Starship Modeler Discussion Forums

Excellent info. I'm working on an F111 for a co-worker. It'll be mounted in flight with all the lights going. Now, how to make the strobes?

Those diffuser caps are pretty nifty. The benefits of sanding without the hassle of sanding. Plus they come in different colors to. If you get some let me know what you think, I may order some as well.

Get a bag of batting, the stuff used for stuffing pillows. Works great. That's what I used to diffuse the engine lights on my Salzo Galactica.

http://i67.tinypic.com/2l6gdg.jpg

For this blast mark on my Bandai Falcon I made a few random black spots with black acrylic paint. I then outlined the black spots with light grey paint. Then in a few spots I took the sharp corner of a white pastel chalk stick and made some marks. Finally I used a dark grey pastel powder for the &qu...

I think 1mm would be far to big. I would go with .5mm or even .25mm fiber. While fiber is pretty strong, the drill bits become more fragile the smaller you go. With that said I drilled almost 300 windows in my Salzo Galactica with one .5mm drill bit. As far as single strand or bundle, I've only used...

Great info guys. I just buy pre-wired/resistored LEDs rated for 9-12 volts. For my Salzo Galactica I used around 45 of these LEDs, all wired + to + and - to - hooked up to an old 9v cell phone charger. The ship has been plugged in, lit, in my living room since WonderFest, almost 3 months. Still runn...

What kind of model did you have in mind?

I don't know what brand or makeup my bits are but I drilled 249 windows into my Salzo Galactica, chucked into my Dremel, with one bit. Must be made out of vibranium or anamantium!

Check out http://www.modeltrainsoftware.com/led-r ... ntrol.html I think they have what you need!

I typically just use normal sprue cutters. I have a nice pair from Xuron with the orange handles. The problem is that fiber optics can be brittle, especially the thicker they are. They tend to break before the cutters can "cut" all the way thru the fiber. I would grab a brand new set of sp...

Thanks Redshirt 5! After I finish a few projects I hope to get back and finish the Spinner.

It can be done with SMT's. The center peg has to be cut/Dremeled out. This is how I did mine. http://i.imgur.com/FbsH4Dq.jpg http://i.imgur.com/id8fjf4.jpg http://i.imgur.com/FJKOZIF.jpg http://i.imgur.com/xCFPhj9.jpg Lights are powered by a custom programmed Fusion Core board. http://i.imgur.com/tX...

And I'll second that on the Micro Krystal Klear. Great stuff, looks like Elmers white glue, but dries much clearer.

Vader, they are just normal 3v white LEDs just with a big flat panel instead of a round nub. Don't bother getting any for the Galactica. They are not bright enough for the engines. Great for name tags at Wonderfest though!

I ordered four of the mediums Saturday and one small for my Salzo Galactica Should be here Tuesday!

I'll have to check out their forum. I wonder if cutting a large one down, recovering its end with foil would increase its brightness?

I know this is a few months old but I saw this a few weeks ago. Use Snap-N-Pops! Those little twisted pieces of paper with the little rocks inside. Loved these as a kid. Tape the tale to you your model and then use your finger, snap a rubber band on it, etc to pop it. It will leave a nice little bla...

Thanks. I was a bit dyslexic yesterday, the circuit is wired in parallel, not series. I always get the names backwards for some reason!

So, I finished my Moebius TOS Cylon Raider. I used two amber LEDs for the headlights and 8 white LEDs for the engines, all wired in series. It's powered by two AAA's under the cockpit canopy. I was thinking however of converting to a wall wart I have, listed above. Would that work, set at 3v, or is ...

Disillusionist wrote:Well, this thread is certainly giving me ideas for a whole line of laser cut goodies

Ooh, like what...?

May not be good for the Enterprise D engines, but lighting up a Galactica's engines... I think the medium would be perfect for the 3 footer. One for each section. One might be able to light up one whole side of a Moebius, two in total. Thanks for posting those. I think many will find some good uses ...

Just like any new non-modeling related product that is re-purposed for our hobby, someone will find a use for it. It may not be the best item to use for say a warp engine, but may be great for lighting the engines on a Galactica or the back wall in a Falcon cockpit. I think they will be great for do...

Pictures, we like pictures.....

Well, I built the runway kit tonight. Here is how the kit arrived. http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v606/directorcass/100_6964_zps76d6a607.jpg After about of an hour of soldering this is what I wound up with. http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v606/directorcass/100_6965_zpsaa88a727.jpg http://img.ph...

Ordered the kit on Sunday and it arrived yesterday. Impressive shipping. The electronics arrived on a blister car, like an action figure, and are actually made by a company called Future Kit. Seems Baka is their distributor I guess. Very nicely done, even comes with some small diameter solder! I'll ...

Seems there is only a reflective backing on the back side and nothing on the edges. So, you should be able to make these a bit smaller, or shape them to some extent.

The only issue I see that would limit useability is that it is not flexible like EL sheet. Lighting a large flat engine panel, flood lighting the interior of a ship, dioramas, etc would be great uses.

I plan on ordering about 10 of these next payday. You should be able to since it's just an LED mounted in an acrylic base. The anode and cathode should be at the base. Don't know if shortening it would change the light up characteristics of it. When I get some I'll experiment on one.

Check out these cool new LEDs! So many possibilities.

http://www.adafruit.com/products/1622

Just ordered the runway lighting kit I linked to. I'll swap out the red LEDs myself. No since in them charging me another $10 for doing it for me. When the kit arrives I'll do a review as I build the little unit and when it gets installed in my 3 foot Salzo Galactica.