Return to the BUILD

“Install the battery box that will power the battle section of your Enterprise-D, and add another section of the saucer section’s dorsal hull.“

Contents

Parts

Materials: The Deck Panel U2-06 and Transporter Emitter are metal, but the rest of these parts are plastic.

Build

Fitting the Battle Section Battery Box

Step A

Retrieve your Battle Section Skeleton assembly from Stage 19 and your Battery Box from the previous stage. Fit the Battery Box to the bottom of the Battle Section Skeleton assembly as shown, and secure with two (2) BM screws.

Be gentle with the solder joints of this Battery Box as the wires are very thin and could break off. This is also your friendly reminder to try using 3-in-One Oil on all screws going into metal.

Carefully place the Battery Box Nut into this matching hexagonal hole of the Battery Box:

Fit the Battery Box End Cover over the nut, align the screw holes, and secure it into place with two (2) BP screws:

Building and Fitting Deck Panel U2-06

Step B

Fit the three posts of the Dorsal Phaser Array II into the matching holes on top of Deck Panel U2-06, as shown:

Secure the Dorsal Phaser Array II into place from below with three (3) CP screws:

Remove the backing paper from the Transporter Emitter and place it into the matching recess on top of Deck Panel U2-06, as shown.

As I did with the first Transporter Emitter in Stage 4, I lightly coated this one with Vallejo Game Wash – Black and wiped the top layer off with a damp cotton swab. It will dry lighter than you see here:

Then, using tweezers, I fit the Transporter Emitter into place on the deck panel:

Carefully remove two (2) Clear Windows and three (3) Dark Windows from their sprues and fit them (and the five (5) Escape Pod Covers) to the back of Deck Panel U2-06, as shown.

When removing parts from sprues, I recommend using sprue cutters or sharp hobby knife here to have as clean a cut as possible. These windows are not secured yet, so be careful handling this panel so they don’t go flying everywhere.

It is also worth mentioning here that I sanded all of these windows down already. See The Windows page for more details:

As before, I used pieces of black electrical tape behind the Escape Pod Covers and Dark Windows to reduce light leak. I also colored dots on the Clear Windows with my Red Brush Sharpie just to add some color variety:

Retrieve your Upper Skeleton assembly from the previous stage. Fit the deck panel to this location and secure it with one (1) BM screw.

This one screw is enough to hold the panel in place for now and capture the Escape Pod Covers and windows so they don’t fall out:

Here is the panel we just installed:

Arranging the Lights and Securing Deck Panel U2-06

Step C

Identify the Deck Panel Light cable we installed back in Stage 19:

Run the unused LED of this cable under these ribs of the Upper Skeleton assembly (arrow below) and into the open top notch of Deck Panel U3-11 (circled below), as shown:

Slide the plug of the Deck Panel Light cable included in this stage under this rib of the Upper Skeleton assembly:

Slot one of the LEDs of this cable into this top notch of Deck Panel U3-12, as shown:

Finish securing Deck Panel U2-06 to the skeleton with five (5) more BM screws:

Thread the other LED of this cable under this rib of the Upper Skeleton assembly, as shown:

Thread the free LED of the Deck Panel Light cable we installed in the previous stage through this slot in the Upper Skeleton, as shown.

This LED will be used in a future deck panel, but this puts it in place now for easier installation when that time comes:

Finally, finish securing Deck Panel U2-06 to the lower panels with four (4) EM screws, as shown:

We can now test these newly fitted lights by attaching them to the PCB and Battery Box test kit:

And, with the studio lights off, we can see all of these lights working as expected:

UPDATE: As I was completing the stages of Issue 10, I decided to change the wash color on the Transporter Emitter Pads to Vallejo Game Wash – Sepia. As sepia is more brown, it feels a bit more natural than the black wash. Since this is acrylic-based, a cotton swab and some isopropyl alcohol removed the old wash even with the pads installed on the Deck Panels. Then, I just painted the new wash on and wiped off the ridges:

Thoughts

While we added a Battery Box to the battle section neck, this stage was mostly about adding another deck panel. Nothing too crazy this time!

Next Up

Stage 22 – Deck Panel U3-08, Escape Pod Covers, Windows/Reflector/Lights, PCB, Docking Latches