Re: Enterprise NX-01 Refit

Today I decided I wanted to add some detail to those little secondary impulse engines on the back of the saucer, the ones that flank the pontoons. The kit detail was pretty poor, just a flat face with a rectangular opening with no fibers running to it that didn't light up very well, if at all:

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IMG_6440Detail by trekriffic, on Flickr

First, I wanted more light to shine out the ports. So I drilled two holes next to each other in each opening. Then I worked the drill bit back and forth until the holes joined and became a slot. Cutting two fibers about 2 inches for each opening I tinted them blue and fed them into the openings until they were flush. I used canopy cement to glue them in. I have a big roll of transparent blue film that I cut two little rectangular pieces from and glued over the openings with Elmer's clear "super" glue. Then I cut a couple of pieces of paper thin sheet styrene to the shape of the face around each port and cut out a tiny rectangular opening. I glued these to the hull on each side. Then I added some greeblies to add more interest before painting everything with ModelMaster steel:

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IMG_6465 by trekriffic, on Flickr

You can see the blue glow from the fiber strands in this pic:

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IMG_6466 by trekriffic, on Flickr

You can see both of them glowing to the far left and right in this pic:

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IMG_6470 by trekriffic, on Flickr

I can see they need a little more cleanup after viewing these pics in high resolution so I'll do a little more work on them before touching up with more steel.

Tomorrow evening I should be able to shoot her with Dullcote prior to adding some pastel chalk effects. She's not going to look pristine as I have decided this ship is a year 7 refit. She's gonna show a little wear accordingly.

Am I nuts for putting this much effort into such a small model? Perhaps, but, that's just the way I am.