# Lighting the PILOT version of the Enterprise 1/350



## feek61 (Aug 26, 2006)

*Lighting the SECOND PILOT version of the Enterprise 1/350*

I will be doing the pilot version of the Enterprise and I want to get the lighting right!! 

On the top of the saucer section we really never see the lights in operation. Were the top lights even illuminated? It looks like the large lights were just white lights and the smaller lights were colored (but I believe on the miniature those were just painted on). Anyway, any thoughts on the top lights?










Also, some of the lighted windows on the secondary hull blink (I guess they were suppose to simulate room lights turning on and off). The ones I recall are back by the hangar bay on the side and also on the dorsal. Any others? Also, any idea of the on & off cycle of those?

Lastly, are the strobe lights. I know the front saucer, bottom back quarter of the saucer and the beacon over the hangar bay flash in unison. Any others?










Any other insights?


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## Ductapeforever (Mar 6, 2008)

feek61 said:


> I will be doing the pilot version of the Enterprise and I want to get the lighting right!!
> 
> On the top of the saucer section we really never see the lights in operation. Were the top lights even illuminated? It looks like the large lights were just white lights and the smaller lights were colored (but I believe on the miniature those were just painted on). Anyway, any thoughts on the top lights?
> 
> ...




It was my understanding the pilot version wasn't lit at all, or am I wrong?


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## feek61 (Aug 26, 2006)

I should have said "the second pilot version"

I have changed the thread title; sorry about any confusion!! 

What about the front of the bridge; was that light as it appears in this photo?


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## Ductapeforever (Mar 6, 2008)

Yes the bridge was lighted through a frosted pane, also of the 4 skylights on top of the saucer, only three were actually lit. The port side aft skylight detail was painted on. Although for our purposes I would light them all for consistancy. Running lights, I'm not sure of, perhaps viewing pilot videos on Youtube might answer this.


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## RSN (Jul 29, 2008)

For a good shot of the 2nd pilot Enterprise that was only used once, watch "Mirror, Mirror". The shot of it going right to left in the Mirror universe after the flip flop back and forth is about the clearest 3/4 close up you will ever see of the ship. You also get to see the reversed lettering in use as the footage was flipped to show it going right to left, representing the port side facing the camera.


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## Gregatron (Mar 29, 2008)

Gary Kerr seems to think that the upper saucer running lights (port/starboard) were just cosmetic, and did not blink. Looking at the "Mirror, Mirror" shot, I tend to agree. Of course, they'd probably blink on the "real" ship.

And note that the blinking windows in the dorsal and rear secondary hull did not blink in unison with each other, nor the running lights.


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## MGagen (Dec 18, 2001)

I seem to recall reading somewhere that the light going out near the hangar deck on one of the stock flybys was actually a bulb burning out.

Don't recall where I saw this, but it was in print.

M.


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## Gregatron (Mar 29, 2008)

Ductapeforever said:


> It was my understanding the pilot version wasn't lit at all, or am I wrong?


The second pilot version (seen in the various images in this thread) was lit; the first pilot version was not.


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## Gregatron (Mar 29, 2008)

MGagen said:


> I seem to recall reading somewhere that the light going out near the hangar deck on one of the stock flybys was actually a bulb burning out.
> 
> Don't recall where I saw this, but it was in print.
> 
> M.



If so, then it burned out in several different shots, from several angles!


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## Shaw (Jan 9, 2005)

If you are going for matching what was seen on screen in the second pilot... then all the lit elements associated with the aft cavity of the secondary hull blink. This is because they were all lit by the same bulb. This was changed for the production version when a second small blinking light was added so the other lit elements could stay on all the time.

This is what the inside of that section of the model looks like...








I've been putting together plans of the model (as a model, not a fictional starship) which includes breaking down where all the parts are located (including each plank used to build the secondary hull). There were four cavities within the secondary hull, and only two of them had lights with all the lit elements being clear rods that reached in far enough to be lit from a single source (the front cavity had more windows added for series production and a second light bulb was also added).


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## GordonMitchell (Feb 12, 2009)

I'm probably going to get shot for this theory on lights out but here we go,
I always thought that with it being a single tulb that it was possible that it was out of shot when the camera passes on certain parts of the ship espesially at the hanger area as the light on top remains on but the window below goes out as the camera pans aft it is the same at the neck,it could be the thickness of the walls in that area only alow you to see the window light face on,right I've said and I'm now backing against the wall with my blindfold(which has 2 pics of miss R.Welch in white bakini 70's over the eyes) so fire away I'm ready:lol:
Gordon


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## Shaw (Jan 9, 2005)

MGagen said:


> I seem to recall reading somewhere that the light going out near the hangar deck on one of the stock flybys was actually a bulb burning out.
> 
> Don't recall where I saw this, but it was in print.
> 
> M.


