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What a find this was! Consigned to the stock pile several years ago and forgotten, this is a superb offering from Revell. It fits great and the decals are nice. With a bit of effort on the lighting, it's a fine 34cm long model. |
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I started by assembling everything that would be lit. The studio shots show two 'spotlights' coming out of the front prongs, and the only way to get that is a fibre optic cable. This is how it looks. Two cable stubs are held in front of a white l.e.d. by aluminium tape - it's that easy. Remember not to use super glue, which attacks the fiber optic acryllic. |
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There are l.e.d.'s of verious colours in different sections, so some bulkhead plates are drilled through and used to support l.e.d.'s, like these, and some are punched out for wires and light transmission. The reactor thing at the back has a 3mm red l.e.d. pointing backwards (left) and a white l.e.d. soldered to it (right) to save space. |
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The wiring for the reactor thing at the back. The wires run along the inside of the spine - plenty of clearance, but you'll have to drill holes for them to get in and out. Note the white l.e.d. at the right hand end of the picture in the ring at the end. |
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The solar panels are painted with blue pearlescent over black. The angled support was lit because the light would be diffused between the hull and the panels, making a striking contrast. Here's where to drill the holes for the wires. |
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Here's all the sub assemblies all wired up. The black wires are the common earth, and the colours correspond to l.e.d. colours. I'll be needing a 6-pin plug and socket for this one. The front end has a white l.e.d. in the open space, and a closed tube containing a red l.e.d. for the docking port (?). Using a closed tube prevents light leakage.ß |
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Drilling through the hull and inserting 0.3mm fibre cable to let out the light. There was no way that pre-installing the fibre optic cable would have worked. In the bottom shot, tiny blobs of clearset canopy glue can be seen at the ends of 4 fibres, ready to be pushed into place. |
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Looks great with muted colours and a light misting after the decals and detailing just to tie it all together. I found the box art pictures much more helpfull than the instructions, which would have you paint it in excessively bright, gaudy colours. |
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Really quite an eye catcher! |
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The money shot....... |
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