Antsnest
Sr Member
Doing a quick build of the SSD to see how feasible lighting is. The engines are pretty small, but the biggest problem is getting wires out from the back of them whilst remaining hidden.
First of all I mixed up a light grey primer basecoat using grey and white Stynylrez primers. These give an excellent finish and do not fill up any details at all. This was followed by a liberal coating of Dark Dirt wash from Flory. This is also an incredible product. The process is to just slop it over and let it dry, then go back with a slightly moist cloth or cotton bud and just wipe it away from where you don't want it. It remains completely water soluble even when totally dry.
A 0.5 mm hole was drilled in the end of each engine bell, trying to angle it as best as possible to where there was the least obstruction on the back side. This varied between the different engine positions. Some of the plastic had to be removed to assist with wire routing, but only from areas that are not visible. This included through the middle of some of the connection lugs.
Prewired 0402 SMD LEDs were used for each engine. These are about the only things that will fit all the way in. I wanted a reddish glow, but not the pure hue of a red LED, so I've gone for white LEDs with a couple of coats of Tamiya clear red.
More to come....
First of all I mixed up a light grey primer basecoat using grey and white Stynylrez primers. These give an excellent finish and do not fill up any details at all. This was followed by a liberal coating of Dark Dirt wash from Flory. This is also an incredible product. The process is to just slop it over and let it dry, then go back with a slightly moist cloth or cotton bud and just wipe it away from where you don't want it. It remains completely water soluble even when totally dry.
A 0.5 mm hole was drilled in the end of each engine bell, trying to angle it as best as possible to where there was the least obstruction on the back side. This varied between the different engine positions. Some of the plastic had to be removed to assist with wire routing, but only from areas that are not visible. This included through the middle of some of the connection lugs.
Prewired 0402 SMD LEDs were used for each engine. These are about the only things that will fit all the way in. I wanted a reddish glow, but not the pure hue of a red LED, so I've gone for white LEDs with a couple of coats of Tamiya clear red.
More to come....
