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| U.S.S.
Defiant with Fiber Optic Lighting Enhancements |
| Photos
and text submitted by Mark Lovett |
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| "I
have to say that I am very pleased with the outcome of this project.
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wonderful materials purchased at the Fiber Optic Store gave this ship
life. |
| The 1000M
Illuminator is a top notch source of light for any project." |
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This particular model kit produced by
AMT/Ertl is a snap assembly model kit. It’s
large hull assembly made it ideal for installing lighting with a few
modifications. I researched this
project quite extensively and used suggestions provided by Marc King in the
January 1999 issue of FineScale Modeler magazine. |
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| NOTE:
Most of the following photos are thumbnails... |
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on them to view a larger image, most should open in a separate
window, if not use your backspace key to return
to this page. |
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To begin with the navigational deflector
array, the bussard collectors, warp nacelles and impulse engines are all cast in
solids. I was able to re-cast
successfully the bussard collectors in clear resin using the Precious
Impressions Crystal Memories Keepsake Kit available at your local craft store
among other places. For the other
items I cut the grille patterns from them and replaced it with black nylon
screen and pieces of clear styrene sheet cut to fit.
I then painted the backs of the new parts using Tamiya clear red and
clear blue. |
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Working on the top of the main hull I
removed the eight round discs in the warp core area and also the recessed areas
of the two impulse reactors. From
the inside I glued clear styrene to cover the new openings and then painted them
with the clear blue and red paint. |
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<< After trimming all the pieces of the
model and masking the re worked areas I sprayed the inside with two coats of
flat gray primer to prevent light bleeding through the assembly.
Next I lined the inside with aluminum foil to reflect the light
throughout the inside of the ship. |
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The next step was to install the strands
of fiber optic for lighting. For
the windows I chose to use .75 diameter filaments.
Six pieces were installed in the upper nose assembly and seventy-two
pieces in the lower section. I also
added holes in four locations to accommodate 1.0 diameter filaments to act as
spot lights.
The effect turned out
well. |
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To power this model I again made a power
supply/display stand using the pin and socket type connector and the brass tube
from a ceiling lamp. This project
is using a 9v wall plug in. |
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The source of light I chose to use for
this project was three 1000M
Illuminators.
Two of the illuminators were placed in the forward bottom half of the
main hull and the third was modified by placing it inside of a solid plastic
tube and then glued in place to offer more support for the larger diameter
fibers. I am extremely pleased with
the ease in using these illuminators. |
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Next I began installing the navigation
lights. For this I used 3mm LED’s
(light emitting diodes). Three
white, four red and four green LED’s where used.
3mm’s is actually to big to be in scale so I very careful folded the
light leads back on themselves, inserted the light into a dremel and on low
speed held a small file against it until I had removed enough material for it to
fit in a hole drilled with a #60 drill bit.
Once all the lights were to the proper size I built my light circuit.
I went to my local electronic supply store and bought a kit for
alternating flashing LED’s. It was quite simple to put together and gives a very
realistic look to the finished model. I
put the white LED’s opposite the red and green. |
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To get the look I wanted for the bussard
collectors I installed a jumbo red LED behind each one.
I put in a blue LED behind each warp nacelle and a Jumbo red behind each
impulse engine. |
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After testing the circuits I glued the
lights into place and closed up the model.
As I stated earlier this is a snap together but after stuffing it full of
wire and fiber optics gluing it together is the only way to go. There are several bad gaps that must be filled along both sides of the
ship. After the putty cured and I
sanded away the rough spots I tested the lights again.
Verifying that everything was still working I cleaned it up and prepared
for the paint stage. After painting the entire assembly I applied the decals and
touched up any areas that might have been missed before.
I have not weathered it yet but plan to do so in the near future after
which I will apply a coat of dullkoat which will help to blend some of the sharp
paint lines.
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| The final photos
of this project do not do it justice. In person, the Fiber
Optic Lighting is very impressive! |
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| Thanks Again
Mark.... Another awesome project! |
| Prior to this,
Mark submitted another project to The Fiber Optic Store.com. |
| Click
Here to go to Mark's other contribution: U.S.S. Voyager with Fiber
Optic Lighting |
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Do you have a fiber optic project
or model that you built? Would you like to show it off and share it
with the world? If so, let us know! You could earn some free
fiber optic filament!
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here for details |
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