Hi friends.
To build and light the interior of the cockpit and gun wells I used Evergreen black polystyrene and clear styrene, both 0.5mm thick. Applying a technique that I had never used, but that has worked quite well IMO.
I have prepared a small tutorial on how I made the rear wall of the cockpit in case you find this technique useful for your own projects:
1- The first thing I did was design the interior of the cockpit in 3D and thus extract all the pieces that I was going to need for its construction.
2- Once I had designed it in 3D and checked the measurements, I went on to design the decals, adapted to the measurements of my pieces.
VERY IMPORTANT!! Some reference points and guidelines must be incorporated into the design that will help us to perfectly align the successive layers necessary to use this technique.
3- Over that design of the decals, I decided which buttons or controls were going to be illuminated and which ones were not. In this way, I got a template that will be cut out with a black self-adhesive vinyl plotter. (This work is done by signage and labeling companies and, as they are very small pieces, the price is very low).
ATTENTION! The vinyl will act as a mask only for the elements that will be directly backlit. The small fiber optic holes are not included in this mask because they are too small and cannot be cut properly with a plotter.
To "peel" the cut parts of the vinyl I use a very fine point awl. Once all the cutouts have been removed, it is necessary to sand the entire surface with fine sandpaper to remove any relief in the cut areas of the vinyl.
4- Once the elements to be illuminated have been decided, on the design of the decals, I draw a template of the parts that I am going to make in clear styrene to insert them later in the black polystyrene pieces. The reason for using black polystyrene with clear inserts instead of making the entire piece clear is to avoid light leaks. It is an extra job that is worth it because later it saves a lot of time and work trying to eliminate those leaks on the sides of the pieces and the joint areas.
5- Again on the design of the decals, I now decide in which of the small lights I am going to put fiber optics so that they illuminate and I draw a template with small circles of Ø 0.6 mm. These circles will help me accurately pierce those lights. Remember, always put the reference guidelines in all the templates.
Now we turn to the assembly of all the elements.
6- Using the clear parts template, I cut the black piece and the clear ones and insert them into place, gluing them with cyanoacrylate. Once the glue is dry, it is necessary to sand the entire surface well so that it is perfectly smooth and remove any relief. Finish this job with fine sandpaper. It is necessary to drill the reference points with a 0.7 mm drill bit.
7- I drill the reference points and insert sewing pins in them and, very carefully, I stick the black vinyl on the base piece. Use the vinyl's protective paper to leave only a small part of the adhesive exposed on one side. This way it is much easier to pass it through the pins to place it correctly. Once that side is glued, we remove the protective paper and stick the rest of the vinyl.
8- Then we glue the fiber optic template with removable 3M spray adhesive, mark the points where the lights are going to go with a punch and make the Ø 0.3 mm holes for the fiber. Once the holes have been made, we remove the template and clean the surface with alcohol.
It is advisable to pass a fine sandpaper again to eliminate the reliefs that the bit may have created.
9- It is time to paste the decal. I print it with a laser printer on white sheet for decals. It is helpful to use a rear light to properly align all buttons and instruments.
ATTENTION!, the white decal does not adhere very well to the vinyl. I recommend using a decal fixing product.
10- Once the decal is dry, we use the Ø 0.3 mm drill bit again to perforate the decal paper and we can cut the piece definitively.
11- We insert small pieces of optical fiber of Ø 0.25 mm in the holes and stick them on the back of the piece. I use white glue so as not to damage the fiber and because, once dry, it allows me to move the fiber if necessary. On the front, the fiber must be at the same level as the piece or protrude from it just not at all.
12- Finally, I use Tamiya transparent colors to color the fibers on the back. Insist on this coloring until you see that the result is good.
I hope you find it useful.
These are some images of the work done to build and light the cockpit.
Greetings.
Rafa
