RichieB

Very cool!

Hi folks, hope you're all keeping well. The wing tips required quite a lot of work to prep for lighting. Lots of thinning required to allow the electrics to fit and some careful carving of the lit areas that will be visible. You can also see the wingtip nav light in the prep stage as discussed previously. The good thing about EL panels are they are quite thin but you need to be quite conservative with how much you use as a 3v coin battery doesn't drive a large amount of it (typically <25cm for good brightness). I had to use two strips back to back so that the top and bottom illuminated but wasn't sure what it would look like side on or whether it would just short out! That arrangement made for quite a bulky wiring connection but luckily the Revell plastic is quite thick so can take a fair bit of hacking. Before assembly I sprayed the wing insides black as the thinness in some areas would easily let light bleed through and make it look like a ghost ship!

Once trimmed to the right size, I added thin clear plasticard on top of the EL tape so that I could scribe in some of the distinctive panel lines you see on the wingtip slime lights. I scribed a single longer sheet of plasticard with the same lines so that even if they weren't quite perfect they would all line up when I cut each of the 4 sections (2 wings, top & bottom) out. I wasn't sure how to make sure the wingtip slime lights blended together (rather than look like 4 layers sandwiched together) so I used CA glue to help create the final shape and seal the EL tape (hoping it wouldn't short the ends again!). I'll need to lightly coat the lights with the right colour to stop them looking so green.  On this photo you can also (just) see the fuel dump amendment I made by adding a squashed bit of copper tube and the modified ECM bullet which looked too small so I removed the original, added a longer bit of sprue and shaped accordingly.

 
And of course the fingers crossed moment.....

 
And breath. Next, it looks like I need to return to the forward fuselage area for some more rivet love. 

Hi folks, hope you're all keeping well. The wing tips required quite a lot of work to prep for lighting. Lots of thinning required to allow the electrics to fit and some careful carving of the lit areas that will be visible. You can also see the wingtip nav light in the prep stage as discussed previously. The good thing about EL panels are they are quite thin but you need to be quite conservative with how much you use as a 3v coin battery doesn't drive a large amount of it (typically <25cm for good brightness). I had to use two strips back to back so that the top and bottom illuminated but wasn't sure what it would look like side on or whether it would just short out! That arrangement made for quite a bulky wiring connection but luckily the Revell plastic is quite thick so can take a fair bit of hacking. Before assembly I sprayed the wing insides black as the thinness in some areas would easily let light bleed through and make it look like a ghost ship!

Once trimmed to the right size, I added thin clear plasticard on top of the EL tape so that I could scribe in some of the distinctive panel lines you see on the wingtip slime lights. I scribed a single longer sheet of plasticard with the same lines so that even if they weren't quite perfect they would all line up when I cut each of the 4 sections (2 wings, top & bottom) out. I wasn't sure how to make sure the wingtip slime lights blended together (rather than look like 4 layers sandwiched together) so I used CA glue to help create the final shape and seal the EL tape (hoping it wouldn't short the ends again!). I'll need to lightly coat the lights with the right colour to stop them looking so green.  On this photo you can also (just) see the fuel dump amendment I made by adding a squashed bit of copper tube and the modified ECM bullet which looked too small so I removed the original, added a longer bit of sprue and shaped accordingly.

 
And of course the fingers crossed moment.....

 
And breath. Next, it looks like I need to return to the forward fuselage area for some more rivet love. 

You probably need a range from 0.25mm for fine lighting ie cockpit bulbs, 0.5 mm and 1 mm for instruments and nav lights. I have used 2mm for HUD and radar displays but not often. If need be you can always group fibre optics together but the smaller sizes are the easiest to bend, 1mm can be quite difficult to curve in tight spaces. In this case I slightly melt it. For stronger or larger light sources I'd use a suitably sized LED. Sometimes it just pays to experiment.

Thanks for the info. 
I agree i want to build my own circuits too its more fun and allot cheaper.!! 
 
Last question Can you recomment what size of fiber optics to have there are so many im not sure what sizes are the most usefull for like cockpits and nav lights. 
 
