Klingon Vor'cha Cruiser WIP

[Grendels]

I have used a mixture of the tape and paint before. I do think that is easier. I use the tape to block the light that the paint misses.... Taping the entire model would be quite a bit of work.

 

[fubar]

Lookin' pretty darn smart so far mate. Nice to see good ol' bread board again....not seen that stuff since i was at college.

P.S. I know what u mean about the evil grip of Skyrim lol

 

[Igard]

Thanks Matt.

@Grendels, yeah, I've found it quite a chore to tape this entire thing! Each nacelle part took about half an hour, so that's 2 hours total just for the nacelles. Quite a bit longer for the rest. :-\

 

[smusno]

mmmmmmmmmmmmmm, glowey goodness

smusno likey!

 

[Quaralane]

Definitely looking good, Igard

 

[Igard]

Thanks, gents.

Just in the process now of applying the clear epoxy for the windows. I'm using some scotch clear tape on the outside and pushing the epoxy through from the inside. Then I wait an hour for it to set and remove the tape. I'm then using a cocktail stick to push the epoxy in a bit, so the window is slightly recessed. Going ok so far....

 

[Grendels]

I will be interested in seeing photos! Eagerly awaiting an update.

 

[Solander]

A definitely great work here, buddy!
Like how it looks all so silver inside - a nice step to awesome lighting

 

[Igard]

Ok, small update. The windows have been a bit of a struggle. Primarily because I'm using 5 min clear epoxy. It thickens far too quickly (after about 2 mins), making it very difficult to work with for this. The net result is overall pretty good, but a couple of the windows have a bit of fog. Nothing serious, but in future, I'll use some 1 hour epoxy instead. This 5 min stuff is great for gluing clear parts, but not for working into tiny window holes.

Wired up the bridge section with 2 LEDs. 4 strands of fibre optics for the navigation lights. The nav lights are very dim on the ship, so it's not necessary to have them pointing directly into the hole. I put some clear epoxy around the hole and place the optic fibre into the resin and let it set. The 5 min stuff came in handy for this. I then taped it all up with aluminum tape, making a nice little enclosure for the nav light. You can imagine inside this is a sort of bubble with the end of the fibre set inside. Very simple, took me 10 mins to do all 4.

The warp nacelles turned out a little messy on the inside, but it looks just fine from the outside. 2 red LEDs each. Just wondering if I should darken the effect slightly and how I could achieve that.

 

[Solander]

Very nice, Igard! Can't wait to see it all lit-up ;D

On the naccels: did You try to place the LEDs on the border between the main naccel's body and the pylon that holds it? It is visible from the pics, that there is almost no place inside the pylons, but maybe there would be enough for two wires? That way only deflected light would come into the bussards and the area of exposed WARP-coils, which might darken that light.

 

[Igard]

Hey thanks, Sol. I could certainly try that. If you look at the area on the pylon where I taped the 2 wires, there is a little bubble-shaped area where I could fit the LEDs.

I'll try it and see how it looks, but I think the main problem is coming from the light plastic material I used to diffuse the light. I was thinking about placing some black material over this to darken it a bit. Maybe a black plastic bag would do the trick.... ???

 

[Igard]

Ok, tried a quick test with some LEDs inside the pylon. Still not quite right. It's only slightly dimmer. The colour of the engine is too scarlett, rather than a blood red. I think I'll remove the white plastic diffuser and put in a black plastic one instead.

Does this make sense, using plastic poly bags, cut into shape to diffuse the light? Has it been done before? Is it deemed slightly unprofessional perhaps? ???

 

[Solander]

I think that nothing is unprofessional when it does work
But I don't know about the black - it more absorbs light rather then defuses it, and I've never tried that before. So, the only way to know is to give it a try, my friend

 

[smusno]

If my assumption is right, and your trying to defuse the transparent windows in the site of the engines...........

why not use cotton, not plastic. it might let light through in a more "natural" way?

 

[Igard]

@Solander, Yeah, you're right. The black plastic doesn't work either. The light is already diffused, it's just the colour is too light. I'm looking for a dark red glow. At the moment it's scarlett, almost pink. It's not very Klingon!

@smusno, Cheers buddy. I'll give the cotton a try. I'm not trying to diffuse the light though, I'm trying to change it from a light red (scarlett) to a dark red. I don't think it'll be possible without a dark coloured material.

Of course, if I was doing this the expensive way, I'd buy some lighting gel or colour filter gel, like they use in the theatre. I might just end up doing that since it would come in handy in the future.

 

[smusno]

@Solander, Yeah, you're right. The black plastic doesn't work either. The light is already diffused, it's just the colour is too light. I'm looking for a dark red glow. At the moment it's scarlett, almost pink. It's not very Klingon!

@smusno, Cheers buddy. I'll give the cotton a try. I'm not trying to diffuse the light though, I'm trying to change it from a light red (scarlett) to a dark red. I don't think it'll be possible without a dark coloured material.

Of course, if I was doing this the expensive way, I'd buy some lighting gel or colour filter gel, like they use in the theatre. I might just end up doing that since it would come in handy in the future.

print shops will do that on the cheap. for overhead projectors n stuff.

 

[Grendels]

A lighting gel is probably the correct way. But can you use clear paint to darken the LED? A little clear red mixed with clear blue should do the trick. Then paint it on the LED.

 

[Igard]

Managed to find some red gel on ebay for £2.00 delivered. Ordered. Might as well do it right.

@smusno, I'll check next time I'm passing. My local copy shop is a tiny little place though, I'm not sure if they supply gels.

@Grendels, I do have some clear red paint. Might slap some of that over the LEDs tomorrow. I dont' want to put it on the clear parts as I find it has a tendency to pool up and these parts aren't the smoothest.

Cheers guys.

 

[Quaralane]

Definitely looks like interesting progress

 

[Igard]

Cheers, Q. Interesting is a good word for it.

Firstly, the clear red paint made very little if any, difference.

However, the red gel has made a huge difference. Surely this should be on every model lighting enthusiast's inventory list.

4 layers of red gel inside the nacelles. I then sealed them up.

The seams, the gaps, the horror! Couldn't resist getting a shot of my favourite cup in the background. ;D

Only 1 really nasty bit of light leak. I'm rather surprised at that. Pleased, but surprised. This is quite a large gap in the seam and I'll cover this with some epoxy putty and hit it with some black paint. Fingers crossed.

Here's another little problem. This time with the tactical bridge. The windows are too close to the top, so the light is finding its way around the foil tape. I've removed the tape and will add some black paint in here. I'll have to carefully tape over it, but this might need another layer of black paint on the exterior.

That's all I've had time for in the last few days. Hopefully get sat down again this week to fix that tactical bridge and work on the nacelle seams. Then I'll begin working on the main hull lighting.