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NSEA Protector Galaxy Quest

19K views 116 replies 24 participants last post by  RetiredMSgt1701 
#1 · (Edited)
Hey Fellow Modelers,

This will be my first thread and build log that I have done on HobbyTalk. I have been lurking here quite a bit and decided to jump in the pool, so to speak, and learn from some of the Master's here!

I have always loved Star Trek:TOS growing up and used to run home after grade school to watch it in re-runs on local stations. When Galaxy Quest came out, I fell in love with the parody and immediately started saluting random people with the Galaxy Quest salute! When I got back into modeling a couple of years ago, I jumped at the chance to purchase and build the NSEA Protector!

In the middle of researching for build logs and threads of the Protector, I stumbled onto several websites, this one in particular and, specifically Tim Nolan's "Lighting ALL of the Galaxy Quest "Protector"; which, I am sad to note, was not finished to completion; at least in the build thread! I borrowed several ideas from his build and incorporated it into mine. I am by no means done with mine, but I would like to share where I started from to current status in an attempt to finish a lighted model.

I am not arrogant enough to presume I am the epitome of modeling excellence, but I would like to try and put out a resource for others who may want to build the model and want to avoid my mistakes!

Also, I do want to learn how to improve my building and I can best do that by input from excellent modelers just as frequent here!

Thanks!

Steve
 
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#3 · (Edited)
Okay, so I started with the normal box shot. This one is a recent gain from Pegasus Hobby and it is very much the same as many others on the net.

NSEA Protector Box Art

Of course the first thing I did was do a dry assembly to see what I was facing.

20160918_145543

Then I started in with a pin vise to drill out the windows!


Primary Hull lighting External

The main concern, though, is not HOW TO GLUE it together so much as HOW TO HIDE THE WIRES in the body and wings. I am thinking I will have to create "channels" in the wings for some very small gauge wire (30 gauge AWG or smaller) to get power to the wings. I guess I will have to get a thickness gauge to help me make sure I don’t perforate the plastic while making the channels. Some of the lighted builds I have found tend not to show this aspect; and I can see why. Here is a pic I snapped this morning. There is only a very small opening in the wing, to the left of the picture, where some wire may go. I still haven't applied to many brain cells to it yet, but it will definitely be a challenge.

No room in the Bussard Collector

I'll try and keep these initial posts short - I love to write.

Let me know what you think and any suggestions for improvement are always welcome!

More to come!

LLAP!

Steve
 
#4 ·
Steve - have you ever used magnet wire? It's super thin and you can burn off the plastic coating with a solder to make your connections. I've used it in my 1:350 TOS E build and love it (can't take credit for it, though - Boyd's videos on his build are what turned me on to it. I got mine from Radio Shack).
 
#15 · (Edited)
Greetings Fellow Modelers!

Thanks for the encouragement, Dr. Brad!

Oh, I am no stranger to the camera or to taking pictures, Jodet! For my 1974 AMT TOS Enterprise build, I ended up with over 1400 pictures! :D And thanks for your kind words!

I did do some light blocking on the ventral primary hull and the wings! At least this was forward progress!

Brake pads and light blocking

Kinda looks like brake pads! :D

Light blocking Wings and Hull

While waiting on some parts, I decided to try and work on lighting the Engine Pods. Once again, I found out that this model has very little room for lights, resistors or wires! :-[

As you can see, I used 30AWG magnet wire across the Ventral primary hull. I am hoping that it will be able to handle carrying all the power I need for the wings without heat.

First use of 30AWG wire



Yep, you and Ross were right, Fozzie! In trying to fit the parts together to evaluate the space, I decided to ream out the supports for the wings. The model depends on friction between the, I don't know the exact term to call them, male and female parts on the wings and body. I decided to ream out the female receivers to allow me to quickly assemble and disassemble the parts as needed. Using a power drill and a bit slightly larger than the receiver, I set out to reduce the friction. But I did a newb mistake and ended up putting a hole in the hull! CURSES!

20170122_174850

A bit of putty and sanding will fix it but I hate it when I create more work than I save!

So leaving this, I made the lighting for the Port engine pod. After several attempts, I settled on this arrangement of the lights. Not my best work. Still working through if there is a better way to do things. Standby.

