directorcass Posted June 27, 2017 Share Posted June 27, 2017 So I picked up from Age of Plastic on Shapeways his Tantive and two pack of Falcon's. Thanks to Shapeways, they actually sent me three Falcons and then the Mouse slammed his fist down and the Falcons got removed from the site. I think mine were the last to make it out alive. The Tantive is a marvel of miniature 3D printed engineering being design to be lit. And that's what I did. Each engine tube is hollow to accept 1mm fiber. The main body of the ship is also hollow to run a 1mm fiber up to the open cockpit window. To light this little beastie I solder up two Pico LEDs and glued them back to back. The forward facing LED would light the fiber for the cockpit and the rear facing would light the 11 fibers for the engines. Each of these fibers were mushroomed and then pushed into the engines. I gave the rear LED a few coats of Tamiya clear Yellow. This will be mounted on the base with the Zvezda giving chase. In the pictures below you can see how tiny the Tantive is. An early lighting test of the cockpit and engines. After some light blocking and primer coats. And yes, the tiny, tiny Falcon is being lit as well. I drilled a groove in the bottom hull to accept a Pico LED. This was epoxied in place. Its hard to get good pictures of this as it's so dang tiny!!! A coat of black and then grey primer followed up by Tamiya AS-20. I sanded the engine panel after final paint to reveal the semi transparent print material. I also did the same for the cockpit. And of course, the camera couldn't focus well and over exposed the light. It's not that bright in person. I'll try and get some better pics today. 7 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hunter Rose Posted June 27, 2017 Share Posted June 27, 2017 Very cool, that is some teeny tiny lighting excellent job 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rockpopandchips Posted June 27, 2017 Share Posted June 27, 2017 That is sooooooo coooool! 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nocoolname Posted June 27, 2017 Share Posted June 27, 2017 Wwwhhaaaaaaattttt... ?!?!? 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gunpowder17 Posted June 27, 2017 Share Posted June 27, 2017 lol thats fantastic! 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gimme Shelter Posted June 28, 2017 Share Posted June 28, 2017 tip top on the lighting there. I've got a collection of Tantive's and Falcons printed up from Shapeways for my Zvezda, Anigrand and Randy Cooper ISD's - not sure I posses your skills with the Fibre Optics in that scale though... NICE 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Madmonk Posted June 28, 2017 Share Posted June 28, 2017 Hats off to the guy that soldered the wires on those pico LEDs, they look like 0401 SMDs which are 1mm x 0.3mm, tiny, tiny little things!! The two ships look brilliant lit up. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
directorcass Posted June 28, 2017 Author Share Posted June 28, 2017 Thanks guys. I'll have more to post over the next few days. Not sure what size the LEDs are, but yeah, they are TINY. Soldering up a few is not bad, doing many would try my patience! I use the squeeze to open pointy tweezers to hold them while I solder. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
directorcass Posted June 30, 2017 Author Share Posted June 30, 2017 Finished up the Tantive IV this morning. Again, what an awesome little model it is! And all lit up! Now on to finish the lighted Falcon! 6 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gimme Shelter Posted June 30, 2017 Share Posted June 30, 2017 looks brilliant - looking at this tiny little gem leaves me hearing that background siren warning horn as the little Tantive was being drawn in by the Devastator just before the Tie boarding party busted their way in with Vader and his troops quite superb miniature and delicate work - now where's the chasing Devastator model that was hot on it's heels??? John Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
directorcass Posted June 30, 2017 Author Share Posted June 30, 2017 It's coming along nicely... 4 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gimme Shelter Posted July 4, 2017 Share Posted July 4, 2017 Hi Directorcass Here's a treat for you - photographed on Saturday at Star Wars Identies in London (my 2nd visit to the exhibition) - this is the real Avenger used in ESB & RoTJ - I have plenty more shots if you need them hope this helps you with your Zvezda John 4 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
directorcass Posted July 4, 2017 Author Share Posted July 4, 2017 Thanks, I can't see them here at work, but will check them out when I get home tonight! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
directorcass Posted July 4, 2017 Author Share Posted July 4, 2017 Ah, very cool pictures. Would love to see more of them here. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
directorcass Posted July 5, 2017 Author Share Posted July 5, 2017 Here is the finished 1/2700 Falcon. It's so hard to get any clear pictures of it! The engines are not as bright in person, it's much more realistic. And yes, light is shining through the canopy as well. Officially the smallest model I have ever lit!!!! 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gimme Shelter Posted July 6, 2017 Share Posted July 6, 2017 On 04/07/2017 at 11:38 PM, directorcass said: Ah, very cool pictures. Would love to see more of them here. here you go my friend - hope it helps your Zvezda build - I took these to get my Randy Cooper build detailed in areas where I am uncertain PS - that Falcon is I N C R E D I B L E - I know exactly how tiny it is as I bought the same 3D shapeway pieces for my un-started Zvezda kit and they even make the old 1/2 penny piece look big. and last but not least - all that's left of Jabba the Hutt - his eyes !! spooky or what ! 4 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
directorcass Posted July 26, 2017 Author Share Posted July 26, 2017 Fantastic pictures gimme shelter! Enjoying your Cooper build log. Sadly, progress on mine has slowed as I had a heart attack 2.5 weeks ago along with a 7 artery open heart bypass. Slowly getting back into it though. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gimme Shelter Posted July 27, 2017 Share Posted July 27, 2017 On 26/07/2017 at 1:22 PM, directorcass said: Fantastic pictures gimme shelter! Enjoying your Cooper build log. Sadly, progress on mine has slowed as I had a heart attack 2.5 weeks ago along with a 7 artery open heart bypass. Slowly getting back into it though. oh no - that's a shocker about the old ticker - so sorry for you. Hope you get back to feeling well enough to model again soon - John Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
directorcass Posted July 28, 2017 Author Share Posted July 28, 2017 Thanks, getting stronger every day. My surgeon said he has never seen anyone recover as quickly as I have so far. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Caerbannog Posted July 28, 2017 Share Posted July 28, 2017 Gosh - so sorry for this - good to hear you recover quickly. All the best, René Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gimme Shelter Posted August 1, 2017 Share Posted August 1, 2017 On 28/07/2017 at 1:42 PM, directorcass said: Thanks, getting stronger every day. My surgeon said he has never seen anyone recover as quickly as I have so far. good news - hope your are back at the modelling bench soon feeling better and ready to take on life once again - all the best from the "other star destroyer builder" Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
directorcass Posted August 1, 2017 Author Share Posted August 1, 2017 Thanks guys. Taking a break from the SD as I need to buy fiber. But being out of work for recovery I have no money to buy any. So, it's put up and I pulled out my Bandai AT-AT. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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