Starship Modeler Discussion Forums

What they said!

Here's a video of the finished product, I added some small white LEDs for extra cockpit lights or they can be landing lights. Here's the YouTube vid: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CNXChc4FJk4 The kits are for sale direct from me now (drop me an email or PM) and I'll be releasing them to retailers r...

Anymore thoughts for an electronics newbie would be greatly appreciated as well. Visit my site (www.madmanlighting.com) and peruse the downloads section. There you will find two articles I wrote on lighting models, one was Deep Space 9 (aka The Wheel of Pain) and the 350th NX-01 (aka Flying Dinner ...

I've seen these things and they are about as simple as it gets. You need a battery, a couple of wires, and the strip. And a cheap soldering iron to solder the wires to the strip. These things also work with my stuff. Instead of stringing LEDs together and hooking them to my card, just hook the strip...

robiwon wrote:I don't want to step on the toes of the pro lighters so I withdraw my offer and services.

Thanks.

You didn't step on my toes and I'm not offended. I guess things are a bit different when you're trying to run a biz instead of helping a friend out.

No harm, no foul. Stay cool.

Well I *am* one of those pro model kit suppliers and I have to say two things about this: For a complete custom job that requires real engineering time including laying out a printed circuit board and cutting it somehow, then $500 is cheap. What really surprised me is that Randy didnt have something...

Actually I'm impressed by Tetsujin's explanations, good and detailed and accurate. The reality is more complicated of course but I dont think anyone here wants to know about V-I curves for diodes. The simple explanation is the battery acts as a voltage source, it provides a fixed voltage (assume a p...

Thanks for the boost there Jeff, I'm glad its working out for you!

-John

I am just amazed you can still get that part Don. Who still makes it anyway? It was popular about 10 years ago but things have changed a bit, no offense!

Wow! I just posted on your YouTube page, thats really nice work.

I've done lots of lightup projects but it seems you've done even more and made a passion of it. Thanks for sharing!

Hmmm..

Have a look on my site, in the downloads section. The Starfury, Starship and Big Starship kits all explain how to do this in their instructions. Of course, those come with the matched pair of DC power plugs, none of the other kits do.

Now I have a question: Since all you UK guys want to light models but not import them yourselves, who do you think might be a good UK distributor? Would this company also be able to distribute to the rest of Europe? I'm trying to expand my biz and am thinking of finding a UK distributor. Thanks, -John

Hi. Funny you should ask about this, I'm using my own kit to light the same model. The kit is intended for just about any "fighter" model, so I had to leave the instructions generic. Here's a few pointers: I'm using a single strand of fiber to light various indicators around the cockpit an...

I dont recommend painting first then inserting FO. First, the holes are pretty small to start with, and the paint will tend to plug em up. Then what? I suppose you could paint, then drill and insert, then fully assemble. Depends on the subject. I like to do all the assembly and FO insertion first, t...

Hi and thanks for buying the Republic Cruiser kit. For that kit you should follow the kit instructions on hooking up 3 LEDs. The last page shows exactly how to do that. You wont need jumpers. Your kit has the older Delux-8 card which can drive a max of 3 LEDs per output, so hook up 3 LEDs in series ...

For that many LEDs you'll need current regulation of some kind, esp if you're wiring them in long serial strings. Why? Tolerances. There's tolerances in the voltage drop of the LED, and it gets worse if you mix and match colors. Different colors have different voltage drops. Why is this so bad? Beca...

Just got back from a model contest and even though I did place in the two categories I entered in I came up short against models that had some kind of lighting package. After talking to some of the judges the general consensus was good work but I need that extra oomph to put me over the top. So I'v...

Ditto what Ken says.

LEDs should not run hot, unless they're the new high power ones and then you need a good heatsink which should take the heat, not the LED.

You could just buy one of my cards and it will just do it for you. :wink: Actually thats good advice from the guys above. Took me long enough to learn about all this electronics stuff. How about this: If you've got a few $$ buy a book called "The Art of Electronics". Its a huge thick tome ...

Yes, actually, it is. You're the 2nd person to ask for this FX and its still on my ToDo list. Right now I'm re-writing the instructions for my BSG kit and then I have some other very important work to do. However, fear not! One day I will find of of those pesky "RoundToIts" and get it done...

That would work too. Since most of have at least one lying around, its pretty cheap too.

A very good question. There are a couple ways to do this. 1) Several small wall power supplies, each one powering one model, all plugged into a power strip with a switch on it. If the wall light switch in your room turns on a wall outlet, plug the power strip into the wall. 2) Get a very big wall po...

Mind if I ask where to get one of these 1:350th NX refits? I see SSM has the 1:1000 NX refits but a 350th?

Odd looking ship too, looks like someone welded on a TOS secondary hull to an NX-01 and called it a Refit. Just MHO.

I've used adhesive silver mylar foil with good results. Goes on easy and very reflective.

All those painting tricks work good too.

-JC.

Thanks for the feedback guys, its is very valuable and appreciated. With the instructions I try to make it as obvious as possible to the novice how to use my stuff, and it seems to go well most of the time since I dont get too many customer service calls. What I do get is lots of software guys who w...

Mouser sells flux pens, just a few bucks each. Make sure the flux is the same type as the solder you're using. Rosin, Organic or whatever. Make sure its a temperature controlled heat gun, otherwise you'll just roast the poor thing. I cant take complete credit for the idea, its what we do here in the...

At risk of great embarrassment, I ask, who do you think has the best lighting kits, and why? Sure, cost is important, but how about ease of use, quality of products, and accuracy of effects? This is not a self-plug, I'm just trying to find out how I stand vs the other guys and where I can do better....

I do stuff with 0402s, but its tough and you need a different mindset. The little buggers are so tiny that almost anything knocks them off their pad or overheats them. I get a flux pen for organic solder and use "red" label organic flux solder. I also use very thin solder wire, .40mm diame...

OK, I'm D-I-G-I-T-A-L now!

My new email, which will work from the "email" button here is:

JOHNDAVIDCOOK@COMCAST.NET

As of today, the old is unplugged and no longer effective!

-John

I will be having a new email soon! Tomorrow Comcast is coming and I will move all my IP services to them and be rid of Fairpoint. That means that my old website will go away entirely and my email (johndavidcook@myfairpoint.net) will soon be something else. I will post what it is when I know and I wi...