Aft Engine First Light

Another issue reared it's ugly head, again! When I added the resistor in the wing, thinking there would be space for it, there wasn't space. SOOOOOOoooooo, I will have to put the resistor in the pod with the lights. Woohoo! Still, I had to take a picture of the lighted pod! It is gonna look SOOOOO COOOL!

Aft Engine Lights Dark

I figured I had discovered enough ways something didn't work and called it quits for the day.

Thanks for reading; if you made it this far! Writing these logs helps me think through obstacles so thanks for your indulgence! ANY suggestions, no matter how small, would be appreciated and comments, inputs and constructive criticisms are always welcome!

Never Give Up! Never Surrender!

Steve
 
#6 · (Edited)
More holes drilled

Ross and Fozzie, thanks for the posts! I did decide to use 30AWG magnet wire on a majority of the ship. That stuff is really nice for tight spaces! Unfortunately, I could only find the red color so I ended up using electrical tape to let me know the negative from the positive wires.

While looking for some reference builds/threads on the web for the Protector, I found precious little on lighted Protectors. And, as I have noted before, even fewer builds are understandably completed. This model does not easily lend itself to wiring or lighting. But, not knowing any better, I'm gonna try anyway! ;D ;)

Okay, on to the build. I think I have most of my lighting figured out. I am going to build this one on a 12V setup as I have a spare 12V power supply given to me. I think I have overestimated the resistors so no popping the LEDs. It wasn't until I arranged the LEDs on the breadboard that I noticed the colors where quite patriotic; ya know, for an American, Brit, or French! ;D

Breadboard light scheme

I also noticed from my DVD that there were two lights on the fantail, both port and starboard, that were white; presumably windows. I had planned for a single white LED to be put back there, but then I also noticed some red approach lights for the Surface Pods on the ventral surface of the fantail. So now I am toying with the idea of placing a small red LED back there as well attached to some fiber optics. Have settled yet but working on it.

Aft Windows
Aft Red Running Lights

I thought I had all the planning complete, so I went forward with the light blocking. The instructions recommend starting with the primary hull before any other and, to my thinking, is the best for lighting, too.

White Light Blocking

I was thinking how I was going to physically, light the thing, especially without SMDs (haven't reached that stage in my building skills yet) and with the primary hull's curved surface. I decided on a platform sitting on top of the interior support for the mounting display. The model has an insert in the ventral primary hull (a separate section) which runs up into the dorsal primary hull through which I can, hopefully, run the wires and power. The platform will keep the dorsal hull's LEDs and wire out of the way until I can fully assemble them.

Primary Hull Lighting

I originally thought to only use two white LEDs for the dorsal primary hull's lighting, but the platform only lit the Aft portion of the windows; reference above where I thought I had this all planned out! :D So I added a third LED to the anterior of the platform. I think I have the hull window lights sorted. Whaddayathink?

Primary Hull lighting External

Well, that's it for now
Thanks, as always for reading and commenting!

Never Give Up! Never Surrender!

Steve
 
#7 · (Edited)
Pie Day (3.14)

It’s Pie Day so I can post three times, right?! :)

Here is the plan for wiring this beasty!

NSEA Protector Lighting A1

My initial plan was to make the Command Module (CM) removable, but, as you will see, I decided on a different tact.

I built and placed the red LED in the Aft of the Primary Hull. For the lack of names for these lights, I'm gonna call them approach lights for the Shuttlebay. I also placed a white LED for the AFT window lights. It doesn't look like I have light bleed between the two, but once I get the two halves ready to seal up, I was thinking of putting some Tulip paint between the red and white, ya know, just in case.

20161208_084651

I did a test fit of the halves and I looks like I will have some external light blocking issues from the red. As you can see from the pic below, the LED is pretty far in the tail and can't help but produce all the bleed through. I am hoping that an exterior coat of black, then white again, will help cut that back a bit.

20161208_084711

20161210_194046

As you can see, I decided to add some longer wires to the white lighting platform for ease of "wiring". The recessed section on the lower primary hull for the display stand, when assembled, goes up into the primary hull. I am thinking of following another poster’s design and use lamp guts and different display stand through which to funnel my wiring. I hope to bring the primary wires up through the base and connect everything to them. Adding longer wiring to the platform will allow me some play in soldering the pieces to the main. (Hope this makes sense.)

