Return to the BUILD

“In this stage, the upper saucer hull plating expands to its widest point on the ship’s starboard side.“

Contents

Parts

Materials: All of the non-electrical parts in this stage are plastic.

Build

Assembling Deck Panel U3-06

Step A

Carefully remove sixteen (16) Clear Windows and fourteen (14) Dark Windows from their sprues and fit them into the back of Deck Panel U3-06, as shown.

Reminder: 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 Dark Windows to reduce light leak. I also colored the backs of a few Clear Windows with my Turquoise Brush Sharpie to add a little color variety:

Fit the LED on the red/black wires of the Deck Panel Lights cable into this notch of Reflector Panel U3-06-A, as shown:

While holding this LED in place, turn the Reflector Panel over and place it onto the back of the Deck Panel. Then, secure these parts together with three (3) BP screws as shown:

Fitting Deck Panel U3-06

Step B

Retrieve your saucer Upper Skeleton assembly from the previous stage. Feed the Deck Panel Light plug of this panel through this opening of the skeleton.

Before fitting this, I gently bent the pins of this edge LED up away from the panel, as shown:

Then, we can run the lighting cable through the Upper Skeleton assembly on the right edge of the saucer, as per the instructions:

Position this Deck Panel onto the skeleton, as shown:

While holding this panel in place, partially secure it down from the other side with one (1) DP screw, as shown:

Slide the free LED of the Deck Panel Lights cable into this notch of the Reflector Panel U3-06-A and gently bend the leads of this LED leads down through this circular notch in the skeleton:

Here is that same circular notch from the underside:

Secure the rest of the panel to the Upper Skeleton with one (1) more DP screw:

Finally, we can test these window lights by connecting the Deck Panel Light cable to the PCB and Battery Box:

Thoughts

Our hull plating has reached the starboard (right) side of our saucer section! This gives us a really good idea of how big the saucer really is. It will actually be a tiny bit wider as we will have to install the rim around these panels later on. Even with the faults, I’m still loving this build!

Next Up

Stage 27 – Deck Panel U2-03, Escape Pod Covers, Battle Section Floor, Windows/Lights