Starship Modeler Discussion Forums

They don't have green light bulbs. They use a blue lens cap with an amber bulb. Yellow and blue makes green. Of course, today they have green LEDs, though I don't know if they are bright enough yet to use for navigation lights. Thanks for the info. I have ordered some green LEDs and will paint the ...

I've become acquaintances with Jerry @ HDA and we have some good conversations. His responses can be sporadic though. He'd told me that the wires that come with his SMDs are AWG28, but I do not believe that is correct. I bought some AWG28 wire from an online electronics store here in Japan and it is...

I understand how to rig up LEDs and run fiber to simulate console lights. What I don't know how to do is light for instance screens or irregular shapes. Things that are bigger than a single strand of fiber. Do you build a light box and use a diffuser? For the R-Type model I am currently working on ...

What Ant said. The battery has been called out multiple times. The voltage is only whats required to drive the current through the elements in the network. The battery is more than enough for this project. The problem was that I tried lighting them in series and not parallel. It works now just fine...

It turns out I was wrong about WG28 wire. The pre-wired SMDs from HDA Modelworx use a gauge of wire that is MUCH thinner than WG28. The stuff is super thin, about the same width of magnet wire, but soft as a thread. I have no idea where I can find this stuff by itself. I asked Jerry from HDA and he ...

Excellent info. I'm working on an F111 for a co-worker. It'll be mounted in flight with all the lights going. Now, how to make the strobes? Check out the other thread from Millennium Falsehood re: 555 timer chip. Brt has provided some useful information there. I was able to figure out a strobe than...

I ain't no Geordi and I figured it out from the same link that I posted above. I think you have to watch out for polarity. If it doesn't work lined up in one direction, turn it around and try it the other way. Well, I still don't understand it. Plus, I cannot get it to work the way the instructions...

I received my order from the online electronics store and got PLENTY of 1N4148 diodes (sold in a pack of 100 for only 100 yen). I swear to God, if I can get this to work, I will put this into much plainer English for others to follow and understand. When it comes to stuff like this, you can either b...

Steady red on forward port (left) wing tip, steady green on forward starboard (right) wing tip, and steady white on rear, strobe red on top (fuselage or more common, top of tail), strobe red under nose, and sometimes strobe white rear port wing tip and strobe rear starboard wing tip. Then why do th...

I posted this on the Scale Model Addict forum, but I figure I can ask it here since it does pertain to model lighting. So who is an expert on this sort of stuff? So on a typical fighter craft, there are red lights are on the port wingtips and blue lights are on the starboard. The red strobes are on ...

I was watching Jay Chladek's YouTube channel and he used 3V LEDs in his Moebius Cylon raider build. Since he powered it with a 3V battery pack (two AA batteries) and wired everything in parallel, it was all 3V so no resistors were necessary. When I did my Revell Cylon Raider recently, I used one res...

Use a signal diode such as 1N4148. Thanks! I have only one diode. It's an 1N4002-B diode. I dunno if it will work. I just bought it on a whim. There was an electronics store in the town I used to live in, and I bought a diode because I had seen Badgrendels use a diode in his strobe demo on YouTube,...

In my limited experience and from the advice of so many other modelers, always wire your stuff in parallel and never in series. It's better only one LED burns out than all of them going dead.

Does anybody have any comparison diagrams for monostable vs astable? This is new to me. Incidentally, was just farting around with this stuff last night on my breadboard, trying to get a strobe to work. I am able to get an LED to blink, but not strobe. Like, the off time resistor was a 120k or a 200...

Experimenting with Sukeru-kun. Here is a link to the video I made in which I showed the refracting light socket.

I already have a bunch of magnet wire and I am sure I will continue using it. I'm using magnet wire on my current lighting project. I've had a few nerve-wracking experiences when the magnet wire broke while attaching them to SMDs. Magnet wire is stiff, and if bent one too many times it will break. W...

I once tried using a cigarette lighter to burn it off, but it didn't work. Probably it was too hot. I'll try my soldering iron the next time I have the occasion to.

Yeah that controller board looks like major overkill, although I get the impression that's just a generic driver with far greater capabilities. When I saw the controller board, I thought, "what the hell?" It is too big to fit inside of the model. I think learning how to do an Arduino woul...

A friend sent me the link to something cool he found on a starship lighting group on FacePalm. It's a lighting kit for MPC's V.I.N.CENT kit. https://www.facebook.com/groups/241417839384237/permalink/699307090261974/ I am told that these are sold for about 50 pounds. Is this something that could be m...

brt wrote: ↑Mon Jul 31, 2017 7:58 am look for wire stripper that can handle smaller gauge.

Thanks! I'll look for one at my hardware store.

This wire is extremely thin, however it is soft compared to magnet wire. Magnet wire breaks fairly easily, and I am not happy about that. I only used WG28 wire once, with an SMD I'd bought from HDA Modelworx. I had a very difficult time stripping it because the wire was too small for my regular wire...

Hey Scott, you should fix the links in your signature. HTML won't work on forums; only phpbb tags.

I tried soaking my airbrush (a Wave airbrush, not an Iwata) and the O ring expanded and got real loose. I was afraid I'd ruined it and would have to replace it, but it returned to its original size. Not gonna do that again!

Well, nuts. Apparently Sukeru-kun shrinks when it dries, so it wouldn't be good to use this to cast up model pieces. A couple of those videos say so. That's unfortunate, as I was hoping to cast up that BSG Viper cockpit tub with Sukeru-kun. The wad I dried out does allow some light to pass through w...

Post back, or PM, and let me know if/how this stuff works out for you. Here are some youtube vids that might help https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gT9cGk_hmIQ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tNGVEyOpVDI https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tNGVEyOpVDI https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0asUwhC99qM I was goi...

Well, at least you know what the problem is. I've noticed that the forum has been unavailable on weekends for some reason. It sucks about losing posts, but hopefully this will fix it.

$7 is expensive? I'll have to admit my ignorance about Arduinos. I saw one for four times that price, or at least whatever it was I believed it to be an Arduino. Perhaps it was pre-programmed or something. I should look up some tutorials on how to use them. I do know that they are good for more tha...

Have you checked out Sukeru-Kun transparent resin clay? It is not clear, more of a 'frosted' transparent look, but it does air dry. Chas, thank you so much! You are pointing me to so many products that are easily available to me. Typical feedback I get is usually suggesting stuff that is not availa...

There's also Madman Lighting or rolling your own with a microprossessor like an Arduino . I have no background in electronics, but I was able to finish my lighted Revell Cylon Raider last night. In order to tackle an Enterprise, I am going to forgo an expensive Arduino and use a 556 timing chip ins...

Thanks!