Enterprise E - "First Contact"

[dazed1]

  Wowzers! That is a fantastic E-E! Well done sir. Love the pics of it in the dark. Can just see her cruisin' through uncharted space.

[smusno]

Right, you android making buffoon!

Ive bought one. The kit seems to dry fit nicely. And I have some white led tape coming over from the USofA.

It all seems to make sense.

But................

The engine pylons aren't hollow? How am I going to route the wire? There are going to be 3 different colours! And im going to have to use a 3mm 3.2 white, a 3mm 2.4 red, and some blue 12v strip?

AAAAAAAARRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGH!!!!

[Often wrong Soong]

Right, you android making buffoon!

Ive bought one. The kit seems to dry fit nicely. And I have some white led tape coming over from the USofA.

It all seems to make sense.

But................

The engine pylons aren't hollow? How am I going to route the wire? There are going to be 3 different colours! And im going to have to use a 3mm 3.2 white, a 3mm 2.4 red, and some blue 12v strip?

AAAAAAAARRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGH!!!!

Dont panic son, when I get home from work this afternoon i'll post a pic or 2 and give u some pointers. It's easier than it looks

W

[Often wrong Soong]

Rightyo, been a couple of years since I built this but I think it went like this:

Shave/cut a shallow trench, about 15mm wide, running up the inside faces of all the pylon parts and cut away part of the mounting "tab" that slots into the engineering hull to allow the wires access



Then get some ribbon cable (from an old pc motherboard or hard drive IDE cable) and cut a length that will reach from the keel of engineering, up the pylon and well into the nacelle. I used a strip with 10 strands of wire (per nacelle) and then seperated those into pairs that would carry different voltages for the led's and strobes up in the nacelle




You dont need to take alot of material out from the inside of the pylons, they should flex enough to fit the ribbon cable between them, but use a hot glue that welds the parts together so there's no risk of them popping apart again at the seams!



That should give you plenty of options for voltages, stobe signals, effects etc. You can always use more strands on your cable if you aint got enough!

W

[smusno]

you sir, are a legend!

[ModelMakerMike]

Beautiful work !!!!!
I'd take my hat off to you Sir....if I was wearing one.

[ScreamingSamuraiStudio]

I'm going to resurrect this thread simply to commend you on your fabulous work. I don't know how you manage to work so meticulously without going insane. I tip my hat and have performed four air splits for your work.
  Simply amazing!

[Often wrong Soong]

Cheers dude! It was a bit of a trial to say the least, but turned out pretty well 

Soong

[Glorfindel]

Soong did you mask and paint that like your "D" or is this decals? If you did decal did you use the kit supplied decals or did you purchase an upgraded set?

[Often wrong Soong]

Soong did you mask and paint that like your "D" or is this decals? If you did decal did you use the kit supplied decals or did you purchase an upgraded set?

I only used the kit decals, they looked accurate enough to me. All of the aztecing, pinstriping and other details were masked and painted. Took months, but the "D" I'm working on now is harder...I'm so relieved it's nearly over (well, the aztec stage at least!)

Soong