Bandai 1/144 Millennium Falcon

Regarding battery life with LEDs - have a look for low current LEDs.

Most LEDs suck down 20 mA, which is pretty great compared to incandescent light bulbs. But a handful of companies now make super low power consumption LEDs. I've found white SMD and 5mm LEDs at only 1 and 2 mA each! Pretty amazing to have 10 or 20 diodes consume the power of one standard one. Annoyingly I can't seem to find 1.8mm or 3mm LEDs in white at that rating - just reds and greens and whatnot.
 
Regarding battery life with LEDs - have a look for low current LEDs.

Most LEDs suck down 20 mA, which is pretty great compared to incandescent light bulbs. But a handful of companies now make super low power consumption LEDs. I've found white SMD and 5mm LEDs at only 1 and 2 mA each! Pretty amazing to have 10 or 20 diodes consume the power of one standard one. Annoyingly I can't seem to find 1.8mm or 3mm LEDs in white at that rating - just reds and greens and whatnot.

I was not aware of this, thanks for the tip, thats very nice for a small model like this, where battery-storage is a bit tricky.


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I dont think the FO version is bad, I just liked this better.

Ok thanks. I understand and it looks like I may do the same thing then.

Regarding the landing lights... are you going to add white lights to the landing gear bays? I don't see that shown on any of landing light references but I've seen several people install them.

I would love to see some progress photos if you are shearing!

As soon as I make some actual progress I'd be glad to share some pictures. So far all I've done is research and I started marking the landing lights location on the bottom hull.

Right now I'm working on a lighting board that is similar to https://github.com/fmalpartida/Falcon-Lights. Basically I've put a LiPoly charger controller on an Arduino and exposed 7 I/O pins (5 with mosfets so they can switch higher current loads). As soon as I ship the PCB off to OSHPark I'll get back to working on the kit (hopefully tonight).

I was working on a small board for the engine lights based on Adafruit's Neopixel Strip (https://www.adafruit.com/products/1426) but for now I'm going to wait on this board and use a pair of LED backlights from Adafruit (https://www.adafruit.com/products/1626). It won't be possible to get the same cool effects as using WS2812 LEDs but for the cost ($4) and the reduced power usage (40mA total) I think it's a good compromise - especially for the first model I've worked on in years.

Regarding battery life with LEDs - have a look for low current LEDs.

Wow thanks for the tip! I spent a bit of time this morning and found a handful of 0402 LEDs that use 5mA - certainly a nice power savings. I didn't find any white/warm white LEDs that use lower than 5mA but I see there is a better selection of 0603 parts so I'll keep looking.

Are you using 0402's or 0603's? For the first time today I saw a 0201 LED and while I loved the size I'd be terrified to try and solder leads to something that small.

One thing I've noticed is that when I use SMD LEDs for projects I tend to use a much larger resistor than the resistor calculator says to use (so instead of a 100 Ohm I use 1k+) because they are just so bright. I never have gone back and looked at the current usage in those circumstances but I should be using well under 10mA (a quick check seems to imply closer to 5mA). These aren't really low current parts but just some ChipLEDs I got from Digikey (I mostly use these LEDs on the PCB as status indicators).

Regards,

Brad.
 
Ok thanks. I understand and it looks like I may do the same thing then.

Regarding the landing lights... are you going to add white lights to the landing gear bays? I don't see that shown on any of landing light references but I've seen several people install them.



As soon as I make some actual progress I'd be glad to share some pictures. So far all I've done is research and I started marking the landing lights location on the bottom hull.

Right now I'm working on a lighting board that is similar to https://github.com/fmalpartida/Falcon-Lights. Basically I've put a LiPoly charger controller on an Arduino and exposed 7 I/O pins (5 with mosfets so they can switch higher current loads). As soon as I ship the PCB off to OSHPark I'll get back to working on the kit (hopefully tonight).

