danimalmagic

Lots if people on ebay make engraved plaques to size, I found a lady some years ago in the UK. She even does the proper fonts, very cheap too, only a few pounds.

Well it is definitely large scale that for sure at 26.5" long by 14" wide. Hi all, just finished this Behemoth, hard to get the camera settings right and it was even tougher to find a big enough space with a blank background, old bed sheet had to do so my apologies. I used the Madman Lighting BSG card for this as it has the flickering engine effect i wanted and the other lighting requirements are quite basic, bespoke base and machined mounting pole so the model can be separated from the base. Two working lasers on the nose and just LED effects for the torpedo launchers, all working off an RC fob. All pipework bespoke using various welding wire. Light bleed from the lazers has since been rectified. Cockpit and Droid lighting. https://imgur.com/dTKVnFQ https://i.imgur.com/dTKVnFQ.mp4 Thanks for looking. Danny www.modelmasteruk.com

It was my own using magnetically activated micro LED from ebay, I have seen since you can buy a 3D Printed Matrix that includes this very device, i just fitted myself, not difficult to do.

Hi all, its been a while, i started this November 22 and got stuck back into it a few weeks ago. Firstly the kit is fantastic, absolute genius design and at over 800 parts it is not a 5 minute job, especially if you are going to paint it. I have built a few Metal Gear Solid kits from Kotobukiya before and i am pretty sure this is from the same stable of cleverness as they where amazingly well thought out and engineered, finished model stands at just over 12 inches tall. You can build straight from the box but the self coloured plastic just does not pop and the Chrome is never quite Chrome in reality. So first job was to remove all parts from there sprues one body section at a time, remove all sprue nubs, separate to each colour then bag, this was a week just on its own. Never seen the point of painting on the sprue, the marks always show up and you then only have to remove the nub and re paint. Next job was the colours, i chose Createx Pearl Red and Pearl Blue for the main colours with Createx Gloss Coat, never used this stuff before, it does give a nice paint finish but it is a pig to get through your airbrush and even worse to clean after, yes i did have the correct psi and needle size. All the Metallic parts are done with Alclad, Chrome, Gloss Aluminium, Burnt Metal, Pale Burnt Metal, Tamiya Titanium Gold, Tamiya Metallic Grey and AK Gunmetal. Any fine finishing of minor pipes and fitting was done with a Molotow Chrome Pen, make sure this has plenty of time to dry. If you are going to paint this kit or any of the modern Kotobukiya kits you have to make sure you remove any paint from the snap fit pins and holes and more importantly any moveable joint or sliding fit part. If you don't you will have a lot of problems later connecting parts together and probably end up breaking small parts. It takes time but it is necessary. Another good tip is to use a very small amount of Silicon Grease on the joints, i learned a painful lesson on a Kotobukiya Metal Gear Rex a few years back so a little grease is a must. The plan is to build two, one as per this post and another weathered and battle damaged, i chose the pristine version first to iron out and issues and get familiar with the kit, glad i did as building a battle damaged version will be quite a challenge, needs a lot of thought. I have built a lot of models but i have to see this is by far the most detailed and well designed, enjoyed every minute, will be centre place in my cabinet. Lighting added to the Head and the Matrix in the chest. Hope you enjoyed the finished model. Thanks for looking. Danny www.modelmasteruk.com

Hi all, its been a while, i did finally manage to get this done for myself in between commission work, a fun kit to build with my own take on the dull grey black interior. Thanks for Looking Danny

Thanks guys, just spent the day packaging for shipping, that's the last hurdle

It's is not for me, a commission project.

Yes, i do not recall seeing anything quite like it either and needless to say i will not be doing another, that was a long road.

And you thought it was the Aircraft Carrier, Suckers!!! Hi all, it’s been a while since I posted last but with good reason, for the last 14 weeks I have been working at this 1/350 Diorama and it has been quite a challenge but it is now finally done. The basics of the project were a bespoke internally lighted back box with a star field effect, 2 x 1/350 Klingon Birds of Prey (KBOP’s) and of course the rather huge 1/350 Enterprise Re Fit with a shuttle coming into land. I started out with the Back Box, this is made from 2 sheets of Aluminium Sheet 2.5mm thick x 610mm wide x 2250mm long separated with an internal wooden frame to create the cavity for the lighting. I needed redundancy here so 2 x SMD Light Strips have been used, in the even one fails the DC supply jack can just be switched to the back-up rig. On top of this I have designed the ships so that they be removed from the Light Box at any time and the front of the Light box can be removed if it is ever required to change both LED strips. This was the initial test of the light box, I have drilled various size holes and some have coloured clear filters on the inside so some of the starts are different colours, red, Blue etc. Next up was the two KBOP, I have used varying lighting kits over the years and I tend to use Starling Technologies now whenever possible. He does a plug and play set for the KBOP which has really good light effects and a sound card with optional remote control FOB. I needed both KBOP to work off one remote FOB and after a few chats with Stan at Starling Technologies he had a simple solution for this, both kits are basically pre wired plug and play, there is some minimal soldering needed but for the most part they are ready to go, awesome. Lots of paint filters, washes and dry brushing to make the KBOP look a bit rusty and beaten up. First test of lights and RC. https://1drv.ms/v/s!Aqom4v1uZi83hDspaNRG39XQxzk- Next up was by far the biggest task, the Enterprise, I have built one of these before and lighting a kit adds all sorts of issues. To make the build as expedient as possible I used the pre wired Trek Modeller Kit as this quite simply saves a massive amount of time in wiring and soldering, the kit was excellent but had one snag no working weapons, sounds effects and RC Unit. I needed sounds and effects to match the KBOP’s to create the battle effects so it was back to Stan at Starling. The easiest way around this was to install Stans Gen 3 Re Fit kit in the saucer and use that to just supply the 4 x working Lasers, the Photon Torpedo Launchers the Sound effects, Lighting effects for the Shuttle Bay,Impulse Engines, linked Impulse Crystal, Impulse Engines and the Warp Nacelles. This would basically also give me some additional lighting redundancy but is primarily for the various light and sound effects, the Trek Modeller kit would supply the internally lighting and Shuttle Bay etc. Shuttle Bay LIghts https://1drv.ms/v/s!Aqom4v1uZi83hEdZoTmC8el1bxol Enterprise Weapons Test https://1drv.ms/v/s!Aqom4v1uZi83hEvPRvxIhK8ZkajM The Astek decals for the Kit are a nice touch, very thin and delicate much like Cartograf quality just much bigger, the standard kit decals had some issues with breaking up, I had to get some spares from Polar Lights. My advice to anyone who builds this kit cover the standard kit decals with Microscale Liquid Decal Film first, it will save you some grief, I got the tip off a friend and it worked really well. I have had this issues with most of the standard Polar Lights kit decals i have used. With that all done it was just getting it all connected and mounted then final testing. Lights off and action. https://1drv.ms/v/s!Aqom4v1uZi83hXOtNvsAOUFmlMNg I know its not everybody's favourite subject but i have to say i enjoyed this project. Thanks for Looking Danny

