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Here are some photos of my Reliant model. This was built about the same time as my refit Enterprise, and it also uses model
train lights with integrated lenses to simulate the floodlight effect.
It was built around 1990, so it's another one of those, "When I was a kid, we walked 200 miles to school in 20 feet of
snow" stories. There were no accurizing parts, or Reliant kits (that I knew of) around, so I adapted a refit A kit to build the Reliant. While I don't claim to light my model using candles, there
were some stone knives and bearskins involved.
I took the saucer and nacelles from a refit A kit, then I built up the rear section with clear, sheet styrene. I used the "Avenger Class
Blueprints" as a reference. Using the clear plastic allowed me to mask the windows using racing stripe tape, then paint, then remove the tape to leave clear windows. A lot of the rest of the
construction was pretty improvised from scrap automobile parts, and the results weren't always satisfactory ("Error? Error? Sterilize! Sterilize!"). It's probably for the best that the photos
are a little dark...
Interestingly enough, I worked out most of the lighting techniques on this model before applying it to the refit Enterprise already published. As the years went on, I tried
accurizing the model as parts became available.
The first improvement was the use of the bottom rear panel details from the vacuform conversion kit available. The most useful parts were the
intake scoops on the underside. Since they were thin, it was easy to create realistic vents on the fronts of these.
The rest of the improvements came when ERTL released their Reliant kit. I used
the lower sensor dome, the rollbar (I was never happy with the one I created), and the two details mounted on the saucer top.
I also stripped some, but not all, of the decals I painstakingly had
cut apart from the Enterprise decals to form the Reliant's markings. I couldn't bear to strip the tiny letters on the port and starboard saucer edges I had created.
After a new paint job, I
applied the ERTL decals, and decided to leave it at that. Any more upgrading, and I might as well build a fresh kit. Say, what an idea...
Lastly, I was gathering all the parts together to create
another Reliant and refit E, in order to spit my last breath at building the ultimate of each kit, when I hit the problem of finding the bulbs I used 10 years ago. What I found in my research to date is
that there are 1.4mm, grain of rice bulbs with lensed tips available from Walther's, a model train accessories distributor. The bulbs are made by Circuitron, and run at 1.5V. (1-800-4trains, part number
800-741612 for a pack of 12). I haven't got them yet, so I don't know if they'll do the trick.
I'm also talking directly to Model Power, who made the 152C bulbs I used before. No one there seems
to remember the part, but I'm checking to see if their current 152 is equivalent to the 152C's I used. If anyone else has discovered alternatives, or would like further info, feel free to email me. I'll
keep you posted on my contact with Model Power.
Kyu-Woong Lee
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