Cheers

Hi Neo, there are many places out there selling LEDs, some actually do whole wiring set-ups for a particular aircraft. I tend to design my own circuits just because it gives me some flex when I decide to change my mind or get it wrong! I've used different sellers but the one below is quite good as they supply very small but bright leds (pico) which are great for cockpits etc and larger LEDs with resistors already included (for engines etc), so you don't have to worry so much about balancing voltages from different coloured LEDs. They also do small flashing LEDs (for anti-cols) and I like their connectors.
 
https://evandesigns.com/collections/hobby-leds
 
I'm sure other suppliers can do the same. There is also quite a lot of good info on the web on how to create an LED circuit which is basically how I picked things up (I am no electrician!). For some applications, fibre optics are better but they still need an LED light source. Hope that helps.

I tink what keeping me the most is getting the startup kit/supplies. 
 
Would you have a recommendation?

And so to one of the first major steps of this project, assembling the cockpit section which also means constructing the cockpit lighting.
As you can see from the picture below the front cockpit is the Aires F-15A resin version trimmed to fit, and the rear cockpit is the Revell one, somewhat adapted to F-15B standards.
The placing of both was mainly through lots of dry-fitting and the use of plastic blocks to prop the cockpit up. Each of the main instruments in each cockpit was fed by an appropriately sized fibre optic and routed to one of 2 LEDs. I also added some additional lighting optics on the side instrument panels for a bit of artistic license.
Each of the 4 sidewalls and the HUD was fed by a separate fibre optic and connected to a green LED to add some colour interest. The foil is to cut out stray lighting.
Luckily this is all on 1/32 otherwise it would be a bit tight what with the EL tape lights in there as well.
 

 
The hole to the right is for a vent which I cut out and replaced with a scratch built one to give it a bit more depth.
 

 
Once all connections, both electrical and fibre optic, had been made I glued the two halves together. Key was to ensure the cockpits were level and of the correct height to allow the canopy to sit properly with the seats and pilots in.
 

 
Quick test to make sure it all still works! The front cockpit dial detail is from Aires and has some great detail on the acetate sheet placed behind the PE. The Radar and RHWR were created in colour separately and printed onto acetate to give those displays more colour and detail. The Radar and RHWR displays in the rear cockpit were done similarly but the rear instruments are a mix-match of acetate dials from other kits and dials copied from cockpit jpegs and printed onto acetate. My preferred choice was to have been some decals for the cockpit dials but whilst they looked good, they did not let enough light through. I doubt any F-15 pilot would actually be able to fly of the gauges in the back but they do at least resemble a cockpit!     
 

 
And one in the dark for effect.

 
Quite glad the cockpit section has come together at last as it finally begins to take shape, might have to blank some of that excess light out though.
That said, lots of work to do yet on the fuselage if the cockpit section is anything to go by!
That's all for now but thanks for looking and wishing you all a Happy and Constructive New Year!

Thanks for staying with this one chaps!
 
Whilst I continue to finish and the top fuselage surface, in a rare moment of free time I thought I'd make some progress on the wings, or more the point, the wing lighting. F-15s have three lights on each wing and I've approached each differently for differing reasons. All of the light areas required considerable thinning of the plastic (which is quite thick on this kit) to make room for the light sources and especially the wiring. I also thinned the training edge while I was at it (a scale 4cm thick!). The wingtip formation lights need to match the other ones so EL tape was used. As the light has a top and bottom (and EL tape only lights on one side) I had to create two pieces then sandwich them together. This turned out to be a real pita! Mainly because trying to rewire them once you had cut them to shape was not easy. I had to get special small crimps that I wasted about 50% trying to find the sweet spot between the two layers of phosphorous. Any overlap and they short out and one layer as only 2mm wide! I also wasted a fair amount of EL tape on failed connections as I realised a bit too late that trying to solder the wires on when the crimps were already in place just melted the plastic surround and shorted the circuit again! So, solder wire to crimp, carefully apply both crimps ensuring no overlap, connect battery and pray! I also shortened the wires as they were too long and joined two into one to reduce the number of connectors in the fuselage. Needless to say this was a bit of a leap of faith as if they didn't light when reconnected that was a lot of time and effort wasted. (Luckily it did - huge sigh of relief!)
 
