incubus35

Hi Galahad, Thanks! i've just finished a viper mkII as well, but didn't go for lighting that one. loved working with oil washes though! Sorry for the delay - i was a newbie to this when i built it, but I think I'd stay with the same approach now. I got the paragrafix set for this kit, as it really helped with the window frames for the larger windows as well as adding some more detail. I drilled out all of the windows/added the photo etch and styrene frames before priming, as well as light blocking the inside with black paint followed by white to bounce the light around. Then I tested all of the lights before doing the pre-shading aztecs, then the base colour went on quite light. I then put the kit together and cleaned up the seams and touched up the base colour where anything had been spoiled by the glue. after a clear gloss it was decal time. this took a long time as there are so many with this kit! last of all I used micro kristal klear to fill the windows as the very last step. as i was only touching up the base coat and spraying clear gloss on the open windows, i didn't have any problem with the lighting getting covered, but i could have just been very lucky! I can post some more photos if it would help? good luck! Pete

well, that went better than I thought it would! Thanks again Matt. cheers for the suggestion Housesparrow, I would definitely have tried that if the plunge moulding hadn't gone well. Here's some pics: First try: second try: Going to go and dip it in some Klear now Thanks again! Pete

Thanks, Matt! I'll be having a go this weekend, so i'll post my results up cheers again for your help!

Thanks, that really is brilliant! I've got a heat gun, would this work as well as using the oven? Is there any really clear sheets of plastic you'd recommend that i could buy online? I'll test the results with some scrap pieces of clear plastic, but as i want it to be crystal clear are there any particular types of clear plastic sheets that would be best? thanks again

Hi all, I'm still pretty new to model making, so this might be an obvious question, but is there any easy way to build a replacement clear part for the cockpit glass? I stupidly cracked the kit part after the below picture was taken, and it really is beyond repair. I can't afford to get into vacuum forming either sadly. This is only my second model building project, an old MPC Millennium Falcon I got for a reasonable price - and being the novice I am, I was totally unaware (or rather didn't read up before making an impulse buy at a convention!) of the amount of inaccuracies with this kit. I've made some minor modifications, such as building a new engine grill, lighting it, as well as ordering some aftermarket parts (the inner cockpit detail and a smaller radar dish), but I wasn't brave enough to correct the scale of the cockpit section. My hope with this kit was to get some experience using oil washes/weathering techniques, rather than getting a screen accurate model, as my only previous experience was building the Voyager from Star Trek (so, pristine and very little weathering). It's still not finished yet, so i'm hoping it will get a little darker/dirtier with the later layers. Hope you can help, as I'd rather not leave the glass out if possible. (the top half isn't attached yet, hence all the light leaks)

Hi again, Well, she's pretty much done apart from a plug and an on/off switch (and I will get round to fitting the secondary defector at some point...). Went for a couple of layers of Klear in the end, then finished off with a spray satin coat. Had to do the obligatory video with the theme tune backing to really feel like it was done and dusted though. Thanks again for all the supportive comments guys, really has helped! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KVK5T0GC_Yk

Hi guys, Little bit of an update - finally got her all glued together and on the stand. Decals are going on now, but lots of little tiny ones still to go.. As I say, i'm brand new to model building and have already made a bit of a mistake by applying decals without a gloss coat (school boy error!), so I do have some silvering on the main ship registry decal. Seeing as i've used matt acrylic paints (humbrol and vallejo) and an odd bit of enamel (humbrol again) for details, can anyone recommend a good finish coat that isn't going to react with this mix of paints/and might hide some of the silvering? I've managed to avoid it in all other places by cutting very close to the decal and sanding the area with very fine grit paper until smooth. I've also used microscale set/sol for the application. I have cans of humbrol crystal clear, as well as matt and gloss varnishes (all acrylic), but i don't know which to use. Don't want to ruin all my hard work at the last hurdle... but I quite like the overall matt look to the model, and wasn't thinking of going for an overly glossy look. thanks again for all your comments Pete

Wow. Thanks for all your kind words guys! Cheers Andy - I couldn't find any aztec masks for this model, so I cheated a bit... Sidders - thanks, but i didn't buy one in the end - it's a custom job. had to learn everything from how to solder LEDs, so it has taken a long long time - it's been really worth it though. I'm planning a few more lit models already! Happy to share some pictures if you want to see the insides (it's very messy!) Warren - cheers. I wish I'd bought my Dremel when i started the project - but all of this was done by hand. ouch! Thanks again!

Hi everyone, This is my first attempt at building a model, and at trying to light it. I've been using a lot of advice from this site to help me get started so I thought i'd post my progress to see what you think. I've still got some work to do with filling and puttying the light leaks and then the daunting task of adding the large number of decals. I've used the paragrafix photo etch and also the Don's Light and Magic replacement parts to add most of the additional detail - but the lighting itself is a custom job (LED strips and bulbs) and i've added some styrene customisations to the window frames. Quick video to show some of the flashing detail http://vid300.photobucket.com/albums/nn10/incubus35/IMG_0195_zps1flpe8pv.mp4