I was working on a small board for the engine lights based on Adafruit's Neopixel Strip (https://www.adafruit.com/products/1426) but for now I'm going to wait on this board and use a pair of LED backlights from Adafruit (https://www.adafruit.com/products/1626). It won't be possible to get the same cool effects as using WS2812 LEDs but for the cost ($4) and the reduced power usage (40mA total) I think it's a good compromise - especially for the first model I've worked on in years.



Wow thanks for the tip! I spent a bit of time this morning and found a handful of 0402 LEDs that use 5mA - certainly a nice power savings. I didn't find any white/warm white LEDs that use lower than 5mA but I see there is a better selection of 0603 parts so I'll keep looking.

Are you using 0402's or 0603's? For the first time today I saw a 0201 LED and while I loved the size I'd be terrified to try and solder leads to something that small.

One thing I've noticed is that when I use SMD LEDs for projects I tend to use a much larger resistor than the resistor calculator says to use (so instead of a 100 Ohm I use 1k+) because they are just so bright. I never have gone back and looked at the current usage in those circumstances but I should be using well under 10mA (a quick check seems to imply closer to 5mA). These aren't really low current parts but just some ChipLEDs I got from Digikey (I mostly use these LEDs on the PCB as status indicators).

Regards,

Brad.

Wow! Seems like you got some cool stuff going on! Looking forward to see some progress in this project.

Im thinking about lights in the landing gear wells, but not shure how I would pull that off. Guess it could be solved with some FO.
We'll see how the landing lights go first.
Also im adding some red lights here and there.


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The white SMDs rated at 2mA that I was able to find are sold by Kingbright. They're a Taiwanese firm, but have a good US online store. They're kind of a hassle for those of us in the UK, though. It's incredible how tiny these things are nowadays - I bought some 0.6 by 0.3 mm LEDs that are like salt grains. I'm not going to be able to solder those - conductive paint it is.

The 1 mA white LEDs in 5mm were sold through TME.eu.

It's so weird to me how hard it is to find these products. You'd think that massive power savings would be a huge competitive advantage, and sellers would trumpet their low power ratings. Instead you have to hunt around for ages, digging through pages of specs...
 
It's so weird to me how hard it is to find these products. You'd think that massive power savings would be a huge competitive advantage, and sellers would trumpet their low power ratings. Instead you have to hunt around for ages, digging through pages of specs...

Totally. I have done my hours of research, just to eventually stumble upon what you need.


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Here are some of the Kingbright USA part numbers for 2mA and 5mA SMD white LEDs.

APT1608LQWF/D
1.6X0.8MM LOW CURRENT WHITE SMD LED

APG0603RWF-TT-5MAV
0.6X0.3MM WHITE SMD LED

APG1005RWF-T-5MAV
1.0X0.5MM ULTRA THIN WHITE SMD LED

APHHS1005LQWF/D-V
1.0X0.5MM WHITE SMD LED
 
Great build so far! Love these little lighted Falcons! I used fiber optics on mine for all the lights. Cramming all of them in the cockpit was not for the faint of heart!
I was looking for my build thread here but I guess I never posted one. Here is a link to it over on HobbyTalk.
http://www.hobbytalk.com/bbs1/99-science-fiction-modeling/491905-lighted-bandai-falcon-wip.html

I have not started my build yet (I did this one for a friend), but seeing your build I'll probably use more SMT LEDs. I found pre-wired Picco LEDs I'll use for it.
These little guys make life so much easier! Got them pre-wired off eBay.

147ccx.jpg

w8w1nc.jpg
 
The prewired SMD LEDs are super convenient and easy to use. I bought a whole bunch, and then discovered to my annoyance that they're all 20 mA (occasionally 15 mA). Dammit!
 
Here are some of the Kingbright USA part numbers for 2mA and 5mA SMD white LEDs.

APT1608LQWF/D
1.6X0.8MM LOW CURRENT WHITE SMD LED

APG0603RWF-TT-5MAV
0.6X0.3MM WHITE SMD LED

APG1005RWF-T-5MAV
1.0X0.5MM ULTRA THIN WHITE SMD LED

APHHS1005LQWF/D-V
1.0X0.5MM WHITE SMD LED

Thank you!
 