Actually, having gone back and reviewed the effects shots (and watching a couple episodes... love doing research) I think this might not be too far off what happened because the blinking marker lights are synchronized. But the hangar lights seem to drop out in two of the shots that I could find, _WNM Away_ and _WNM Side_, but doesn't blink out during _WNM Side RL_. If it was designed to do it, the hangar window light might be on a really long cycle.

So it looks like they changed how the aft dome was lit for the series.

But if it was a burn out, and not planned, then *Tallguy*'s _WNM Barrier Away_ footage and _WNM Away_ footage are actually the same.


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## feek61 (Aug 26, 2006)

RSN said:


> For a good shot of the 2nd pilot Enterprise that was only used once, watch "Mirror, Mirror". The shot of it going right to left in the Mirror universe after the flip flop back and forth is about the clearest 3/4 close up you will ever see of the ship. You also get to see the reversed lettering in use as the footage was flipped to show it going right to left, representing the port side facing the camera.


I looked at that clip before posting here and it does not show anything conclusive.


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## feek61 (Aug 26, 2006)

MGagen said:


> I seem to recall reading somewhere that the light going out near the hangar deck on one of the stock flybys was actually a bulb burning out.
> 
> Don't recall where I saw this, but it was in print.
> 
> M.


That is not correct. You can see it turn off in almost every shot that you can see it. Notice it here:










No question that the beacon above the hangar bay cycles with the rest of the strobes; not with the windows below.

Also, on the dorsal there are two lights that turn off and on, not one as I previously indicated.


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## RSN (Jul 29, 2008)

Are these things that happen in every shot with those windows or does it just happen in some shots, at certain angles, with different windows. It is possible you are just trying to duplicate a fault in the the way the shot was filmed and not how the model was supposed to work.


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## feek61 (Aug 26, 2006)

No, it's the same windows in all the shots. Here is another shot of the back lights turning off:











BTW, when is the first after-market second pilot lighting kit coming out???


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## tardis1916 (Mar 24, 2004)

Speaking of lighting kit, does anyone know when the polar lights lighting kit is to be released? Wish they could've released it along with the 1701 club kits so we could actually start building them.


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## Ductapeforever (Mar 6, 2008)

tardis1916 said:


> Speaking of lighting kit, does anyone know when the polar lights lighting kit is to be released? Wish they could've released it along with the 1701 club kits so we could actually start building them.



Within weeks, if not sooner.


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## tardis1916 (Mar 24, 2004)

After a lot of thinking, I think I'll do my own lighting. I have plenty of LEDs and blinking circuits to make it work.


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## feek61 (Aug 26, 2006)

Most likely there was a guy off camera turning a switch on and off for a couple of the lights to simulate activity at the windows. I will be doing my own light kit and most likely will have those lights cycle every few mins. Since there is not bussards to deal with; lighting should be pretty simple.


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## Gary K (Aug 26, 2002)

Ductapeforever said:


> Yes the bridge was lighted through a frosted pane, also of the 4 skylights on top of the saucer, only three were actually lit.


FYI, we had planned to make the "windshield" on the 2nd Pilot bridge out of clear plastic, which you'd paint over to make a 1st Pilot bridge, but draft issues with the tooling nixed that idea.

Gary


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## Paulbo (Sep 16, 2004)

Gary K said:


> FYI, we had planned to make the "windshield" on the 2nd Pilot bridge out of clear plastic, which you'd paint over to make a 1st Pilot bridge, but draft issues with the tooling nixed that idea.
> 
> Gary


That would have been excellent. Too bad it couldn't come to fruition, but builders with (really) good filing skills could put in an insert and shape it to fit.


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## Captain April (May 1, 2004)

I sense an opening for the aftermarket...


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## Trek Ace (Jul 8, 2001)

For anyone thinking of making a second pilot lighting kit, the standard on/off cycle time for the second pilot navigation lights (including the one atop the hangar doors) is 1 second on, 2/3 second off. Six lights total.

If you want to get elaborate, you could add a slight ramp up and down for the nav lights as they blink on and off.


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## Model Man (Oct 1, 2007)

Clip...


Trek Ace said:


> For anyone thinking of making a second pilot lighting kit, ...


I, as Modeler's Brand Hobby Supplies, don't have a specific lighting kit. However, I have the components for it!

