Painting spokes and lots of intricate details on the deflector dish. I think I might go blind!
This whole process took me about 12 hours over several nights, fighting a cold.
For the electronic portion of the dish, there are two main functions, the dish, and the reaction control thrusters (RCS) on four points of the housing. For the RCS, I had an epiphany! I opted to use ribbon LED over traditional LEDs. Main reason is it installs quicker and will sit closer to the hull.
For the dish, it appears as both blue and amber in Star Trek The Motion Picture (only time it ever appears amber, discounting the reuse of footage in Star Trek II: The Wrath Of Khan). I previously had a bi-polar blue amber LED which I've already used in this build, but decided to buy a lighting kit for it from Tena Controls.
A 9V system with a momentary switch to cycle from OFF to Amber to Blue with fading effects.
My plan to even out the lighting for the backside of the dish is to make the light source 'bigger'.
What you're seeing there is a clear Bussard dome from a 1/1000 TOS USS Enterprise model kit.
I have to say placing it in the housing, I can't help but say it has a passing resemblance to a HAL 9000 computer eye.
I'm replacing the supplied momentary switch with a larger one that matches the other lighting switches I have.
Now, onto painting!!
This is my paint!
I got the idea from a number of years ago painting 'lit windows' on a 22" TOS Cutaway AMT/Ertl model and it was quite effective.
The trick here is to use a new correction fluid and seal it up so it doesn't gum up.
I then scored around each rib with an X-Acto knife, slowly removing the 2mm tape.
The other reason for using 'White Out' is its light blocking properties.
From the back side of the dish.
I also moved on to touching up the paint on the deflector housing.
I then sealed it all with a clear coat, covering up the existing finishes on the sensors and behind the dish.
Here's the dish with its light blocking properties. I also sealed it with Tamiya Flat Clear in a rattle can. Correction fluid easily chips away.
And then front-lit.
That will wrap up this entry, until the next time!
Happy Model Building!
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