 

 
The wing tip navigation light is fibre optic as an LED would be too bright in that area and it reduces the overall power consumption (not much but every little helps when your using low voltage). This will be lit by one white LED light (which I'm using to light other fibre optics) as I'm using coloured plastic rather than multiple coloured light sources. Finally, the wing-root light is an LED as its quite visible and bright on the real aircraft. The black is to cut out light overspill. In case your wondering (I know I would be!) the square plastic is there to act as a support to the top wing so that when I attach the pylons later it should reduce flex and promote a good fit. Well that's the theory anyway. 

Hi folks, hope you're all keeping well. The wing tips required quite a lot of work to prep for lighting. Lots of thinning required to allow the electrics to fit and some careful carving of the lit areas that will be visible. You can also see the wingtip nav light in the prep stage as discussed previously. The good thing about EL panels are they are quite thin but you need to be quite conservative with how much you use as a 3v coin battery doesn't drive a large amount of it (typically <25cm for good brightness). I had to use two strips back to back so that the top and bottom illuminated but wasn't sure what it would look like side on or whether it would just short out! That arrangement made for quite a bulky wiring connection but luckily the Revell plastic is quite thick so can take a fair bit of hacking. Before assembly I sprayed the wing insides black as the thinness in some areas would easily let light bleed through and make it look like a ghost ship!

Once trimmed to the right size, I added thin clear plasticard on top of the EL tape so that I could scribe in some of the distinctive panel lines you see on the wingtip slime lights. I scribed a single longer sheet of plasticard with the same lines so that even if they weren't quite perfect they would all line up when I cut each of the 4 sections (2 wings, top & bottom) out. I wasn't sure how to make sure the wingtip slime lights blended together (rather than look like 4 layers sandwiched together) so I used CA glue to help create the final shape and seal the EL tape (hoping it wouldn't short the ends again!). I'll need to lightly coat the lights with the right colour to stop them looking so green.  On this photo you can also (just) see the fuel dump amendment I made by adding a squashed bit of copper tube and the modified ECM bullet which looked too small so I removed the original, added a longer bit of sprue and shaped accordingly.

 
And of course the fingers crossed moment.....

 
And breath. Next, it looks like I need to return to the forward fuselage area for some more rivet love. 

And so with the wings glued together it was time to fix the lighting. 
As with most of this kit, you start with a pretty blank canvas.

 
Painting plastic to look like glass is quite a trick so if possible I revert to transparent plastic. First task is to cut the right shape from the plastic for which I used a sharp knife and some scraping tools. I next cut a chuck of plastic from an old toothbrush (as plastic sheet wasn't thick enough) and carefully cut it into a shape where one side fitted the gap where the light needed to go. The more accurate you can get this bit right the better. You can use paint to help define the edges but you run the risk of light bleed through. Once super glued in place you end up with this:

Then I used a sharp pair of cutters to carefully trim the plastic to shape before sanding with ever increasingly fine sanding sticks until it is the right shape and a glossy finish.
Finally, a light test!
 

Next up is finishing off the wingtip formation lights which are somewhat trickier!

Hi folks, hope you're all keeping well. The wing tips required quite a lot of work to prep for lighting. Lots of thinning required to allow the electrics to fit and some careful carving of the lit areas that will be visible. You can also see the wingtip nav light in the prep stage as discussed previously. The good thing about EL panels are they are quite thin but you need to be quite conservative with how much you use as a 3v coin battery doesn't drive a large amount of it (typically <25cm for good brightness). I had to use two strips back to back so that the top and bottom illuminated but wasn't sure what it would look like side on or whether it would just short out! That arrangement made for quite a bulky wiring connection but luckily the Revell plastic is quite thick so can take a fair bit of hacking. Before assembly I sprayed the wing insides black as the thinness in some areas would easily let light bleed through and make it look like a ghost ship!

Once trimmed to the right size, I added thin clear plasticard on top of the EL tape so that I could scribe in some of the distinctive panel lines you see on the wingtip slime lights. I scribed a single longer sheet of plasticard with the same lines so that even if they weren't quite perfect they would all line up when I cut each of the 4 sections (2 wings, top & bottom) out. I wasn't sure how to make sure the wingtip slime lights blended together (rather than look like 4 layers sandwiched together) so I used CA glue to help create the final shape and seal the EL tape (hoping it wouldn't short the ends again!). I'll need to lightly coat the lights with the right colour to stop them looking so green.  On this photo you can also (just) see the fuel dump amendment I made by adding a squashed bit of copper tube and the modified ECM bullet which looked too small so I removed the original, added a longer bit of sprue and shaped accordingly.

