Voyager video diary.

[smusno]

Hi, im new to SMA.

Hell, im new to modelling in general. Did it religiously when I was a kid, but nothing for 20 years!

Anyway, I do youtube on a regular basis. So im documenting the build of my Revel Voyager.

He goes, part 1.

Project Voyager ep1

Any advice on lighting, painting and general assembly........... feel free.

smusno

 

[Igard]

Welcome to the forum! Always nice to have another trekkie in the herd! 8)

Good job drilling out all those windows.

Looks like you're off to a good start. I'll be following this one.

 

[Quaralane]

Definitely looks like a good start.
I remember drilling all of those by hand on my first Voyager. It wasn't fun

 

[Grendels]

Nice start there. Keep us posted.

 

[smusno]

Well.

Ill be documenting almost all the build on camera. Perhaps im just a show off!

Im going to do the black light block tonight, but the plastic is pretty thick already. I dont think it will need much.

Then............... ON TO THE WIRING LOOM!

and i have just ordered the SMA Falcon pack for blue LEDs from Modelers Brand to do the engines and deflector.

EXCITED!

 

[Benjamin Arendt]

I am really looking forward to your progress.... looking good actually..

 

[Solander]

Up to a nice start here!
Will be watching the progress with a great interest, especially as mine Voy have been laying on the shelf for quite a long time
What are your plans for lighting all those windows buy the way? are You going to put inside the saucer something powerful,or light the individually via fiber-optics?

 

[smusno]

Up to a nice start here!
Will be watching the progress with a great interest, especially as mine Voy have been laying on the shelf for quite a long time
What are your plans for lighting all those windows buy the way? are You going to put inside the saucer something powerful,or light the individually via fiber-optics?

Well.

In perfect world. The plan has evolved into 2 lighting rigs. 1 for the main bridge light, the deflector and the engines. And 1for the lights inside the ship.

So, 3 blue per nacelle, plus a red for the bussard collectors. 3 blue for the deflector Ill have to build some kind of............. cage to house that so the blue wont leak into the secondary hull. The 10 white 300milliwhatever 3mm leds on the second circuit to light all those windows :-X

So, lights off, just the engines, and to see where shes going.

And then the full gig. Glowing like a big blue n white christmas tree!


now.

how im going to do all this.....................

that will be the fun bit!

 

[Jamaicanmodels69]

Good work so far enjoyed the video! ;D

 

[smusno]

project voyager 2


Part 2

LIGHTS!

 

[Igard]

Great vid! There's nothing like the feeling when you wire up your first LED. You have created light!!

The hull looks great lit up.

I wouldn't sand or paint the insides of the clear parts. I remember someone suggested using rice paper to difuse light. Another interesting suggestion was to use the plastic from a plastic milk carton. I'm still learning this stuff myself, but these are the options I would consider.

 

[Solander]

Lol! I've really laughed out loudly looking at your face when You had got that LED running - remembered that mine was pretty much the same with mine First Time ;D ;D
Well, dude, first of all, VERY nice work so far with lighting all those windows of the main hull, and good engineering pans for the rest of the work as well!
Now, on the nacels. I wouldn't recommend You to sand the clear parts for proper lighting. The main reason for that is that if You use spotty lightsource (and the LED tape would be like 6 single spots there) You need a diffusion layer, or instead of a full-length glow like the one seen in the series You'd get an effect of a "light-grid" with areas of more intense light (from the LEDs) and less intence (from areas besides them). But clear blue paint wouldn't help either - it doesn't have light diffusing properties as well.
What I would recommend You to do, is to place a rice paper behind the clear parts of the nacels like Igard suggested, or to use artistic's matt-lacquer. Such water-based lacquers (I'm using the one buy Pebeo) look like a snoopy white cream. Thinned with water 30/70 (70 is for water) they become a little bit whitish, and after drying o the surface become absolutely clear. But if You apply such lacquer with a brush on the clear part, without thinning it with water at all, You will get the look of the powered down warp-coil exactly matching the one in the films (like You've mentioned in the vid) AND it will be a light diffusing layer to. Combining it with adding some aluminum foil on the lower part of the nacell (oposite to the LED-tape) You gain a superb glow effect. I've tried this technology with my Lambda-class Shuttle (http://www.scalemodeladdict.com/forum/index.php/topic,2415.30.html) and it worked great, highly reccomended

 

[Jamaicanmodels69]

;D I like your videos good work and funny also!

 

[smusno]

Thanks guy's!

i think the best thing to do is rig up a dummy.

when the MMT lights arrive, i shall rig up 1 nacelle, and try a few ways. Im NOT going to colour the clear plastic at all. The blue of the LEDs ought to be more than enough.

Ill try the rice paper, i LOVE the idea of the milk carton sides (pure genius). Im more concerned with not having the blue of the engines leak into the red of the bussard collectors.

Making tight fitting dividers will be a pain, but its good to be busy!

 

[Grendels]

I have used wax paper for light diffusion. Go look at MMT's modelers brand YouTube channel and he should have a few videos about it. I also did a video or two over that when I reviewed his light strips. One thing about using wax paper, don't crinkle it, that will just make more hot spots.

I have used the clear blue paint before and it will work, but like others have said, it won't look right powered down. Solander has the right idea for that.

The ship looks great all lit up! Keep at it.

Take a look at Igard's Klingon build. He is using aluminum tape to block light. That might be what you need for the bussards.

 

[Igard]

@ Grendels, yes the aluminium tape could do the job here. Don't know why I never thought of that since it's my pet project at the moment! ;D

@ smusno, I got mine in Maplin. It's basically sticky back tin-foil in tape form. Or you can always just use plain old kitchen tin-foil and glue it in place.

 

[Often wrong Soong]

Cracking video dude, might have to watch it again in a bit!

I found the best, cheapest and easiest way to diffuse LED strips is to stick normal, common white masking tape to the inside of the clear part. It works REALLY well and you'll already have shed-loads of it, so no need to buy any other stuff. If you're using single LED's anywhere, like in the bussard collectors at the end of the nacelles (the red bit!), file/sand the outside of the LED itself to soften the hot spot and then use the masking tape on the clear part to smooth it out even more.
I used these methods on my Enterprise E, Galactica and my current Enterprise D build (which is on this forum somewhere)

Soong

 

[smusno]

some great advice today kids.

i just wish my LED Tape would arrive already!







better get on with the secondary hull, and the baffle between the deflector, and the white interior lights ;D

 

[Quaralane]

Your light work's looking up nicely.

As to your nacelle strut problem, when I did mine many moons ago, I cut the poles apart and left a gap in the middle for a wire channel.

 

[smusno]

Your light work's looking up nicely.

As to your nacelle strut problem, when I did mine many moons ago, I cut the poles apart and left a gap in the middle for a wire channel.

I saw this on one of the other links provided.

looks like the way forward!