USS Enterprise E from Star Trek Nemesis

[trekriffic]

The impulse engines, shuttle control room and porch lights, Raytheon effect LED, and bow running lights all light up! These are the steady-on lights only. Still need to wire the flashers to the flasher board:


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

The impulse engines, shuttle control room, et al, look good externally:


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

The 30 mil fiber strand works well for running and formation lights in 1/1400 scale:


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

A cool white 3mm round top LED illuminates the two stern running lights thru fiber optic strands. It also lights the aft window ports:


USS Enterprise E - Nemesis-WIP- Secondary Hull Stern LED by Steve J, on Flickr

Light test:


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

Next I'll work on the deflector dish.

 

[trekriffic]

Secondary hull lighting...

It's a twisting mess but it works. The unterminated wires at top left will be used to power the flasher board in the lower primary hull and the steady-on circuits in the saucer. The flasher board in the saucer will terminate to flashing LEDs in the saucer, secondary hull, and nacelles which feed fiber optics exiting to the external hull. The unterminated wires to the right (wrapping around the outer hull) will power the nacelle and bussard collector LED's:


USS Enterprise E - Nemesis-WIP- Secondary Hull Lights by Steve J, on Flickr

Thank god for liquid electrical tape:


USS Enterprise E - Nemesis-WIP- Secondary Hull Lights by Steve J, on Flickr

Once the black liquid electrical tape dries I'll paint all the black wires with white enamel:


USS Enterprise E - Nemesis-WIP- Secondary Hull Lights by Steve J, on Flickr

The deflector trench...

I found a piece of styrene tubing that was the perfect size for the diameter of the deflector part. The plastic reflector came from a Dollar Tree booklight and was something I found in my parts stash:


USS Enterprise E - Nemesis-WIP- Secondary Hull Lights by Steve J, on Flickr

In was able to intertwine the wires in such a way that they formed a coiled mass in the center of the hull away from the window ports. It's preferable not to block off windows with wires or wire shadows if possible unless that is your goal:


USS Enterprise E - Nemesis-WIP- Secondary Hull Lights by Steve J, on Flickr

Left to right: quantum torpedo LED, amber orange deflector LED, cool white LED strip, cool white diffused flat strongback windows LED, and cool white stern window/stern beacons LED:


USS Enterprise E - Nemesis-WIP- Secondary Hull Lights by Steve J, on Flickr

I think I got close to the brightness I wanted out of the quantum torpedo port and deflector dish. Note that once I finished soldering the wires for the steady-on LEDs they seemed to form a corkscrew tangle in the middle of the hull. In this way no wires touch the interior sides and no windows are blocked off.
Serendipity it seems as I had not planned it that way:


USS Enterprise E - Nemesis-WIP- Secondary Hull Lights by Steve J, on Flickr

Next up... the flasher board and wiring!

 

[trekriffic]

All solder joints for the secondary hull are done. Just need to paint the black, green, and red wires with white enamel first before gluing the two halves of the secondary hull together. Also will add a milk jug plastic diffusion strip atop the LED strip behind the deflector array:


USS Enterprise E - Nemesis-WIP- Ready for Gluing Together by Steve J, on Flickr

The red wires furthest aft (1 from each nacelle) are soldered to the green wire going to the white belly flashing LED then up to the flasher board. The red wires further forward (1 from each nacelle) are soldered to the negative black wire going to the power jack. Two white wires from each nacelle (4 total) are soldered together then soldered to the positive white wire going to the power jack. They should all tuck in nicely when I seal up the hull:


USS Enterprise E - Nemesis-WIP- Stern Wiring Soldered by Steve J, on Flickr

Tested steady on LEDS and they all work. Ready to glue the secondary hull halves together:


USS Enterprise E - Nemesis-WIP- Nacelle Wires Connected To Circuits by Steve J, on Flickr

Everything looks good. The flashers don't work yet as I still need to connect the green wire to the Tenacontrols flasher board on the lower saucer:


USS Enterprise E - Nemesis-WIP- Secondary Hull and Warp Nacelles Light Test by Steve J, on Flickr

Placed the strongback section on the starboard hull half. The ultrabright LED I added underneath it will really help light these ports up:


USS Enterprise E - Nemesis-WIP- Strongback Windows by Steve J, on Flickr

Three Flashers (green, white, red) connected by green wire. Green, white and black wires will solder to wires from lower saucer:


USS Enterprise E - Nemesis-WIP- Upper Saucer Flasher Circuit by Steve J, on Flickr

Rubber bands hold the hull together for a test fit. All wires tucked in without a hitch. I thought there might be a dead zone in the middle but that apparently was not the case. I think the light bounce off the white interior from having the hull together may have taken care of that. I also painted all the black, green, and red wires white so that may have contributed:


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

The front end where the lifeboat is has a gap I will need to clamp when I go to glue it. It was the same on the other side:


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

The strongback LED and windows light up well I think:


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

Without the strongback in place. The small ultra bright wide angle flat top LED looks so bright! :


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

So that's it so far. Thinks it's time to glue the hull halves together with styrene cement now.

