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Just a personal thought, I never liked the top left "icon" of the Defiant in cartoon style. I had a nice plan for a base, seeing from other builds. http://www.laserfirecreations.com/stands.html But he stopped (for now) according to the main page on his website. I have no idea what to make for myself now. Your idea sounds great, curious how it will turn out!

Here is my circuit layout for my project. It's not that complicated, I want to keep it very basic. Top left is the power circuit. Down left is the base circuit and on the right the model circuit. I've only drawn 4 input switches, but ofcourse I can add as many as I have inputs left on U2. Around 30 maximum Same on the right, only drawn 4 leds to illustrate the idea. 2 are connected to digital outputs of U3. 2 others are connected to the PWM outputs of U3. I'm usingtransistors to control the output leds. I could directly connect a led, but the microporocessor has a limited output current. Drawing more would damage it. Each output led represent a group of leds. Like living quarters, engines, cannons, deflector....... So some groups can have many leds, controlled by 1 output of the microprocessor. That would draw way to much current from 1 output directly. Using the transistors I won't have this problem. Also, I could supply some leds with maybe 12V, instead of 5V. And it would still not be a problem for the 5V output pin. The 3 wires at the bottom will be connected to the model with a 3.5mm audio plug. VCC (5 or 12v), GND and data. The base stand will hide the wires, on top the 3.5 mm jack. Model will have the contra plug in the bottom. The 2x 4pin headers are for my programmer.

I will post a circuit schematic soon, still need to build it. As of yet, it's only in mind head You can also dim your leds manually if you want. Check your own build and maybe there are some leds to bright, compared to others. Maybe you know this next bit already, but I want to explain it nevertheless. Leds, or in your case, led-strips, are designed for a certain amount of current. The current determines the amount of light it will emit. Every led should have a datasheet, which will tell you the maximum amount of current it can handle. Going over that amount, might result in less life-span or even burned out leds. But less current means weaking emitting light. This is the simplest fomula for electronics: V = I x R V = Volt I = Current R = Resistance So, let's say we use 5V and the led is certified for 20mA. 5 = 0,02 x R makes R = 250 Ohm If you want the led burning at half capacity, simply double the restistor, to 500 Ohm. 5 = I x 500 makes I = 0,01A of 10mA. Have the current. Again, maybe this is all a given to many of you, but just mentioning just in case it might be helpfull to somebody. For those led strips, the resistor is already supplied with it. To dim the leds, simple add a resistor on 1 wire to the led strip. The total amount of Ohm will be increased and the leds will emit less. For myself, I'm testing with very bright leds for a special function. Yesterday at half power I nearly burned out my eyes. Don't even dare to test at full strenght haha My test circuit is finished, currently finalising the code. Some small bugs need to be sorted

This is the goal of the forum, right? I look for good idea's to use myself also, like Quarky's thread on his method of indirect lighting. @Picard: Let's watch if it all works like I intend, main issue is de code for the microporcessor as of this moment. Once that works well and all, will post it of course. Since that can't really be photographed, I have nothing to actually share yet Maybe my final working test PCB, to give you an indication.

Nice work again! Keep the updates coming I made my own thread today to get the build project up to speed here. I'm still working on the electronics, but it should be finished soon.

Hi all, Around 10 years ago, I bought the USS Defiant on eBay from the states, with the intent to build it of course. Last summer I decided to finally get started and so I did. But as of yet, not a single part has left the box already. But that's with good reason, because for this project I'm using the known expression: If it's worth doing, it's worth overdoing! Let me explain my reasoning. I'm not planning on just essembly and painting. I have seen the results online and it's not doing it for me. As a fan of the show back in the day (and still am), I want to represent the studio model as good as I can. So of course, I want to light it. Luckily I also bought the light parts 10 years ago along with the model itself. There are many guides online for lighting, with really awesome results. Seeing Quarky's build on this forum, I just hope I can match the results for myself. But since almost everyone is lighting it, I want to do something extra with it. Now here's the overdoing part: I want to be able to control all the lights from the base/stand. And not just turn them on/off all at once, but much more. I want to control seperate parts individually, like windows, engines, pulse cannons and more. These are the criteria I have set for this build: - Light - Control of light groups. - Not fixed to stand, has to be able to seperate model/stand - Future ideas can still be implemented when model is closed - Special features: ....... I've got an electronic engineer background, designing my own PCB's, components, using microprocessor and compiling own code. Unfortunatly that was also 10 years ago when I last used this knowedge. Past months I have been busy rediscovering this hidden experience and have come a long way. For people interested, I'm using 2 microprocessors (PIC16F887's) for my project. 1 will be placed in the stand, reading switches to control the lights. The other will be placed inside the model, running the lights. Now, the reason I do this, is because of 1 single advantage: UART (serial communication) Those 2 PIC's can communicate with eachother (1-direction) using only 1 wire! Since I want to be able to serperate the model from it's stand, I'll be using a connector. I want this to be a small as possible obviously. I was thinking of using a 3.5mm 3 channel audio plug: - 12Vdc - GND - UART signal If I had used seperate wires for all light groups, I had to use a huge connector, butchering the model. So that was not an option. Writing and testing the code and functions of both PIC's has taken up alot of my time so far. And it's still not finished. I've not even begun to build the actual model. Also, I have 0 experience in this and have to start from scratch. With good tips and common sense it should be ok. Also, I have bought a test model plane from Airfix to learn painting with airbrush. But all of this is, after my electronics have been finalised! And for the special features........I won't give them up for now But it will be special indeed, I have not found any Star Trek model build with them, so I hope to have a first.

Awesome work again! I really like the indirect light you use. I have seen many guides for lighting various models, including many Defiants. But never seen led strips and reflecting like this. The effect looks perfect. It will take a while before I have something usefull to post here. I will start my own build thread by then. Problem is not my idea's, but making them reality haha. I have bought a very basic Airfix model to butcher up and make mistakes on. My Defiant is way to precious for trial and error. The electronics I will use are by my own design. Once that is complete, I can start actually building it.

This is so great what you have done so far. Any updates last few weeks? I'm working on my own build at the moment. Will start painting soon, still devoping the electronics. I too have some suprises up my sleeve your way of lighting the wndows is awesome.If it's not patented, I will use it also The Quantum torpedo's, I still not sure how to make those also. There is no real accomedation for it on the model it seems. In pictures from the show you can see where they are suppose to come from, seeing the blue afterglow. Maybe with some clear epoxy and a blue led I can create the effect without damaging the models texture there.