1/72 Hoth Echo Base Hangar diorama

[gt350pony66]

BTW...I've found that the FO I ran to the ceiling panel is pretty much a useless gesture. you can't really see them too well unless your view angle is just right. if it proves to be too much FO to tuck in there, I'm just going to rip it all out.

 

[gt350pony66]

oh yeah...I'm waiting on some "side glow" FO in hopes that the light bars in the cockpit rear and up the sides will give a more appropriate and realistic glow. Never used it before and the smallest is 2mm, may need to shave it some to stuff it into where it need to go. I'm also going to attempt to use it for the corridor floor lighting on either side. I now, lots to stuff into the cockpit tube, may not all work like I'm hoping, but I'm sure going to give a go!

 

[gedmac66]

Hey Ross ,

Some wonderfully executed intricate work on display yet again around that PG cockpit ! ...
It’s been awhile since I’ve had the opportunity to catch up on previously subscribed threads - now ‘ watched ‘ threads ... anyhoo , just wondering if you ended up displaying your brilliant Hoth Base diorama at the model exhibit you’d mentioned awhile back , and if so , how it all went ?

Cheers mate

 

[3Dsf]

oh yeah...I'm waiting on some "side glow" FO in hopes that the light bars in the cockpit rear and up the sides will give a more appropriate and realistic glow.

Let us know if it works. The supposed side glow fibres I’ve bought were utterly useless!

 

[gt350pony66]

Let us know if it works. The supposed side glow fibres I’ve bought were utterly useless!

Really? interesting. I watched to You Tube on it, looked like it worked in relatively short lengths at least. I only got 2 feet of it along with another roll of .25, so I guess if it doesn't I only lost a couple bucks. But I will most certainly post the results and pics.

 

[gt350pony66]

Hey Ross ,

Some wonderfully executed intricate work on display yet again around that PG cockpit ! ...
It’s been awhile since I’ve had the opportunity to catch up on previously subscribed threads - now ‘ watched ‘ threads ... anyhoo , just wondering if you ended up displaying your brilliant Hoth Base diorama at the model exhibit you’d mentioned awhile back , and if so , how it all went ?

Cheers mate

Hey Ged, good to her from you. I did take it to a local show, but found out later it was judged IPMS style. Evidently they focus more on how well you assembled a kit, rather than all the modifications and creativity you put into something. Sounds like a bunch of crap to me but at least I know now not to bother with IPMS judged shows again. I did get a 3rd place in the diorama category, of course a WW2 scene that was really rather good got first, and another 2nd. Oh well. And the ISD got 3rd in the sc-fi/space. A 15" x 15" base with like a 1/48 Apollo 11 landing got first, not sure what got second. But hey, it was fun anyway. Hoards of people stopped at the dio for pictures, comments and questions so there's a measure of satisfaction in that.
What have you got going on?

 

[3Dsf]

Really? interesting. I watched to You Tube on it, looked like it worked in relatively short lengths at least. I only got 2 feet of it along with another roll of .25, so I guess if it doesn't I only lost a couple bucks. But I will most certainly post the results and pics.

Yeah - maybe I got a crap product. It was slightly jelly-like PVC material. Worthless. Barely transmitted light down the length of the fibre, let alone perpendicular to the axis. If you found something useful that’d be awesome!

 

[Analyzer]

Such a fantastic diorama!

And wow, that is a lot of fibers in there! That console and cockpit look great!

 

[gedmac66]

Hey Ross ,

Congrats on scoring a 3rd place in the diorama category ..., I’m not familiar with IPMS run-shows/contests either . Got any photos/pics on the boards somewhere ?
Most importantly it sounds like you had fun all the same .
I’m still plodding away at a snails pace on my Deago MF. Can’t seem to find enough quality time to work on her of late . I’ll be starting the weathering soon - after having tried several techniques/methods on scrap and sacrificial subjects beforehand !

My 2 cents on side glow fibre ..., I’d purchased a 2ft x 2mm length from the Fibre Optic Store early on , with the intention of using it to light the maintenance pit sections in the hold area on the MF. Had it all cut , wired up / secured and ready to go - but the amount of illumination produced was ... pathetic to say the least , regardless of what size/type of led I used.
Ended up switching the light source to those used by costume makers - forget the correct name for them but , also fibre optics oriented but with their own power supply , either battery or (like mine) adapter driven . Very pleased with the the way it looks now .
Hope you’ll have a better experience with what you’ve got !

 

[gt350pony66]

Hey Ross ,

Congrats on scoring a 3rd place in the diorama category ..., I’m not familiar with IPMS run-shows/contests either . Got any photos/pics on the boards somewhere ?
Most importantly it sounds like you had fun all the same .
I’m still plodding away at a snails pace on my Deago MF. Can’t seem to find enough quality time to work on her of late . I’ll be starting the weathering soon - after having tried several techniques/methods on scrap and sacrificial subjects beforehand !

