NACELLES ROTATING on finished modelQuickTime MOVIE (Broadband 3.2MB)

Below 3/28/2005 UPDATES

NACELLES ROTATING StarboardQuickTime MOVIE (Broadband)

NACELLES ROTATING Close-UpQuickTime MOVIE (Broadband)

NACELLES ROTATINGQuickTime MOVIE (Broadband)

NACELLES ROTATING QuickTime MOVIE Low Quality (Dial-Up)

BIG Thanks to Chris Dolphin for hosting the .mov files.

Side view with flash.

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Checking alignment of the engines (Before epoxy).

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Side view with all lights running.

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Testing the hangar lighting.

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Close up of starboard engine nacelle. (Rotation 'blurs' the fans).

Overall lighting effect w/ hull and engines running.

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Close up of engine nacelle before mounting the 'fans'.

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Fan assembly, motor is inside, with outer dome covering inner dome (NOTE: Notice the tiny 'screws' to hold outer dome in place, just like original miniature).

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Test fitting engines (NOTE: they are not adjusted)

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Finished engines side by side - inside/outside.

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Close up of one of the inner "fan" domes.

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Test fitting struts with finish paint on hull.

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Yellow base to bring out the bright red.

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Hull, engine and strut with final paint coat.

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Hull and Engine final sanding before finish paint.

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Secondary hull ready for final coat, lighted windows are masked off.

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One of the engines after bondo/primer.

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Secondary hull sanded after "Bondo".

UPDATE: 05/18/2006 - Added QuickTime Movie of completed Model.

UPDATE: 03/28/2005 - Added two new QuickTime Movies, you can better see the 'fans' rotating in these.

UPDATE: 03/21/2005 - SECONDARY HULL and ENGINES completed!! It's been a long time coming, and this milestone is finally met. The pictures on the left highlight the progress from the last update to today. The engines came out fantastic, and the spinning light effect is absolutely incredible. (The .mov is a bit fuzzy, but you get the idea) Compare it to the "Tholian Web", and you'd swear you are looking at the actual model!
CONSTRUCTION NOTES: The Engines are just 'set on' at this time, so what may appear to be sagging is just the test fits. I wound up using "Bondo" and glazing putting to bring the seams together on the Hull and on the Engines. There was a lot of sanding and Priming to get everything smooth, but the end results were great. Painting the red stripes, per instructions, laying down a coat of yellow before the Red really makes the red pennants stand out. I was torn on whether or not to put the 'boxcar red' stripe around the front of the secondary hull. There are many pictures without it, but several DVD screen captures from later seasons reveal it quite clearly, and I wanted this model to reflect the latest version of this ship. Assembling the Nacelle Fans was fun, but a lot of work. They are 400:1 Tamiya motors, set in opposite rotation. Getting them to spin in a perfect orbit took a lot of tweaking. The motors are a bit loud, but not too much. On the inner dome, I had to cut out stripes of graphic tape. I chose a transparent Blue instead of Black, this made the stripes a little more subtle as the 'fans' spin, yet they still appear very dark, you don't notice the blue over the black. The "Fan Assembly" as you can see from one of the pictures are actually 'latched' on via some screws mounted on the front of the nacelles. This allows for easy removal for repairs. In fact, the secondary hulls' antenna array is removable, and the hangar doors also come out, so everything can be serviced. Well, Enjoy the pictures, work on the Saucer starts next week!!