# U.S.S. Enterprise NCC 1701 D "Refit"



## K.I.T.T (Mar 11, 2013)

Made by Playmates Toys in 1992, this ship has seen better days. It has been badly sun damaged causing a very dark yellowing, stickers were all but gone and I peeled the rest of them off.

*1.* First step is to take the ship apart, which I have already done. This was a task, because it didn't want to come apart as I thought it would lol.

*2.* Step 2 is to remove the sound board and speaker, which is already done. Seems someone had this apart already at one point and replaced the speaker, which was crappy sounding. I currently don't plan to reuse the sound board or speaker.

*3.* Step 3 is lighting, while I am currently researching ways to do this, I will be using full bright white LEDs in the ship and in the current nacelles. I also plan to use some reflective tape to help make them brighter.

*4.* Step 4 is to repaint the whole ship, I will be using a light grey primer, and then using a dark grey paint marker to make the other details stand out. I also plan to use a yellow paint marker to also add more details to the ship.

*Currently researching my LED options, as this is only going to have an on/off switch, and possibly ran by either 3 or 4 AAA batteries or more, really depends, I must get them and hook them all together.

This is my progress thread, and I will post before/after pics soon.*


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## harristotle (Aug 7, 2008)

Looking forward to the pics :thumbsup:


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## K.I.T.T (Mar 11, 2013)

*Before Pics:*












































(someone had the stickers upside down.. :drunk: )

*I'll post the after pics once its all painted up.*


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## K.I.T.T (Mar 11, 2013)

Still working on it, almost done with the grey primer, but I have to get a new dark grey paint marker because the other one ran out already lol...

After pics coming soon!


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## Chrisisall (May 12, 2011)

Good project!!


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## Trekkriffic (Mar 20, 2007)

I've got one of these old Playmates toys too. Look forward to seeing how your "refit" turns out!


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## BOXIE (Apr 5, 2011)

Have one myself but undamaged.Can't wait to see how it turns out.


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## K.I.T.T (Mar 11, 2013)

BOXIE said:


> Have one myself but undamaged.Can't wait to see how it turns out.


I have 2 of these, this is model #1, which I paid $15.00 for because it had the nacelles and it worked, sound was crappy, but it worked. Bought the other one for $5.00 without the nacelles, and it works.

The one for 5.00 isn't damaged, and has no signs of yellowing at all, so I've stuck it in a box for now. 

*Just got done painting the lower halfs, waiting on them to dry before I detail them.*


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## K.I.T.T (Mar 11, 2013)

nacelles: 1 
Me: 0

Fighting to open up the nacelles, they are kicking my butt LOL

Painting is done, currently detailing as I type this


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## K.I.T.T (Mar 11, 2013)

Alrighty, project is on hold currently, seems my hot glue gun has gone MIA... again....

hope this cheapo way of lighting works lol


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## K.I.T.T (Mar 11, 2013)

Well I got a few things sorted, and will be updating with some pics and other goodies. Busy currently, so it might take a few more days. (sorry for the delay).


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## K.I.T.T (Mar 11, 2013)

:freak: wow its been awhile. Figured I would let you all know that I have gotten everything done and working. I still plan on 2 more LEDs in the nacelles which already have 2, but it will look much better once that is done.

There are a few areas that didn't seem to get hit with paint, which is weird. 

Anyways, Pics!





































*Here you will see a part of the ship that somehow didn't get paint...*









*This nacelle was broke and I noticed it once I got it apart, and I also spilled acetone on it (before it was painted) and that kinda screwed it up more.*









*All 7 LEDs are powered by 3 AAA's!!!*









I will have more updates soon!


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## K.I.T.T (Mar 11, 2013)

Ok, so figured I would say that the LEDs came from solar powered walkway lamps that I got for $1.00 each. 

Reason I used the LEDs out of these is because I am using the solar panels for another project, and was gonna toss them and was like wait, I could use these.

So that is where my LEDs came from, the wiring is from old scrap wire and works just fine.

So the next phase is, what else should I add to this? Currently looking for a on/off switch, and I still gotta expand the battery bay so I can close off that area.

Feel free to chime in, I like ideas!


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## Hagoth (Mar 12, 2015)

How together is this now? You could add in the blinking running lights if you can still access the insides. Put the LED's in the battery box and run fiber to the various points if there is room. 

TIP: Put a thin strip of lightly sanded thin acrylic around the inside of the warp nacelle and line the insides with tin foil or chrome and it evens out the light dismemberment from a set of bulbs.

