# Ruckdog's PL Refit Project



## Ruckdog (Jan 17, 2006)

Hi all. 

I've finally gotten the chance to get started on my PL Refit. To document my progress (or lack thereof!), I've created a section of my website dedicated to the project. Right now, all I have posted are my thoughts on how to proceed. I've already fitted the metal armature to my model, but I have yet to assemble the pictures I took during the progress into a cohesive article. That will be coming soon (maybe tonight or tomorrow!). Anyway, here is the link:

http://www.andysrandomstuff.com/trek/plrefit/

Andy


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## Ruckdog (Jan 17, 2006)

Hey everyone!

As promised, here is the update on how I fit the metal armature to my model, which I have entitled "Plastic Surgery". And if you haven't checked it out yet, please read my planning article, "The Gameplan". I'd really aprreciate any thoughts or feedback you guys might have on my approach to this project.

My next update will probably be on the paint tests I have been conducting. Right now, it looks like I am going to be going with flat white/gloss white for the Aztecing, applied via spraycan. I probably won't get around to posting about it until next weekend, however.


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## FoxTrot (Jan 27, 2000)

Wonderful work, keep those webpages comin'!!! FT


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## John Duncan (Jan 27, 2001)

Nice work! I'm following your progress...keep it coming.

(gasp! You're using a chase kit for that!  )


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## StarshipClass (Aug 13, 2003)

I'm very interested to see how the flat and gloss paint turns out since it is similar to the way I thought about doing it.

The armature is definitely the way to go from what is apparent in your initial construction steps. Looks great so far!


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## GLU Sniffah (Apr 15, 2005)

Just how many Squids do we have around here anyway?! 

Nice job on the webpages AND so far on your projects! Very well presented....


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## Ruckdog (Jan 17, 2006)

PerfesserCoffee said:


> I'm very interested to see how the flat and gloss paint turns out since it is similar to the way I thought about doing it.
> 
> The armature is definitely the way to go from what is apparent in your initial construction steps. Looks great so far!


Well, I just got the pictures I took last weekend put up. I like the effect I got, but you can see for your self: 

http://www.andysrandomstuff.com/trek/plrefit/painttest/

Thanks for all the feedback! It is much appreciated. BTW, has anyone heard anything from TrekModeler recently? He was talking about making a lighting kit for this model, and I could really use one of them soon if he is still going to make them.


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## StarshipClass (Aug 13, 2003)

Excellent! I like the look!


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## Ruckdog (Jan 17, 2006)

Houston, we have a problem!

I realized tonight that I am missing the starboard half of my "neck"! I've looked everywhere, but I can't find it. I can only guess that it somehow got blown off my balcony where it was drying after painting.

So, if anyone has a spare starboard half of the neck that I can beg, buy, or borrow, please let me know!


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## carpathiavh99 (Dec 19, 2005)

I took a look at your NX-01 video, I'm currently in the process of finishing my own NX, and I'm pretty unhappy with the anti-collision lights (the white strobes on the bridge and nacelles, the flashing rate on my model is way off). Do you have any way of sharing the layout of the circuit board you used for your model?


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## limbfilter (Jul 27, 2005)

Ruckdog said:


> Houston, we have a problem!
> 
> I realized tonight that I am missing the starboard half of my "neck"! I've looked everywhere, but I can't find it. I can only guess that it somehow got blown off my balcony where it was drying after painting.
> 
> So, if anyone has a spare starboard half of the neck that I can beg, buy, or borrow, please let me know!


Lemme double check....But I'm sure I have an extra one....


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## Ruckdog (Jan 17, 2006)

Sure! Actually, I didn't design the circuit myself. I got the diagram from this website:

http://www.southern-storm.com.au/personal/nx01/lighting_nx01.html

This is the page that actually has the diagram I used:

http://www.southern-storm.com.au/personal/nx01/lighting_navigation.html

I hope you find this website as useful as I did. The blinking rate on my model was achieved using the capacitor and resistor values listed, except for the capacitors in series with the LED's; I used different LED's, so had to adjust the value of those resistors accordingly. These risistors don't affect the flash rate of the circuit though.

Also note that this circuit is set up for 12v. If you are planning on going with a 9v supply, the resistor values will have to be adjusted appropriately. I'm not sure how to go about this though.


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## Ruckdog (Jan 17, 2006)

limbfilter said:


> Lemme double check....But I'm sure I have an extra one....


Thanks! :thumbsup: I'll keep my fingers crossed. PM me if you find you have one.


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## Ruckdog (Jan 17, 2006)

I have yet to hear from Limbfilter, so if anyone else has the extra part (the right half of the neck), then please let me know. If worse comes to worst, I guess I'll have to buy a second kit and part it out. I don't believe I can order spares from PL (correct me if I'm wrong!).


