USS Enterprise Model Build – Part 12 – light leakage
Once the whole thing was assembled I soldered the wires from the stand onto the wires that come out of the bottom of the model and had a look at the thing in all its glory. Even with the many small imperfections the model still has (due to my lack of skills) it really looked great. I just had to add some music to this first light leakage video:
So you might notice that there are several areas that are problematic where light is shining through where it is not supposed to:
- At the bottom of the neck where the neck attaches to the main hull
- On two or three areas at the top rim of the saucer
- On both sides of the “pilons” that connect the nacelles to the main hull
- at the back / bottom of the shuttle bay
The most glaring light leakage issues obviously where where the nacelles connect to the main hull. I had a hell of a time getting a tight and flush fit there because the circuit board for the nacelle lighting prevented me from fitting the connecting piece 100% in there they way it is supposed to.
I thought about taking the whole thing apart again and decided against it as it was so much work to get the whole thing together as it is. So I went ahead and used this “perfect plastic putty” I saw on this blog:
Perfect plastic putty – saved my life : )
The great thing about it is that it is water soluble. So I just applied very small amounts of this stuff using a toothpick (while wearing my newly acquired magnifying headset) and just wiped any excess stuff off using a wet Q-tip.
If you’re approaching 50 – you might need this:
I then just used a very small brush to carefully touch up the repaired areas. Thank god I had enough of the original hull color mix left over : ) So here are some before and after shots:
Nacelle connection leakage fixed
Front neck leakage fixed
Saucer areas fixed
I also fixed the problems at the back below the shuttle bay but forgot to take pictures.
Soooo – Since this really is my first attempt at building a model using an airbrush and adding custom lighting, I am quite satisfied. It really looks great from one or two meters away and when it will be up on the shelf I guess nobody will see the little imperfections.
If I could change one thing I would go in again and place the circuit board somewhere else so that the connection to the nacelles fits 100% perfectly. I think due to this very small gap the whole angle of the nacelles is a little bit off and it looks like the are leaning / drooping to much backwards. Or maybe it’s just me being to picky.
I think it’s just me being too picky. When I first saw some of these projects online I had serious doubts if I’d ever get this done. So I’ll just clap myself on the shoulder for now and will enjoy the model up on the shelf : )
I just hope I don’t mess up applying all the decals as there I will have to use decal softener which I also have no experience with…
So this leaves me with the following steps:
- apply a clear coat
- apply the decals
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