20161210_193842

I did get a blinky board from a fellow modeler (THANKS!!!) for the squadron lights and I got the 603 SMDs from HDA (Excellent Service and response!) for use on the Squadron Formation lights! I am also going to follow his lead and dupe the chillers (the little Red thingies on the front of the wings) and try and light them. I’ve picked up some molding putty and some clear casting resin so wish me luck!

Oh, I’m also going to try and dupe the Command Module in clear so see if I can avoid cutting each window in the CM. I will probably have to use the Oomoo stuff I got for my AMT White TOS E to do it, though!

As always, thanks for reading, commenting and offering build tips!

Jason Nesmith: ”Remember yesterday at the convention, those people dressed like aliens? They were aliens! They were termites or... or dalmations. I can't really remember cause I was kinda hungover.”

Steve
 
#10 · (Edited)
Duping clear parts

Good Day, Fellow Questerians!

Thanks, edge10! I am trying to do a good job on this build!

Fozzie, thanks to you, too! With your skills, I know you will do an awesome build on this ship; whenever you get a round tuit! :)

I’m still posting catch up posts so bear with me.

So, some progress and some tentative progress. I'll explain! ;D

I opened up the "windows” in the wings. I did the traditional "drill two holes, cut out the center with an exacto knife and file the rest" technique. I used a 3mm LED to see how the lighting would like and, due to a support near the front of the windows, I was glad I decided to use two LEDs to light this area.

STBD Wing lights

Decided to follow another builder’s lead and try and make the red bits on the wing.

First time using the molding putty and it seems to have worked well. I used the acrylic sprinkle method for the chillers, too, as the acrylic mixture came out porous and unattractive.

20170115_072306

I was gonna drill out the Command Module (CM) windows but before I got too far, I knew I wouldn't be happy with the result. So I went back to my plan to dupe the CM in clear resing. So I put wax in the windows I had started drilling out...

Wax on the Cm Windows

And then used acrylic finger nail resin and monomer to dupe the CM in clear. I had tried to make a two part mold and pour duplication, but I didn’t have much success with it. I even tried to make a two part stone mold which didn’t work out either. I fell back on my dental lab training and used a sprinkle and wet method to make the CM. I would sprinkle a small portion of the acrylic in the putty mold and then wet it with the monomer and then repeat the process until the mold was completely covered and thick enough.

Here is a picture of the mold.



Here is a shot of the final casting, after finishing, with the original part.



I also did some gross finishing on the chillers (the little Red thingies on the front of the wings). Here they are with the original parts.



A quick dry fitting of the clear parts show they should work out well



I still need to do a bit of fine finishing on them and fit them to the wings, but, for the most part, I am quite pleased with the turnout!

In other news, the fiber I ordered has arrived so I will be attempting to install the running and formation lights soon. Right now, I am thinking the blinker board will have to go in the base while the lights will go in the ventral primary hull with the FO running to the various points of the ship. Any tips and suggestions are welcome!

Thanks for stopping by!

Steve
 
#11 ·
This model is small enough so you can definitely use individual LEDs to light up the windows, but if you tackle a larger model with more windows you might want to consider LED tape. I like the HD (high density) stuff as there's an LED every inch - same as what's included in the PL light kit for the 1/350 TOS E, and it seems to light the insides very well. I don't know if you light blocked with white paint, but flat white (either airbrushed or spray painted) is the best for interior light blocking as it scatters the light around, helping to make all the windows light as evenly as you can.
 
#12 ·
LED Tapes...humm...



Ross, I painted the inside with a flat black followed by a glossy white; both from what was on hand from a rattle can. I was thinking the glossy white would reflect the light rather than scatter it. Interesting point though; one I hadn't really thought through. Thanks!

I also see your point about the LED and the LED tape. I haven't used the tape before and, as I plan to do an Enterprise C once I am done with this one, may need a recommendation on where to get some economical, yet good, LED tapes. The C's saucer is nearly 8" across and the tape should light it well. Any suggestions?

Thanks for your input! I appreciate it!

Steve
 
#19 · (Edited)
Greetings Fellow Questerains!

Edge10 – Thanks for the kind words! No, it wasn’t my intention that anyone should build this or any model. I am not perfect and would enjoy seeing your interpretation of this great ship!



