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“In this phase of the assembly, the second of the Enterprise-D‘s many phaser banks fits into place, and the underlying structure of the magnificent saucer section doubles in size.“

Fun Fact: Stage 8 on the Paramount lot is where the filming sets of the Enterprise-D bridge and living quarters were moved to after the first season. With the start of the second season, it also contained the Ten Forward and Observation Lounge sets. Most people didn’t know it, but the Observation Lounge and Bridge were separate sets and not physically connected to each other as they should have been on the ‘real’ ship. That is why you never see a continuous shot of people walking between them on the television show.

Contents

Parts

Materials: The Upper Skeleton and Springs are metal, but the phaser bank parts are plastic.

Build

Fitting the Second Phaser Array

Step A

Place the Neck Phaser Bank Right into its matching slot on the right side of the Battle Section Rear Neck:

Slide the two Springs over the pins of the Neck Phaser Bank Right.

These Springs were tangled up in my parts bag. I gently ‘unscrewed’ them from each other so as to not damage them:

Finally, fit the Neck Phaser Bank Right Base on top of the Neck Phaser Bank Right, compressing the springs, and secure it into place with two (2) AP screws.

The two pins of the Neck Phaser Bank Right should fit up through the matching holes of the Neck Phaser Bank Right Base (arrows below):

From the top side, our neck phaser strips should look like this. These can both be pushed like buttons and will likely trigger switches later on that will control the lighting inside the battle section of our Enterprise:

Extending the Skeletal Structure

Step B

Retrieve your Skeleton assembly from the previous stage. Match the Upper Skeleton 5 to this side of the Skeleton assembly:

Fit the two Upper Skeletons together so the Skeletal Supports line up as shown:

Secure the Upper Skeleton 5 to the two existing Skeletal Supports from the opposite side with four (4) 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:

Thoughts

Well, we now have the front skeleton of our saucer section finished and the phaser/switches on the neck installed. This thing is going to be huge!

Next Up

Stage 9 – Upper Skeleton 3, Windows/Reflector/Light