Anigrand 1/144 Lambda-class Shuttle

[nicholassagan]

I've been itching at getting this thing off the ground for a bit now. As you may already know, I designed some engine inserts for easy lighting (available here). I also had the circuit custom made a while back, which is the bulk of the work on this, or so it would seem. Here is a video of the lighting pattern: Lambda-class lighting circuit

Parts:

Engine light bundle:

Circuit board:

Batteries!

Chip LEDs for the flashers:

Roughed out:

Track for wiring:

and

and

One for the cockpit:

Two for the belly:

Got the switch and chip holes in:

Some micro mask for the engine nozzles (so I paint and peel later):

Wing hinge tracks:

Like a loose glove!

Cockpit assembly:

Inside blacked out:

For the landing gear I'm going to build it with the doors shut and put a couple holes in so the gears can be slid in for landing.

I also want to engineer a working loading ramp. The cockpit LED is placed so that if the ramp is lowered, light will shine down. The tricky thing is going to be getting light into the cockpit nicely enough without flooding it. Maybe some thick fiber optic with little cuts will work....we'll see how this all shapes up!! Assembly seems like it will be a breeze as long as I think it out first. I'm going to go step by step with this instead of trying to rush through it. Meaning everything will get primed before any major assembly happens. :8)

 

[Igard]

Woaw!!! Teeny tiny little wires and LEDs. When I grow up I want to try this!!! I'm still getting comfortable with soldering and working with electronics, but this gives me so much inspiration. Great job, man. Great.

5 screams out of 5, and that's only for the first post!

 

[JohnSimmons]

Yes!! Nice work there mate, I had a blast doing the 1/144 troop carrier. I'm glad your doing the wing lights I couldn't figure that out : can't wait to see how this unfolds 8)

 

[Glorfindel]

Love the tune in the video....very catchy.

 

[Quaralane]

Looking like a lot of work. But it should shine through in the end. Nice planning

 

[Grendels]

Wow!

 

[nicholassagan]

Thanks guys! Made some more progress...

Added some "stops" to the wing hinge tracks so the wings have a set angle during the landed position:

Figured out a good home for the battery. It will be removable and stay in place via the magic of friction!

Got the holes in the landing bay doors so the feet can slip in:

The canopy didn't quite fit properly so I added some styrene to flush it out:

Also detailed up the cockpit. There will be an LED in the back for the boarding ramp but will shine though to illuminate the cockpit panels, etc.

Also made up a neat little Vader from the Hoth Base kit. He'll sit on the boarding ramp so when it lowers his shadow will be cast.

Hinge for the boarding ramp. I still need to engineer something that will slide out...

The assembly begins...

A little filling needed here and there:

Did some work with the engine LEDs. Unfortunately they are not wide angle...I neglected to make that request when the circuit was made. But I figured out a decent alignment and diffusion method. I just sanded the heck out of the LED domes to rough em up.

I silvered some plastic to build up a light box around the LED array. Hopefully it will bounce the light around enough.

Got the top wing LED in place, too. And some strips to fill in the wire tracks.

Really coming along nicely now...hoping to keep the momentum!!!

 

[MrT]

You got to finish!! This too cool not to.

Terry ;D

 

[JohnSimmons]

Nice update mate very cool 'Bookmarked!' lol

 

[Leighbo]

As usual really detailed work.

I wish I had your expertise with the lighting, can't wait to see the finished result, I know it's going to be awesome

 

[Junkie]

Very nice!

 

[Igard]

Great! The engines looks sharp. I can't see any hotspots from the photos so looks like frosting the LEDs worked nicely there.

I'm looking forward to seeing Vader emerge from this. Should look very cool!

 

[Rentar1]

Wow! that is alot of love your putting into that model. Keep it up!

 

[nicholassagan]

Still working on this...made a lot of progress these days...will post pics soon-ish.

BUT I'm stuck on what base coat to paint....should I do a flat white base, insignia white (a slightly light gray off-white) or a straight light gray??

 

[JohnSimmons]

Hey mate, sorry to hijak the thread with a build of mine (allthough not actually the same) I thought this could be of use to you, I used revell enamel 371 (a very light grey).
http://www.scalemodeladdict.com/index.php/topic,4354.30.html

 

[nicholassagan]

Oh yeah. That's a nice lander you have there. I actually decided on Insignia White. It's pretty close to that revell 371...but perhaps a value warmer now that I look at it. I still need to do the paneling and all the washes... Will post pics tonight or tomorrow...

 

[nicholassagan]

Okie dokie! Another fat update for you Stefan!

Got the wires laid in:

started packing them in:

still blinking...all good here:

Putty in place:

Mesa-all-sparkly-glowy:

Oops. Fig buck up:

Re-soldering:

Yay all good!

Nice landing:

Bright burn:

Time to fix seams:

And clean seams:

Part one:

Decided some paneling would help:

And some extra details:

Oh and the ramp

Base coat applied:

Canopy in place:

Side guns on and they rotate!

Vader in place, too:

Engines:

 

[JohnSimmons]

Looking awesome dude!! Vader looks wicked. 8)

 

[Igard]

Outstanding! Love how you've got moving parts on this too, especially the wired up wings! That's to coin a phrase 'most impressive'! Lord Vader looks sufficiently menacing!

Liking all the extra detailing too especially the PE. I noticed you do alot of that on your models. Is there a specific set that you find provides lots of nice misc. details, or is this gathered from collecting spares over time?

 

[nicholassagan]

Thanks guys! The boarding ramp actually closes, too... Once it gets all wrapped up it'll be video time
As for PE, I try and get cheap sets here and there...mostly on eBay...with the idea that something will come in hand sometime. Usually true...