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## idman (Apr 11, 2004)

Nope can't order spare PL no longer Does model Kit I Have 3 Kits I think I can help ya out 
i'll Let ya know :thumbsup: BTW Is that The right or left side :tongue:


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## limbfilter (Jul 27, 2005)

heh....depends on how you're looking at the ship....And I do have that extra neck....just pm me with your addy....


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## Ruckdog (Jan 17, 2006)

You should have it! Thank you very much, this means a lot to me. I still can't believe I managed to lose this piece of the kit! I would have guessed that I would misplace one of the tiny window inserts or something, but _no_.


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## Ruckdog (Jan 17, 2006)

Hey all. I've updated my PL Refit project page with an article on how I painted my sacuer rim. The article is entitled: A Set of Rims for the Big E. Sorry the updates haven't been more timely. I'm sort of working on several parts of the model at once right now. The sacuer rim is the one area that I feel is complete enough to warrent an update. Let me know what you think!


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## Ruckdog (Jan 17, 2006)

Hey all! It has been a while since I gave you an update, but I have been making some progress. I just finished up the deflector dish and housing, and have the article posted over on my Refit project website: http://www.andysrandomstuff.com/trek/plrefit/deflector/

I'm starting to think that Trekmodeler's lighting kit isn't going to be available soon enough for me to take advantage of it, so I am planning on doing the lighting myself using one of the generic flasher circuits available over at CultTVMan. 

Also, if you are reading this Limbfilter, I could definitely still use those parts if you can send them to me!


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## GLU Sniffah (Apr 15, 2005)

Nice deflecto-dish!


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## Dogman_D (Apr 14, 2006)

Ruckdog said:


> Hey all! It has been a while since I gave you an update, but I have been making some progress. I just finished up the deflector dish and housing, and have the article posted over on my Refit project website: http://www.andysrandomstuff.com/trek/plrefit/deflector/
> 
> I'm starting to think that Trekmodeler's lighting kit isn't going to be available soon enough for me to take advantage of it, so I am planning on doing the lighting myself using one of the generic flasher circuits available over at CultTVMan.
> 
> Also, if you are reading this Limbfilter, I could definitely still use those parts if you can send them to me!


Hey Ruckdog! You can make the flasher board yourself by using Pat Floyd's flasher circuit. Just goto www.starshipbuilder.com you can get most of the parts from radioshack and some from eBay. It's setup to run the nav lights and strobs. Nice looking build so far by the way. just to let you know if you use the 2600mcd blue led you can raise the resister to a 560 1/2watt and dim it down. that's what I did. :thumbsup:


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## Ruckdog (Jan 17, 2006)

Quick question: From what I can tell in pictures, the raised areas of the warp grills glow blue and the recesses are black. Is this correct?


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## SteveR (Aug 7, 2005)

Mmmm ... not quite. The entire grill is purple. There are 6 raised ribs and 5 recesses between them. The raised areas generally appear black on film, and the _recesses_ glow purple sometimes, blue sometimes, depending on how the film was processed or composited. They were coloured with the ink used by machinists.

To confirm the raised purpleness, look at the shot in TMP just after the ship leaves drydock. As the sun rises over the earth, you can see a glint off the purple grill. This is one of the occasions where the raised part of the grill appears purple on film.


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## Dogman_D (Apr 14, 2006)

Yes sir it is you can do this by on of 2 way either mask of the lower or reseced part and paint it black, or use black bare metel foil on the raised ares.I paln on using the black foil myself as I've used it on some of my armor kits or the vision blocks and ot works great.


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## Dogman_D (Apr 14, 2006)

SteveR said:


> Mmmm ... not quite. The entire grill is purple. There are 6 raised ribs and 5 recesses between them. The raised areas generally appear black on film, and the _recesses_ glow purple sometimes, blue sometimes, depending on how the film was processed or composited. They were coloured with the ink used by machinists.
> 
> To confirm the raised purpleness, look at the shot in TMP just after the ship leaves drydock. As the sun rises over the earth, you can see a glint off the purple grill. This is one of the occasions where the raised part of the grill appears purple on film.


Now come to think of it Steve is right. try mixing clear blue and clear red about 60% to 40% and more if you have to to try and get the same efect.


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## Ruckdog (Jan 17, 2006)

Well, I was planning on using black for the grills, becuase that is how they looked on film. I know the studio model's were a purpleish color, but I think I like the black better. I was planning on lighting them blue, again my personal preference. 

So, just to be clear, the recessed areas were lit and the raised areas are opaqe?


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## Raist3001 (Oct 23, 2003)

> So, just to be clear, the recessed areas were lit and the raised areas are opaqe?