*The Bag o' Chips* 
http://www.modelersbrand.com/html/catalog/bagochips.html
Features 10 x 555 and 10 x 4060 timer chips _plus_ *everything* needed to make them flash/blink or strobe; from a variable capacitor to test (or set) your final timing to solderable/cuttable proto-boards and much more.

Combined with a standard Modeler's Brand* LEDPack* of 3mm, 5mm or 10mm LEDs and a few feet of *Double-Density LEDTape* in Regular, Smooth or Ultra-Smooth (depending on where it will go), it's hard to go wrong for the price.
http://www.modelersbrand.com/html/catalog.html#ledpacks

At $40 for the Bag o' Chips, you get twenty chips and 10 cuttable, solderable protoboards which means you could light the 1701 for as little as $2 or so and still have 19 more chips to light up other models!

The only trick is that you have to do the footwork on wiring and testing yourself, though I do provide a number of online and offline references to get you started. There are a lot of timer chip videos on youtube that will get you going. I also imagine enough people will be doing homebrew lighting for this model that some common numbers will start to appear here and at other forums. But for as little as $2 per model kit you light, how can one go wrong? Heck, putting 4 chips in one model only raises the cost to $8 out of the $40 you spend!

I don't see Modeler's Brand ever producing pre-made chipsets for a given model. There are enough after-marketeers out there that already have that covered. MB is all about stocking you up on supplies so you can DIY the rest.

Keep it in mind. :wave:
http://www.modelersbrand.com


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## Sparky (Feb 21, 2004)

feek61 said:


> No, it's the same windows in all the shots. Here is another shot of the back lights turning off:
> 
> 
> 
> ...


These photos have brought up a question that I have had for a long time. Are those 3 dark ovals on the nacelle pylons supposed to be windows? They look just like windows but doesn't make sense to have windows there.


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## Captain April (May 1, 2004)

Those aren't ovals, they're rectangles.

As for whether or not they're windows, that's a matter of interpretation.


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## charonjr (Mar 27, 2000)

I've always viewed them as windows. Thank God artificial gravity can be aimed! The pylon is narrow enough without having to consider turbolifts that have to stay vertical running in them, or a long narrow Jeffries tube.


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## portland182 (Jul 19, 2003)

It looks to me like the second pilot Enterprise only has 2 of the 4 rectangular lights on the saucer top lit? The other 2 appear to be paint...

Jim


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## tardis1916 (Mar 24, 2004)

So, from looking at those pictures it appears to me that the front engine buzzards are not lit. Is that correct?


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## Ductapeforever (Mar 6, 2008)

The nacelle caps on the 1st pilot version were solid wood and were NOT lit.


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## tardis1916 (Mar 24, 2004)

Cool, I've decided to build a mirror mirror universe ISS Enterprise. I noticed in the remastered version that most of the windows are lit, including the engine pylons. Haven't quite decided if I will light this one yet or not.


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## Warped9 (Sep 12, 2003)

I'm going for an idealized 1st pilot Pike era version. It will have some details that hadn't yet been added to the 11 footer, but would be there on the "real" ship. The hangar doors will have the clamshell detail, the nacelle inboard sections will have the grills, the bridge dome will be lighted as well as the windows and running lights. I haven't yet decided on how to handle the forward nacelle domes, but I'm certainly keeping the spikes.

If I find the gridlines fine enough particularly with a bit of sanding and painting, then I'll keep them.


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## jlwshere (Mar 30, 2007)

Ductapeforever said:


> Yes the bridge was lighted through a frosted pane, also of the 4 skylights on top of the saucer, only three were actually lit. The port side aft skylight detail was painted on. Although for our purposes I would light them all for consistancy.
> 
> 
> From the photos above it looks like both light panels on the port side were painted on? I know they it 3 of 4 on the production model, but I do not see any discerning depression or illumination on this pilot model for these two panels.


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## StarshipClass (Aug 13, 2003)

jlwshere said:


> From the photos above it looks like both light panels on the port side were painted on? I know they it 3 of 4 on the production model, but I do not see any discerning depression or illumination on this pilot model for these two panels.


I think there's a photo somewhere showing the obviously painted on skylight and the rest were frosted clear insets.


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## StarshipClass (Aug 13, 2003)

Ah! This isn't the one I was thinking of but seems to show the difference:


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## StarshipClass (Aug 13, 2003)

Here it is:


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## Mark2000 (Oct 13, 2013)

Captain April said:


> I sense an opening for the aftermarket...


Yup, and here it is. 1/350 Pilot Bridge Exterior w/Window by Mark2000 on Shapeways


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