astroboys' falcon

[astroboy]

Right now, I'm just holding my place.

I'm VERY new to all this, but totally in to it. I always loved ships but was completely disappointed with how out of scale the toys and collectables were.

Anyway, I'm here with a fine molds 1/72 falcon. I'm not going for studio scale . This will combine elements (the ones I want) from both major studio models as well as the ESB full size set piece.

Aftermarket parts:
acreation photoetch parts
resin engines
madman electronics
jbot decals

Mistakes made thus far....
glued the gunwells in without even THINKING of drilling out holes for lighting
tried to make my own turbines for the top and really, I should have gotten the resin ones. They look way better.

I've been on hold for the past few months because the missus and I had a kid this summer which changes a lot. Plus, I'm on parental leave which means I won't have access to my shop until mid november. So right now I'm still gathering and planning. Right now I'm really working on that whole lighting part of things.

I'll run this lighting plan past you guys: (it's pretty much the madman kit, but I changed a couple things because I want more things lit

here it goes:
6 blue LEDs for the engines
1 red led W/ 20 fibreoptic strands for red markers (1mm)
1 LED for gunwells (in the little hole going between the two gunwells)
1 LED for cockpit
1 LED W/ fibreoptics (different sizes) for lower jaw and interior jaw positions
2 LED's for headlights

I'm going to power it with this battery and the access point to charge it and for the switch will be under the gunwell (which I won't glue down
http://www.ebay.com/itm/320659534994?ssPageName=STRK:MEWAX:IT&_trksid=p3984.m1423.l2649

I'm not going to do any of the underside running lights. The madman kist doesn't account for them and I'm not even sure if I like them or not (unless it was a diorama)

One question I have is regarding lightbleed. Is there a special primer that you guys use on the inside of these models so that the light doesn't bleed through the styrene?

 

[schweinhund227]

Good idea on the Bat pack.... Should last a long time!

Later!

 

[Grendels]

No special paint that I know of. Black will adsorb light, while white will pass it through.

Now I have seen a few builds where they put down a layer of black to adsorb the light, and then a layer of white to reflect the light around in the ship.

Some putties will also block light. Squadron white does this.

I have also used aluminum tape for duct work to block light.

 

[astroboy]

No special paint that I know of. Black will adsorb light, while white will pass it through.

Now I have seen a few builds where they put down a layer of black to adsorb the light, and then a layer of white to reflect the light around in the ship.

Some putties will also block light. Squadron white does this.

I have also used aluminum tape for duct work to block light.

what are your thoughts on my power supply? Do you think I could add another LED? (I've sacrificed the cabin LEDs for elsewhere)

 

[Grendels]

That battery will power 240 led's for an hour, or 24 for 10 hours. Now that doesn't mean it will power them well. Most batteries drop voltage near the end of their charge. So for 24 LED's you will probably only get 8 hours out of it.

You currently list 12, so that is 20 hours out of the charge. Now all of this is assuming that the resistors on the LED's consume no power, and that there are no blinking circuits. The resistors at 12V will drain just as much power as your LED's will. So we are back to the 10 hrs.

Any blinking lights will drain power much faster as the chip that does the blinking needs power to do so.

I really don't think that adding one or two more LED's will hurt it much.

 

[astroboy]

That battery will power 240 led's for an hour, or 24 for 10 hours. Now that doesn't mean it will power them well. Most batteries drop voltage near the end of their charge. So for 24 LED's you will probably only get 8 hours out of it.

You currently list 12, so that is 20 hours out of the charge. Now all of this is assuming that the resistors on the LED's consume no power, and that there are no blinking circuits. The resistors at 12V will drain just as much power as your LED's will. So we are back to the 10 hrs.

Any blinking lights will drain power much faster as the chip that does the blinking needs power to do so.

I really don't think that adding one or two more LED's will hurt it much.

Thanks a lot. Well, the madman kit does have a flicker control for the engine lights, so that will cut down on the time. But frankly, I'm not going to have this thing on all that often. Mostly to impress women....

 

[JohnSimmons]

I'm not going to have this thing on all that often. Mostly to impress women....

Ha!

 

[Grendels]

That battery will power 240 led's for an hour, or 24 for 10 hours. Now that doesn't mean it will power them well. Most batteries drop voltage near the end of their charge. So for 24 LED's you will probably only get 8 hours out of it.

You currently list 12, so that is 20 hours out of the charge. Now all of this is assuming that the resistors on the LED's consume no power, and that there are no blinking circuits. The resistors at 12V will drain just as much power as your LED's will. So we are back to the 10 hrs.

Any blinking lights will drain power much faster as the chip that does the blinking needs power to do so.

I really don't think that adding one or two more LED's will hurt it much.

Thanks a lot. Well, the madman kit does have a flicker control for the engine lights, so that will cut down on the time. But frankly, I'm not going to have this thing on all that often. Mostly to impress women....

LOL!!! ;D ;D ;D

 

[java]

He he,i'm gonna use battery operated leds and hide the battery pack in the rear.

 

[astroboy]

Okay guys....I'm starting back at it.

Other than building the actual model, I'm at the point of lighting and some customization. And I could never get the photoetch cockpit going, so I did a bit of a hybrid, using the console from the photoetch along with the stock (yet customized) backwall and floor. As you can see, I still have to work on lightbleed.

[attachment deleted by admin]

 

[astroboy]

I've used some wheels that I found at a surplus shop for the rear vent thingers. And done a bunch of battle damage.

[attachment deleted by admin]

 

[MrNatural]

looks killer astroboy!

 

[astroboy]

I also used a mixture of tamiya putty and thin cement to essentially paint the piping together. We'll see how well that works. And I've been trying to make a bottom gun panel, but so far it looks like crap.

I'm also going to do a bit more panel damage like on the 5' falcon. I'll probably just let a bit of the primer squeeze though on the dremel marks

[attachment deleted by admin]

 

[astroboy]

one more. You can see the panel damage I'm talking about here.

[attachment deleted by admin]

 

[Grendels]

You are off to a very nice start!! That console looks good!

 

[astroboy]

You are off to a very nice start!! That console looks good!

Thanks! Since I'm using the clear canopy, I'm not too concerned with accuracy.

So far, I'm quite happy with it. Especially the back wall

 

[Quaralane]

Definitely going to be detailed here.

Liking your cockpit work

 

[schweinhund227]

;D. Looking good! Love the cockpit wall!

 

[Solander]

Excellent work here with all the aditions! And the cockpit lighting is absolutely awesome!

 

[astroboy]

Thanks guys!!!!


While I figger out the lighting, I thought I'd post this question for the board:

acrylics vs. enamel?

What are your thoughts?

I WAS going to do my main panels with tamiya acrylics and then do some oil wash over top (after a clear coat) but now I'm not sure if I should go for enamels or not. I always assumed that enamel would be better for glossy paints on things like cars, but for the falcon? Does it matter? Will the oil wash affect the acrylic paint?

Will the acrylics hold up over time?