Kits with Fiber Optics - ?

[CaptainStoner]

I'm surprised there is no mention of this that comes up in a search. Anyway, have any of you built an Ent-D or DS9 kit with the fiber optics?
How cool is the lighting effect, is it worth the bigger bucks to track them down?

 

[Praetor]

I remember those!

I didn't have one, but I remember them.

 

[Albertese]

I assume you refer to the AMT kits from several years ago? I never had either, but I've seen pics of them finished. The DS9 one could look good, seeing as how most the windows are meant to be round little light holes to begin with. But the E-D is problematic as all the windows are rectangular and not at all suited for lighting with fiber optics. Plus the lights they provide for the warp nacelles do not look very good. Over all, it's a cheap gimmick. I did build their light up Star Destroyer though (also a good candidate for fiber optics) and the lighting stuff (battery pack, bulbs and their mounting pieces, bundle of fiber optics, and appropriately sized minidrill) was the same for all three kits. And for a time was sold by itself. That said, there are ways to build the E-D to look very nice lit up using light sheet. Search for "Light Sheet" or "EL Panels" and you might have better luck.

AMT did do a nice light up kit for the Yamaguchi which was the E-C tooling but injected with clear plastic rather than the usual gray. You were meant to install the lights and leave the window areas clear while painting the rest of the hull. This is actually the same way the studio models were done so it was a pretty authentic look. Of course, the warp engines still looked toy-like. For that light sheet works miracles!

--Alex

 

[miraclefan]

The closest I ever got to ''fiber optics'' was the BanDai japan trek kits! Unfortunetly the lights would ''overheat'' melting the plastic!

 

[SeerSGB]

The closest I ever got to ''fiber optics'' was the BanDai japan trek kits! Unfortunetly the lights would ''overheat'' melting the plastic!

Oh man, I did that bad with a AMT kit once

I was trying to build a lit AMT 1701-A shortly after STIV was released. Well I wanted to cheapskate the costs, and I figured "hey instead of several low power bulbs, I'll use a cluster of bulbs at the center and line the saucer with tinfoil for a reflector, the parked a big ole' outdoor christmas-bulb with a tinfoil reflector behind the nav-deflector. A little screwing around with batteries and circuits and it was ready to fire-up...didn't get the stench of burnt plastic out of the house for a week.

 

[Captain Robert April]

A little something I learned at a panel discussion at a con: painting the inside of the model white makes a much better light reflector than foil or painting the inside silver.

 

[Albertese]

A little something I learned at a panel discussion at a con: painting the inside of the model white makes a much better light reflector than foil or painting the inside silver.

White is a better reflector, but not as opaque. Having just white on the interior will have a lot of light bleedig though the plastic and your whoe ship will glow! Trust me, made this mistake with the lights and sound E-A when i was a lad. The best interior paint scheme is black (to opaque) silver (as a reflective layer to punch up the) White (main reflecting)

--Alex

 

[CaptainStoner]

That said, there are ways to build the E-D to look very nice lit up using light sheet. Search for "Light Sheet" or "EL Panels" and you might have better luck.

Thanks, I'll do that. From what you've said, the E-D kit with fiberoptic isn't worth the extra $$$ when a good lighting effect is what I'm after.
The last model I built was an A-wing fighter, and that wasn't long after ROTJ. Wish I could find it, I used some gritty washes and carbon scoring effects and it looked like it just came out of battle.

I don't know where I got his hankering from, but an E-D lit up nicely would be sweet.

 

[CaptainStoner]

A little something I learned at a panel discussion at a con: painting the inside of the model white makes a much better light reflector than foil or painting the inside silver.

White is a better reflector, but not as opaque. Having just white on the interior will have a lot of light bleedig though the plastic and your whoe ship will glow! Trust me, made this mistake with the lights and sound E-A when i was a lad. The best interior paint scheme is black (to opaque) silver (as a reflective layer to punch up the) White (main reflecting)

--Alex

Good tips
So basically you're saying, do the inside flat black, dry, then a couple of coats of flat white over that - or silver then white -

 

[Albertese]

Yeah, three layers. First, paint the interior flat black, in order to totally block light. Next, paint a layer of silver. Silver covers well and will act as extra insurance in case your black was not as full coverage as you thought. Also, it's a better ground for the white as the white is always a little translucent and will not look as bright if just sprayed over black. After your black is dried, and your silver is sprayed and dried, then finally spray your white. I recommend gloss white as opposed to flat. a nice even coat of gloss white over silver will appear bright and will reflect light very well. When picking lights, I recommend either light sheet, or super white LEDs for cabin lights. If you're using conventional bulbs the result is a very dim yellow colored light which, on models of such small scale, looks like the interiors are lit with torches! Plus bulbs burn out, LEDs last practically forever.

--Alex

 

[CaptainStoner]

Yeah, three layers. First, paint the interior flat black, in order to totally block light. Next, paint a layer of silver. Silver covers well and will act as extra insurance in case your black was not as full coverage as you thought. Also, it's a better ground for the white as the white is always a little translucent and will not look as bright if just sprayed over black. After your black is dried, and your silver is sprayed and dried, then finally spray your white. I recommend gloss white as opposed to flat. a nice even coat of gloss white over silver will appear bright and will reflect light very well. When picking lights, I recommend either light sheet, or super white LEDs for cabin lights. If you're using conventional bulbs the result is a very dim yellow colored light which, on models of such small scale, looks like the interiors are lit with torches! Plus bulbs burn out, LEDs last practically forever.

--Alex

Great post, thanks. I *think* flat white is 1 or 2% more reflective than gloss, but that's splitting hairs for sure. Definitely won't be using incandescents.
It will take a few weeks to get the kit, as I'm playing the ebay game to get it, and don't feel like blowing $50 on a buy-it-now. (And trying not to be over-competitive with the other bidders. I don't think we should be driving these much past $20-$25 + shipping.
The thought occurs to me that this will be fun to take to festivals and such. I aim to have a lit-up Enterprise-D hanging (under cover) in my campsite this year. I hear tell of someone making a hookah out of one of the DS9 kits, but that will have to be another thread....

 

[judge alba]

i remeber having the enterprise 'd' light up kit given to me years ago never used the fiber optics on the kit itself, think i did a lit up romulan bop scratch built. trouble was thing was destroyerd over the many years moving around.