skiffy
Sr Member
More progress!
I added some more detailing to the upper walls and ceilings, some more kit bags and 'AFV tech' looking bits, like this - made from 2 pieces from a small Gundam kit. It'll make a suitable HVAC or NBC filter unit.
The added plumbing is 'florists wire', my go to for malleable wire. Here's the final piece in situ.
I added some parts to this piece of ceiling, and you can just see it above Gorman's chair in the second pic below.
This bridging wall got a kit bag, some tech looking bits and florists wire cabling.
I had a couple of spare ammo boxes so they went above the door. You'll note that because of the placement of Ripley / Burke's seating unit there's not room to see the full width of the door. I'm yet to work out how I di the interior signage on there.
I'd recently fixed a wiring short so I thought I'd do some beauty passes with lighting. I hope you enjoy them as much as I do.
I added some more detailing to the upper walls and ceilings, some more kit bags and 'AFV tech' looking bits, like this - made from 2 pieces from a small Gundam kit. It'll make a suitable HVAC or NBC filter unit.
The added plumbing is 'florists wire', my go to for malleable wire. Here's the final piece in situ.
I added some parts to this piece of ceiling, and you can just see it above Gorman's chair in the second pic below.
This bridging wall got a kit bag, some tech looking bits and florists wire cabling.
I had a couple of spare ammo boxes so they went above the door. You'll note that because of the placement of Ripley / Burke's seating unit there's not room to see the full width of the door. I'm yet to work out how I di the interior signage on there.
I'd recently fixed a wiring short so I thought I'd do some beauty passes with lighting. I hope you enjoy them as much as I do.
skiffy
Sr Member
Thank you Yaris!
My current thinking now that all the outside detail is on, is to complete the interior detailing including weathering and a little decal(ing?), finish off the lighting wiring and secure some of the floating seat modules.
Then I’ll give the outside a uniform spray, paint the wheels, weather the whole thing and add the lettering on the front. Not sure how I’ll tackle that just yet.
Lastly I’ll start on the crew - probably in a new thread.
My current thinking now that all the outside detail is on, is to complete the interior detailing including weathering and a little decal(ing?), finish off the lighting wiring and secure some of the floating seat modules.
Then I’ll give the outside a uniform spray, paint the wheels, weather the whole thing and add the lettering on the front. Not sure how I’ll tackle that just yet.
Lastly I’ll start on the crew - probably in a new thread.
TazMan2000
Master Member
The lighting looks fantastic.
TazMan2000
TazMan2000
skiffy
Sr Member
Thanks Bacta!
Electrics! The one area that I have absolutely zero confidence in. Soldering! Yay...
Anyhoo - onward and upward. I need to get the seating light restraint bars wired up securely and have each one terminate in a plug so I can get them in / out if needed.
A mighty thank you to the inventor of 'Helping Hands'.
Just for fun I thought I'd measure the thickness of one of these wires that I have to strip insulation off, tin, then solder. The answer is less than 0.3mm. No wonder I'm going cross-eyed.. I've found the best way to strip these wires is to burn the insulation off with a lighter, then scrape away any remainder with a scalpel.
A blob of hot glue will keep that plug secure.
The seating pair that Apone sits in fits flush against the bulkhead with ZERO room for any decent wiring or a plug. The solution was to punch through to the cavity above the wheel well - no easy task and a proper bugger to try get the pin vice in there.
You can see the trace of the wheel well in the shot above, and the cavity for wiring in the shot below.
That hole was cleaned up, then I fixed the plug jutting 90 degrees out and fixed it with a blob of hot glue.
After that, a quick lighting test and I'm done for this session. Time for a lie down in a dark room.
Electrics! The one area that I have absolutely zero confidence in. Soldering! Yay...
Anyhoo - onward and upward. I need to get the seating light restraint bars wired up securely and have each one terminate in a plug so I can get them in / out if needed.
A mighty thank you to the inventor of 'Helping Hands'.
Just for fun I thought I'd measure the thickness of one of these wires that I have to strip insulation off, tin, then solder. The answer is less than 0.3mm. No wonder I'm going cross-eyed.. I've found the best way to strip these wires is to burn the insulation off with a lighter, then scrape away any remainder with a scalpel.
A blob of hot glue will keep that plug secure.
The seating pair that Apone sits in fits flush against the bulkhead with ZERO room for any decent wiring or a plug. The solution was to punch through to the cavity above the wheel well - no easy task and a proper bugger to try get the pin vice in there.
You can see the trace of the wheel well in the shot above, and the cavity for wiring in the shot below.
That hole was cleaned up, then I fixed the plug jutting 90 degrees out and fixed it with a blob of hot glue.