Yes that is correct. To give the nacelles a deep purple appearance when not lit, you can spray the backs a mixture of red and blue food coloring. I used this tip I learned from Krako when painting my grills. I also used black Pactra tape to cover the raised grill areas instead of painting them. Another tip from Krako 

http://i23.photobucket.com/albums/b391/Raist3001/P2110039.jpg

http://i23.photobucket.com/albums/b391/Raist3001/P2110038.jpg

http://i23.photobucket.com/albums/b391/Raist3001/P2110040.jpg

http://i23.photobucket.com/albums/b391/Raist3001/P3290039.jpg

http://i23.photobucket.com/albums/b391/Raist3001/P3290040.jpg

In the lit photos, I had not yet opaqued the curved sections at the rear of each grill.


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## Krako (Jun 6, 2003)

Ruckdog - 

Here's how I did my grills and they turned out great! 

http://www.hobbytalk.com/bbs1/showthread.php?t=136675&highlight=hate+clear+parts

I used a mixture of Future and food coloring to create the purple tint. I used black Pactra tape on the raised portions of the grills...

Some of the links to my gallery are outdated in the above link, but I corrected the links to the grill pictures.

EDIT: HA! Raist beat me to it!!! BTW, glad you liked the deflector and strongback decals. Looks like you're doing a good job with them.


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## Ruckdog (Jan 17, 2006)

Well, I haven't heard from Limbfilter, so if anyone else has an extra neck for the PL 1/350 refit please let me know! The starboard half of mine has gone missing, and I'd rather like to aviod buying another kit just for one part.


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## StarshipClass (Aug 13, 2003)

Ruckdog said:


> Well, I haven't heard from Limbfilter, so if anyone else has an extra neck for the PL 1/350 refit please let me know! The starboard half of mine has gone missing, and I'd rather like to aviod buying another kit just for one part.


PM me.


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## Ruckdog (Jan 17, 2006)

Thanks for the part, Perfesser! Really appreciate the help. And if you are reading this Limbfilter, no hard feelings. I know what it's like to be really busy!

Anyway, I've got a short update on my project today. I just got finished painting the warp engine grills: http://www.andysrandomstuff.com/trek/plrefit/grill/

Keep in mind that the lighting will be a bit different; the test shots were done with just two LED's, and the nacelles will contain 4-6!


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## guartho (May 4, 2004)

Wow. I tried masking mine, but gave up. I hand-painted them and then used a hobby-knife with a broken tip to scrape the sides and recessed grooves nice and crisp. Since I frosted mine anyway this worked great.


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## StarshipClass (Aug 13, 2003)

Your part is in the mail, sir!


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## Ruckdog (Jan 17, 2006)

Well, it has been a while since I've updated, but I've made some considerable progress since last time. I've finally started main assebmly and lighting of the model. I'm still hoping to have it done by the end of September or early October! Here is the article: Lighting the Engineering Section 

As always, constuctive feedback is much appreciated.


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## GLU Sniffah (Apr 15, 2005)

Oh man..

Splendiferous!


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## ilbasso (Jun 7, 2006)

Looks mighty purty, Ruckdog! I'm very impressed!

I'm interested in your use of speaker wire for internal power. Where and how are you making connections inside the ship? Do you have, for lack of a better word, "bus stops" where you tap into the power and ground wires?


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## Ruckdog (Jan 17, 2006)

Well, I would have used some form of terminal strip to make major connections in the engineering hull if it wasn't for the cargo/shuttle bay assembly gobbling up so much room. (even though I'm not detailing mine, it is still needed to provide a brace for the armature). So, I've just been soldering all the joints thus far. Once I get into lighting the sacuer, things should open up a bit and allow me to use at least one terminal as a "junction" between the power feeders and the various lights up there.

The wiring scheme I am using is a bit convoluted, but I am going more for convienence than elegance. The secondary hull static lights, with the exception of the dorsal pylon spots, are powered from a conection to power in the secondary hull. The nacelles, neck, and saucer are all going to be powered from a connection in the saucer, which is where the flasher board is also going to go. The only downside to this approach is that there are a LOT of wires passing through the neck, but I think I've got that under control.


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## ilbasso (Jun 7, 2006)

Thanks! Your approach works well with a master on/off - wish I had thought to simplify things and follow your approach. For some reason that's not entirely clear to me now, I wanted to have separate control switches for hotel lights, warp engines, deflectors (both states), etc., so I'm going to have about 10-15 different wires that have to pass through the hull. Also, since I'm using CCFLs for the primary hull lights and warp engines, I have to have +12V for them and +9V for the LEDs in the rest of the ship. Ay caramba!!


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## Lloyd Collins (Sep 25, 2004)

I don't think you used enough clamps.

I like your design on the lights. I haven't started mine, but I keep an eye on different ways to do it.


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## StarshipClass (Aug 13, 2003)

[Joker]Where does he get those wonderful clamps? [/Joker]

Looking phantasmic! Keep posting those photon-graphs!


