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In the picture above, you can see that I used some Cemedine Epoxy Putty for Plastic to secure a red 0402 SMD into the tip of the Valkyrie's fastpack nacelle. In the previous update, I mentioned that my plan was to use .75mm fiber optics for these red lights, and that by mushrooming the tips not only would it act as a lens substitute but also it would amplify the light. Upon further thought, I decided to just use SMDs. I made sure that the SMD was shining straight out of each of the holes.
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The wires for the SMDs are super thin, so I shaved off some places to strip the coating off the wires and attach them to the 5mm flickering blue LEDs for the thrusters. Again, this kit's engine holes are perfect for both 3mm and 5mm LEDs to be used for its engines.
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The front red SMD shines nicely.
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The 5mm LED looks great too.
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Next I threaded the wires through the holes I had drilled out and attached the nacelles to the Valkyrie's back section and glued them into place.
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Looks good.
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For the lenses on the fastpack laser sensors, I decided to use Wave's H-Eyes 3 Mini set. These are targeted for mecha kits with mono eyes like Doms and Zakus from Gundam or Scopedogs from Votoms, and these will work nicely for what I need to accomplish here.
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As for the gunpod, I used the same putty to secure the SMD for the targeting laser as well as the rapid flashing 3mm yellow LED and then soldered them into place. I messed up twice and ended up ruining two red SMDs. Rats.
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Looks nice! But something bothers me about the weak detail on the vernier thrusters for this kit.
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Here's where Kotobukiya's M.S.G. Vernier Nozzles III comes in. I used these on my Crusher Joe Fighter 1 and 2 by Takara build to add engine detail, which I posted on this forum earlier.
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These will be an improvement. I had to buy three sets of these for the two Crusher Joe fighters, so I should have enough for this project. Larger and smaller verniers will fit on the fastpack as well as the leg augmentations.