The Madhatter Posted December 11, 2013 Author Share Posted December 11, 2013 thanks guys :) I'm actually thinking I might now be able to light up the carrier deck of my 1/350 Enterprise carrier (whenever I get around to doing that and IF I can find some pics of the deck at night) Am going to start the detailing shortly. More pics then Thanks again for commenting guys - I really do appreciate it :) MH Quote Link to post Share on other sites
The Madhatter Posted December 15, 2013 Author Share Posted December 15, 2013 Well, it continues on with the start of the hull detailing. I'll try do some more tonight but after that, I am away for 3 weeks, so this will more than likely be the last update for this year - unless I do some serious work on it tonight and achieve something worth while taking and posting pics of. It is quite tedious cutting into thirds lengthways a strip of .10 x .20 styrene which is why my updates are so minimal most of the time. Still, the effect I get from it is very pleasing to my eyes, so I keep on going. Anyways, as always, please feel free to critique or comment Till next time MH Quote Link to post Share on other sites
The Madhatter Posted December 17, 2013 Author Share Posted December 17, 2013 right side is now finished and have made a start on the left. Both sides will be as busy as each other. Unfortunately, this is as far as I will now get for the remainder of the year as I leave to go on holidays tomorrow morning. Thanks for tuning in guys and have a safe and happy Christmas and a prosperous new year! Kind regards Simon Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Aigore Posted December 17, 2013 Share Posted December 17, 2013 Outstanding, mate! Love the detailing to bits :P Quote Link to post Share on other sites
The Madhatter Posted January 1, 2014 Author Share Posted January 1, 2014 Hey thanks Janne, I always appreciate your posts. I made it into some form of civilisation last night for the first time in a couple of weeks. Will be home again next week and then will be able to continue to work on this ship. Looking forward to getting it finished so I can start in my next project. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
JesniF-16 Posted January 3, 2014 Share Posted January 3, 2014 Been awhile since I visited the Sci-Fi forum Si :P/> I love that hangar bay, can't wait to see it with some paint! Question. When cutting those .010 X .020 strips have you found an easy way to make a square cut? Maybe I already asked you this before, but i've bought the Chopper II and it just isn't good enough for those really small strips and rods ;)/> Always looking for a better way... I wind up cutting them with the knife til I get a square cut end... TIA /Jesse Quote Link to post Share on other sites
The Madhatter Posted January 4, 2014 Author Share Posted January 4, 2014 Well, I am glad I didn't buy a chopper then if your having trouble using one for the stalls sized strips. Think I'll stick with my tried and true method of using a razor blade. Nice and simple really. I can easily spend 2-3 hours chopping up enough small square chips of different sizes to add detail. However, when it comes to the rods, I think that's where the chopper would come not its own. Easier than cutting a strip longer than what you need then sanding the end back to the correct length, all the time doing it while holding the said strip with a pair of self closing tweezers. Heading home tomorrow, so should finally be able to have some bench time on Monday - yay!!! Thanks Jesse :) Quote Link to post Share on other sites
scorvi Posted January 4, 2014 Share Posted January 4, 2014 Most definitely watching this one. I have a few questions since I have all the new Bandai 1/1000 kits (except) for the Deslok flagship--Never really liked that one--but it does have some nice Gamilon fighters I may need to get. Can you list what you use for lighting since I would love to light some models But I am a real neophyte and would like info. on what wiring you use and power sources and how to hide them in the kit or base??? Any shortcuts or ways to making it easier would be greatly appreciated! I bought some fiber optic kits from Micro-Mark which seem pretty nice and easy to use for me. Any hints since I would like to light up some on my kits Scifi and aircraft?? Thanks Steve Quote Link to post Share on other sites
The Madhatter Posted January 5, 2014 Author Share Posted January 5, 2014 ahh, home sweet home. So nice to be sitting here in my office, looking at my desk and chomping at the bit to get back into this ship, but it is very late and I don't have the energy. I just tried out the laptop that I spilt coffee on the keyboard with a couple of months ago and thought it was dead and it works again!! Yay - what a bonus for me as it has programs and bookmarks I thought I'd lost permanently. Ok, Steve, I will do my best to answer your questions in my current sleep deprived condition. "Can you list what you use for lighting since I would love to light some models" - where do I start? If your asking what tools do I use as well, well, there are many, but a soldering iron is a must have here. However, if your asking what items I use, well, that's easier. I use either pre-wired SMD's (Surface Mounted Diodes or LED's (Light Emitting Diodes)which Ii wire up myself. The use of either product depends on how much space I have to work with. SMD's are much smaller and are great for lighting up cockpits or smaller areas like the landing bays of the Galactica for example. LED's are great when using fiber optics as they throw a much wider sphere of light. "Any shortcuts or ways to making it easier would be greatly appreciated" - Pre-wired SMD's are the way to go when choosing to use them. Because they are so small, unless your adept at soldering, these save a lot of time and swearing. They also come with a pre-connected resistor, which saves having to work out which one to use. Speaking of resistors, when ever you use LED's, ALWAYS solder on a resistor to each one, that way, it'll help to prevent any