How to work with fiber optics?

Darthsideous · Post by **Darthsideous** » Tue Apr 15, 2008 10:40 pm

Hi, I am trying to use fiber optics and would like to know how to properly work with them. I was thinking you drill the holes and paint all the pieces of the model, for example, a star destroyer or star trek ship then push through the fiber and the lens it with a heat siurce and then glue it with CA (crazy) glue from the inside of the model.

However, a person at the local hobby shop said you glue them with large strands sticking out of the model and then paint the model then take a sharp nife and trim the fiber and then lens it. Which way is this correct? Do you glue them from the inside?

Also does anyone have recommendations on what glue to use?

Thanks in advance for your assistance.

Pat Amaral · Post by **Pat Amaral** » Wed Apr 16, 2008 1:27 am

The guy at your LHS is correct. Painting over the holes before the fiber goes in causes two things to happen 1. It'll be much harder to find the holes once the paint dries. 2. When you push the fiber through a painted hole, you might cause the paint to pull away from the area around the hole. It's much better to insert the fibers into the holes and secure them before the paint goes on then trim the whiskers back once the paint dries.

If you're going to "lens" the tip of the fiber, I recommend doing it before you mount it in the model. Then push the fiber through from the outside and secure it using the adhesive of your choice from the inside. Next, put a tiny drop of white glue or liquid mask on the lens to mask it for painting. Once the paint dries, carefully pick the masks off with the tip of a hobby blade.

Finally, avoid using super glue (cyanoacrylate) on fiber optics. It's likely the CA will cause the fiber to become brittle and break off inside the model. White glue should work for most cases. You can also try small amounts of rubber cement although this can be difficult and messy to apply. Micro-Crystal-Kleer , a liquid adhesive used for attaching canopies and and creating small windows, is another alternative. MCK is really just a form of white glue though. Whatever you use to attach your fibers, you need to do it from the inside.

Hope that helps,

Darthsideous · Post by **Darthsideous** » Wed Apr 16, 2008 8:49 am

Thanks Pat,

Your clear explaination, and suggestions for adhesives is very much appreciated!

jcdenton · Post by **jcdenton** » Thu Apr 17, 2008 2:20 am

I'm in the final stages of my DS9 lighting project and I've used hundreds of fiber strands. I used the same 2-part epoxy to glue the fibers in that I used to fill bigger windows and to glue the entire station together. The reason for using epoxy on the entire thing was to make sure that if some glue got to the fibers on the inside of the model, it wouldn't melt through those fibers as all my other glues did that. So be careful when putting it all together if you are using glue that could dissolve the fibers.

Can I ask what you are planning on building? Hope to see some pix soon

Cheers
JC

Darthsideous · Post by **Darthsideous** » Thu Apr 17, 2008 9:27 pm

Hi thanks for the info on the epoxy. I have never worked with it before is it easy to work with? I am planning light a few projects with fibers the first is an AMT 1701-A. I would be happy to post some pics if it looks decent. LOL

jcdenton · Post by **jcdenton** » Fri Apr 18, 2008 1:06 am

Well, the thing about my epoxy is, that it is a 5-minute epoxy. That leaves fairly little time in which you can apply the mixture before it gets too gooey and eventually already hardens in your mixing pan. But I always only mix as much as I need so that has never been a problem for me. So I can say that I've never had any real trouble with it. One big advantage over some other modelling glue I used in the past (expensive Revell-stuff) is that it doesn't pull long lines of glue over your model if you remove your applicator too fast. I'll definitely use it again on future projects.

zaphod · Post by **zaphod** » Fri Apr 18, 2008 11:01 am

The guy posting his progress on the DS9 space station over in 'On The Bench' seems to be using the approach you guys are describing, and has great pictures. Might be worth checking out.

Darthsideous · Post by **Darthsideous** » Sat Apr 19, 2008 12:50 am

Thanks Zaphod, and JC, I checked out JCdentons fiber optic deep space nine and good going your doing a great job. Thanks for the insight on the 2 part epoxy as well. I managed to get some as well as crystal kleer so i am going to test them both and see which works better.

jcdenton · Post by **jcdenton** » Mon Apr 21, 2008 6:08 am

Glad I could help

@zaphod, there is another DS9 build-up in progress? I didn't find a thread on that in the on-the-bench forum, so either I'm blind or too dumb to use the search correctly

could you link it for me?

Marco Scheloske · Post by **Marco Scheloske** » Mon Apr 21, 2008 7:25 am

I used white glue for this one: http://www.starshipmodeler.com/other/ms_al_26.jpg

In progress: http://www.starshipmodeler.com/other/ms_al_07.jpg

You can find the complete story and an explanation how I worked with the fibers here: http://www.starshipmodeler.com/other/ms_al.htm

zaphod · Post by **zaphod** » Mon Apr 21, 2008 8:04 am

JC, I should have paid attention. I was in fact referring to your DS9 build. D'oh!

jcdenton · Post by **jcdenton** » Tue Apr 22, 2008 1:05 am

I almost thought so. I'm glad I did leave a good impression so you'd remember my build-up, I just have to work better on attaching my name to it

Marco, that's a LOT of fiber strands! Way out of my DS9-league!

Great work! (As always, when you tackle a project)

Marco Scheloske · Post by **Marco Scheloske** » Tue Apr 22, 2008 3:11 am

jcdenton wrote:Marco, that's a LOT of fiber strands! Way out of my DS9-league! Great work! (As always, when you tackle a project)

Thanks for the praise!

I used approx. 800 fiber strands in that model, 70 alone for the hangar bay (http://www.starshipmodeler.com/other/ms_al_11.jpg) - that was necessary because I wanted it to look brightly lit (http://www.starshipmodeler.com/other/ms_al_12.jpg) without being forced to use another lightsource.

jcdenton · Post by **jcdenton** » Tue Apr 22, 2008 4:25 am

800 fiber strands? Hmmm, maybe it's not really THAT far out of my league ^^ I used several light sources throughout the model and I'm quite sure it has something around 800 windows in it as well. Many of these only have very short fiber strands of about 2cm. Especially the core parts and the parts below the promenade in the center. Hundreds of windows but only very short fibers.

Marco Scheloske · Post by **Marco Scheloske** » Tue Apr 22, 2008 4:50 am

jcdenton wrote:800 fiber strands? Hmmm, maybe it's not really THAT far out of my league ^^

I already thought so - you can very easily underestimate the number of such small stuff.

Well, but I guess with my lit Death Star - 22,000 (!) lit portholes - I´m under the first three...

jcdenton · Post by **jcdenton** » Tue Apr 22, 2008 5:44 am

22.000 - ok, I give up

now I'd like to see the other 2 that are up there with you in the Top 3 ^^

Darthsideous · Post by **Darthsideous** » Tue Apr 22, 2008 4:31 pm

Marco Scheloske, and JC denton thanks for your input you guys are doing a great job and an inspiration for me. Hopefully I'll have some pictures of my progress soon.