 

[Quaralane]

Incredible work here.
Reminds me that I need to take a break from armorcraft and do some model building

 

[trekriffic]

So I glued the engineering hull halves together then ran the three red, blue, green wires from the engineering hull up thru the hole in the lower saucer. Then I glued the lower saucer to the secondary hull with Testors cement. More soldering ensued and now the upper saucer is electrically connected to the lower saucer half:


USS Enterprise E - Nemesis-WIP- A Tale of Two Halves by Steve J, on Flickr

I didn't notice it before gluing the halves together but the red flasher was barely lighting up in the upper half. The green flasher wasn't much better. On the ventral side though the red and green flashers are a bit brighter, enough to be seen. All are over fiber.
So it appears, I have a ship true to Nemesis with it's CG Ent E which had running lights that either did not flash, only flashed occasionally, or sometimes just glowed!
All in the same movie!
So mine will flash below and, on top, they may either be off or I may paint them with fluorescent red and green for the always on look...
Either way it's canon since we saw it onscreen!


USS Enterprise E - Nemesis-WIP- Connecting the Halves by Steve J, on Flickr

Next I'll work on the smoothing the transition from the dorsal saucer to the secondary hull on either side of the shuttle bay doors using AVES. This was another change made for Nemesis.
I also need to make the single port photorp launcher for the spine over the shuttle bay.
Then I'll add a photorp launcher on the stern under the secondary shuttle bay but it will be pretty simple, same as the bow facing tube on the second level of the superstructure in front of the bridge.

 

[trekriffic]

Some gratuitous shots of the assembled model with lights on. Still a work in progress but getting there....


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


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


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


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

 

[rastanz]

Outstanding.

 

[Quaralane]

Definitely looking the part

 

[trekriffic]

Thanks guys!

Here are the last of the Nemesis modifications...

Easy to miss this stern photorp port but I saw it referenced on a drawing detailing proposed additions to the ship's weaponry for Nemesis. One of the easier mods to make from scratch for this build,
As you can see there will be some more cleanup to do:


USS Enterprise E - Nemesis-WIP- Stern Shuttle Bay Ventral Torpedo Tube by Steve J, on Flickr

This single port photorp launcher is made from styrene tubing and rod. It sits in a shallow trench atop the stern shuttle bay just forward of the beacon. Another mod to the original design made for Nemesis:


USS Enterprise E - Nemesis-WIP- Dorsal Stern Shuttle Bay Photon Torpedo Launcher by Steve J, on Flickr

Using AVES Apoxy putty I sculpted the smoother transition between the dorsal saucer and the secondary hull strongback. I decided to finish one side and let the putty cure overnight before tackling the other side. This modification made for Nemesis is a small difference but it helps the overall flow of the ship I think:


USS Enterprise E - Nemesis-WIP- Strongback Transition Mods by Steve J, on Flickr

I'll finish the saucer/strongback transition on the starboard side then l'll finish puttying some other spots before masking and priming.

 

[trekriffic]

I determined the winglets on each side of the saucer shuttle bay doors were offline, they should lap over the edge of the strongback part and into the secondary hull. They were too wide too and needed to be more tapered so I carved, filed, and sanded the cured Apoxy Sculpt then added some more AVES, pulling and blending with fingers and sculpting tools to form an unbroken curve around the spinal plate atop the secondary hull:


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

I'm much happier with the smooth flow between the saucer and engineering hull now. Next I'll brush some Mister Surfacer on:


USS Enterprise E - Nemesis-WIP- Saucer Transition Zone Winglets Corrected by Steve J, on Flickr

The slanted rectangle of white styrene above the stern shuttle bay doors (which will get a black window port when finished) was blended into the beacon platform above the shuttle bay with AVES to make one continuous platform:


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

The upper saucer transition to secondary hull zone and spine was brushed with Mister Surfacer. It feels nice and smooth after all the sanding. AVES is so great for sculpting:


USS Enterprise E - Nemesis-WIP- Brushing on Mister Surfacer 500 by Steve J, on Flickr