unwanted blowing of the LED if you get the power supply wrong or you accidentally touch the wrong wire to it. When I did my Venator, I used 7 LED's in each engine and each one had their own resistor soldered onto the positive leg. "what wiring you use" - I have recently discovered wrapping wire is the way to go with reference to wire. It is very very thin and conducts perfectly well. Great for when space is at a premium. This is one product I wished I had when I did the Venator.... It is slightly more expensive than the usual wire you get in spools for cheap at an electronics shop but worth it. I paid $15.00 (AU) for a 100 meter spool when compared to $7.00AU for the same in the larger sized wire, but again, worth every cent when space is limited. "power sources and how to hide them in the kit or base" - again, depends on the model your building and the power source you use. A 9V battery is hard to put inside the model but will provide ample power for your LEDs/SMD's. However, the down side on putting it IN the model is that once it runs out, that's it, you can't change it unless you break the kit open to do so. This is where having the power source external to the model is better. I tend to custom build a stand for mine, or, wire in a jack so I can plug it directly into the mains. I set the Venator up to either run on mains power or a 9V battery. When it was at Expo, it ran out of power pretty quickly on battery and I found myself having to change the battery before the end of the first day. Stupidly though,I didn't bring the mains lead with me, so when the guy who did the "wow" judging came to mine, it didn't win simply because there was no power for the lights. There are 47 LED's in total inside the Venator, so mains would have been the way to go. To learn how to wire up an LED, your best friend here will be Google. That's how I worked out how to do my lighting (and I am still learning). Also, in reference to using Fiber optics, some people like to use a #80 drill bit in a pin vise. Me, that's way to slow, so I use a Dremel Stylus with #80 or #79 carbide drill bits to drill out my holes. However, be careful, they are extremely brittle and will snap at the slightest hint of sideways motion. Again, the Venator taught me a lot about how to use them correctly and carefully (I went through about 20 or so of them before I worked it out - now, I have used only 1 on the Carrier so far!) I hope the above helps you some what, but if you have any more questions, please feel free to ask and I will do my best to answer them. I will see you all around soon with an update Kind regards Simon Quote Link to post Share on other sites
scorvi Posted January 5, 2014 Share Posted January 5, 2014 Thank you very much very helpful. I will look into soldering. I was hoping & looking for a way to wire w/o soldering but I would be at the mercy of the prewired sets and the length of run I would use? I am going to look at what I have and see where ICan go from that. When you get a chance a list of few websites you found good fro supplies would be good? Thanks again and look forward to your build! DID you see this nicie new Starblazer kit (Gamilon carrier with lots of lighting options & room!!?!?): http://www.hlj.com/product/BAN985138/Sci Steve, Quote Link to post Share on other sites
The Madhatter Posted January 5, 2014 Author Share Posted January 5, 2014 Well, you can do up a whole lighting kit without soldering by using the wire wrapping method, but you will need a wire wrap tool and will need to use wire wrapping wire (the same as what I use now). I prefer to solder my joins as it makes it more stable and less prone to slipping off, but as I said, you don't have to solder. A wire wrap tool is about $10 - 20 . From memory, mine was $15 or so. To use me, you slip the naked end of the wire not the tool and then place the end over the pin of the circuit board (or LED) and then twist the tool which in turns wraps the wire around the pin, eliminating the need to solder. However, as mentioned, it can slip off if over handled or not wrapped tight enough. You can get prewired LEDS as well as SMDs but with anything pre done, you are limited to the manufacturers predetermined length, so that's where soldering any additional length would come into play. As far as I know, you can't use the wire wrap tool to wrap another length of wire together. Here, of no soldering iron is available, you would just twist the 2 ends together yourself Also, another handy piece of equipment to have is heat shrink tubing . This helps insulate bare joints from shorting out on other joints. I had a look at at carrier in you link and I whole heatedly agree with you. I think lighting it could be a challenge :) Thanks again Steve MH Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Rotor_head_Dan Posted January 6, 2014 Share Posted January 6, 2014 Nice build. Love the extra touch giving it some depth with the styrene. Cant wait to see her lit up. Since ive never done any lighting, how do you mask the fiber optics when you paint? Keep up the good work. Dan Quote Link to post Share on other sites
The Madhatter Posted January 7, 2014 Author Share Posted January 7, 2014 Nice build. Love the extra touch giving it some depth with the styrene. Cant wait to see her lit up. Since ive never done any lighting, how do you mask the fiber optics when you paint? Keep up the good work. Dan hi Dan Thanks for posting :) You don't mask Fiber Optics - that would be impossible :blink: You leave them protruding from the surface until you've completed all the painting (including flat coat etc) then carefully cut them flush with a sharp knife. Unfortunately for me, some of them broke off before I had finished painting and so had to scrape away the paint from the top of the FO thread. PIA really.... Si Quote Link to post Share on other sites
