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Today's update from work done yesterday...


I wanted to see if I could approximate the ceiling soffit which illuminated the peirmeter of the bridge so I cut out a ring from clear styrene sheet and sanded it to help with light diffusion. The inner diameter was made to be about 1/16" less than the upper hull dome opening:


[ATTACH=full]46612[/ATTACH]


A ring was made from Evergreen strip and glued to the inner edge. The width of the ring matched the distance from the bottom of the lighting soffit and the underside of the dome openng above:


[ATTACH=full]46613[/ATTACH]


Reflective tape was wrapped around the inner edge of the ring to reflect light back inside the soffit and block light from showing thru the ring:


[ATTACH=full]46614[/ATTACH]


For the upper dome lighting I soldered two 30 AWG kynar wires to a warm white surface mount LED I got from Lighthouse LEDs. This was my first time soldering to such tiny LEDs; guess my experience working with the small crew figures was good practice:


[ATTACH=full]46615[/ATTACH]


The surface mount LED was epoxied to a styrene disc which was then glued into the underside of the translucent white upper dome. Here it is lit up:


[ATTACH=full]46616[/ATTACH]


I used the "N" wiring harness for which there are two sockets on the circuit board. These are optional ports intended for those who want to light the impulse engines but I won't be lighting those on my build so I used one socket for the dome light instead.


The upper dome in place on top of B-C deck and lit up:


[ATTACH=full]46617[/ATTACH]


The ceiling soffit ring is glued into the hull with CA:


[ATTACH=full]46618[/ATTACH]


The bridge is glued to the soffit ring with CA :


[ATTACH=full]46619[/ATTACH]


The "O" lighting harness is installed and tested:


[ATTACH=full]46620[/ATTACH]


"Captain. You may want to look at this. It appears to be a miniature of our bridge."


[ATTACH=full]46621[/ATTACH]


[ATTACH=full]46622[/ATTACH]


[ATTACH=full]46623[/ATTACH]


[ATTACH=full]46624[/ATTACH]


[ATTACH=full]46625[/ATTACH]


After these pics were taken I went a step further and inserted small squares of semi-opaque milk jug plastic between the three LEDs and the bridge displays and main viewscreen to help diffuse the light more. Then this morning I mixed up some Envirotex resin and poured it around the bridge inside A deck up to the level of the LEDs. The clear resin helped to alleviate hot spots and more evenly distribute light around the bridge displays. It was a small but noticeable improvement.


Thanks for following along!


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