I started working during lunch (I was working from home today). Every time I walked by my dining room table, three big-ass thrusters sat there, taunting me, daring me to assemble them.
So I did. And when that was done, I saw what was next was simple. All it was was the big grey sheets that are the four "quarter panels" for lack of a better word (top port, top starboard, bottom port, bottom starboard) that make up the diamond shape. I can crank those out in no time, says I.
An hour later, after only having done one I stop. There is nothing so mind-numbing as looking at a virtual sea of grey lego pegs, constantly counting and recounting (what's the book say, what's this piece say, etc.) So I finished a quarter-panel (bottom port as it turns out) and went back to working.
Tonight, after getting my West Wing/Ed fix, I decide to finish the few remaining tidbits of the quarter-panel. I spent about 45 minutes or so building the remaining bit, a portion which folds up off the rear of the panel, lining up mostly-flush to the bottom of the engine panel. I had completely forgotten that the engines were as recessed as they are, but when I looked at a couple photos, sure enough, the Lego matched the photos. I then spent the next half hour or so fighting with the task of "getting the panel mounted to the frame", only to find that the reason I couldn't do it was because a single piece was mounted to the panel "off by one". ARGH!
But now, the bottom port panel is installed, and I'm done for the night. Pictures to follow, to make Dan happy. :)