With the lights down I turned on the power and circled windows that glowed too brightly in pencil. These windows happened to be located above the LED strips inside the hull so they blew the scale effect, no ship would have cabins that glowed like the sun. Once I knew which windows were involved I filled them with AVES. They will become black windows when I've finished applying the Aztec decals:


USS Enterprise E - Nemesis-WIP- Filling in Beaconing Windows by Steve J, on Flickr

Next up... respraying the starboard impulse engine frame with metallic black. Then finish masking the upper nacelle milk jug panels, the deflector dish, the impulse engine vents (again), the nav and formation lights, And the upper saucer Raytheon floodlight. Then I think I'll add the phaser strips I cast from jeweller's resin to the trailing edges of the upper and lower surfaces of the nacelle struts. Then I'll shoot her with grey followed by white primer before applying the main hull color. I may mask off the phaser strips first though.

 

[Hagoth]

Such attention to so many little details. Looking very cool!

 

[trekriffic]

Greetings fellow modelers and model fans. I hope everyone is well during these trying times...

Back on May 15, I posted a photo of an assembled nacelle showing how it looked lit up. I had wanted to show some in progress photos of the inside of the nacelle showing how I wired the LEDs and created diffusers to give the warp engines a nice even glow. Unfortunately, I was not able to transfer the photos on my camera at that time due to a new company policy that blocked all employees from using thumb drives or loading images off cameras using my company provided laptop's USB port. I could have done it over wi-fi but my camera doesn't have that capability so there they sat locked inside my Canon EOS Rebel t1i until I could either get a new camera with wi-fi or get my own personal laptop.
Since then, I have been able to post images using photos taken on my iPad which I discovered has a very good camera. Then I, along with most of my department, got laid off from our jobs at AT&T. Being almost 63 and vested in my company pension plan I decided to take the severance payment and retire effective September 8, 2020 on my last day of employment.
Anyway, this means I will be losing my work laptop so... I FINALLY GOT MY OWN PERSONAL LAPTOP!
It's got a 17.3" screen and more importantly, it has a read/write DVD/CD ROM drive; not easy to find in an off-the-shelf computer at COSTCO.
One of the first things I did was load it up with the Canon EOS utility software using the software CD That came with the camera. Then I plugged the camera and downloaded the images. So without further delay, here are the photos showing how the nacelle lighting effect was accomplished...

Milk jug plastic is trimmed to fit along the opening carved out on the top of the nacelles for the blue glowing grills. The diffusers will help eliminate LED hot spots from the blue LED strips underneath:

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[url=https://flic.kr/p/2jDMfAR]USS Enterprise E - Nemesis-WIP- Nacelle Diffusers by Steve J, on Flickr

This foam packing sheet will further diffuse the LED glow on the top of the nacelles:


USS Enterprise E - Nemesis-WIP- Foam Packing Sheet by Steve J, on Flickr

Here is a test with the LED strip lit up under the milk jug plastic panels but no folded layer of foam packing sheet in between:


USS Enterprise E - Nemesis-WIP- Diffusion Test 1 by Steve J, on Flickr

With the foam packing material in between the milk jug panels and the LED strip virtually all hot spots have been eliminated:


USS Enterprise E - Nemesis-WIP- Diffusers with Foam Packing Sheet Test 2 by Steve J, on Flickr

Two channels were carved out along the trailing edge of each nacelle, One groove will handle the two wires from the flashers at the aft end of the nacelles, the other will handle the wires connecting to the blue LED strip and the orange-red LEDs in the bussard dome:


USS Enterprise E - Nemesis-WIP- Carving Out Wiring Channels by Steve J, on Flickr

Three flat topped amber LEDs stacked and staggered as shown in cross sectional diagrams of the E bussards online. The clear plastic bussard inserts have been brushed with Tamiya transparent red acrylic on their inside surfaces:


USS Enterprise E - Nemesis-WIP- Bussard LED Assembly by Steve J, on Flickr

Bussard LED assembly light test. The three LEDs were connected in series using two 150 ohm resistors soldered together as I did not have a 330 ohm resistor:


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

A single cool white LED lights the upper and lower flashers using short lengths of bent fiber optic strand:


USS Enterprise E - Nemesis-WIP- Aft Nacelle Flashers by Steve J, on Flickr

The LED strip and bussards shown wired together and lighting up just fine. I'll add the foam diffuser sheet in between the strip and the diffuser panels before sealing the nacelles up:


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

Just one more thing to add to the bussard before gluing the nacelle halves together:


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

To diffuse the bussards I packed torn cotton ball material in between the LEDs and the nose of each nacell:


USS Enterprise E - Nemesis-WIP- Cotton Added by Steve J, on Flickr

The upper strut half will be glued to the lower strut half once the styrene cement gluing the nacelle together dries:


USS Enterprise E - Nemesis-WIP- Nacelle Glued Together by Steve J, on Flickr

The assembled warp nacelle all lit up:


USS Enterprise E - Nemesis-WIP-Nacelle Lit by Steve J, on Flickr

Thanks to all who have continued following this build. I hope you have enjoyed this journey back in time. We now take you back to your regularly scheduled programming. I'll have some new pics shortly showing the E in her current state. Stay safe everyone!

