Lt Washburn
Sr Member
There are some Aliens blueprints on eBay right now; some of the APC. They might be ones you've already seen though.
skiffy
Sr Member
Thanks for the heads-up - yes, I've seen that set. My APC is a little odd in that it's about 10% taller in proportion to give the interior some head room. One day I'm hoping to have the Hiya Toys one to compare/contrast.
skiffy
Sr Member
I thought I'd have a go at something I've not been looking forward to - the compound slope on this upper edge between wall and roof.
To paraphrase The Mandalorian - "This is not the way."
Well - that didn't work (but I 'was' trying to do it quick n' lazy). I'm now going to do it properly, making bulkhead profile formers to define the shape first, then cement the outer skin to it. I'll also make it part of the wall, not the roof. That way the roof can sit flush in it. It'll be clearer when I make a start on it.
To paraphrase The Mandalorian - "This is not the way."
Well - that didn't work (but I 'was' trying to do it quick n' lazy). I'm now going to do it properly, making bulkhead profile formers to define the shape first, then cement the outer skin to it. I'll also make it part of the wall, not the roof. That way the roof can sit flush in it. It'll be clearer when I make a start on it.
skiffy
Sr Member
Lighting. It's something I haven't tackled in a model build for a very long time.
The interior/exterior lighting for the APC will come from different sources and strengths of LED. While I wait for a delivery of soldering kit, I started to experiment with adapting these cheap halloween LED string lights for use inside the APC. They have a cylinder shaped lens with a concave end - not ideal, so I filed them down to a flatter rectangular profile and tested each one to check they still lit up.
I wrapped one with tinfoil as a light-blocker, just leaving the very end uncovered to see if that would work for an interior bulkhead lamp.
I also experimented with building a small light-box from thick card.
I have some adhesive-backed foil too which will help with light-blocking.
Next up is sorting out which LEDs to use for which purpose, how many I need, how to house them, route the wiring and locate battery boxes.
I have some tiny LEDs that I'll use for Gorman's display screens but I'll tackle that later.
The interior/exterior lighting for the APC will come from different sources and strengths of LED. While I wait for a delivery of soldering kit, I started to experiment with adapting these cheap halloween LED string lights for use inside the APC. They have a cylinder shaped lens with a concave end - not ideal, so I filed them down to a flatter rectangular profile and tested each one to check they still lit up.
I wrapped one with tinfoil as a light-blocker, just leaving the very end uncovered to see if that would work for an interior bulkhead lamp.
I also experimented with building a small light-box from thick card.
I have some adhesive-backed foil too which will help with light-blocking.
Next up is sorting out which LEDs to use for which purpose, how many I need, how to house them, route the wiring and locate battery boxes.
I have some tiny LEDs that I'll use for Gorman's display screens but I'll tackle that later.
skiffy
Sr Member
Thanks guys. I can't imagine the nightmare of trying to cast this!
I wanted to light up the dashboard so I ordered some 0.75mm Fibre and got to work.
..needs a trim.
Time to hook it up for a test.
And there we are. I added a splash of clear colour to some of the fibre ends - might add a little more. Also added a clear part - kind of a HUD type thing, or a read-out (or something). lol
It's a work-in-progress but I'm getting there.
I wanted to light up the dashboard so I ordered some 0.75mm Fibre and got to work.
..needs a trim.
Time to hook it up for a test.
And there we are. I added a splash of clear colour to some of the fibre ends - might add a little more. Also added a clear part - kind of a HUD type thing, or a read-out (or something). lol
It's a work-in-progress but I'm getting there.
Lt Washburn
Sr Member
It's coming together great!
skiffy
Sr Member
Right, I'm back to this after a horrible few months. The wife's mum was living alone during lockdown and deteriorating rapidly (she's 86 and has dementia) so we've got her into a residential home where she's now secure and as safe from Covid as anyone can be. There was a lot more to it than that but that's the potted version.
