Return to the BUILD

“In this phase of the assembly, you assemble the main deflector as well as attaching it and the bridge to the battery as your U.S.S. Enterprise NCC-1701-D lights up for the first time.”

Contents

Parts

Materials: Everything non-electronic in this stage is plastic.

Magazine – Issue 2

• Assembly Instructions: Building the Model
• Separation Anxiety: Part two of Designing the ‘D’
• Hands-On Decks: How Andrew Probert got to grips with Main Engineering and more
• Ship Building: The making of the models that were actually seen on screen!

Free Gift #1 – Collector’s Binder

Build

Assembling the Battery Box

Step A

Insert the Battery Box Nut into this hexagonal hole of the Battery Box.

Be gentle with the solder joints of this Battery Box as the wires are very thin and could break off:

Fit the Battery Box Nut Bracket over the hexagonal hole as shown and secure it into place with two (2) BP screws.

NOTE: The instructions have a misprint here, saying to use BM screws (which are not supplied). This is plastic, so it uses BP screws instead:

Slide three (3) AAA batteries into the Battery Box, noting the polarity of each as shown:

Fit the two tabs of the Battery Box Cover into the matching slots of the Battery Box and pivot the cover closed.

The metal tab of the Battery Box Cover must be bent to touch the matching metal contact inside the Battery Box:

Secure this closed with the Battery Box Screw:

Assembling the Deflector Dish

Step B

Mate the Main Deflector Dish Supports Left and Right to each other as shown:

Secure these halves together with one (1) BP screw.

This screw is short, so do not over-tighten this screw as you may strip it out. If that happens, use one of your spare AP screw from the previous stages:

Fit the two posts of the Main Deflector Dish Inner inside the Reflector as shown, matching up to the screw holes behind it.

There is no up or down on the Main Deflector Dish Inner – it fits either way:

Secure the Main Deflector Dish Inner from behind with two (2) BP screws:

Fit the Main Deflector Dish Support assembly onto these two posts on the back of the Reflector…

… and secure it into place with two (2) BP screws, as shown:

Fitting the Lights

Step C

Fit the LED on the end of the yellow/green wires of the Main Deflector Light cable (marked ‘D’) into this matching notch on the back of the Reflector:

Cover this LED with one of the LED Holders and secure it down with one (1) BP screw, as shown:

Repeat this process with the other LED on the Main Deflector Light cable using the remaining LED Holder and one (1) more BP screw:

Testing the Lights

Step D

Connect the plug from the Main Deflector Light cable to the socket marked ‘D’ on the Printed Circuit Board (PCB). Also, connect the plug from the Battery Box to the socket marked ‘F’:

Be sure to check the holes of these plugs match the pins of the PCB. Trying to insert these plugs backwards can damage the pins:

This should cause the two LEDs mounted in the Reflector to light up.

If they do not, check your connections and ensure fresh batteries are installed in the box correctly:

Disconnect the Main Deflector Light cable from the PCB and retrieve your Deck Two assembly from Stage 1. Connect the following cables from the Deck Two assembly to the PCB:

• Deck Front Window Light cable (marked ‘A’) to the socket marked ‘A’
• Deck Lights cable (marked ‘B’) to the socket marked ‘B’
• Bridge Lights cable (marked ‘C’) to the socket marked ‘C’

NOTE: I am not using the Deck Lights as I painted over my Emergency Flush Vents, but I installed the cable just for this picture. Additionally, while I connected the ‘C’ wire to the ‘D’ socket in this picture, all of the 4-pin sockets are the same so any of them work for this test:

All your Deck Two lighting should now be powered up:

This was a good time to check on the mod work I did back in Stage 1 to minimize light leaking and diffuse the windows. I think it worked out well:

Once you are satisfied with the lighting test, disconnect all cables from the PCB and safely store these parts for later use.

Thoughts

Let there be light! I do wish I had this test PCB back when we were first installing the lights in Stage 1. This would have made it easier to test the mod work I did, but in the end, it turned out just fine. I hope there are more parts to the Deflector Dish assembly it as it doesn’t quite look right at this point. I have a feeling it is going to be many months until we actually install it, so there is still time.

IMPORTANT: Take care handling this Battery Box. The wiring is delicate and can break easily, and it will be installed into the saucer in Stage 114.

Next Up

Stage 4 – 3x Deck Panels, Windows, Escape Pod Covers, Transporter Pad, Reflector Panels/Lights