Klingon Vor'cha Cruiser WIP

[punkpigpen]

bravo igard! i use that lighting gels for the goggles on my my rebel pilots on my studio scale SW builds..orange.

 

[Grendels]

The lighting gels look good!

 

[Igard]

Thanks chaps. I know I'm not the neatest when working on the insides, but as long as I get the desired effect, I'm happy.

Forgot to mention that my camera shows the red light a bit more pink than it really is.

 

[Solander]

Now, this is klingonish indeed!
Nice work!
P.S: and a really cool cup too! Is the print constant, or the crew appears on the transporter when You fill the cup with hot water?

 

[Igard]

Cheers Sol. Hee he.. nah nothing fancy like that, it's just a really old mug, a bit faded. It's got 1989 written on it!! ;D

 

[smusno]

mmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm, Klingony ;D




Ka'pla!





If my lighting works out a fraction as well as that, i shall be most happy!

 

[Igard]

Thanks smusno, dude!

I think the lighting on your Voyager nacelles looks every bit as good as what I've got here, with the added bonus that yours actually looks neat and tidy!

 

[Quaralane]

That nacelle lighting is looking nice.
And you're right. some black on the exterior around those windows should help with leaks

 

[Igard]

Thanks, Quarlane. I'm gonna put black paint inside as well, just to be sure.

 

[Igard]

It's been a model building weekend at long last! Just been busy for a while with another of my hobbies (modding a video game).

Here are the LEDs in place for the impulse engines.

Simply just a case of putting some foil tape over them.

Ok, now I forgot to take pictures of the rest of the wiring. It was really messy and the fibre optics gave me alot of trouble. More on that later. Here's the ship all put together.

Lots of seam filling and light leak control to do.

From the rear, I've got a bit of inconsistency with the ipulse engines (ones brighter than the other). Perhaps my hasy method of encasing the LEDs? Actually I think I know what it is. I bought 2 different kinds of red LED and I've got them mixed up. Ah well, the camera makes it look more extreme than it is, and they are Klingons, not exactly reknowned for their engineering. This ship would probably end up going round in circles! ;D

Here we can see the problem with the fibre optics. Now, it's important to note that I was going for a very subtle effect with the navigation lights. I figured, drilling very small holes with a fibre optic running to each, would produce enough light to get it just right. Bit of a miscalculation. Especiallly since there wasn't enough room for the fibre optics to sit pointing directly into the hole.

Again, the camera makes it look worse. You can clearly see the green nav light, but the amber one is very faint.

Well you know it's not one of my builds without some kind of lighting disaster. Or two.

 

[smusno]

I think your self critique is un-necessary.

She looks beast!

Now, have fun mixing the right green

 

[Grendels]

She is still looking good. Have you glued the hull together? It looks like you did. If not you can still fix the issue.

 

[Igard]

Thanks gents.

@smusno, I'm still happy with her. Can't ignore the flaws though. Looking forward to painting!

@Grendels, embarassingly, yes. Before I sealed it up, I was checking for light leak and where the seams were going to be a problem. I'd already tested the impulse engines for light leak, with a different set of LEDs :, because they were brighter than the red ones. So, I overlooked it. Never thought about the different types of LED I'd bought months ago.

In fact, I'm sure I put different types of red LED in my Maquis Raider model (without realising). Looks like I got away with it there though. ;D

 

[fubar]

I feel your pain with fibre optics mate but it looks like you've got it all sorted out now as shes looking fit enough to give any Galaxy class a run for her money. ;D

TTFN Matt

 

[Quaralane]

Your lighting work is looking pretty good, actually.
And the light leak is far better than it could be, trust me

 

[Grendels]

What about drilling out the yellow fiber and replacing it from the outside? Then maybe you will get that yellow one to shine correctly. As for the impulse engine, what about painting one side with transparent paint to tone down the brightness? Don't know if either of these will work, but it is just a suggestion.

 

[Igard]

Cheers, Quaralane and Matt .

@Q, I'm generally happy with the light leak levels. The only bit I'm really worried about is along the neck area. It's very close to the windows and I'll have to be careful. Probably best to do the masking next.

@Grendels, good ideas.

I'm not too bothered about the impulse engines. I think if I were to paint one of them, it would look odd when unlit.

I think I could drill those holes a bit bigger for the nav lights (they're currently about 0.5mm dia). There is clear epoxy underneath them. That's what 'holds' the fibre optics. Since the clear epoxy is harder than the plastic, it should be a safe thing to try. Only danger is if I drill into the clear epoxy, it might 'frost' and discolour the light.

Ok, might give that a try tonight...

 

[Grendels]

I don't think I would worry too much about frosting the epoxy. Isn't this the only yellow light in this area? If so, then discoloring the light won't matter. There is nothing to compare it to.

 

[Igard]

You're indeed correct. The hole's already there, so it's just a case of widening it with the archimedes drill. I'll do this very gently. After that, I'll fill it with more clear epoxy. That should produce a nice subtle effect. These Klingons obviously don't route much power through the nav lights.

Example :-

 

[Solander]

Love the looks of this babe from the back. With those impulse engines lit-up and the overall winged shape it looks even meaner then facing towards you, imo 8)
And I think You shouldn't blame yourself for any mistakes here and there, buddy, 'cause , hey!, You're the only one who's aware about them Seriously, when I've first looked through those awesome pics I didn't even notice any of your problems before reading the text, so...
Get it done with the nav light, as we are all anxious already to see this show-stopper all dressed with paint ;D
Thumbs up to the brilliant work You're doing here!