CultTVman: Ken Huegel's Ultimate Nacelle

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	Ken Huegel's Ultimate Nacelle

With all the debate over the TOS 1701 nacelle lights, I figured this would be a good time to toss my hat into the ring. I vidcaptured the nacelle system that I'm putting into the cutaway 1701 kit. The system will also fit into the smaller AMT Enterprise if desired. If I had known there were commercially-available light kits for 1701 I might've just bought one, but see what you think - maybe my system could be a contender!

Download an MPG movie showing this electronic nacelle by clicking here
This file is about 1.4mb in size and should take about 8 minutes to load with a 28.8 modem.


		My orig. title for this shot was "Chaser - No Straight," but I wasn't gonna fool with long filenames. However, I just wanted you to know I had your best pun interests at heart. The circuit comes from a Radio Shack toy Space Rifle and is a 5-step chaser. A similar circuit is available from www.allelectronics.com. I cut a cardboard disk and needled holes for 15 micro LEDs with one larger central LED. I mostly had red LEDs, but different shades, and you can see a few yellows. I would also suggest green and blue if you can get 'em. Each chase step fires 3 leds as shown

			Here's the secret ingredient: an acrylic diamond suncatcher. Exactly the annoying blinding trinket that hangs from the rearview of the chick car ahead of you at the red light.

				You want the top half of the diamond. You could probably saw it off, but I preferred to mold it BECAUSE as the casting material sets

				I float a small ball in the mold, to create a concave lens behind the facets. It helps decentralize the light from the big center LED.

This is the difference the diamond makes. Not only does it breakup the point light sources, but it makes a fabulous "spoke" effect that is so kinetic you'd think it was a motor.

	Mold and cast some copies of the one whole nacelle cap and frost it. I found that Testors' spraycan DullCote was perfect, as opposed to Pillsbury Mocha Fudge.

	This is the finished product, electronically speaking. The model itself is still completely raw - flash not even completely trimmed off. You can see the "spoke" effect.


	I am also sending a video file of the project, because you have to see the nacelles in "motion" to appreciate them. I forgot to mention the cameo appearance by my supervisor at the end of the film. It explains why I do most of my work standing. To purchase "nacelle gems" for your 22" Enterprise, write Ken

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