 
And of course the fingers crossed moment.....

 
And breath. Next, it looks like I need to return to the forward fuselage area for some more rivet love. 

Wow this looks awesome.
 
Ive been trying to motivate myself todo some lights. I just keep pushing the idea to the next build

And so with the wings glued together it was time to fix the lighting. 
As with most of this kit, you start with a pretty blank canvas.

 
Painting plastic to look like glass is quite a trick so if possible I revert to transparent plastic. First task is to cut the right shape from the plastic for which I used a sharp knife and some scraping tools. I next cut a chuck of plastic from an old toothbrush (as plastic sheet wasn't thick enough) and carefully cut it into a shape where one side fitted the gap where the light needed to go. The more accurate you can get this bit right the better. You can use paint to help define the edges but you run the risk of light bleed through. Once super glued in place you end up with this:

Then I used a sharp pair of cutters to carefully trim the plastic to shape before sanding with ever increasingly fine sanding sticks until it is the right shape and a glossy finish.
Finally, a light test!
 

Next up is finishing off the wingtip formation lights which are somewhat trickier!

Well it's been a while! 
What with a new job at work, finishing my studies and life in general, things have been a little less productive in the modelling dept than I had anticipated.
Still, progress has been made in some areas, the most interesting of which has been a little experiment with Electroluminescent (EL) Tape. It took a while to understand how to wire the stuff up in different sizes and whether it would work for what I had in mind, which is the F-15s slime lights. It's great because it is very thin and gives a very even glow unlike LEDs. This is what EL tape looks like:
 
 
 
The tape at each end is to protect you from an electric shock as this uses an inverter to develop 100volts!
You can choose different colours to cover the phosphor depending on use, this piece is 10mm wide.
To make the slime light I had to cut away the kits plastic version, thin that space out a bit as the plastic is quite thick. I then filled the space with some clear plastic to give the EL tape something to shine through. I made the gap a little too wide but the overlap can be painted to avoid excess light escaping. I also added some Eduard formation light surrounds to frame the light better and add some nice detail. I'll add the slime light spacer bars later.
 

 
Having placed the EL tape behind the slot, time to test!
 

 
Some areas to black out but a nice realistic glow. I will give the clear cover a bit of a tint of yellow colour as it looks a bit too green when the EL tape is switched off, hopefully the EL tape will still shine through this covering. Now to work out how to do the wingtips!

Hi folks, hope you're all keeping well. The wing tips required quite a lot of work to prep for lighting. Lots of thinning required to allow the electrics to fit and some careful carving of the lit areas that will be visible. You can also see the wingtip nav light in the prep stage as discussed previously. The good thing about EL panels are they are quite thin but you need to be quite conservative with how much you use as a 3v coin battery doesn't drive a large amount of it (typically <25cm for good brightness). I had to use two strips back to back so that the top and bottom illuminated but wasn't sure what it would look like side on or whether it would just short out! That arrangement made for quite a bulky wiring connection but luckily the Revell plastic is quite thick so can take a fair bit of hacking. Before assembly I sprayed the wing insides black as the thinness in some areas would easily let light bleed through and make it look like a ghost ship!

Once trimmed to the right size, I added thin clear plasticard on top of the EL tape so that I could scribe in some of the distinctive panel lines you see on the wingtip slime lights. I scribed a single longer sheet of plasticard with the same lines so that even if they weren't quite perfect they would all line up when I cut each of the 4 sections (2 wings, top & bottom) out. I wasn't sure how to make sure the wingtip slime lights blended together (rather than look like 4 layers sandwiched together) so I used CA glue to help create the final shape and seal the EL tape (hoping it wouldn't short the ends again!). I'll need to lightly coat the lights with the right colour to stop them looking so green.  On this photo you can also (just) see the fuel dump amendment I made by adding a squashed bit of copper tube and the modified ECM bullet which looked too small so I removed the original, added a longer bit of sprue and shaped accordingly.

 
And of course the fingers crossed moment.....

 
And breath. Next, it looks like I need to return to the forward fuselage area for some more rivet love. 

