Well, I thought it would be about time I did something with this awesome Hoth binocular kit from Odiwan. Marcus did an excellent job on these and it's about time I build it. I have been doing some upgrades as I go along. Nothing like Lichtbringer did with his awesome aluminum parts, although I am getting a lathe here in the near future so I may add them later on. Not many of these kits got made and I have not seen many build threads. I think there is only Lichtbringer's and Odiwan's.
Here is my build.
First thing I dd was add some glass lenses to the eyepieces. I put in some with short focal lengths so they focus in around an inch ahead of the lensplate. If I decide to add some transparencies and lights to the interior they will be ready to go. Also added a dome part from a Revell Apollo spacecraft kit. The one in the kit I thought was a tad small.
Also added real screws to the top aluminum part. I will paint this guy aluminum at some point before I paint the whole things white.
In the front I thought I would add a lens also. I dremelled the lip that was on the inside of the trim and machined a piece or abs tubing to hold the lens and also mimick the picture of the binocs missing the front cap. Since the front black lens is semi transparent I thought it would add some depth to it.
Here it is with the assembly along with the V8 parts. I opted for the Renwal V8 kit rather than the Revell version. Same kit , Renwal is older though.
I bought a couple tester plugs that were close but the edge were different than the original plug so I pulled the pins off and glued them to the kit plug.
Here it is with the plug painted black and the pins installed.
Although Marcus did a great job on the hood I had the urge to make my own from scratch. Here it is in rough form and then cleaned up a bit. Still have a bunch to go but it's getting there.
Obligatory brass screws with the heads machined to correct shape.
Painted the main body black and added real setscrews.
Some prepainted parts.
Here is the lens tube painted black and lens installed.
With the cover. You can see what I mean about the depth. If I do a transparency on the eyepieces i'll add some dark red filters to make the lens glow a very very dim red.
Here are some test shots with all the parts mostly in place and all the real screws. Next i'll clean up the lens plate and paint it black and then get liquid latex to apply to the black before the white for spots where the black shows. Not sure how damaged/worn I want it to be yet. Also need to paint the one square part red along with the "camshaft" ON/OFF switch and the one nub on the front lens ring. Probably do that after the white is done....and of coarse finish the hood. I have purposely left it a bit long at the bottom until I am sure of how short to make it. Once they are trimmed to size i'll finih up the actual hood length. I am happy how it's coming out so far. Its been a fun project for sure. Thanks again Marcus for making these available for the short time they were.,
Here is my build.
First thing I dd was add some glass lenses to the eyepieces. I put in some with short focal lengths so they focus in around an inch ahead of the lensplate. If I decide to add some transparencies and lights to the interior they will be ready to go. Also added a dome part from a Revell Apollo spacecraft kit. The one in the kit I thought was a tad small.
Also added real screws to the top aluminum part. I will paint this guy aluminum at some point before I paint the whole things white.
In the front I thought I would add a lens also. I dremelled the lip that was on the inside of the trim and machined a piece or abs tubing to hold the lens and also mimick the picture of the binocs missing the front cap. Since the front black lens is semi transparent I thought it would add some depth to it.
Here it is with the assembly along with the V8 parts. I opted for the Renwal V8 kit rather than the Revell version. Same kit , Renwal is older though.
I bought a couple tester plugs that were close but the edge were different than the original plug so I pulled the pins off and glued them to the kit plug.
Here it is with the plug painted black and the pins installed.
Although Marcus did a great job on the hood I had the urge to make my own from scratch. Here it is in rough form and then cleaned up a bit. Still have a bunch to go but it's getting there.
Obligatory brass screws with the heads machined to correct shape.
Painted the main body black and added real setscrews.
Some prepainted parts.
Here is the lens tube painted black and lens installed.
With the cover. You can see what I mean about the depth. If I do a transparency on the eyepieces i'll add some dark red filters to make the lens glow a very very dim red.
Here are some test shots with all the parts mostly in place and all the real screws. Next i'll clean up the lens plate and paint it black and then get liquid latex to apply to the black before the white for spots where the black shows. Not sure how damaged/worn I want it to be yet. Also need to paint the one square part red along with the "camshaft" ON/OFF switch and the one nub on the front lens ring. Probably do that after the white is done....and of coarse finish the hood. I have purposely left it a bit long at the bottom until I am sure of how short to make it. Once they are trimmed to size i'll finih up the actual hood length. I am happy how it's coming out so far. Its been a fun project for sure. Thanks again Marcus for making these available for the short time they were.,
