I have begun work on a TOS-era bridge that will be equipped with the Outer Space Outfitters light panels.
I started the build by selecting the Weapons Station and cutting out the lower viewscreens. I drilled holes in the viewscreens, then used an Xacto knife to connect the holes and cut out most of the plastic. Now, with room to work, I used the Xacto knife to cut down closer to the raised border of each viewscreen. I finished off each hole with small metal files and a sandpaper stick. The plastic was thick, but not brittle despite the age of the kit.
![]()
I accidentally marred the underside of the piece that overhangs the smaller viewscreens when I tried to work from the backside while clearing out the lower viewscreens. Won't make that mistake again.
Here is the Weapons Station with all the viewscreens cut out. I was able to use a different tool to cut the upper screens out (one of those linoleum cutter style blades) instead of drilling holes, but I still finished off with Xacto knife, metal files, and a sandpaper stick.
![]()
Finally, I taped some random lighting panels behind the opened viewscreens just to see what they look like.
![]()
I played around with shining a flashlight through the panels from the back just to see how that would look and it looks like the panels will "light up" quite nicely.
I plan to complete this station through painting (and perhaps lighting with LEDs) before starting on any of the others, simply to work through any problems with the process before I repeat it on all the other stations.
Suggestions welcome!
I started the build by selecting the Weapons Station and cutting out the lower viewscreens. I drilled holes in the viewscreens, then used an Xacto knife to connect the holes and cut out most of the plastic. Now, with room to work, I used the Xacto knife to cut down closer to the raised border of each viewscreen. I finished off each hole with small metal files and a sandpaper stick. The plastic was thick, but not brittle despite the age of the kit.
I accidentally marred the underside of the piece that overhangs the smaller viewscreens when I tried to work from the backside while clearing out the lower viewscreens. Won't make that mistake again.
Here is the Weapons Station with all the viewscreens cut out. I was able to use a different tool to cut the upper screens out (one of those linoleum cutter style blades) instead of drilling holes, but I still finished off with Xacto knife, metal files, and a sandpaper stick.
Finally, I taped some random lighting panels behind the opened viewscreens just to see what they look like.
I played around with shining a flashlight through the panels from the back just to see how that would look and it looks like the panels will "light up" quite nicely.
I plan to complete this station through painting (and perhaps lighting with LEDs) before starting on any of the others, simply to work through any problems with the process before I repeat it on all the other stations.
Suggestions welcome!