Fozzie – I know, right?!

Frank2056 – the monomer did stink! My wife complained bitterly! I haven’t heard of Copper snail barrier tape! I might have to try that!

Small update today. I decided to go back and use 30AWG magnet wire on the Protector as the 24AWG didn't allow the wing to close; not matter how I tried to run the wire. I ended up grinding away some of the sockets and mating pins on the wings in order to get them to close. Also, I had to modify the 3mm LEDs so they were smaller and could better fit in the limited available space.

20170124_183548

20170124_202053

Once I had gotten the wiring and lighting design for the Starboard Wing worked out, the Port wing install went much faster. But, as a result of grinding away so much, I could permanently install the lights as I now have to go back and light block again. I couldn't resist taking another pic of the wings in a small light test.

20170124_205959

OH! Today's modeling tip: If you are going to be soldering your LEDs in series, remember Kids, ALWAYS make sure you have a resister in the circuit before you apply power! I didn't and later realized I hadn't put one in. Thankfully and rather mysteriously, neither of the LEDs blew. Still, it is something to think about.

(I know some of you are saying "Now I know!" and are hearing Duke from G.I. Joe say "And knowing is half the battle!") ;D

Never Give Up!

Steve
 
#21 ·
First Fiber Optic light!

Greetings Fellow Questarians!



SteveR – LOL! I would love to have see this scene played out with the ST:TOS crew, but vicarious is vicarious!

I am closing in to where I am currently on the model.
I know that fiber optic lighting is old hat to most of the builders here, but below is a picture of my first fiber optic light! TA DA!



This one was just a test, but the concept was tested and proven so... I have that going for me; which is nice.

I tested the Bussard Collector lights and saw that, even through the clear blue parts, I saw the LEDs. I decided I would rather have that diffused, so I cut some 0.010mm sheet polystyrene to place inside the Bussard Collectors between the lights and the clear parts. I haven't glued them in yet as I am still trying to decide the color of grey I will be using.



Since I was at it, I cut a few pieces for the Primary Hull windows as well. Since this technique worked so well on my TOS Romulan BoP, I used it here, too. It is kinda hard to tell, but the sheet styrene is beneath the quick clamps and batteries. I used the batteries to help conform the sheet styene to the hull shape until the glue dried.



Here is one of my clear castings with lightblocking in place. The concept for this worked very well, too. I will have to go back and re-mask the lights and repaint them the proper color. I am going to shape an LED to fit up next to the clear part and tack it in place. I am hoping that once it is all placed, I can use Tulip paint to cover the LED and the clear part as a light block without blocking the light to the LED. Sorry for the fuzzies; it was low light and the camera would not focus on the lights, just my thumb.



Since I decided to permanently attach the CM to the Primary Hull, I drilled some holes in the dorsal primary hull part (it sits directly beneath the CM on the model). Then I added a square of 0.010mm styrene over the two holes for light diffusion. I then CA'd them in place. Here is the final product.



I then hot glued the primary hull lighting in place; well, only part of it. The two platforms that span the seams between the STBD and Port halves will have to wait to be attached. Before I attach them, I will have to bend the single fiber optic strand from the rear of the Primary Hull to the large LED near the nose of the ship. But I put it in place to get an idea of where and if all the wires would be arranged.



Well, that is all for the moment!

Thanks for reading! As always, any tips, comments or suggestions for improvement will be greatly appreciated!

*NSEA Salute*

Steve
 
#22 ·
My wife saw the NSEA Protector in my stash and asked me to build it (at some point) so this build is of interest to me.

Two suggestions/comments:

1 - Don't use superglue to attach plastic fiber optics. People may tell you that it's just fine, but in time the rigid CA will stress the plastic fiber optic at the joint and it will break. Use epoxy or (if careful) hot glue).

2 - You can use white LEDs for most colored lights - just paint the ends (or an end) of the fiber with the appropriate clear color. It can make power supply selection and routing a lot easier.
 
#23 · (Edited)
Those poor people...

Greetings, Fellow Questarians!

Thanks guys for the support and wonderful comments!

My wife saw the NSEA Protector in my stash and asked me to build it (at some point) so this build is of interest to me.
Well, excavate it and start in! The more the merrier!

