different scale build. 1:350

[toka100]

after pressure from customers at my store i decided to try model building again. after 13 years of not building anything model wise it would have been smart to build something simple to get back into it. seeing this video i decided that was what i wanted to do. Polar Lights USS Enterprise NCC-1701 1/350 scale model Star Trek Motion Picture - YouTube





i picked up the kit from my store and right away was baffled by the size of it. i knew i could finish it if i can keep intrest in it. so my goals are:

at least one hour a night building,
full lighting designed and built by me. which includes nav light. strobes the pulsating warp drives.
have it done before April,
find a place to display it. i have a small apartment,
first try with photo etch parts.


i have had the kit for a little over a week now. the majority of the time has been painting the inside. with the leds lights i have to block all the light from bleeding through the plastic. so each hull piece has been getting 3 coats of flat black then 2 coats of white. i have most of the parts at least with one coat of black. this has used up 2 cans of the 98 cent walmart spray cans of black and one of white.


i started on the lighting circuts.
2012-12-13_14-13-49_503.mp4 video by toka1002 | Photobucket


which is the strobes and the nav lights.

i also started with the inteior lights on the saucer.



2012-12-14_20-55-20_695.mp4 video by toka1002 | Photobucket
soda can for size comparison. tell me what u think so far. this will be a long build. which u can tell. i will try getting some vids up of the nav lights working tonight

nav lights working
2012-12-15_00-02-01_634.mp4 video by toka1002 | Photobucket

[DVS]

Nice start. The one in the video is awesome, Great detail.

[Charlie-III]

Pretty cool.

I will keep an eye out for updates.

[93 FORD BRONCO]

I used to be really into scale models. I've grown away from it over time as I simply don't have the time for it anymore. I have one model of a ww2 destroyer I have been slowy working on for about 2 years now. Just whenever I have absolutely nothing else to do I will put a little work into. But it's rare for me to work on it. The last model I did was a 1/350 revell Bismarck. An excellent model and it came out rather well IMO for someone who was probly 14 or 15 at the time. Over time my hobby has migrated to scale crawlers which in its own way is alot like scale models.

[toka100]

few updates.

more light blocking. this plastic is so thin. easy to drill and cut but crap for light. i got the neck mounted and lighted. i also finished the blue thing in the back of the saucer. i wanted to diffuse the light so the led wasnt as noticable. i ended up gluing a section of tissue paper under the lense and it seems to work out really good. the pics show it as a light blue but it is more of a deeper royal blue color.






i have to finish the strobe light, the two rear nav lights and the flood lights for the saucer section then it will be finished. then the hard part. putty work, sanding then paint. decals are also going to be a pain. every inch of this thing is covered with decals

i also started on the flood lights in the saucer. to make everything fit i had to sand down a 3mm led to a flat 1mm.


to keep the wiring simple i soldered the 3mm to the strip led.
.

i am getting real good at demounting the surface mount leds from the strip and adding wires to them..

finally a dry fit all together. i am still waiting for the photoetch kit to come in so i can work on the shuttle hanger and other internal sections.

[C*H*U*D]

Originally Posted by toka100

first try with photo etch parts.

I'm looking forward to seeing where this comes into the project. I've always wanted to try that.

Originally Posted by toka100

soda can for size comparison. tell me what u think so far.

I think you drink a lot of Mountain Dew

[toka100]

Originally Posted by C*H*U*D

I'm looking forward to seeing where this comes into the project. I've always wanted to try that.




I think you drink a lot of Mountain Dew

lol i like my mountain dew

quick update. i worked on the warp drives. or at least one of them. i was mostly concerned about diffusing the light. the tissue paper worked great with this part also. the pics will show the difference alot better then me explaining it.

clear plastic can see exactly where the leds are with just small lighted areas.


contrast turned down. much closer to the real color just not as bright.



frosted plastic lens. the light is broken up a bit. it is still easy to see where the led are at.

low contrast


frosted plastic lens with standard tissue paper glued to the back. even color no noticable hot spots from the leds. even with low contrast.



the tissue paper gives the warp drives more of a glow then just a light.

[toka100]

slowly adding more lights. i soldered the flasher circuit together instead of the temp breadboard. i also have to buy a new tip to my weller soldering iron. it broke off after a slight mishap. still waiting on the photo etch kit which is all but stopped the building for now.. here is how it looks now


flood lights


side view

[crash]

If it doesn't move on its own isn't it a model? Just sayin....

[C*H*U*D]

Originally Posted by crash

If it doesn't move on its own isn't it a model? Just sayin....

I thought that's what he said in his first post?

Originally Posted by toka100

... i decided to try model building again.

Looks great!! I would have loved to have this in my room when I was a kid. Hell, I'd like to have it now