The prewired SMD LEDs are super convenient and easy to use. I bought a whole bunch, and then discovered to my annoyance that they're all 20 mA (occasionally 15 mA). Dammit!

Soldering them is surtenly a challenge, so the prewires are great!


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Great build so far! Love these little lighted Falcons! I used fiber optics on mine for all the lights. Cramming all of them in the cockpit was not for the faint of heart!
I was looking for my build thread here but I guess I never posted one. Here is a link to it over on HobbyTalk.
http://www.hobbytalk.com/bbs1/99-science-fiction-modeling/491905-lighted-bandai-falcon-wip.html

I have not started my build yet (I did this one for a friend), but seeing your build I'll probably use more SMT LEDs. I found pre-wired Picco LEDs I'll use for it.
These little guys make life so much easier! Got them pre-wired off eBay.

http://i65.tinypic.com/147ccx.jpg
http://i63.tinypic.com/w8w1nc.jpg

Your falcon looks great! Good job.
I got more 0,25 fibers today, excited to start threading to the cockpit.


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d434f662236290a626384e30ed30e7d0.jpg


Testing the FO.
These light are gonna be white.
Still a bit unshure about the fiber optics, since the spread of light from the side is a bit lacking I think.

I cant seem to find a good way to light up the fibers. I tried with an led and some shrinktube over to thread the fibers, but I have to move the fibers around to get the best light out of the end..


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Here are some of the Kingbright USA part numbers for 2mA and 5mA SMD white LEDs.

Thanks! For now I've decided to skip soldering any 0402 LEDs (I've done a few but I think 0603's will work here) and while I couldn't find any of the exact parts you listed, I did find a number of 5ma LEDs which really helps at Digikey. Thanks again!

https://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/20170308/d434f662236290a626384e30ed30e7d0.jpg
Testing the FO.
These light are gonna be white.
Still a bit unshure about the fiber optics, since the spread of light from the side is a bit lacking I think.

Honestly I think the look is a bit disappointing. Enough so that I'm considering individual LEDs for landing lights too.

What sort of LED are you using to drive the Fiber? There are some LEDs that are glaringly bright, perhaps another LED would improve the look?

One question - for the headlights (as well as the landing lights I guess) I saw you used heat to "mushroom" the fiber wider. I assume you do this after you've painted the base color? I worry that it would be best to somehow mask the lights while painting/weathering. Or do you intend to mask before painting with something like liquid mask?

I'm going to have to start my own thread shortly - I went out and picked-up a couple of cheap (read really old) Tamiya 1/35 armor kits (I'm kind of a closet modern armor/softskin freak) just to get some practice on building/painting/weathering before I trash a valuable Bandai kit :)

So progress will be really slow at first.

Best Regards,

Brad.
 
Honestly I think the look is a bit disappointing. Enough so that I'm considering individual LEDs for landing lights too.

What sort of LED are you using to drive the Fiber? There are some LEDs that are glaringly bright, perhaps another LED would improve the look?

I have tried different types, and yes, it works better with more powerful LED's. But still I may think the result would be better with individual led's. My only conserne is that it may be too bright.

One question - for the headlights (as well as the landing lights I guess) I saw you used heat to "mushroom" the fiber wider. I assume you do this after you've painted the base color? I worry that it would be best to somehow mask the lights while painting/weathering. Or do you intend to mask before painting with something like liquid mask?

I actually painted the ship and then drilled the holes and threaded the fibers, mushrooming them before threading them. Doing this after they are in place would be difficult.

I'm going to have to start my own thread shortly - I went out and picked-up a couple of cheap (read really old) Tamiya 1/35 armor kits (I'm kind of a closet modern armor/softskin freak) just to get some practice on building/painting/weathering before I trash a valuable Bandai kit :)

So progress will be really slow at first.

Best Regards,

Brad.

Please do, im looking forward to see what you come up with! :)
 
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