Constitution Class Refit USS OLYMPIA Polar Lights 1/350 scale UPDATE #21 - The Joining

Greetings!

So the time has come to connect the saucer with the body of the ship.

So this is the start of this build, back in November 2015, just a mock-up of the model partially together.

Now, on with the final steps to attach the saucer/neck to the body.  First for me was to repair the broken wires from the torpedo launchers.

On the secondary hull, I opened up the hole to receive the wiring.

Using an unbuilt neck,  I was able to figure out where the neck meets the hull so I can scrape the paint in areas to let the glue better adhere.

I also added another LED strip just aft of the hole in the upper secondary hull.   I used hot glue as a lens to the LEDs and then put a dull coat on it.

So the process begins...

The long lead of wires are being inserted into the secondary hull.

I used Testors liquid glue in the holes of the secondary hull.  Surrounding the perimeter of the base of the neck I used a two part 15 minute epoxy.  I taped off the entire area of neck connection with yellow 'Frog Tape' so the epoxy wouldn't ruin the paint.  Then putting on a pair of latex gloves, pulled the remaining wires through the hole and gripped the base of the neck and plunged it into the secondary hull.  I then used my hands to clamp down on the secondary hull.

As it start to set, I would walk the model into a mirror to ensure the saucer is indeed perpendicular to the secondary hull and therefore level.  I held that position for a good 30 min while the epoxy set.

So after many long months, the ship is whole.  I have it on it's rod, in a block of 2x10 with a 5 pound weight for balance right now.

The nacelles are there for both balance, weight and to see if it's straight and true. 

After I clean-up the connection where the neck meets the hull and the electrical, I'm onto working on the nacelles, a new part of the build! And finally of course the deflector dish.

Happy Model Building!

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