Return to the BUILD
“Continue to develop the structural underpinnings of your Enterprise-D, before using the window placement skills you perfected in the previous [stage].“
Contents
Parts
Materials: In this stage, the Skeletal Supports are metal, but the rest is plastic.
Build
Adding to the Skeletal Supports
Step A
Retrieve your Upper Skeleton assembly from the previous stage. Fit the larger Skeletal Support U5C to this location on the underside of the Upper Skeleton assembly, as shown.
As I have mentioned before, I recommend pre-threading the holes in these Skeletal Supports:
Secure the Skeletal Support U5C into place from the opposite side with two (2) BM screws.
When working with the skeleton frames, be gentle. They are metal, but can bend easily and cause warping of your saucer section. This is also your friendly reminder to try using 3-in-One Oil on all screws going into metal:
Next, fit the smaller Skeletal Support U5B to this location on the underside of the Upper Skeleton assembly, as shown:
Secure the Skeletal Support U5B into place from the opposite side with two (2) BM screws:
Fitting the Windows
Step B
Retrieve your Battle Section Rear Neck assembly from the previous stage. Cut seven (7) Clear Windows from the sprue and fit these Clear Windows into the matching slots on the left side, as shown.
I recommend using sprue cutters or sharp hobby knife here to have as clean a cut as possible. Be sure that the ‘R’ embossed on the back of each window is facing right-side up. On my model, I am following the layout in the instructions, but you can fit these windows in any arrangement you choose.
It is also worth mentioning here that I sanded all of these windows down so they do not stick out of the hull: see The Windows page for more details.
Cut eight (8) Dark Windows from the sprue and fit these Dark Windows into the remaining window slots on the left side, as shown.
Again, make sure the the ‘R’ embossed on the back of each window is facing right-side up:
As before, I used my turquoise Sharpie brush marker to add different color to a couple of the Clear Windows and placed pieces of black electrical tape to mask off the Dark Windows to prevent light leakage:
Installing the Window Lights
Step C
Slot the LEDs on the end of the Right Windows Light cable into the matching notches of the Window Reflector Right, as shown.
I used a tiny drop of super glue to hold these in place to take the picture. However, these lights may need to come out later, so do this at your own risk:
Carefully bend the leads of the LED on the black/yellow wire to a 90° angle, as shown.
There is a notch in the Window Reflector Right for these black/yellow leads to rest in. Also, based on the experience of the previous stage I knew were going to have to do it anyway, so I also bent my red/blue leads back a bit here:
Fit this Window Reflector Right over the Windows we installed earlier, and secure it into place using four (4) BP screws:
This is what the outside of our Battle Section Rear Neck looks like now:
We can test these lights (and the lights from the previous stage) by connecting the Left Windows Light and Right Windows Light cables to two of the 4-pin connectors on the PCB and the Battery Box to the ‘F’ connector of the PCB:
My studio lights make it hard to see the lights, so I also took a picture in the dark with my mobile phone. Potato quality for sure, but you get the idea:
Thoughts
The upper lights of our neck are now installed and working, which is great news! I am looking forward to the next stage as we will be able to see the full width of our saucer’s Upper Skeleton assembly.
Next Up
Stage 11 – Upper Skeleton 2, Left Rear Windows/Reflector, Rear Window Lights