My 2 cents on side glow fibre ..., I’d purchased a 2ft x 2mm length from the Fibre Optic Store early on , with the intention of using it to light the maintenance pit sections in the hold area on the MF. Had it all cut , wired up / secured and ready to go - but the amount of illumination produced was ... pathetic to say the least , regardless of what size/type of led I used.
Ended up switching the light source to those used by costume makers - forget the correct name for them but , also fibre optics oriented but with their own power supply , either battery or (like mine) adapter driven . Very pleased with the the way it looks now .
Hope you’ll have a better experience with what you’ve got !

Don't have it yet but I hope at least it works good enough for the cockpit wall light bars, only in like inch lengths I would think. I'm planning to either stick flat tip 1.8mm LED's on the ends or just using chip, nano or pico's . I just finished toiling away on the corridor lights and the floor lights. Was just going to post some pics. Didn't turn out as well as I would have liked but it'll do.
I got a Deago too, in the closet...6 big boxes. That one should be a breeze to light up compared to this one. Trudging along on this one gives me a lot of ideas for the Deago and I'm looking forward to doing that one

 

[gt350pony66]

So what I did here was .50 FO in the drilled through light fixtures, only did 10 of the 15, and ran them to a yellow/white LED. The floor piece I put several coats of black on the underside, and clear coat on the top. I used more of the thin acrylic strips over the line of holes on the back edge only because I think viewing in that's all that will be visible anyway. I took 3 cool white chip LED's and stuck them to the center of each strip and tucked the tiny wires to the sides so as not to be in the way of the gobs of FO that will run under the floor going to the cockpit. I'm pretty sure it will all fit without a problem, including the wires for the red and white chips I stuck to the cockpit side panel that will be covered by the PE strip. The final assembly for all this is sure the be a cumbersome sweat-fest! By the way, this phase of the operation was all done with Laser Bond. The stuff is awesome. If you don't have any or never used it...get some

 

[gt350pony66]

I found it necessary to bevel the floor panel edges where it meets the inside of the tube and the last image is where I had to hog out the tube for the floor support bow. but so far, it looks like it's gonna go ok. Have to wait for this mythical side glow FO for the cockpit light bars, to finish this part of the build off. I'll need to lay the wires for the small outer side panel with the red and white LED's, leave the panel just outside where it goes, set everything else, then snap it in. Yes, this will be extremely cumbersome

 

[gt350pony66]

Shifting to another step while I wait for pieces to arrive. I built the maint pits for this mandible a few weeks ago, but the rest of it today. I don't suppose my approach to this is much different than others. I cut off the locator pin for the HL panel, ad drilled where the inboard of the two small spots are. I drilled slightly smaller than the 1.8mm red LED and beveled the hole from the back. I had always before had the LED protruding as much as it could but this time I wanted no more poking out than necessary. In this case it wouldn't have anyway. I had to cut the main piece to allow the LED and I measured it so I didn't remove too much as to have the back of the LED resting directly on the inner panel as well. In the last image you can see that the LED just barely protrudes the HL panel. Yep, light leak...I was tired and punchy, thought the panel was goofy and was about to putty it, so I asked Korban if he'd had the same trouble..."dab some black paint in there, all good" and sure enough, fixed.

 

[Analyzer]

That hallway looks amazing!

I love the lighting in it!

 

[gt350pony66]

Yeah - maybe I got a crap product. It was slightly jelly-like PVC material. Worthless. Barely transmitted light down the length of the fibre, let alone perpendicular to the axis. If you found something useful that’d be awesome!

It's weird...the video I saw was the 2mm and 5mm were pretty stiff and transmitted light for 5 inches or so, but the fatter stuff was like super flexible and the light went well through most of the entire length. The video was on, The Fiber optic stores website.

 

[gt350pony66]

That hallway looks amazing!

I love the lighting in it!

Thanks brother, I just hope when it's all there I can manage to stuff it all in there

 

[gt350pony66]

not much to report except that I screwed up the red lamp placement. pretty sure they're supposed to be inboard on the mandibles. Then i went to try to fix it and i didn't want to rip the assembled one apart for fear of damage. So...it is what it is. So the extra holes will get some evergreen rod, snipped off flush and a dab of white or silver...or a mix of the two.
oh well

 

[3Dsf]

Can you flip the mandible tips around?

 

[Analyzer]

That sucks when stuff like that happens

One of my worst mistakes was mistaking the black spray paint for the matte varnish since they were similar can styles and colors

I had just finished painting a figure and was quite happy with it, then the horror as I notice the figure is all of a sudden getting blacker as I am spraying

As nkg suggested, you could try flipping the parts. IIRC correctly, they are interchangeble detail wise and if you rotated them and put swapped sides, you would have the lights on the inner sides then. You might have to cut off the snap pins etc.. on the back and glue instead, but it could work

 

[gt350pony66]

yeah, I suppose I could, but it's a minor gaff I think i can live with. I already glued one in there and would hate to ruin it in an attempt to fix it. The casual observer won't know the difference anyway. But, going forward...no more goofs on this one.
Thanks for the support fellas