The Madhatter Posted January 27, 2014 Author Share Posted January 27, 2014 greetings one and all It's been a while since I updated this thread but I haven't had as much time to work on it as I should - I've been finishing off other projects. I have finished the other side and have begun the underneath of the ship. The insect-like looking thing in the middle is only the start - it won't continue to look like that by the time I'm finished with it. Will update again soon. Am about to start on the superstructure now but that'll be easy compared with the rest of the ship :) See you all soon MH Quote Link to post Share on other sites
The Madhatter Posted January 28, 2014 Author Share Posted January 28, 2014 man I am posting a lot today... I was asked for a size comparison for scale effect by someone on another forum, so I thought I would share it here to: Cheers MH Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Els Posted January 28, 2014 Share Posted January 28, 2014 All the tiny details you are adding really bring this kit to life. I wish I had that kind of patience. Els Quote Link to post Share on other sites
NavyPhantoms Posted January 28, 2014 Share Posted January 28, 2014 The progress is coming along. It's looking great. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
The Madhatter Posted January 29, 2014 Author Share Posted January 29, 2014 thanks guys :) It's taking longer than I thought it would but that's the joy of modelling - nothing is ever as straight forward as it should be :D Cheers MH Quote Link to post Share on other sites
The Madhatter Posted February 2, 2014 Author Share Posted February 2, 2014 Well, the detailing is pretty much all finished now - just need to get the final lighting installed and have the bridge section cast in frosted clear resin to help with the lighting. It's this part that will take a while - at least a month - which is when I envision I'll get it back. Once I have it, it'll be installed and then the paint work can be finished. I'm going to make a start on the hull as soon as the weather settles down a bit and isn't so bloody hot - my shed is like a furnace at the moment. So, on to the final detailing shots. This may need to come in 2 parts as I have a fair few photos to post. First up: the "super Structure" (for lack of a better term) Part 2 coming up Quote Link to post Share on other sites
The Madhatter Posted February 2, 2014 Author Share Posted February 2, 2014 and the following pics are mock ups of the almost final ship: Well, that's it for now, but once the paint goes on I'll post some more :) Till then, thanks for stopping in Kind regards MH Quote Link to post Share on other sites
The Madhatter Posted February 9, 2014 Author Share Posted February 9, 2014 Greetings all I have started the painting and finally finished the tedious task of masking of the replacement panels. This took quite a while but I think it'll be worth it in the end. Forgive the bad photos - it was late and I took them more for my own reference so I know where I placed them. Next batch of pics will be much better quality Thanks MH Quote Link to post Share on other sites
The Madhatter Posted February 10, 2014 Author Share Posted February 10, 2014 Got one of the last pieces of electrical work left to be done finished tonight, so am quite happy about that: But (very surprisingly) what I'm most happy with so far is the paint work. It has come out so much better than I hoped it would. I normally suck at painting, but this is really working for me for once! Sneak peak of what it'll look like before a gloss coat, wash and weather and then the matte coat. I know the pictures still aren't the best, but it's night time here now so one has to make do. Anyways, thanks for watching MH Quote Link to post Share on other sites
The Madhatter Posted February 13, 2014 Author Share Posted February 13, 2014 (edited) Hmmm...seems like this thread is dying a slow death, so better ramp it up toward the finish I suppose. I'm still waiting to get my part cast in clear frosted resin, so the actual end is a way away (much to my frustration as it is probably yours) On the subject of weathering, I originally had it in my tiny vacuous head that this ship was pulled from the junk pile to fight again. So, I weathered it accordingly... but noooooo....no, I had to get one word mixed up in that sentence to completely change the way it's meant to look. It wasn't a junk pile it was pulled from - it was 'mothballs" And it was apparently regularly maintained - so guess who screwed this up?!Never mind, I actually like it the way it is now, and a good source has told me that this ship had a few sisters and they all fought a long and dirty war. Plus, these ships can fly in atmosphere and even: sail on the ocean - like a good starship should :S So, as it turns out, my weathering could be spot on - I l eave that for you to judge So anyways, hopefully, the next update could be the last. I guess anime doesn't really have strong following here on ARC or maybe it's my building that's just not interesting, but none the less, thank you for stopping in and having a read and a look Kind regards MH Edited February 13, 2014 by The Madhatter Quote Link to post Share on other sites
scorvi Posted February 13, 2014 Share Posted February 13, 2014 No way I have been building a few of these but this site is mostly Planes and tanks and with planes ones with Swastikas get all the attention. Your work is top notch. I have ALL the new Bandai kits from SB2199 but I haven't started the one your doing yet --kinda want to go in your direction but not so experienced in the lighting. I built this one (Polmeira Carrier) with lighting and hope to post some photos in your thread if you don't mind. http://www.hlj.com/product/BAN982326/Sci I also built the 1/72 Cosmo Falcon I really liked that one hope to build the Cosmo Zero and another Falcon too! Again I will post some photos but yours is coming along Awesome please don't stop posting it is giving me ideas! Steve Quote Link to post Share on other sites
The Madhatter Posted February 15, 2014 Author Share Posted February 15, 2014 Thanks for you support Steve. Please feel free to post some pics :) Quote Link to post Share on other sites
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