 

[trekriffic]

Here are some new pics...

This is the phase called pointing up when you go over each centimeter of the hull looking for any stray paint, epoxy, or putty then cleaning them up before priming:


USS Enterprise E - Nemesis-WIP- Ventral-Almost Ready for Primer by Steve J, on Flickr

Looking pretty good:


USS Enterprise E - Nemesis-WIP- Dorsal-Almost Ready for Primer by Steve J, on Flickr

The trench got some additional puttying, filing and sanding. Special attention was payed to the corners at the top of the wall behind the dish. Scribing tools came in handy:


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

The aft running light (non-flashing) /control room window platform was filed and sanded to shape:


USS Enterprise E - Nemesis-WIP-Stern Attention by Steve J, on Flickr

Next I'll finish masking the running and navigation lights before shooting her with an overall primer coat.

 

[rastanz]

You're really going to town with the lighting on this, fantastic.

 

[Quaralane]

Most impressive

 

[trekriffic]

Deflector trench reworking...

Now I have a concave trench with a transition zone from a flat to a curved roof (or floor depending on your viewing angle).
Adding the strips along the rim helped re-establish the edge and gave me something to putty up to:




USS Enterprise E - Nemesis-WIP- Final Trench Mods by Steve J, on Flickr


Did some more work on the back wall around the deflector dish:




USS Enterprise E - Nemesis-WIP- Back Wall by Steve J, on Flickr


So I spent a couple of days off and on trying to improve what I just did to the deflector trench.
The curvature of the sidewalls transitioning from a flat area in front of the dish to a curved area behind the yacht is rather complex. In my case it was too flat behind the yacht and the sidewalls were curved the wrong way, at least from what I could see in the CGI images.
They needed to be concave not convex.

So I carved and sanded away most of what I had done until the sidewalls were angled but flat then added strip
styrene around the rim with a slight overhang to putty up to using AVES. I'm happy now:




USS Enterprise E - Nemesis-WIP-Transition Zone by Steve J, on Flickr


The original stern strongback photorp launcher had turned into a lump due to all the Mister Surfacer and primer I'd brushed on it so I dug it out of the trench and made a new one that more closely resembles the one shown in the CGI images. I also installed the homemade resin cast nacelle strut phaser strips top and bottom along the trailing edge:




USS Enterprise E - Nemesis-WIP- Reworked Photorp Launcher by Steve J, on Flickr


Am I nuts or do I see two heads in this image?

The front ends of the nacelles look like old men wearing tall, conical red, white, and dark grey crowns atop their heads.

There is even what looks like a round blue stone on each of their brows.
You can see eyes, noses, and mouths making an "Oh" sound; this being the hole for the nacelle cover grill locator pin which will be glued on later.
Anyway... I brushed liquid mask over the flashing and other running lights.
Pointed up any areas of Mister Surfacer or putty getting rid of any crapola that would not appear on the exterior of a "real" starship.

Masking is done! On to the pointing up/priming stage:




USS Enterprise E - Nemesis-WIP- Two Old Men - Dorsal Ready for Priming by Steve J, on Flickr


A light coat of Mister Surfacer this time on the single photon torpedo launcher and spine.
Also the strut phaser strips got some Perfect Plastic Putty to fill in the tiny gaps around the edge:




USS Enterprise E - Nemesis-WIP- Photorp Launcher Primed by Steve J, on Flickr


Took some time to meticulously go over the exterior and clean off any residue of glue, primer paste, or putty.
Also wiped her down with a rag soaked in 70% isopropyl alcohol to eliminate any oils or stains.
Finished masking the formation and running lights with liquid mask. Ready for priming I think:




USS Enterprise E - Nemesis-WIP- Ventral Ready for Priming by Steve J, on Flickr

 

[urumomo]

" Now I have a concave trench with a transition zone "

Ouch - I hope you have a good doctor

 

[urumomo]

...and , yeah - the nacelles have that bearded-wizard visage going on

 

[Quaralane]

Definitely getting there. Nice to see her mostly together there

 

[urumomo]