I've blown the dust of the crate I packed this build in, taken stock and started back at it.
I've always wanted to see real practical strip-style lighting on the seating restraint bars but never seen it done on a model. I did some experiments and finally sorted a solution with a micro LED, a small section of white 2mm tube and a couple of short lengths of 0.5mm fibre optic to enhance the effect.
It works fine and I've tested using some thin brass sheet to block the light from half the 'tube' as in the full scale version.
Next up with this piece is producing a full moveable prototype attached to the seating.
I've blown the dust of the crate I packed this build in, taken stock and started back at it.
I've always wanted to see real practical strip-style lighting on the seating restraint bars but never seen it done on a model. I did some experiments and finally sorted a solution with a micro LED, a small section of white 2mm tube and a couple of short lengths of 0.5mm fibre optic to enhance the effect.
It works fine and I've tested using some thin brass sheet to block the light from half the 'tube' as in the full scale version.
Next up with this piece is producing a full moveable prototype attached to the seating.
Attachments
skiffy
Sr Member
Thank you Joberg. It's really nice to feel passionate and enthusiastic again.Glad your Mother-in-law is better, Lord knows that we should take care of our vulnerable members in our society.
And happy to see that you're making some progress on that wonderful build
skiffy
Sr Member
I got as much time in on this as I could before work starts tomorrow. I got some tiny magnets (2mm diameter, 1mm thick) to use as door closures and for fixing weapons to racks, hands etc.
You can see one of these in the door edge and a corresponding one in the cabin shell. I had to dig out and reverse the one in the door.
The tiny magnets hold the door closed just fine. Here you can see the side running light temporarily installed too.
The running light is a shaved LED glued onto a shaped section of clear sprue.
The headlights have been a little tricky since the filming vehicle had circular lamps behind a rectangular opening. Here's what I have.
The white will be light-blocked and painted dark. The donor lamps are from stick-on push-lights, for cupboards and such. I cropped down the boards they were on and soldered/made good the connections, keeping the resistors attached to help extend the life of the lamps.
I kept a switch from one of the push-lamps and this will be painted and installed in the cabin, disguised as a greeblie.
Here are the left and right side lamps temporarily placed. The batteries (3 x 1.5v) will go on the right side and be hidden from view.
Here are the headlights switched on. I didn't realise until I lit them both together that one of them is a warm white, and the other one a cool white. I'll place a gel in front of them to balance them out.
Well, that's it for now. I think next up will be wiring all of this stuff in properly but we'll see if anything else jumps to the front of the jobs list. I'm still waiting for supplies to get going properly on the seat-restraint modelling/lighting.
You can see one of these in the door edge and a corresponding one in the cabin shell. I had to dig out and reverse the one in the door.
The tiny magnets hold the door closed just fine. Here you can see the side running light temporarily installed too.
The running light is a shaved LED glued onto a shaped section of clear sprue.
The headlights have been a little tricky since the filming vehicle had circular lamps behind a rectangular opening. Here's what I have.
The white will be light-blocked and painted dark. The donor lamps are from stick-on push-lights, for cupboards and such. I cropped down the boards they were on and soldered/made good the connections, keeping the resistors attached to help extend the life of the lamps.
I kept a switch from one of the push-lamps and this will be painted and installed in the cabin, disguised as a greeblie.
Here are the left and right side lamps temporarily placed. The batteries (3 x 1.5v) will go on the right side and be hidden from view.
Here are the headlights switched on. I didn't realise until I lit them both together that one of them is a warm white, and the other one a cool white. I'll place a gel in front of them to balance them out.
Well, that's it for now. I think next up will be wiring all of this stuff in properly but we'll see if anything else jumps to the front of the jobs list. I'm still waiting for supplies to get going properly on the seat-restraint modelling/lighting.
Attachments
darthsideous
Well-Known Member
Wow, what an absolutely phenomenal job you’ve done on this!
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