Build the 1:650 Enterprise D part 3

In this third installment of building the 1/650 Enterprise D from Helios Models & Lighting, I cover the completion of the phaser array prep and look at the preliminary base and structural design.
RESINS for this build; Phrozen Light Curing Putty, FUNCRECOL light curing putty (Amazon), SOLAREZ dome forming light curing resin, BONDIC light-curing resin (great for windows).
PLEASE NOTE: AT THE TIME OF PRODUCTION THIS KIT WAS NO LONGER AVAILABLE. CHECK THE HELIOS MODELS FACEBOOK PAGE FOR ANY FURTHER NEWS.

[@MartinFutter70]

Engineer Segal reporting for duty... you are tackling this model with all the qualities of a master shipbuilder extraordinaire. Onward said I - to part four

[@sprueVerse]

I definitely owe you a beer or two or three….😂🖖

[@MartinFutter70]

@@sprueVerse can you throw in a packet of salt n vinegar crisps with a pickled egg? 😆

[@eddieday-reilly5144]

Hey Phil, a stroke of genius reinventing the saucer phaser array 👍

[@WorldofWayneUK]

Lookong good. Completely agree about the centre cross brace. I can see that having loads of issues.

[@eddieday-reilly5144]

Absolutely astounding videos Phil. You are an inspiration. I like your critical thinking skills and boy, you kill me with your humour 😂 which adds a much needed level to your videos. As for the armature to hold the saucer section in place... I'm surprised the guys who designed this amazing kit, didn't consider maybe designing the armature so that it can be screwed to the metal plate? Your skills and ideas are second to none keep up the awesome work my friend 👍

[@ZenStudiosCO]

I’m so proud of you for taking this on and everything that comes with it. You’re an inspiration to all of us ‘mediocre modelers’. A fraternity that you no longer inhabit. You’re definitely in the ‘expert modeler’ category!

[@dgarvin53]

I enjoy watching you solve the issues you run into with this build. Keep up the awesome work. Love your channel.

[@williamd1732]

I like your custom armature and base idea, Phil. What a challenge this one is.

[@johndillon8051]

Phil, I'm a relatively serious modeler that works in a variety of genres. I enjoy science fiction modeling, but it's not the subject of most of my work. That said, I truly enjoy watching what you do and your thought process as you work through a difficult build. There is nearly always more than one way to solve a problem, but the best way involves evaluating your skills, your materials, and what results in the best appearance. You go through the alternatives and explain why you do what you do. That's a valuable process for your audience, no matter what they're building. An added plus is you are usually building some really neat stuff!

[@ShawnMcClureModeler]

Really great model so far Phil. Going to be quite a trophy if you can find a shelf big enough for that.

[@aaronvandoorn1276]

It took me a while but finally finished all 3 videos very very good job your videos are very Inspiring I would love to get my hands-on this kit I just can't afford it right now so I'll just continue with the fan home version and go from there but once again very good job I'm looking forward to more videos

[@SteveWhite1970]

God! That’s a big kit!

[@robertherriges6807]

Keep up the good work, really enjoying the journey 😁

[@CanadianStarships]

It’s fun to see someone else going through the same thought processes coming to the same conclusions! One of the challenges I’m working through off camera right now is working out how to perfectly align that arm without being able to get into that section to affix it while it’s attached to the top secondary hull. Still working that part out. The thought on the LED strips isn’t so much that they are better, but that a higher density strip will give a much smoother look to the effect. It’s like the difference between 780p and 4K resolution. Not necessary, but nice to have!

[@davidjames1389]

Another great update, but after all the talk I'm a little bummed we didn't get to actually see the phasers in action. 😝

[@sprueVerse]

That was a mistake on my part. They are demoed in part 4!

[@xfighterbuilds]

Awesome work so far. Glad you're working out all the kinks so I don't have to when I build it, haha. It does look great, and I'll be looking to this build and Canadianstarships build whenever I can get my hands on one. Great inspiration and great troubleshooting. Can't wait to see more!

[@dannydacosta6287]

Hey Phil, Im the guy who is doing the lighting kits for Andrew over at Canadian Starships. You would really do yourself a favour by going with a higher density LED strip for those phasers. There is a gigantic jump right now between the different SMDs and you will notice, and it will bug you at some point. Go with a high res addressable 5050 LED strip and ask the guy from Helios to adapt the code to the number of LEDs that will be on that strip. Should be an easy fix on his end. Otherwise, great job and keep going sir! :)

[@davidf9257]

Won't that matter only if you gouge out the spaces between the holes and make a continuous ring the way Andrew did? If he doesn't, the light is still only going to appear where the current holes are for the individual LEDs. I think if the animation moves quickly enough, persistence of vision should make the effect look pretty smooth.

[@sprueVerse]

@davidf9257 upon testing my effect I fond the effect to be more impressive when there was zero light interference which is why I ultimately decided to remove all the material.

[@davidf9257]

Ah, I see that Phil has added more holes. Sorry, Phil, I responded before I got to that part!

[@davidjames1389]

Any chance you're working on a kit that we all can purchase? You're phaser effect is sooo much nicer than the stock one. 🙏

[@sprueVerse]

@davidjames1389 David, I feel your frustration with this build and I am sorry about timing but I have about 200 videos of which there are a good smattering of subjects on kits that are available. Please go through my channel and I’m sure there are some builds that will appeal to you. Cheers!

[@davidf9257]

Well, I think you've convinced me to carve out the phaser strip. I wanted to avoid that like the plague but it seems from you and Andrew that it's the right way to go.

[@CanadianStarships]

It’s the way that makes sense to me… and Phil went through much of the same thought process as I had gone through between the 1K kit earlier on and this 650. That said, I’m sure someone will come along and come up with a much better approach none of us have thought of yet! Working together on these builds helps us all improve and push the boundaries of what’s possible!