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## Ruckdog (Jan 17, 2006)

> Thanks! Your approach works well with a master on/off - wish I had thought to simplify things and follow your approach. For some reason that's not entirely clear to me now, I wanted to have separate control switches for hotel lights, warp engines, deflectors (both states), etc., so I'm going to have about 10-15 different wires that have to pass through the hull. Also, since I'm using CCFLs for the primary hull lights and warp engines, I have to have +12V for them and +9V for the LEDs in the rest of the ship. Ay caramba!!


Wow! That is signifigantly more complex. I tossed around building mine with seperately controlled lights, but given my time and skill constraints I realised I would have a better chance of actually completing the model if I went with a simpler scheme. I'm sure that your approach will undoubtedly lead to a more impressive model, and I can't wait to see how it turns out!

I should have another update posted either later today or tomorrow. I have gotten the nacelles lit and assembled, and now I"m fully engaged with the painting.


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## Ruckdog (Jan 17, 2006)

Well, as promised, here is the update about how I have lit my nacelles:
http://www.andysrandomstuff.com/trek/plrefit/nacelles/

The painting is going pretty well; both the engineering section and the saucer halves have been primed, and the neck has been aztec-masked and painted already. I'm thinking about using the neck as a test to see how the sealer I'm planning on using affects the aztec affect. I'm working that the gloss clear coat will diminish the aztec affect too much. If it does, only the neck will be affected and it won't be a huge part of the model.


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## MartinHatfield (Apr 11, 2004)

That there is looking mighty impressive RD. I only hope mine turns out half as well. When I get started on it...I think I may do the FM Falcon first.


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## ilbasso (Jun 7, 2006)

Wow, impressive that you were able to light the grilles with only 2 LEDs!! As I started lighting the neck, I was impressed that the design of the clear plastic window parts (with one large piece of plastic joining together all the windows) makes it easy to distribute light pretty evenly without very many LEDs. I was planning to use UV CCFLs in the warp nacelles - I'm going to try your technique first.


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## GLU Sniffah (Apr 15, 2005)

> Wow, impressive that you were able to light the grilles with only 2 LEDs!!


The simpler the better... Because of the success I've seen that folks like Ruck are having with LEDs, either in arrays or a simple two-element affair, I have abandoned the eventual use of CCFLs for mine when I ever get to it!


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## Lloyd Collins (Sep 25, 2004)

I think I will see about doing mine, with LEDs, also. Coming along real good!


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## Ruckdog (Jan 17, 2006)

Got a quick update, on the neck this time. I've been making a lot of progress lately, but unfortunately my updates are lagging behind. I'm hoping to have this one wrapped up in another few weeks!


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## saiyagohan (Aug 4, 2006)

Very Nice work on your Refit. The lighting is real nice on it. Keep those pics coming. :thumbsup:


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## Krako (Jun 6, 2003)

Wow! Those pics look fantastic! Can't wait to see the next update.


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## Ruckdog (Jan 17, 2006)

Well, I finally found enough time to put together an update on my model. I'm slowly getting caught up with my overall progress with the model. Here it is!

Painting the Engineering Section


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## Lloyd Collins (Sep 25, 2004)

Coming along just great! It is going to be some ship to see.


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## Raist3001 (Oct 23, 2003)

Looking great Ruckdog!!


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## Ruckdog (Jan 17, 2006)

Hey everyone! Sorry for taking so long to get an update posted, but I've been really busy at work the last few weeks. My model is actualy done, I just finished applying the decals today. I have posted two articles on my website. The first article details the painting and construction of the saucer, while the second has pictures and videos of my finished build. Overall, I'm really happy with how it came out. The only thing left to do now is to build a custom stand for her (the hunk of cutting board with a rod sticking out of it won't cut it indefinitely!).


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## ilbasso (Jun 7, 2006)

You mean it's possible to actually FINISH one of these kits???!

Congrats! It's a real work of art!!


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## Lloyd Collins (Sep 25, 2004)

It is a real beauty! You done a really great job with it, now take that vacation you need!


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## PhilipMarlowe (Jan 23, 2004)

Amazing work, the lighting effect is REALLY well-done :thumbsup:


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## Krako (Jun 6, 2003)

Way to go, Ruckdog! That is one awesome refit!!! Loved the flyby. It's my dream to film one of those too!


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## Ruckdog (Jan 17, 2006)

Thanks for all the kind words! The model mostly came out as I wanted, save for a few seams/light leaks (you can see the really bad one where the saucer and neck meet in this photo). Now though, I have to get her down to the local UPS store to get her shipped out, as I am going to be moving in a week and a half and I'll be a monkey's uncle if I'm going to let military-contracted movers within 10' of my baby!


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## Carson Dyle (May 7, 2003)

Beautifully done. Truly inspiring.

One of these days...


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