Aliens APC 1:18 scale with interior

[skiffy]

Forgot to add - here's a screenshot I lightened for reference.

 

[Lt Washburn]

There are some Aliens blueprints on eBay right now; some of the APC. They might be ones you've already seen though.

 

[skiffy]

There are some Aliens blueprints on eBay right now; some of the APC. They might be ones you've already seen though.

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]

Tonight was a good night. Got the dashboard greeblied up and threw on a splash of primer.

 

[skiffy]

As well as detailing I'm adding a base coat of paint to start to pull all of this together. I've also measured and cut a piece of clear acrylic for the windshield (not shown).

In the background of the second pic you can see the battery box I'm building for the main headlights.

 

[g0rb]

That dashboard looks awesome!

 

[skiffy]

Thanks g0rb! It's coming along.

View from Ripley's seat (just about).

This piece is doubtless from one of Peter Lamont's aircraft salvage trips (seen above Bishop's head).

Testing the fit/clearance.

..and starting to add more ceiling fittings.

Onward!

 

[skiffy]

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.

 

[skiffy]

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.

 

[Analyzer]

I am blown away everytime I come to this thread!

 

[zsherman]

Same! So, ah, when do you cast it all up and offer kits?

 

[skiffy]

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.

 

[Lt Washburn]

It's coming together great!

 

[skiffy]

Thanks! Lock-down is easing fast here, so I'm likely to get dragged into work soon.

 

[skiffy]

Time to do those compound slopes properly.

First the formers.

Looking OK!

Then stringers.

Then cladding with styrene putty.

I quite enjoyed doing this bit.

 

[skiffy]

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.

 

[joberg]

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]

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

Thank you Joberg. It's really nice to feel passionate and enthusiastic again.

 

[skiffy]

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.

 

[darthsideous]

Wow, what an absolutely phenomenal job you’ve done on this!