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“In this stage, you assemble the power control unit as well as preparing the base for the power distribution unit.”

Contents

Parts

Materials: Everything in this stage is plastic.

Build

Power Control Unit & Power Distribution Unit Base

On the real Ecto-1, this Martin Marietta Power Control Unit is a heavily worn golden frame of random electronic bits:

We are only supplied with silver parts for this Power Control Unit. I decided to try to get this closer to the real thing by first airbrushing all of the Power Control Unit parts (including all of the KP screws) with a base coat of Tamiya X-12 Gold Leaf acrylic paint:

Once the paint was dry, I used my Metallic Silver and Bronze Sharpies to add some contrasting colors to the Power Control Unit Top and Power Control Unit Cylinders. Then, I added streaks of color and wear marks to all of the parts using all three of the colors from my Tamiya Weathering Master Powder Set C. I added darker colors where it would be less ‘worn’ and lighter colors where the wear should be:

Step 01

Fit the Power Control Unit Cylinders to the Power Control Unit Front as shown, align the screw holes, and secure these together with two (2) KP screws.

The Power Control Unit Front has the two mounting holes for the cylinders. The Power Control Unit Rear does not:

Next, fit the two holes of the Power Control Unit Top over these matching pins of the Power Control Unit Body.

This is a tight fit even before I added a layer of paint. Just take your time and try not to break the pins:

Then, fit the Power Control Unit Front assembly and the Power Control Unit Rear to the Power Control Unit Body assembly.

The ridges on the inside faces of the front and rear parts fit inside the Power Control Unit Body, as shown:

Finally, fit the Power Control Unit Left Support (marked ‘L’ and circled below) to the side of the Power Control Unit Body assembly as shown, align the screw holes, and secure the support to the body with three (3) KP screws:

Repeat the previous step on the other side of the body with the remaining Power Control Unit Right Support and three (3) more KP screws:

Here is the completed Power Control Unit assembly:

Step 02

Fit this Power Control Unit assembly over the two tall posts of the Martin Mariette UHF Signal and Power Distribution Unit Base.

There is a small tab on the bottom of the Power Control Unit assembly that matches a small recess in the base to align these together:

Secure these parts together from below with two (2) IP screws:

Thoughts

While this Power Control Unit will not be very visible in the car, I had a great time trying to make it look more realistic! It takes some practice to get better with the paints, markers, and powders, but it does add a special touch to the build. I hope you enjoyed this issue as much as I did.

Next Up

Stage 59 – Martin Marietta UHF Signal and Power Distribution Unit Panels/Top