Return to the BUILD
“A long stretch of the port-side saucer takes shape in this stage, combining deck assemblies from earlier in the build.“
Contents
Parts
Materials: All of the non-electrical parts in this stage are plastic.
Build
Assembling Deck Panel U3-14
Step A
Carefully remove six (6) Escape Pod Covers, eighteen (18) Clear Windows and eleven (11) Dark Windows from their sprues and fit them into the back of Deck Panel U3-14, 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 Escape Pod Covers and Dark Windows to reduce light leak:
Fit Reflector Panel U3-14-A onto the back of Deck Panel U3-14, covering the windows as shown:
Slide the LED on the red/black wire of the Deck Panel Lights cable into this notch of the Reflector Panel:
Secure the Reflector Panel to the Deck Panel with three (3) BP screws:
We can test these new window lights by connecting the Deck Panel Lights cable to the PCB and Battery Box:
Fitting Deck Panel U3-14
Step B
Retrieve your Upper Skeleton assembly and thread this Deck Panel Lights cable through this opening.
If you haven’t noticed, I find it easier to fit the Deck Panels with everything upside down. To make room for this new panel, I gently bent the leads of the LED of neighboring Deck Panel U3-13 up into the skeleton, as shown:
Then, I threaded the Deck Panel Lights cable of our new panel through the skeleton per the instructions:
Thread the LED on the yellow/white wires of the Deck Panel Lights back down through this other opening of the Upper Skeleton.
Based on my test-fitting of this panel, I threaded this wire through a different opening, as shown here:
Slide the LED on the yellow/white wires of the Deck Panel Lights into this notch of the Reflector Panel:
Position the Deck Panel onto the Upper Skeleton.
Before fitting this panel, I gently bent the leads of the LED with the yellow/black wires to run alongside the edge of the panel, as shown. There is a gap these wires can pass through between the panel reflectors once installed:
Secure the Deck Panel U3-14 assembly into place with two (2) DP screws:
Step C
Connect the plugs of the Deck Panel Lights from this new Deck Panel and the panel from the previous stage to these two sockets (marked ‘A’) of the Saucer PCB 1.
These 4-pin plugs can be connected to any of the PCB sockets NOT marked ‘G’, so I chose these two sockets based on wire length:
Use the Cable Ties to tidy up the wiring.
On my model, I will wait to add any Cable Ties until more wiring is installed so it can all be routed together.
Fitting Deck Panel U3-15
Step D
Retrieve your Deck Panel U3-15 assembly from Stage 29 and route the Deck Lights Panel through this opening of the Upper Skeleton:
Thread the LED on the red/black wires of the Deck Panel Lights back down through this other opening of the Upper Skeleton, as shown:
Slide the LED on the red/black wires of the Deck Panel Lights into this notch of the Reflector Panel.
You may need to temporarily loosen the BP screws holding the reflector to the panel in order to fit this LED into place:
Position Deck Panel U3-15 onto the Upper Skeleton.
To make the wiring of this panel fit better in the skeleton, I gently bent the leads of this LED vertical as shown:
Then the panel slid up to the Upper Skeleton quite nicely:
Secure the Deck Panel U3-15 assembly into place with two (2) DP screws:
Fitting Deck Panel U3-16
Step E
Retrieve your Deck Panel U3-16 assembly from Stage 30 and route the Deck Panel Lights cable through this openings of the Upper Skeleton.
As before, I made some quick adjustments to the wiring before we start threading the cables for this new panel. First, I gently bent the leads of this LED in the neighboring Deck Panel U3-15 up into the skeleton, as shown:
Next, I gently bent the leads of the LED on the yellow/white wires of the current Deck Panel U3-16 up into this notch of the reflector. I find it strange that this notch is not mentioned in the instructions as it appears to be specifically designed for this purpose:
Then, I threaded the Deck Panel Lights cable of our new panel through the skeleton per the written instructions:
Thread the LED on the red/black wires of the Deck Panel Lights back down through this other opening of the Upper Skeleton.
Based on the angle of the red/black wires, I chose to route this LED through a different opening of the skeleton:
Slide the LED on the red/black wires of the Deck Panel Lights into this notch of the Reflector Panel.
You may need to temporarily loosen the BP screws holding the reflector to the panel in order to slide this LED into place:
Position Deck Panel U3-16 onto the Upper Skeleton, as shown:
Secure the Deck Panel U3-16 assembly into place with two (2) DP screws:
Starting on the Right Neck Panel
Step F
Retrieve your Right Neck Panel from the previous stage and fit the Right Neck Front Windows onto it, as shown.
These windows are not secured in place just yet, so just keep these parts together until we attach the reflector panel in the next stage:
Thoughts
With this stage (and this issue) complete, we have constructed the entire forward edge of the upper saucer Deck Panels. In the next issue, we will finish up the Battle Section Neck and add a few more Deck Panels to our Upper Skeleton.
Next Up
Stage 39 – Deck Panel U2-07, Windows/Reflector/Lights, Escape Pod Covers