Thanks for the kind words everyone. It's nice to know one's work is appreciated by fellow addicts like yourselves.

As far as keeping the surface pristine, I will actually be doing some weathering with pastel chalks. Unlike other Trek ship the original Enterprise had some noticeable weathering; albeit, not as much as currently exhibited after the 1991 "restoration". I will strive to be subtle but there will be "soot" streaking on the saucer and secondary hull leading edges as well as some longer streaks on the nacelles. The deflector dish; however, will remain pristine. As it's function is to deflect particles it makes sense to me that nothing should be able to penetrate the deflector field it creates to stain it or it's rings.