Hi folks, hope you're all keeping well. The wing tips required quite a lot of work to prep for lighting. Lots of thinning required to allow the electrics to fit and some careful carving of the lit areas that will be visible. You can also see the wingtip nav light in the prep stage as discussed previously. The good thing about EL panels are they are quite thin but you need to be quite conservative with how much you use as a 3v coin battery doesn't drive a large amount of it (typically <25cm for good brightness). I had to use two strips back to back so that the top and bottom illuminated but wasn't sure what it would look like side on or whether it would just short out! That arrangement made for quite a bulky wiring connection but luckily the Revell plastic is quite thick so can take a fair bit of hacking. Before assembly I sprayed the wing insides black as the thinness in some areas would easily let light bleed through and make it look like a ghost ship!

Once trimmed to the right size, I added thin clear plasticard on top of the EL tape so that I could scribe in some of the distinctive panel lines you see on the wingtip slime lights. I scribed a single longer sheet of plasticard with the same lines so that even if they weren't quite perfect they would all line up when I cut each of the 4 sections (2 wings, top & bottom) out. I wasn't sure how to make sure the wingtip slime lights blended together (rather than look like 4 layers sandwiched together) so I used CA glue to help create the final shape and seal the EL tape (hoping it wouldn't short the ends again!). I'll need to lightly coat the lights with the right colour to stop them looking so green.  On this photo you can also (just) see the fuel dump amendment I made by adding a squashed bit of copper tube and the modified ECM bullet which looked too small so I removed the original, added a longer bit of sprue and shaped accordingly.

 
And of course the fingers crossed moment.....

 
And breath. Next, it looks like I need to return to the forward fuselage area for some more rivet love. 

Hi folks, hope you're all keeping well. The wing tips required quite a lot of work to prep for lighting. Lots of thinning required to allow the electrics to fit and some careful carving of the lit areas that will be visible. You can also see the wingtip nav light in the prep stage as discussed previously. The good thing about EL panels are they are quite thin but you need to be quite conservative with how much you use as a 3v coin battery doesn't drive a large amount of it (typically <25cm for good brightness). I had to use two strips back to back so that the top and bottom illuminated but wasn't sure what it would look like side on or whether it would just short out! That arrangement made for quite a bulky wiring connection but luckily the Revell plastic is quite thick so can take a fair bit of hacking. Before assembly I sprayed the wing insides black as the thinness in some areas would easily let light bleed through and make it look like a ghost ship!

Once trimmed to the right size, I added thin clear plasticard on top of the EL tape so that I could scribe in some of the distinctive panel lines you see on the wingtip slime lights. I scribed a single longer sheet of plasticard with the same lines so that even if they weren't quite perfect they would all line up when I cut each of the 4 sections (2 wings, top & bottom) out. I wasn't sure how to make sure the wingtip slime lights blended together (rather than look like 4 layers sandwiched together) so I used CA glue to help create the final shape and seal the EL tape (hoping it wouldn't short the ends again!). I'll need to lightly coat the lights with the right colour to stop them looking so green.  On this photo you can also (just) see the fuel dump amendment I made by adding a squashed bit of copper tube and the modified ECM bullet which looked too small so I removed the original, added a longer bit of sprue and shaped accordingly.

 
And of course the fingers crossed moment.....

 
And breath. Next, it looks like I need to return to the forward fuselage area for some more rivet love. 

Hi folks, hope you're all keeping well. The wing tips required quite a lot of work to prep for lighting. Lots of thinning required to allow the electrics to fit and some careful carving of the lit areas that will be visible. You can also see the wingtip nav light in the prep stage as discussed previously. The good thing about EL panels are they are quite thin but you need to be quite conservative with how much you use as a 3v coin battery doesn't drive a large amount of it (typically <25cm for good brightness). I had to use two strips back to back so that the top and bottom illuminated but wasn't sure what it would look like side on or whether it would just short out! That arrangement made for quite a bulky wiring connection but luckily the Revell plastic is quite thick so can take a fair bit of hacking. Before assembly I sprayed the wing insides black as the thinness in some areas would easily let light bleed through and make it look like a ghost ship!