After that, a quick lighting test and I'm done for this session. Time for a lie down in a dark room.
skiffy
Sr Member
Another small update today.
I sorted out the rear cabin lighting plugs - all soldered, glued and ready for the main wiring harness.
Now, it's time to sort out some seat restraints for the 3 chairs - Gunner, Commander (Gorman) and Driver (Bishop).
Here's my reference.
That looks to me like a 4 point harness - at least that's what I'm going to do for mine.
My choice of material for the straps is this lead-like foil from a wine bottle (we have a lot of these ).
The harness straps were painted and buckles cut from styrene sheet.
Assembly progressing - buckles added to straps, painting done etc.
Straps applied to seats at anchor points only for now. I'll decide later where they will lay and glue them down.
I sorted out the rear cabin lighting plugs - all soldered, glued and ready for the main wiring harness.
Now, it's time to sort out some seat restraints for the 3 chairs - Gunner, Commander (Gorman) and Driver (Bishop).
Here's my reference.
That looks to me like a 4 point harness - at least that's what I'm going to do for mine.
My choice of material for the straps is this lead-like foil from a wine bottle (we have a lot of these
).The harness straps were painted and buckles cut from styrene sheet.
Assembly progressing - buckles added to straps, painting done etc.
Straps applied to seats at anchor points only for now. I'll decide later where they will lay and glue them down.
skiffy
Sr Member
Thank you ID10T, I've been at it years as you can see - and it's certainly a passion project.
Does anyone have any idea how I might go about the graphical lettering on the front of the APC? I can use an airbrush mask for the large '2D' but I'm unsure how I'd do the smaller lettering apart from careful brush-work. I know it's possible to print decals these days but I don't have access to a laser printer.
I'm old enough to have used Letraset in the old days but isn't that long gone?
Does anyone have any idea how I might go about the graphical lettering on the front of the APC? I can use an airbrush mask for the large '2D' but I'm unsure how I'd do the smaller lettering apart from careful brush-work. I know it's possible to print decals these days but I don't have access to a laser printer.
I'm old enough to have used Letraset in the old days but isn't that long gone?
ID10T
Sr Member
I am going through this with my son right now- seek out model train lettering. You can get water slide and dry transfer. The latter are easier to "chip" after application.
Note different liveries have different letter styles. Union Pacific is pretty industrial and "sans serif" as a jumping off point.
Note different liveries have different letter styles. Union Pacific is pretty industrial and "sans serif" as a jumping off point.
skiffy
Sr Member
Thanks ID10T, that's a fabulous observation - I'll check it out. There's a massive train hobby industry here in the British Isles, so I'll see what's out there.
skiffy
Sr Member
Just a quick update today while I continue to scratch my head over the electrics for the APC.
I was worried about the battery boxes for 2 reasons:
1/ The switches included in them are very sketchy and inreliable.
2/ I'm concerned about the frailty of the solder connections.
My genius idea was to pul the switches out since I can just unplug them when not in use. Then I could secure the plug sockets into the battery box with hot glue which wiuld also stop the wiring getting tugged around.
My first attempt is on the left with the right one being a lot better once I got into my flow.
As I was leaving to eat I thought I'd take a snap of the area I'm working in. There's an interesting take on the 'Live, Laugh, Love' posters at top-right.
I was worried about the battery boxes for 2 reasons:
1/ The switches included in them are very sketchy and inreliable.
2/ I'm concerned about the frailty of the solder connections.
My genius idea was to pul the switches out since I can just unplug them when not in use. Then I could secure the plug sockets into the battery box with hot glue which wiuld also stop the wiring getting tugged around.
My first attempt is on the left with the right one being a lot better once I got into my flow.
As I was leaving to eat I thought I'd take a snap of the area I'm working in. There's an interesting take on the 'Live, Laugh, Love' posters at top-right.
skiffy
Sr Member
Absolutely ID10T, That's a great idea for future projects. Another good option is a rechargeable cell. I've got a few harvested from disposable vapes (not mine - I don't partake) and some compatible charging boards. I've yet to experiment properly with those though..
ID10T
Sr Member
Yeah I think they’re 4.7V or something. About the size of a single AA cell. Generic USB chargers should be easy enough to get but you usually have to disconnect the battery from the (thing) before connecting to charger.
123s last about ten years in storage. Great for a prop with a momentary switch or limited run time. For longer run times a rechargeable makes sense.
Lots of small high power R/C car cells now a days too.
123s last about ten years in storage. Great for a prop with a momentary switch or limited run time. For longer run times a rechargeable makes sense.
Lots of small high power R/C car cells now a days too.