[@PaulSmith-ox8wk]

Always a joy to watch Phil, a shame about some of the defects but great build so far and look forward to the rest of the series

[@MrChief101]

I like the idea of having some custom steel made-- but I worry about actually "finding" the interior shape or "figure" of the upper hull. I guess shims of some sort could be used. I am wondering if the kit supplied support gimmick can be installed and then the "neck" assembly be slid over it. In that case, I would drill some appropriate holes in that metal plate and run a few screws up into the stuff. OR you could "Bill Krause" it, using brass square tubing-- cross support and all. You'd still need to shim it. All looking good.

[@sprueVerse]

Fear not a professional metal fabricator is on the job. Went to see him today! Be amazed!🖖

[@DH-bw2rx]

Nice work so far. I’m assuming you’re going to build some sort of enclosure to mount the led strip for the phasers and keep out light bleed? Also, the inner armature structure they give you would be easy to reinforce using a couple layers of carbon fiber on the sides.

[@aztekdummy]

I think the reason the individual leds didn't work may have been that the program was looking for more bulbs. Try hooking up a strip pf 11 bulbs to the board and see if you can recreate the problem. Didn't Daniel say the program needs 70-ish bulbs to work properly?

[@CanadianStarships]

Back when I was going through the same thought process on the Shoko D, I tried connecting individual SMD chips in much the same way, and got much the same strange artifact results Phil’s describing and I had adjusted the code on the Arduino for exactly the number of LED’s I had connected. I think the individual LED’s are just so finicky and troublesome to connect that problems are inevitable. I think if I was using the 5mm holes provided by Helios, I would use the 5mm addressable LED’s with the full leads on them I’ve used for bustards, impulse and other items like that. A bit easier to connect than the chips. Looking forward to seeing what you do on this kit… and how your approaches differ!

[@derekclark2361]

Great video Phil as always. Always like the fact you share your building thoughts as it gives me ideas on things I may not have thought about. I didn't buy the lighting kit because even though I would call myself decent at soldering the thought of having to solder all those SMDs was a simple No from me. Still need to check my 2nd release kit of this to see if they did correct the issues you mentioned.

[@stephenknoll5063]

If you extend that internal support and add that cross piece you will need to think about how those might effect your phasor strips inside the saucer section since those will will be standing up on end. I am worried about that extra support knocking them over, plus if you use metal like you are thinking about the metal causing short circuits.

[@sprueVerse]

There is plenty of room for the internal structure I’m planning. Everything on the lighting side is well insulated. The biggest issue with this beast is the top heavy nature of the saucer. In my opinion only a metal frame will stand the test of time.

[@stephenknoll5063]

@@sprueVerse I agree with you there, good luck.

[@PeWeeHermanUK]

What I would do Phil is completely fill all those holes and then re-drill according to the positions of the LEDs on the tape. It it would be the only way to know you're getting them exactly where you want them

[@mikeking2539]

Wow $600 on the lighting kit!

[@gsdiecast2235]

That blew me away too .. wow

[@blue89irocz28]

I would do what you were talking I have someone make the support out of aluminum cut to the shape and a mounting tabs to the plate. Steven

[@GPGPapercraftTX]

Neck brace: I'm guessing 3/4 ply would be plenty strong. It could then be screwed into place through the plate.

[@sprueVerse]

All steel for this guy!!

[@GPGPapercraftTX]

You know... Vinyl makes mighty nice registries... If someone had a scan of them.... But would it be too thick?

[@sprueVerse]

Hmmmmm. We should definitely investigate!

[@GPGPapercraftTX]

@@sprueVerse Stick a bit of the Kelvin gold on her. see if it is too tall. I'm down dude.

[@JamesDingley-e8d]

I'm trying to build all the enterprises the only problem I find is that there is 3 of them as 350 scale

[@sprueVerse]

Understand - there isn’t any consistency and that’s a shame!

[@bambootaco4901]

Is your metal plate the one that's to thick like Canadian Starships was?

[@sprueVerse]

We have been sent the thin plate and it is good.

[@PierreVanGucht]

@@sprueVerse You are lucky ... still waiting for mine !

[@sprueVerse]

Have you called them? They are very responsive.

[@PierreVanGucht]

@@sprueVerse I have contacted them by email ... but still waiting for an answer...

[@MrChief101]

I like really cheap caviar-- so long as it's from an Eastern Block or Bensonhurst... Okay, you've a phaser ring system doing well and that's a really good thing. But-- ! Using those clipped leads as connections between adjacent SMDs is bad. Bad. It's simply the wrong material for the job. Those addressable SMDs are of a Satanic design and need sweet music in the background, etc. to work. Using a liquid flux sure looks good in use but recall that flux guides the solder. Where the flux goes, the solder goes. Which in your case, is in bad directions. I don't have experience with coded command wiring because it scares me (even though I'll have to use it someday). But SMD soldering, that I do have experience with. Whatever soldering iron you're using is probably too large. Even though these solder pads are perfectly visible they need a gentle touch. First off, no need to tin those pads-- they're most likely already tinned. Second, the method I believe would have done (would do) the job is flux-coated armature wire. Third part is extra-fine solder, something like .015" diameter. Then, working on the inner dish sure sounds like a problem so maybe a contraption to hold up your body. That way you can get to the parts. The job is then actually daisy-chaining the wire from point to point, fixing it down with the wire out of the way! One failure of the stiff LED lead is that it can't get out of the way. You are going around a gentle curve. As you go from one to the other, you are making an actual chain of connections. You knew this job was dangerous when you took it.

[@sprueVerse]

You sure know how to make a grown man cry!🖖😂

[@MrChief101]

@@sprueVerse I have a repertoire of one-liners that will get a smile back!