Enterprise E - Nemesis-WIP- Impulse Engine Light Test by Steve J, on Flickr

After inserting milk jug plastic diffuser panels between the 3mm red LEDs and the transparent red kit clear parts, I taped thin styrene sheet panels on what would constitute the floors of the impulse engine compartments. The panels were lined with foil on the inside to reflect the red light from the LED:


USS Enterprise E - Nemesis-WIP- Imulse Engine Compartment Floors by Steve J, on Flickr

Impulse engine frames painted with Krylon Satin Black lacquer followed by Tamiya Metallic Black lacquer:


USS Enterprise E - Nemesis-WIP- Light Test by Steve J, on Flickr

The red LEDs light up well I think:


USS Enterprise E - Nemesis-WIP- Low Light Test by Steve J, on Flickr

 

[urumomo]

 

[trekriffic]

A Kramer thumbs up! What could be better than that!?

 

[Quaralane]

Very nice effect there

 

[trekriffic]

Thanks Q!

Control room was revamped with new smaller "figures". Does not stand up to close inspection but it doesn't have to. The crew are actually painted with the grey and dark red of the Nemesis actors; I say painted but it's more of a suggestion of color. When silhouetted by the cool white LED from behind, you'll mostly just see shapes. To the right are the fibers that will light the front of the shuttle bay doors. The ends were bent to a right angle by bending them over a heated piece of small diameter brass rod:


USS Enterprise E - Nemesis-WIP- Shuttle Bay Control Room by Steve J, on Flickr

 

[trekriffic]

Time for an update I guess. Finally got the LED in place to light the control room and porch lights...

The rectangular LED has two holes drilled into it. Two fibers fit into the holes which then extend thru the hull and then thru two holes in the photo-etch shuttle bay doors. The nib end of each fiber then bends at a right angle to shine downwards on the doors. The LED lights the shuttle bay control room thru a slot carved thru the kit hull covered by a diffuser panel:


USS Enterprise E - Nemesis-WIP- Upper Saucer Shuttle Bay and Door Fiber LED by Steve J, on Flickr

I'm glad I noticed those two holes Paragrafix provided in the hangar bay door photo-etch for the door floods.
No mention is made of them in the PE instructions but in stills from Nemesis there are clearly two lights in those locations on opposite sides of the control room overhang:


USS Enterprise E - Nemesis-WIP- Shuttle Bay Control Room LED and Door Floodlights Test by Steve J, on Flickr

The crew figures are visible as dark silhouettes in the two centermost of the control room's triangular windows:


USS Enterprise E - Nemesis-WIP-Shuttle Bay Control Room and Door Floods Light Test by Steve J, on Flickr

A look underneath at the fibers running to the main shuttle bay porch lights under the control room overhang:


USS Enterprise E - Nemesis-WIP- Porch Light Fiber Optics by Steve J, on Flickr

I epoxied a piece of milk jug plastic to diffuse the light from the LED to the long rows of viewports on each side of the aft docking port. Just for ducks I carved and glued two tiny dark grey plastic figures to the diffuser panel which are barely visible seen thru the translucent plastic panel in this photo:


USS Enterprise E - Nemesis-WIP- Milk Jug Plastic and Shuttle Bay LED by Steve J, on Flickr

A little touch up for the doors and around the control room but I'm really pleased with how this area turned out. Much better than what the kit provided I think:


USS Enterprise E - Nemesis-WIP- Accurized Main Shuttle Bay by Steve J, on Flickr

 

[Quaralane]

Excellent work.
This is reminding me of the reasons I DON'T do my own lighting anymore

 

[trekriffic]

Excellent work.
This is reminding me of the reasons I DON'T do my own lighting anymore

I've soldered enough parallel and daisy-chain circuits over the years to understand what needs to be done. I still buy my flasher boards online though, fortunately they come with instructione on how to hook them up to the LEDs. Someday I need to figure out how to program arduino chips. Would save me a lot of money as flasher board start around 40 bucks and go up and up from there.

 

[trekriffic]

Update...

Worked on a few things the last few days.
One involved wiring up the 1.8mm cool white LED for the quantum torpedo port located above the captain's yacht at the head of the deflector trench.
Here's the LED lit and sitting in a puddle of 5 minute epoxy:


USS Enterprise E - Nemesis-WIP- Light Test by Steve J, on Flickr

Wires were soldered to the LED and taped down with adhesive foil tape:


USS Enterprise E - Nemesis-WIP- Deflector Trench Wired by Steve J, on Flickr

The LED shines thru a piece of transparent blue plastic signaling the launch of a quantum torpedo:


USS Enterprise E - Nemesis-WIP- Quantum Torpedo Port Lit by Steve J, on Flickr

I glued the trench in place in the starboard half of the secondary hull.
It makes it easy to wire as the power jack is located in this half of the hull:


USS Enterprise E - Nemesis-WIP- Deflector Trench Glued by Steve J, on Flickr

The other half of the hull test fitted with the trench in place. Not bad at all: :

USS Enterprise E - Nemesis-WIP- Test Fit by Steve J, on Flickr

I should hopefully have the deflector dish mounted and lit this weekend.

I also put in some work on the aft upper single port photorp launcher that sits atop the shuttle bay.
First thing I did was dig out the sloping trench the launcher sits in using files and dental scraping tools.
This literally took me two hours to finish but I'm pleased with the result:


USS Enterprise E - Nemesis-WIP- Aft Spine Torpedo Trench by Steve J, on Flickr

I'll save making the single port photorp launcher until after the secondary hull is glued together.

Next thing was installing the LEDs in the upper saucer...

3 cool white LEDs, 2 red LEDs, I green flasher, I red flasher, and I cool white flasher:

USS Enterprise E - Nemesis-WIP- Upper Saucer LED Placement by Steve J, on Flickr

All the internal flashing LEDs are painted with black Tulip paint for light blocking after insertion of 30 mil fiber optic strands.
So any formation or running lights on the external hull are the ends of fiber optic strands not LEDs.
Sometimes 1 LED will light up multiple strands of fiber:


USS Enterprise E - Nemesis-WIP- Flasher and Fiber by Steve J, on Flickr

The centermost cool white lighthouse style LED had a hole drilled into the cylindrical portion into which a fiber strand was inserted. It was then light blocked with black fabric paint and a strip of sticky foil tape.
The fiber then feeds thru a hole in a milk jog plastic diffuser panel, then makes a right angle to exit the hull just behind the upper saucer bridge dome.
The LED will be tied into the Tenacontrols flasher board in the lower saucer hull:


USS Enterprise E - Nemesis-WIP- Bridge Beacon Flasher by Steve J, on Flickr

The parallel circuit for the steady on LEDs in the lower saucer Is complete. Power will be supplied by a pair of wires coming up from the secondary hull and soldered to the legs of each LED starting with the Raytheon Effect LED in the center of the saucer.


USS Enterprise E - Nemesis-WIP- Lower Saucer Light Test by Steve J, on Flickr

Next thing is to wire up the upper saucer steady-on circuit.
Then I'll install the flasher board and wire up those circuits.

Thanks for reading and thanks for any comments!