Once trimmed to the right size, I added thin clear plasticard on top of the EL tape so that I could scribe in some of the distinctive panel lines you see on the wingtip slime lights. I scribed a single longer sheet of plasticard with the same lines so that even if they weren't quite perfect they would all line up when I cut each of the 4 sections (2 wings, top & bottom) out. I wasn't sure how to make sure the wingtip slime lights blended together (rather than look like 4 layers sandwiched together) so I used CA glue to help create the final shape and seal the EL tape (hoping it wouldn't short the ends again!). I'll need to lightly coat the lights with the right colour to stop them looking so green.  On this photo you can also (just) see the fuel dump amendment I made by adding a squashed bit of copper tube and the modified ECM bullet which looked too small so I removed the original, added a longer bit of sprue and shaped accordingly.

 
And of course the fingers crossed moment.....

 
And breath. Next, it looks like I need to return to the forward fuselage area for some more rivet love. 

And so with the wings glued together it was time to fix the lighting. 
As with most of this kit, you start with a pretty blank canvas.

 
Painting plastic to look like glass is quite a trick so if possible I revert to transparent plastic. First task is to cut the right shape from the plastic for which I used a sharp knife and some scraping tools. I next cut a chuck of plastic from an old toothbrush (as plastic sheet wasn't thick enough) and carefully cut it into a shape where one side fitted the gap where the light needed to go. The more accurate you can get this bit right the better. You can use paint to help define the edges but you run the risk of light bleed through. Once super glued in place you end up with this:

Then I used a sharp pair of cutters to carefully trim the plastic to shape before sanding with ever increasingly fine sanding sticks until it is the right shape and a glossy finish.
Finally, a light test!
 

Next up is finishing off the wingtip formation lights which are somewhat trickier!

Hi folks, hope you're all keeping well. The wing tips required quite a lot of work to prep for lighting. Lots of thinning required to allow the electrics to fit and some careful carving of the lit areas that will be visible. You can also see the wingtip nav light in the prep stage as discussed previously. The good thing about EL panels are they are quite thin but you need to be quite conservative with how much you use as a 3v coin battery doesn't drive a large amount of it (typically <25cm for good brightness). I had to use two strips back to back so that the top and bottom illuminated but wasn't sure what it would look like side on or whether it would just short out! That arrangement made for quite a bulky wiring connection but luckily the Revell plastic is quite thick so can take a fair bit of hacking. Before assembly I sprayed the wing insides black as the thinness in some areas would easily let light bleed through and make it look like a ghost ship!

Once trimmed to the right size, I added thin clear plasticard on top of the EL tape so that I could scribe in some of the distinctive panel lines you see on the wingtip slime lights. I scribed a single longer sheet of plasticard with the same lines so that even if they weren't quite perfect they would all line up when I cut each of the 4 sections (2 wings, top & bottom) out. I wasn't sure how to make sure the wingtip slime lights blended together (rather than look like 4 layers sandwiched together) so I used CA glue to help create the final shape and seal the EL tape (hoping it wouldn't short the ends again!). I'll need to lightly coat the lights with the right colour to stop them looking so green.  On this photo you can also (just) see the fuel dump amendment I made by adding a squashed bit of copper tube and the modified ECM bullet which looked too small so I removed the original, added a longer bit of sprue and shaped accordingly.

 
And of course the fingers crossed moment.....

 
And breath. Next, it looks like I need to return to the forward fuselage area for some more rivet love. 

Well it's been a while! 
What with a new job at work, finishing my studies and life in general, things have been a little less productive in the modelling dept than I had anticipated.
Still, progress has been made in some areas, the most interesting of which has been a little experiment with Electroluminescent (EL) Tape. It took a while to understand how to wire the stuff up in different sizes and whether it would work for what I had in mind, which is the F-15s slime lights. It's great because it is very thin and gives a very even glow unlike LEDs. This is what EL tape looks like:
 
 
 
The tape at each end is to protect you from an electric shock as this uses an inverter to develop 100volts!
You can choose different colours to cover the phosphor depending on use, this piece is 10mm wide.
To make the slime light I had to cut away the kits plastic version, thin that space out a bit as the plastic is quite thick. I then filled the space with some clear plastic to give the EL tape something to shine through. I made the gap a little too wide but the overlap can be painted to avoid excess light escaping. I also added some Eduard formation light surrounds to frame the light better and add some nice detail. I'll add the slime light spacer bars later.
 

 
Having placed the EL tape behind the slot, time to test!
 

 
Some areas to black out but a nice realistic glow. I will give the clear cover a bit of a tint of yellow colour as it looks a bit too green when the EL tape is switched off, hopefully the EL tape will still shine through this covering. Now to work out how to do the wingtips!