I have a D that is all prepped for lighting (before the lighted kit came out) and a breadboard with all the wheat bulbs, LED's and timing chips on it waiting to be installed. I have several micro switches to set the various blink and light modes shown on the show. LED's have advanced considerably since I started the project so I'll have to pull it out and upgrade it.

It's way down the list but thanks for the inspiration.


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## K.I.T.T (Mar 11, 2013)

Hagoth said:


> How together is this now? You could add in the blinking running lights if you can still access the insides. Put the LED's in the battery box and run fiber to the various points if there is room.
> 
> TIP: Put a thin strip of lightly sanded thin acrylic around the inside of the warp nacelle and line the insides with tin foil or chrome and it evens out the light dismemberment from a set of bulbs.
> 
> ...


Thanks for the Tips, I do plan on adding the running lights at one point, I just need to get all that stuff. Everything is just snapped back in place and the screws are there as well. I didn't want to glue them back because I figure at one point I will want to redo this and didn't want to end up not being able to get back into it.


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## Hagoth (Mar 12, 2015)

Smart, then your options are wide open. I look forward to seeing your results.


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## K.I.T.T (Mar 11, 2013)

*Updates*
well this on/off switch may prove to be a problem.. I had one wired up and it was shut off and wouldn't ya know it, somehow the batteries died.. I can't really run wires up to the nacells, as there is hardly any room to do that... 

I did get my other LED in the nacells, now each has 3 LEDs in them.. Now I gotta figure if powering it with 3 AAAs is a good idea or not. 

Anyways, ship is together with LEDs in place, so I am going to call this done for now until I decide when I want to redo this. Its one thing I can now move off the work bench and put into the "Figure it out later" box.


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## Hagoth (Mar 12, 2015)

You are right. Not a lot of room to run wires up to the nacelles through the pylons. It can be done. I used a dremel tool to make small channels in the leading edges of the pylons and ran three strands of 44 gauge micro wire up them and puttied them back up. A little messy but it worked. You can keep this in the back of your head when you get back to it. One of these days my project will have it's own thread but for now ...

Let's see if these pictures work.


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## Hagoth (Mar 12, 2015)

Ok, that didn't work at all. Lets try a direct link to the page they are on.

http://hagoth.wix.com/the-brass-ball#!enterprise-d/c1m8u


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## K.I.T.T (Mar 11, 2013)

Indeed. Seeing how the original bulbs in the nacelles used those metal contact points, I just reused that and wired my LEDs to the metal pads in the nacelles.

See the below pic:


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## Hagoth (Mar 12, 2015)

Man, those strips made it easy.  Almost looks like you could fish a small 44 gauge plastic coated wire up between your metal strips. My third wire is for the blinking LED in the middle section that directs light down two fiber optics to the flashing running lights at the end of the nacelle.

Nice work on the upgrade to the toy!


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## K.I.T.T (Mar 11, 2013)

Well, this project is back on the table. I plan to add a few more things to this such as the running lights ect.

More updates when time allows!


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## K.I.T.T (Mar 11, 2013)

Well just a quick update, I've got the running lights in on the nacelles.


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## Hagoth (Mar 12, 2015)

Cool! Looking forward to a picture.


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## K.I.T.T (Mar 11, 2013)

Here are a few pics. I have a little bit of a dim nacelle due to a wire contact problem, I'll sort that out later. Pics are not the best, using my phones camera.

Also just so you know, I work with what I have! :thumbsup:



















*Yes, that is a battery pack, 3 AA's. *


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## K.I.T.T (Mar 11, 2013)

Well after the last update, I hard wired in the battery pack and on switch, which is working great. I made a hole for the on/off switch, and ended up having to cut out a small part of the original battery cover (no big deal). Yet it hit me, what the heck am I doing.. Too late.. So once I get my stand rods and correctly place them on the stand, I will end up having to rewire the on/off switch and fill in a few holes.. 

For now, she is complete!


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## Hagoth (Mar 12, 2015)

Running lights look good. Did you just daisy chain the LED's in series with the main engine lights?


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## K.I.T.T (Mar 11, 2013)

Hagoth said:


> Running lights look good. Did you just daisy chain the LED's in series with the main engine lights?


Yup! Only thing I think I will do after I get the stand is start painting the little windows.. I'm considering taking my old medical tricorder I got as a kid and using that as the on/off option. Think when you flip it open, it will switch on and when you close it, it turns off.

lol look at that, creating more work for myself! :tongue:


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## Hagoth (Mar 12, 2015)

Ha ha! I wouldn't call it work though. This is creative fun!


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