Yes, the initial set we're undersized, I emailed and they we're replaced no problem, moulding shrink etc.

Sounds very logical, if you look at the Hercs at Miramar you see a mixture, I just worked from the specific images of the Bird I had chosen and they we're all flaps up. I get the logic though, good info and good luck with the Commando II. Google maps  MCAS Miramar Hurcs 32.877076,-117.124618

Yes Dave, no problem, nice decals mate, a little softener and they pulled down perfectly, I had to do a bit of cutting to get the bund numbers I needed but that was just the specifics of the paint scheme, 511 is Hawk but if you ever make new batch another Hawk or two would be great. Regards Danny

Thanks guys Danny

Glad to have got it done, good job they dont make em in 1/32 Regards Danny

Arghh, i will try again, time for Imgur

Seems to open up ok my end. Danny

Hi all, it's been a while, I started this project back in February 2017 and managed to get 6 weeks done before commission work took over. By that time most of the hard work was done which just left the painting to do, well for the most part. I was working to copy VMGR-352 QB-6762 as I wanted to make sure I was working to an existing Harvest Hawk, I managed in the end to find some good reference material for 762 and I like the colour scheme so that was the final choice. I have had a bit of free time between commissions so the last two weeks I have got stuck in again. To recap, all the raised panel lines have been re scribed (Never Again, seriously!!) and I have used the Attack Squadron Harvest Hawk Conversion set which covers the AN-AAQ-30 Targeting Pod and the Hellfire Rack. I ended up using the Eduard AGM-114 Hellfire set as this was far more accurate. The Attack Squadron parts also included some very nice wheels, fuel pod, sponsons and most importantly replacement engines to correct the grim kit ones. I was tempted to use the rather nice Attack Squadron flap set but unless I was doing an inflight diorama or a maintenance diorama it was pretty pointless as the flaps would be level in reality so that idea was quickly scraped. There were a fair number of other modifications including the port parachute door which needed two launch tubes for the GBU-44 Viper Strike and GBU-176 Griffin Missiles, various windows have been filled and re positioned and the addition of the FCS Optics module either side of the parachute doors. Decals are a mixture of the kit decals and the Flying Leatherneck set, this with a little work gave me all the required numbers for the airframe in question. The walkway decals were the wrong colour and way to wide so I have masked and sprayed them on. Finished up yesterday. Thanks for Looking Danny

Thanks, badass, I like that

Thanks guys. Danny

Thanks guys.

Once painted i have weathered a little, trying to gauge this with Sci-Fi is always tough and i took lots of stills from the film but these are quite dark and grainy as you would expect so getting a balanced result was quite tough. For me less is more and you can always add more later but it is far harder to remove it if you go tooo mad:-) Landing gear and belly lights only. All lights. Engines Well that is me for a while, motorcycles to strip and clean for the silly season that will soon be upon us. Regards. Danny.

Hi all, last job before i have a break for a few weeks, this is the Halcyon Models Nostromo, a vinyl kit that has its issue but for the most part was a pretty good project. As with all vinyl kits there is a fair bit of warping so plenty of hot water dips straighten up parts. The lighting is all bespoke apart from the use of an old control card for the engine lighting, this gives it a random flickering effect, not that you will see it from the images. I have built the kit to incorporate the strip lights on the belly and the landing lights, in regard to the landing lights these were never part of the production model as the lighting was supplied from an external rig and hidden with smoke that you see in the film. The landing lights are an important part of the model and none are supplied in the kit so it was a must to replicate them though you will have to afford me some artistic license here Light rigs. Belly strip lights are quite random. The landing gear is also lighted and in the film there is a ring of lights at the top that does this. Landing Lights complete, the 5 x main landing lights are on an independent touch dimmer so they can be turned on/off and dimmed as required. For the engines i have drilled out all the holes and will fill with the appropriate size optic cable, this will all be illuminated from the LED positioned on the inside behind the optic cables. Engines done, these are on a control card that gives a flickering effect and again they are on an independent touch dimmer switch which means they can be turned on or off and dimmed independently of the other lights Touch Dimmers and DC Input.

Decals are round 2, made by Cartograph so very good especially with microset

Thankyou kindly. Danny

I has two real lasers in it, if i had space i would of added all 4 supplied, yes a bit of smoke would work nicely. Thanks for looking Danny