Constitution Class Refit USS OLYMPIA Polar Lights 1/350 scale UPDATE #27 - Navigational Deflector part two

Greeting!!

Part one for this deflector section was all about my original efforts to build this section of the ship.  It is very detailed, especially trying to get the ribs painted right and the right amount of diffusion on the dish itself.  This section will cover where I've picked up since a few years ago.

As I was writing the last entry, I started work on this part of the project.  It is fortunate I have more than one of these kits, I actually have 3 of them.  I first bought the original Polar Lights model I bought in 2005, the Round 2 version I bought in 2015 for $80 (unreal, so affordable) and a 3rd one I bought last year, with the intention I will build it as a Star Trek The Motion Picture, 5 colour aztek.  The old kit will be a kit bash down the road, which I'm leaning towards building a 'Heavy Battlecruiser' which would utilize only the saucer, nacelles and the pylons.  To date, I've utilized the arboretum, the shuttle bay (see update #5 http://fordosmodels.blogspot.ca/2016/03/constitution-class-refit-polar-lights_12.html) and now the deflector dish.

This is 'take 2' on the painting of the ribs.  I again used Tamiya tape but this time I masked off all four sides of the rib, rather than cutting out around the ribs which is what I did last time.

Now for the paint test...

Not too bad.  I used liquid correction fluid, applied with a foam brush.

I've used this once before on a model in the 90's to paint white on a grey surface and it's quite effective and is a good light block.  Moving on to the painting of the rest of the part.

First layer of paint is white primer is to help reflect back the white into the clear part and is potentially visible from the clear dish.

I also masked off the backside...

...and primed it white as well.

Once I did that, I moved onto light blocking with grey primer and then re-primed the front with white again so I can easily cover it with the additional colours.

Now, the state of the original part, which hasn't been touched in about 2 years.

the small part inside the dish is the planetary sensor for my 1/1000 USS Enterprise -A which was kept in there for safe keeping.

It seemed like a good idea at the time to light block it first with gray primer and the paint it white, but there were clearly overspray leaks.

I am pleased to see how the different finishes on the 'bolts' turned out.

Here are the two dishes.

2005, reworked part on the left, 2015 part on the right.

And the the new dish mounted in the housing for the kit.

And here is the dish mounted in its original housing.  I can't help but notice this is reminiscent of how the part looks like during the early phases of construction on the studio model.

Here's a comparison of the two parts and a further illustration of how I was originally going to build the 2005 model back then and this current build.

2005 refit bolt covers on the left, the 'A' version on the right in this current build

I then moved onto to painting the accent colours on the dish.  Each ring is painted a different colour, the first being a custom light duck egg blue, which is throughout the model.

Next colour is aluminum on the outer ring, masking the inner ring and the outer flat section.

Now for the backside.  A bit of overspray.

To rid of the overspray, I coated the inside with a combination of mineral spirits and rubbing alcohol 70%, using a tooth pick to pick away at the paint.

you can see mineral spirits pooling inside the dish

And here are the results of multiple passes of doing this.

I also wet-sanded with a sanding sponge in the area behind the ribs.

And a look at the dish in front of a light source.

backside of the dish

front of the dish

Now, time to address the last part, the brass etched part, made by Paragrafix.

This ring recreates the effect of the glowing segments surrounding the dish.

The idea is you paint this then attach it to the clear portion of the dish.

Now for the first light test.

And to see how it fits into the housing.

I then moved onto primer and painting the part.

This test is with a warm white LED behind the dish.  I have to admit it looks quite 'sourcey'.  I will have to use diffusion to create an even lighting on this part.

Now to the fun bit...masking off all of the ribs with tape that is 2mm wide.

Getting there, that's after 3 hours work!  My tools are an X-Acto knife with a #11 blade, lots of toothpicks, jewellers magnifying specs, and a lot of patience.

Part Three of the deflector will be followed up next.  I still have to finish the Warp Nacelles and of course the base which is involved too.

Happy Model Building!

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