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“Complete the ‘cobra-head’ sweep of the ventral neck assembly and see another part of the upper saucer illuminate.“

Contents

Parts

Materials: The Deck Panel U1-01 is metal, but the rest of the non-electrical parts are plastic.

Build

Adding Lights to the Battle Section

Step A

Retrieve your Battle Section Neck assembly from the previous stage. Fit the Right Ventral Neck Reflector Panel to this location on the Right Ventral Neck Panel, as shown.

The windows lit by this panel are molded into the reflector plastic (including the blacked-out dark windows). A pair of dark windows are also pre-installed into the panel nearby:

Slide the two LEDs of a Panel Lights cable into these two slots of the Right Ventral Neck Reflector Panel, as shown.

You may need to lift the reflector up off the panel a bit to get these LEDs under it:

Secure the Right Ventral Neck Reflector Panel to the Right Ventral Neck Panel with two (2) AP screws:

Place a Sticker over this LED as shown to prevent light leaks.

The Stickers were a little narrow for me, so instead I covered the LED with a piece of black electrical tape:

Connect the plug of the Panel Lights cable to this socket of the PCB:

Fit the sloped end of the Docking Alignment Light down into this starboard aft (right side rear) hole of the Battle Section Rear Neck, matching the sloping surfaces to each other, as shown.

Like on the other side, the Battle Section Lights LED that illuminates this green Docking Alignment Light is very bright and will easily show through the seams of the various panels nearby. To try and reduce this light leak, I took small pieces of black electrical tape and tried my best to seal things off. This included wrapping the entire Docking Alignment Light and the LED. Here, it is lit up and there is little to no light leaking around it:

When this is aligned correctly, the exposed end should point straight up:

Step B

Fit the Right Ventral Neck Panel assembly to the Battle Section Neck, aligning the screw holes, as shown.

First, I gently bent the leads of this LED so it would fit inside the neck a little better:

Next, we need to be aware of these interlocking tabs at the front of the two Ventral Neck Panels. They should slot together as shown:

Finally, make sure the top of the green Docking Alignment Light pokes up through the matching hole at the rear of the Right Ventral Neck Panel:

When fitted together correctly, it should sit flush all around the edges:

Secure the rear edge of the Right Ventral Neck Panel into place using two (2) AP screws.

Ensure you are not pinching or trapping any wires while attaching this panel:

Secure the forward edge of the Right Ventral Neck Panel with three (3) BM screws.

This is your friendly reminder to try using 3-in-One Oil on all screws going into metal:

Slide the Battle Section switch to the ON position to test the lights:

Everything works and there is very little light leak!

Assembling Deck Panel U1-01

Step C

Carefully remove seven (7) Clear Windows and six (6) Dark Windows from their sprues and fit them into the back of Deck Panel U1-01, as shown.

Reminder: I sanded all of these windows down already. See The Windows page for more details. Also, I slightly changed the window layout on my panel:

As before, I used pieces of black electrical tape behind the Dark Windows to reduce light leak:

Just for fun, I also colored the back of one Clear Window with my Yellow Brush Sharpie to add a little color variety:

Fit Reflector Panel U1-01-A onto the back of Deck Panel U1-01 covering the windows as shown:

Slide the two LEDs of the remaining Panel Lights cable into these matching notches of the Reflector Panel, as shown:

Secure the Reflector Panel to the Deck Panel with four (4) DM screws:

Remove the backing paper from the Transporter Emitter Pad and stick it into this matching recess of the Deck Panel, as shown.

UPDATE March 2022: After a recent trip to see the real 6-foot studio model in person, I realize these Transporter Pads are the correct color already. I have since stopped adding this wash to them and removed it from those pads already washed. I will leave this mod here for those who still wish to do it.

As with my previous Transporter Emitter Pads, I painted this one with Vallejo Game Wash – Sepia to give it some golden depth, then lightly wiped across the ridges with a damp cloth to expose the lighter original color:

We can test these new window lights by connecting the Panel Lights cable to the PCB and Battery Box:

Thoughts

Only one panel to go and our Battle Section Neck assembly will be finished! We also built another Deck Panel, but that is becoming commonplace in every stage it seems. Keep these parts safe for now.

Next Up

Stage 37 – Deck Panel U3-13, Windows/Reflector/Lights, Escape Pod Covers, Right Neck Panel