Hi folks, hope you're all keeping well. The wing tips required quite a lot of work to prep for lighting. Lots of thinning required to allow the electrics to fit and some careful carving of the lit areas that will be visible. You can also see the wingtip nav light in the prep stage as discussed previously. The good thing about EL panels are they are quite thin but you need to be quite conservative with how much you use as a 3v coin battery doesn't drive a large amount of it (typically <25cm for good brightness). I had to use two strips back to back so that the top and bottom illuminated but wasn't sure what it would look like side on or whether it would just short out! That arrangement made for quite a bulky wiring connection but luckily the Revell plastic is quite thick so can take a fair bit of hacking. Before assembly I sprayed the wing insides black as the thinness in some areas would easily let light bleed through and make it look like a ghost ship!

Once trimmed to the right size, I added thin clear plasticard on top of the EL tape so that I could scribe in some of the distinctive panel lines you see on the wingtip slime lights. I scribed a single longer sheet of plasticard with the same lines so that even if they weren't quite perfect they would all line up when I cut each of the 4 sections (2 wings, top & bottom) out. I wasn't sure how to make sure the wingtip slime lights blended together (rather than look like 4 layers sandwiched together) so I used CA glue to help create the final shape and seal the EL tape (hoping it wouldn't short the ends again!). I'll need to lightly coat the lights with the right colour to stop them looking so green.  On this photo you can also (just) see the fuel dump amendment I made by adding a squashed bit of copper tube and the modified ECM bullet which looked too small so I removed the original, added a longer bit of sprue and shaped accordingly.

 
And of course the fingers crossed moment.....

 
And breath. Next, it looks like I need to return to the forward fuselage area for some more rivet love. 

Hi folks, hope you're all keeping well. The wing tips required quite a lot of work to prep for lighting. Lots of thinning required to allow the electrics to fit and some careful carving of the lit areas that will be visible. You can also see the wingtip nav light in the prep stage as discussed previously. The good thing about EL panels are they are quite thin but you need to be quite conservative with how much you use as a 3v coin battery doesn't drive a large amount of it (typically <25cm for good brightness). I had to use two strips back to back so that the top and bottom illuminated but wasn't sure what it would look like side on or whether it would just short out! That arrangement made for quite a bulky wiring connection but luckily the Revell plastic is quite thick so can take a fair bit of hacking. Before assembly I sprayed the wing insides black as the thinness in some areas would easily let light bleed through and make it look like a ghost ship!

Once trimmed to the right size, I added thin clear plasticard on top of the EL tape so that I could scribe in some of the distinctive panel lines you see on the wingtip slime lights. I scribed a single longer sheet of plasticard with the same lines so that even if they weren't quite perfect they would all line up when I cut each of the 4 sections (2 wings, top & bottom) out. I wasn't sure how to make sure the wingtip slime lights blended together (rather than look like 4 layers sandwiched together) so I used CA glue to help create the final shape and seal the EL tape (hoping it wouldn't short the ends again!). I'll need to lightly coat the lights with the right colour to stop them looking so green.  On this photo you can also (just) see the fuel dump amendment I made by adding a squashed bit of copper tube and the modified ECM bullet which looked too small so I removed the original, added a longer bit of sprue and shaped accordingly.

 
And of course the fingers crossed moment.....

 
And breath. Next, it looks like I need to return to the forward fuselage area for some more rivet love. 

And so with the wings glued together it was time to fix the lighting. 
As with most of this kit, you start with a pretty blank canvas.

 
Painting plastic to look like glass is quite a trick so if possible I revert to transparent plastic. First task is to cut the right shape from the plastic for which I used a sharp knife and some scraping tools. I next cut a chuck of plastic from an old toothbrush (as plastic sheet wasn't thick enough) and carefully cut it into a shape where one side fitted the gap where the light needed to go. The more accurate you can get this bit right the better. You can use paint to help define the edges but you run the risk of light bleed through. Once super glued in place you end up with this:

Then I used a sharp pair of cutters to carefully trim the plastic to shape before sanding with ever increasingly fine sanding sticks until it is the right shape and a glossy finish.
Finally, a light test!
 

Next up is finishing off the wingtip formation lights which are somewhat trickier!