Ohhhh I have heard of those, I never really tried them though... am kinda scared if they will still work a couple years down the road. After I seal that baby up it is a sold out show. Not that I heard anything bad about them... just not ready to stop doing it myself.
definatly let me know how they work though, I am really curious.
I'll let you know how they work out. Still haven't got around to installing them in the LED circuit, but I did make a good start today with a bunch of LED's for the saucer section.
Here's a video of where I am at:
Polar Lights 1/350 Enterprise build part 1 - YouTube
Once the saucer circuit is all soldered and finished, I need to paint the insides of the saucer black and line it with foil to stop the light leakage.
Overall, I'd say it's been a good days work and I'm quite happy with my progress.
A long road to travel yet, of course.
Making slow progress.
Here's the saucer lighting rig test before removal:
I've removed the test lighting rig from the saucer, primed the inside and sprayed the inside sections satin black, leaving the "spotlight" sections clear. The idea is, the spotlights will be mimicked by putting a bunch of LED's inside the saucer, giving the illusion of the spotlights from the top dome/bridge section:
It needs cleaned up, but this is the basic concept:
I've also been given a big sheet of light diffusing material, thin enough to cut with scissors but very tough. Initial tests look good, particularly when an LED is ground down. I'm hoping the grinding of each relevant LED, the diffusing sheet and see-though paint will give me the final effect I want:
Now, lighting removed, my next job is to go over all the details inside the saucer, clean up the unpainted spotlight sections and light-block the areas around each of the windows with black paint and a small brush, before starting to install the permanent lighting system for this substructure.
Which reminds me, I need to paint the officers lounge and install and light that at the same time as the dome.
There are so many layers involved in building this kit, particularly with the scratch build lighting system. I'm finding it quite a challenge.
A couple more shots just for fun - messing around with the front dish lighting and an army of shuttlecraft:
Last edited by ob1al; May 14, 2012 at 2:48 PM.
This model is killing me.
I've dremelled away the front dome support so it casts no shadow on the spotlight area and done my best to light block the upper saucer area. I think the upper saucer is ready to fit the lights now. On the bottom saucer I've also sanded away the front inner support, but I've left the two side supports which are visible through the left and right lower saucer spotlights. I don't wan't to compromise the structural integrity of the the saucer too much, so the fact that you will be able to see a slight spot on the 2 side supports through the spotlight area is a compromise. Unless anybody has any better suggestions?
This kit is quite a challenge to build but can be done. Looks to me like you’re doing a great job so far. I know I remember reading about a build and how someone cut out and relocated the saucer supports so they wouldn’t interfere with the lighting. I can’t find that site right now but I hope that gives you some ideas.
one suggestion I would have, the spot light effect through the hull, try to feather the edges. The lights would have a falloff and you don't want to have the sharp edges around the lit part of the saucer.
When i started preping mine that's what I did and it looks really good.
The supports had to go, unfortunatly, but I think the suacer is thick enough so that it will not compromise the stability.
I really should get back to this kit, I got hung up the lighting, didn't really want to pay 300.00 bucks for a kit.
Thanks for that. I will feather the edges of the spotlight sections.
Maybe I'll remove the two remaining supports as well. I've filed them down so they are only a tiny spot on the two bottom side spots, but they still bug me.
On the bottom saucer, I also removed the blocks of windows and snipped each one off individually so there is no shadow on the spots. It was a bit fiddly and I lost a couple of tiny windows during the process, so I had to improvise. The result is alright, not 100 percent perfect on window height, but that's the compromise for getting rid of the big blocks and eliminating the unwanted shadows:
Last edited by ob1al; May 16, 2012 at 2:21 PM.
I need some advice regarding the nacelle colour.
My original plan was to apply a layer of transparent Tamiya blue to the inside of the clear insert, which I did, but I was unhappy with it after studying reference photos.
Pic courtesy of Phase Pistol:
The "clear" pieces do not look blue at all. They are lilac or purple in the ref images.
I've removed the paint from my kit pieces and need to refinish them, but I'm a bit confused as to the right way forward. Should I apply a transparent lilac finish to the clear parts, with thin black lines in the grooves? I wonder how this will effect the light of the blue LED's I will be installing in this area.
I'd appreciate any advice of suggestions on this issue.
......
Last edited by Mechinyun; May 19, 2012 at 6:22 PM.
Finished the Officers lounge and 90% finished the arboretum (just needs the roof done and decals).
Also light blocked the entire saucer, that took forever to do and I'm sure there will still be some light-bleed when everything is lit.
For the arboretum I used crushed parsley and modellers foliage together with layered acrylic paints.. Tried to mix in some different colors to give a slightly alien look:
I decided to remove the side pegs. The fact that they were creating a dark spot on the side spotlights finally bugged me too much, but removing them was a really quick job in the end and it doesn't see to have weakened the saucer at all. It looks much better now I think:
Tried to introduce a subtle shadowing under the front phaser to simulate carbon scoring or some such. It might be a little too subtle, not sure how it will fare under the paint and decals:
Lots of work and many hours devoted so far. So why oh why does it STILL look like this??!