1 - Don't use superglue to attach plastic fiber optics. People may tell you that it's just fine, but in time the rigid CA will stress the plastic fiber optic at the joint and it will break. Use epoxy or (if careful) hot glue).
Good to know! So far, I have used hot glue and tulip paint to secure the fiber.

2 - You can use white LEDs for most colored lights - just paint the ends (or an end) of the fiber with the appropriate clear color. It can make power supply selection and routing a lot easier.
I didn't think about this! I thought that I had to have a specific colored LED to light the fiber! Now I know! Thx!

I jumped back on the bench for a bit yesterday and it looks like I am about to clear a milestone. I changed the Fiber optic LED source from a 5mm to a 3mm and was able to form a FO stand using my soldering iron. I needed to make a near 90 degree angle and the heat from the soldering iron helped form it without breaking or fracturing the strand. I then put some tulip paint on it to help seal it in place.

20170305_175334

I know this seems like a dupe picture, but, for this one, I soldered all the positive leads together and the negative leads together to allow a single pair of wires for the power to exit the primary hull. The other pair is also connected but it will be for the power to the wings. I also have magnet wire coming out of the hull as it will be going directly to the flasher board I will put in the base.

20170305_191649

And here is another light test.

20170305_191418

Once the tulip paint fully sets, I will trim it down, add some to the other side and button up the primary hull. Seam work to follow.

As always, thanks for looking! Any comments or suggestions from improvement are always welcome!

GWEN: They're not all historical documents... I mean... surely you don't think Gilligan's Island
is a...
MATHESAR:Those poor people...

Steve
 
#26 · (Edited)
Placing the Dorsal Chillers

Good day, Fellow Questerians!

This is a short and simple update. I have almost caught up to my current progress posts, so the future posts should be coming a slower now.



To be honest, publiusr, I hadn't heard, or seen, any other form factor for the NSEA Protector than the one that went on screen. That doesn't mean they don't exist - I just hadn't heard about them. BTW, the NTE-3120 branding on the ship stands for "Not The Enterprise"! :D

I spent most of the weekend placing the lighting I had made in prep for closing up the pieces. One milestone was buttoning up the primary hull! It was only after I had let it set overnight that I realized I still needed to thread 6 pairs of magnet wire through the primary hull. Even with the 30AWG magnet wire, it was a tight fit!

20170308_173357

I also seated the ventral chillers in the ventral primary hull! I was glad to see my idea of casting a clear part for the chiller, masking the three holes, light blocking the piece and them placing an LED behind it worked so well. I did have to remove a majority of the LED resin in order to get the LED to fit in the limited space. Since there aren't any other lights in this area, I don't think I will have to use tulip paint to contain the light. It's REALLY a tight fit in there and the tulip paint would only add bulk.

20170311_182733

Another "hurray, it worked!" moment was the dorsal chillers! I seated them, too. Since there's a tad more room in the wing and since the blue lights for the bussard collectors will be in close proximity to the light of the chillers, I used tulip paint to channel the light to appear only in the chillers.

20170311_223123

Since I had used (7) 3mm white lights in the Primary hull, I had to run down to the local Electronics Parts Outlet to pick up some more 3mm white LEDs. I am going to order some more from China soon, but didn't want to have to wait a month to seal up the wings! Oh, well!

That is it for now. I am finally feeling some momentum building to put all the pieces together soon. Cross your fingers!

Any comments or suggestions for improvement are always welcome!

LLAP!

Steve
 
#28 ·
Frank, it is a fabric paint (puff paint) and Tulip is the brand name. The black is used to block out light bleeds or contain light to a specific area. You can use it to cover fiber runs, light boxes, whatever you need to light block. Think more scaple, precision than coating the entire inside of a model. It works well, is easy to apply, and cheap.

Here's a link to Amazon for it but I got mine at Walmart.

https://www.amazon.com/Tulip-Dimensional-Fabric-Paint-Slick/dp/B004BQ01CQ/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1473268113&sr=8-1&keywords=black+tulip+fabric+paint

I used it on the dorsal chillers shown in my last post.

Hope this helps!

LLAP!

Steve
 
#30 · (Edited)
Greetings Fellow Questarians!

Just a quick update.

