ByYourCommand.net

Very cool! Can't wait to see the pics. Thanks for the update.

First let me say I think the world of modelcraft just can't be beat! Secondly, dbhs's studio scale Raider is just beautiful! It becomes a little intimidating presenting my work when you have that kind of quality around. But....here goes......

By now, I wanted to have pics posted of what the front grill will look like with the lighting. the funny thing is, that in order to take a pic of the test of how all the components will look when they are built, I am having to build it first in order to test it and take the picture....that is backwards and wrong somehow...lol.
I did include a pic the forward lighting that will illuminate it. Once a few final elements are in place, I will post a pic of the Raider with the lighting.

NOTE TO SELF: NEVER, NEVER, EVER let your components fall on the floor and run your chair over it. Luckily, only the mounting plate and no electronic circuits were damaged. FRAK! FRAK! and more FRAK! And again I say.... :frak:

As far as the cockpit cover, I have started the process of casting the clear resin version. I have the molding box ready and will start the process sometime this week. I am new to that process, so I have a HOBBY LOBBY casting kit. I will go slow to make sure I don't mess up anything, but one never knows.......

WOW tejanovader - looking good. (I know what you mean about trying to follow dbhs... YIKES! My own Raider build is not even as cool as yours ). Can you tell me what colors you painted your hull with? The light and dark grays? My Raider is WAY too chrome I've decided.

Chairs = evil, nice!

Question: Can you tell me what colors you painted your hull with? The light and dark grays? My Raider is WAY too chrome I've decided.

Greetings! Yes, the colors I used were 1226 Flat Dark Aircraft Gray (Testors), FS 36118 Gunship Gray (Model Master) (this will be applied at a later time. Also, for the weathering, I have completely left using paints at all. I use a powder substance called "Weather System". I get mine at HOBBYTOWN. I am sure you can find it online. It is the most natural stuff to work with and makes a novice look like a pro. You can find it in blues, yellows, greens, rust all the way through charcoal black. I just love it.

The thrusters were treated with a simple mist of primer gray from WAL MART over flat black. You have to be careful in your approach, but I think the look is beautiful.

I have painted the inside of the craft lightly with flat black to prevent unwanted illumination. However some tin foil will be installed to generate even more light from the thrusters (I hope).

I am including this photo of the installation so far with the front grill. The orange LEDs are now permanently in place. The green and red is ready to be secured and then it will be time to solder the two components together.

Thanks for the info!

I'll pick up some of the paints... and I was JUST AT HOBBYTOWN two or three days ago - man. Oh well, antoher trip there = COOL.

Great new pics, thanks for the updates! Can't wait to see more.

Cool. I'm looking forward to seeing how your lights look in the clear canopy you're making.

Hey DB, what a build you have man!! WOW! I completed the rubber mold yesterday. It seemed to off without a hitch.....hooray?!? Now I am waiting to get the clear resin compound from HOBBY LOBBY. The kit I bought (Alumilite Super Casting Kit) is a great and easy way to make the mold, but I realize that the casting resin is not clear!

I've been using the envirotex clear resin and it is very clear. I got some leftovers from another modeler as a gift but I understand it can be pretty pricy. Let me see if i can find a link. http://www.eti-usa.com/consum/envtex/envlite.htm. I think they sell this at Tap Plastics. I've only used it for small parts but it is pretty clear. It does take about 2 days to cure and then is some what flexible for a few more days. This could be because mine is old. Not sure. Very happy with the results, though. I used if for all the clear parts on my Colonial One.

OK! FINALLY!!

This has been the vision I have had for the lighting since I bought the kit. Enjoy!!

Nice!
A+ WORK

Awesome - looks great.

Here is a shot of the clear resin casting of the canopy. I finally did find the casting resin after my previous post on the subject. Since I mixed products (i.e. one company's brand of mold and cast products with another "very old" brand), I was not sure what the result would be. Of course the whole "getting the mixture into the mold" was far more of a messy venture than intended, I was not sure of the result. Impatient soul that I am, I was really ready to open it and see if the resin went everywhere it was supposed to. After 24 hours of setting, I saw that residue pieces which had dried and were left on the outside of the rubber mold were still a little pliable, so I didn't know what to expect. But, after all that drama, VOILA!! It is a little sticky and has pliability to it, but all things considered, it came out very solid.
Having been down this road before in working with this mixture, I am going to leave it to sit for a few days to completely cure before any other processes are done to it. Experience with this brand tells me it will be hard as a rock and be very workable. This gives me plenty of time to finish soldering the LED setup and enclose the hull halves.

Very cool! Creative idea.
I am also lovin the multipurpose spray cans you have, they can paint and be display stands! w00t

Hello and greetings, fellow toasters! Below is a pic of the progress with the canopy. The styrene strip used here is 7mm wide. Each tier in the kit's canopy is 5mm. I won't speak to purity of accuracy here, but I like the look. So, if the "blinds" look a little wide, I can deal with it, as light shines through very nicely (better in the upper tiers to be sure...)

What you see here are the individual pieces being fitted on the kit supplied canopy. They will be transferred to the clear one soon.

Looking very cool. Detail detail detail.