Scotty would have had it doing warp factor 8 by now...
Nice work there so far Ob1al.
I just picked up a PL 1/350 Enterprise A kit today, and it's always good to see other people's build pictures.
Also handy having a UK builder, as I find it good to compare notes on supplies that we can get in model and hardware shops here that aren't available to us from the US.
I may pick your brains about paint colours when I come to paint mine if that's ok.
Nice guitar work by the way, checked out 1 or 2 of your vids in your Youtube channel!
More build pictures please.
Hey thanks RM - thanks for listening to the songs as well.
Yes, happy to compare notes and share resources, I look forward to seeing your build.
Al
A little more progress after work today and some more lighting installed. No strobes or flashing sequence lighting installed yet. I've moved away from my original idea of trying the flashing LED's and will now be using 555 chips instead, hoping to start work on those circuits tomorrow night.
Hey Ob1al,
it is going along very well. I have to be honest I am not a real fan of the backlighting method for the spots, but I also have to admit yours looks stunningly realistic... much better as I would have thought.
What made you change your plans regarding the blinking LEDs?
Thanks opal. It was really the fact that I couldn't get them in sequence, along with the possibility of a reduced lifespan on the flashing LED's. As you mentioned, I didn't want the lights to fail a year or two down the line, once this is sealed and painted I want it to stay that way.
I'm still working on designing and installing the lights, building them up as I go along:
Since this pic was taken I've installed the four yellow LED's around the deflector dish too.
I'm getting too much light bleed in certain areas, I will try to fix that later.
I'm working on the nacelles and the shuttle bay at the moment. I'm scratching my head on the best way to light the nacelles, still experimenting and trying to figure this problem out.
Several times over the course of this build to date, I've wished I'd just ordered a trek modeller lighting kit. It would have been much quicker, I think. The only 2 positives from my method are the ability to customise the lights to suit and the satisfaction of having done it myself. The downside is a few more grey hairs...
Good work, i like how your spots look nice and bright!
This was my last build using the Raytheon method....
Rich
Coming along just great! I've got to commend you: I'm not sure I'd have the nerve to attempt this!
I really like your 'fake' projected light on the saucer section. The diffused light as it travels away from the light source really helps sell it!
One thing I really enjoy is your arboretum! It has a real 60's-ish "Lost in Space" feeling to it, and while that's the wrong show, the era certainly comes across well! It's a nice, subtle reminder of the original series in a model of the movie-era ship!
Also, your approach to customizing the lighting will pay off in extra experience!
yes, I did not think about that but I also had that problem using two separate microcontrollers and keeping them in sequence, I ended up ordering a larger microcontroller that had enough pins to do all the lighting that needed to be in time with each other.ob1al said:
I put my Revell Galactica on ice, and have been busying myself with the Workbees, Travelpods & Co for my 350 Enterprise (until the Timeslip Galactica kit arrives). Lighting them with SMDs should not be the problem, but getting everything in place "inside" is proving to be a really fun task. I had to order some SMD resistors, which should arrive next week (Conrad), as the normal ones were too big. When I have one lite up I will give you a sneak preview.
This is the circuit I intend to make tomorrow:
Please let me know if anyone spots any problems with this circuit - I'd rather know now before I build it.
Bear in mind this will be running from a 9v wall supply.
Thinking about the nacelle lighting. Here are a couple of screen grabs from TMP I found online:
And here's the studio model pic again, unlit:
After some consideration, I think I should add a translucent purple to the inside of the clear plastic nacelle light parts so it appears purple when unlit, like the studio model, add black lines in the grooves with paint, then add blue, rather than purple, lighting behind via an EL strip.
What do you guys think?
Rich, great build there. I see you went for the purple/UV nacelle lighting. I have have a question, how did you light block the ends of the nacelle clear parts to restrict the lighting from going all the way to the edge? In the screenshots the nacelle light rounds off well before reaching the edge, like your model. Any tips on how to achieve that? Did you light block the inside of the clear part with paint?
Thanks for the compliment!
Hmmm... if i remember correctly, i painted the outside of the clear part, but light blocked the inside with black electrical tape, i think! I used transparent purple lighting gell for the uv/purple effect......got loads left if you want some....FOC of course! My only problem with that, was i was using the Trekmodeler lighting kit, and the 2 big led's he supplies for either end of the warp grilles just wasn't enough to get the even bright light i wanted......
Rich
That's very kind of you cheers mate. Yes I would love some of the lighting gel. PM sent.
I've been having a look at 9" blue cold cathode tubes. Any thoughts about using those instead of LED's?
I don't have any experience with CCFL's.....all i know is they give a beautiful even light....however, if you go the led route, this was the result i got on my2nd last Enterprise using spaced apart led's in a lightbox with lot's of diffusion......(granted i went for blue that time) but at least it worked on that attempt! LOL!
Rich
Looks beautiful Rich.
I've bought 2 9" cold cathodes from halfords and tested them. They are perfect with little or no diffusion, happy with that. Ill post some pics later, at a bbq right now! The purple gel and painting black lines should do it, I think.
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