I was able to place the lights in most of the ship and was about to seal it up when I realized I hadn't done a light burn in! (I hate relearning things!) ;D So here are a couple of shots showing most of the lights, uh, lit!

20170317_172708

I ran it for nearly 18hrs with no hot resistors or popped LEDs so I think I am good to go!

I also spent a little more time trying to close the gap around the ventral chillers; having to grind way a lot of the hull thickness to get it closed.

20170317_190641

I ended up with some hot spots and light bleed but I am hoping a primer coat and top coats will cover them up.

20170318_150738

Like I said, I quick update. With Spring in the air, my "Honey-do list" is piling up and the wife is starting to stare at me; and not in a good way! I will post when I can!

Never Give Up!

Steve
 
#32 · (Edited)
But I don't know how to shut down a Neutron Reactor

Greetings Modelers!

This is just a brief update. I have hit a bit of a stonewall on the build.

But first, I wanna say "Thanks for the all the support and encouragement!" Now that my kitchen cabinets are back on the wall (cheap contractor used pressed paper board to attach cabinets to the wall!) I can get back to the build bench. Although, the transition from Macro to Micro is daunting.

The bad thing with taking so long to build is that you tend to forget the next step; like doing a light burn-in or forgetting to build and install the fiber optic blinking lights. And that's the stone wall.

20170326_214027

Here is the situation. The LED for the fiber should be able to sit in the aft of the compartment. The LED itself and probably the fiber could, but the LED and the Resistor won't. I may be able to resolder the resistor to a short piece of magnet wire and stack it up on top of the LED (shown covered with heat shrink) but then the fiber will have to be formed so that it runs down the "channel" of the dorsal wing. Only the two longer fibers need to run to the engine pod. The short ones, well, one will, will run to the hole to the left and aft of the blond resistor.

Man, I really miss my TOS Romulan BoP where I had all the room and spare for lighting. This stuff is making my brain hurt. (Of course, it wouldn't take much for that to happen!)

So, I have reached the point in the build where I have to power through and make it to the end. And your encouragements really help fuel the desire to get at it and muscle through!

Thanks again for reading and commenting!

Gwen DeMarco: Well, I hate to break it to you, Jason, but I don't know how to shut down a neutron reactor, and, unless you took a Learning Annex course I don't know about, I'm pretty sure you don't know how to shut down a neutron reactor, either.

Jason Nesmith: No, I don't. But I know some friends on Scifimodelaction.com who do.

Remember: Never Give Up! ;D

Steve
 
#33 · (Edited)
Greetings Modelers!

Thanks, Chrisisall! I kinda have the same need! :smile2:

This is just a brief update. I have hit a bit of a stonewall on the build.

But first, I wanna say "Thanks for the all the support and encouragement!" Now that my kitchen cabinets are back on the wall (cheap contractor used pressed paper board to attach cabinets to the wall!) I can get back to the build bench. Although, the transition from Macro to Micro is daunting.

The bad thing with taking so long to build is that you tend to forget the next step; like doing a light burn-in or forgetting to build and install the fiber optic blinking lights. And that's the stone wall.



Here is the situation. The LED for the fiber should be able to sit in the aft of the compartment. The LED itself and probably the fiber could, but the LED and the Resistor won't. I may be able to resolder the resistor to a short piece of magnet wire and stack it up on top of the LED (shown covered with heat shrink) but then the fiber will have to be formed so that it runs down the "channel" of the dorsal wing. Only the two longer fibers need to run to the engine pod. The short ones, well, one will, will run to the hole to the left and aft of the blond resistor.

Man, I really miss my TOS Romulan BoP where I had all the room and spare for lighting. This stuff is making my brain hurt. (Of course, it wouldn't take much for that to happen!)

So, I have reached the point in the build where I have to power through and make it to the end. And your encouragements and likes really help fuel the desire to get at it and muscle through!

Thanks again for reading and commenting!

Gwen DeMarco: Well, I hate to break it to you, Jason, but I don't know how to shut down a neutron reactor, and, unless you took a Learning Annex course I don't know about, I'm pretty sure you don't know how to shut down a neutron reactor, either.

Jason Nesmith: No, I don't. But I know some friends on Hobbytalk.com who do.

