nicholassagan Posted December 30, 2015 Share Posted December 30, 2015 Oh yeah that's nice Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Don Posted December 31, 2015 Share Posted December 31, 2015 The lighting looks spot on ! Cheers! Don. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
crackerjazz Posted January 3, 2016 Author Share Posted January 3, 2016 Hi Mike, Nicholas, Don thanks guys! Hi David, thanks - yeah, I just love this model. The curved hull and detail are amazing -- it's a pity you'll find it in 1/144 only, when Bandai has a whole line of Gundam Mobile-suit kits in High Grade, Real Grade and king-sized Perfect Grade. At least Finemolds offered a sibling in 1/72. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
crackerjazz Posted January 4, 2016 Author Share Posted January 4, 2016 Was able to paint and sandwich the mandibles today. Was also able to replace the blue LEDs with white ones which had a very subtle bluish tinge that strangely doesn't show at all in the photos. Although, the glow looks blue-green in the movie, doesn't it? With lower resistor value -- for full AB's : ) I'll see if I have some old potentiometer in the stash to make the brightness adjustable. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Don Posted January 5, 2016 Share Posted January 5, 2016 It's probably just my own personal preference but I thought the lighting affects in these two shots looked great and captured the look of the Falcon quite nicely. The newer photos with the whiter LED's just seem too white to me. But again, it's just my own personal preference. Great work again ! Cheers! Don. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
crackerjazz Posted January 5, 2016 Author Share Posted January 5, 2016 (edited) Hi Don, no, I really appreciate the feedback. And I completely agree with you about the white being off. I wasn't really happy with it either as it looked like the Falcon model could stand in as a desktop work lamp that way, heheh. On the other hand I thought the blue was just too stark. I've been examining the color further and it actually looks like a blue-green hue to me? I also tried to deal with the issue of hot spots on the light strip -- where you can "see" the position of the light sources-- whereas I wanted a continuous strip with even lighting. I know there are those backing light strips you can buy but their luminosity isn't that great. I want it to really fire up. I tried searching in youtube for diffusing methods used by light saber builders and learned about using packaging foam sheet like so: I tried stacking two of them with one LED per strip to make one long strip but I could still see the partition as the light seems to fade as it reaches the other end. I think the technique would work better if you have wide-angle straw-hat LEDs which I didn't have so I kept looking. I learned that stencil film is a good diffuser so I swung by Michaels to get some. I was surprised to see that the stencil film they carried (Martha Stewart non-adhesive) had the color I was looking for. I could actually use plain white LED and the effect should match the TFA Falcon's engine glow color. The instructions says to remove the protective backing before use. I guess that's where it gets the color. I tried to remove it but couldn't. All the better I guess :)/> I read of some light saber DIYers filing away the tip of the LED to diffuse the light better so I did just that. I bought a lot of Watercolor White LEDs from the electronics hobby shop -- huge mistake -- as "watercolor whilte" turned out to be slightly yellowish when lit and it cancels out the blue-green color of the stencil. I was lucky to find a few more ordinary white LEDs lying around so I'll be using those instead. I cut a strip of stencil and put it right behind my fake milk-glass and lit her up with one LED to test. It looks really close to the TFA Falcon engine glow color, doesn't it? Or maybe just my eyes playing tricks -- what do you guys think? Edited January 5, 2016 by crackerjazz Quote Link to post Share on other sites
crackerjazz Posted January 7, 2016 Author Share Posted January 7, 2016 Comparing hull bottoms: It's got an overall dirtier look with darker stains compared to the 5-footer. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Don Posted January 7, 2016 Share Posted January 7, 2016 (edited) Considering she languished in the heat, sun, and sand storms of Jakku for a fair amount of time it stands to reason that she'd be more filthy, gritty, and weathered. I know she was half heartedly covered before Finn and Rey "borrowed" it but you have to wonder about sun bleaching on the exposed upper surfaces. I like the new lights too btw ! Cheers! Don. Edited January 7, 2016 by Don Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Don Posted January 7, 2016 Share Posted January 7, 2016 (edited) Double post...sorry Edited January 7, 2016 by Don Quote Link to post Share on other sites
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