Remember: Never Give Up! ;D

Steve
Replace the bell wire in the area with a cables(2) made of 3 or 4 of the wires that make up the shielding. The wires are hair thin and easy to get. 2 of the cables should take up about the same space as half 1 bell wire.
Twist the wires together to make a small cable and seal with rubber cement /tool dip/liquid electrical tape.
Cutting the leads down on the Leds and Resistors is a good start, you might want to sand the end off the led to cut the length of it and the fiber joint. You could also drill the Led to form a cup (stop before you hit the die in the Led) then epoxy the fibers into the cup. Paint the led black to mask the light (you could paint the fibers as well). My only other suggestion is to check out surface mount leds which would be smaller.
 
#37 · (Edited)
Felicitations, Fellow Questarians!

I realized I had not shown you the end result of the thin styrene and all the light blocking on the wing.

20170403_054649

The wing will still close. I tapered the edge of the styrene to allow the outside seam to touch before I glued the styrene in. Either I am getting better at blocking things out or random chance seems to operate in my favor! ;D

So, I thought I was ready to put it together when I realized I hadn't put on the Ventral running light. Using one of the 603SMDs I got from HDA, I hot glued it down and then used CA to attach a short FO strand to the SMD and the other end out the hole. What isn't shown is that, after the glue was dry, I covered both ends with Tulip paint and tested it! It works!

20170406_182716

It's slowly starting to take it's shape. I was able to hook up the blinky board from Tankton (Cameron) and squealed like a little girl when my formation and running lights sprang to life! I have really got to learn how to build my own! (AWESOME!!)

At least the ship is stepping closer; it actually looks like the Protector!!

20170406_054401

I'm hoping to get more done this weekend. I'm still trying to suss out how to solder all the connections while placing the model pieces together in their predetermined order and glue them shut. I almost need four more hands, smaller ones than I've got, and more precision tools than what I have! BUT, NEVER GIVE UP!

I will master this beasty and you all will see me do it! (Says the guy who is half-way down its throat!)

Jason Nesmith: Okey dokey, Okey dokey. Lets fire blue particle cannons full, red particle cannons full, gannet magnets fire them left and right, and let 'em run all chutes. And while you're at it, why don't ya toss that at 'em killer

[tossing empty Coke can to gunner]

Jason Nesmith: That should take care of old lobster head shouldn't it?

Steve
 
#38 · (Edited)
Good Monday morning to you, Fellow Questarians!!

I hope you had a productive weekend!

I made some significant gains on my build! Woohoo! I took a deep breath and seated the dorsal of the ventral primary hull. This allowed me to route the blinky board and the primary power wires through to the wings!

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Once that was done, I popped the hood (kinda looks like it, doesn't it?!) and soldered the lower section of the ventral primary hull to the main power and routed the blinky light's wires. This was a little more difficult due to the hair-thin wires from the SMD; I was very timid about touching, much less soldering, them as I didn't know how much abuse they could take before breaking. AAAaaaggaah!

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Anyway, I gently pushed the piece into place and, while I glued it down, I did a light test to see if I had broken a contact! Thankfully, I hadn't! It kind looks like "Attack of the Chompers!"

(Gwen DeMarco: "What is this thing? I mean, it serves no useful purpose for there to be a bunch of chompy, crushy things here!")

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Looks like the crew repelled the Chompers! I twisted up and soldered the blinky board wires to the two-pronged connector so I could thread it through the display rod!

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Since I was on a roll, I added the Port wing as well. It was kinda difficult to cut the wires down, solder them and then stuff them back in the Bussard collectors. I still need to solder the lower wing to the upper, but that will have to wait until the glue dries. I'm trying to leave them alone to let the glue set to it's final bonding strength!

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It's starting to take shape! Finally! But, now that I have placed one wing, the other shouldn't be too hard! Once I get the primary build done, I will have to mess with the fiddlybits and place them on the ship! The CM is presenting a bit of a nuisance as the masking fluid won't adhere to the acrylic long enough to allow me to cut or shape it into neat squares. Maybe I am using it wrong, so I will keep trying!

Thanks as always for looking and commenting! Please let me know what you think!

Jason Nesmith: 'Cause it's on the television show!

Gwen DeMarco: "No, I mean we shouldn't have to do this, it makes no logical sense, why is it here? This episode was badly written! Whoever wrote this episode should die!

Steve
 
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