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Iron Man

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  • Member since
    March 2008
  • From: East TX
Posted by modelchasm on Wednesday, July 22, 2009 10:31 AM

Nice job, Swanny .... You're Alclad finishes came out perfectly ....

"If you're not scratching, you're not trying!"  -Scott

  • Member since
    July 2009
Posted by VCSHobbies.com on Wednesday, July 22, 2009 9:40 AM

That looks Awesome!!!!Cool [8D]

The Iron Man Lighting Kit is now ONLY available by email requests as part of an EXCLUSIVE OFFER to VCS Hobbies Customers.  Sales@vcshobbies.com.

Keep it Up Swanny!

vcshobbies.com
  • Member since
    February 2003
  • From: Sandusky Ohio, USA
Posted by Swanny on Friday, July 3, 2009 11:15 AM
Thanks for all the kind words, I'm glad you guys liked the kit. I certainly enjoyed building and lighting it.
  • Member since
    December 2008
  • From: Las Vegas, Nevada
Posted by model maniac 96 on Thursday, July 2, 2009 9:40 PM

 Boba Fett wrote:
That is so awesome! I love the paint. Alclad works wonders...

    Sign - Ditto [#ditto]

"Veni, Vidi, Vici" Julius Caesar: I came, I saw, I conquered.
  • Member since
    May 2008
  • From: Wherever the hunt takes me
Posted by Boba Fett on Thursday, July 2, 2009 6:20 PM
That is so awesome! I love the paint. Alclad works wonders...

  • Member since
    December 2006
  • From: Phoenix, AZ
Posted by Fly-n-hi on Wednesday, July 1, 2009 1:25 PM
 Swanny wrote:
I was considering installing a sound chip to play the intro from Black Sabbath but didn't.
That's ok.  We can just sing it like Beavis & Butthead used to...Daaaa daaaa da da daa
  • Member since
    February 2003
  • From: Sandusky Ohio, USA
Posted by Swanny on Monday, June 29, 2009 5:30 PM
Put a 9 volt battery in a base to power the model. Use 5mm bright blue LEDs for the engines and a 5mm bright green for the main instrument panel. If you are going to light any side panels then look for 1.8mm LEDs for the two right panels and maybe a 3mm ultra bright white to light drilled out buttons. For each LED you will want a 470 ohm resistor or greater. The higher the resistance number the dimmer the LED. Basically you need to place one resistor between the battery and each LED. You could power more than one LED through one resistor but they start getting dim if you do that. Can be useful if some instrument lights are too bright and you want to tone them down a little. Take a look at the build feature on my website for the Iron Man kit where I discuss these things in even more detail.
  • Member since
    August 2003
  • From: Everett, Washington
Posted by RoyFokker on Monday, June 29, 2009 2:01 PM

Hi

   you can find a LED lighting kit for your viper the same place where Greasy in Sic-Fi got his Iron Man lighting kit from!  

   http://www.voodoofx.com/fiberfx.htm

  you will find the viper lighting kit under the NX-01 Lighting Kit, just click on the LIGHTING button.   

 

"Untill That Board of Inquirey, I'm Still Captain! First, Find Cyrano Jones! And Second. Close That Door!"

  • Member since
    July 2008
Posted by Greasy on Monday, June 29, 2009 12:29 PM

Do you have a list of materials you use to light the kit.  I am lighting a viper and I am at a loss on what type of batter/LED/Risistors I need.

 Thanks,

Jon

  • Member since
    December 2007
  • From: Louisville, KY.
Posted by Cosmic J on Saturday, June 27, 2009 4:14 PM
Thanks for this thread Swanny. Very impressive.
  • Member since
    February 2003
  • From: Sandusky Ohio, USA
Posted by Swanny on Saturday, June 27, 2009 11:59 AM

 bilbirk wrote:
Nice work to all of you. It makes me want to go out and buy one of these kits

Yes, listen to the voices .... buy more model kits!

  • Member since
    August 2003
  • From: Camp Leatherneck, Afghanistan
Posted by bilbirk on Saturday, June 27, 2009 10:49 AM
Nice work to all of you. It makes me want to go out and buy one of these kits
  • Member since
    January 2003
  • From: arizona
Posted by cthulhu77 on Saturday, June 27, 2009 9:19 AM
Most cool ! I can imagine that the kit would look fantastic lit up at dusk. Very nice job on that one !
http://www.ewaldbros.com
  • Member since
    February 2003
  • From: Sandusky Ohio, USA
Posted by Swanny on Friday, June 26, 2009 9:37 PM
Painting has been the biggest challenge with this kit because it really has to be done in segments then assembled. Compared to that the lighting was a piece of cake.


And with all the lights off and the power switched on.

Here he is with just a little light. Sorry but my camera is having a real hard time focusing in these light conditions. In person this thing looks really, really cool. I was considering installing a sound chip to play the intro from Black Sabbath but didn't  Sigh [sigh]

and a shot of the battery/switch hot glued into the base.

This kit was a lot of fun and a great introduction to lighting models. Recently I have been doing work with the Whirlpool Corp. on their anniversary mixer line-up that is a two coat candy apple red and this paint on Iron Man gave me a real appreciation for the problems Whirlpool is having on their paint line, the end result looks nearly identical.
  • Member since
    February 2003
  • From: Sandusky Ohio, USA
Posted by Swanny on Tuesday, June 23, 2009 6:41 AM

I used the VooDoo Fx lighting kit but really this is pretty easy to do on your own. I changed the chest LED and should have changed the head LED. The chest was changed over to a 5mm LED and I should have put a wider viewing angle LED in the head. The 30 degree viewing angle on the kit provided piece is not that great for lighting the eyes.

I'm almost done with this one, just have to do the eye lenses, fix the helmet and fix one paint issue on the back and this baby is ready to present.

  • Member since
    March 2003
  • From: USA
Posted by R Fluhr on Monday, June 22, 2009 4:57 PM

Great job Swanny ... I will be getting my Iron Man tomorrow I'm going to try this pose. Did you use a lighting kit on yours or did do it yourself?  

  • Member since
    February 2003
  • From: Sandusky Ohio, USA
Posted by Swanny on Sunday, June 21, 2009 8:31 AM
Wow Roy, That's really impressive. I noticed the casting errors also but am only fixing one on the helmet. I tried to paint the torso the other day but the humidity levels were so high the Alclad gold wanted to fog up. Have to wait for things to dry out before continuing.
  • Member since
    January 2003
  • From: arizona
Posted by cthulhu77 on Saturday, June 20, 2009 7:25 AM
seriously nice work ! a lit up kit is going to be sweet.
http://www.ewaldbros.com
  • Member since
    March 2008
  • From: East TX
Posted by modelchasm on Saturday, June 20, 2009 6:00 AM

Nice job in this one, Swanny ... and you too Roy. Swanny, you're attention to detail REALLY shows in the paint job. What you've got thus far as inspired me to put this one on my "to do" list. I have worked a few lighted kits before, but not completed them as they are a little slow to get together, but I think this one is simple a perfect "first" kit.

Again, nice job thus far. We'll keep watching this one!

"If you're not scratching, you're not trying!"  -Scott

  • Member since
    August 2003
  • From: Everett, Washington
Posted by RoyFokker on Saturday, June 20, 2009 12:20 AM
Great Job!  Incridable Paint Job!!!!!    I also am building that kit but im moving his arm's to match a movie scene, Im also cleaning up details that were casted wrong.   Here are a few pics of what im doing A little puddy to fill the gap on the helmet.        The right hand, a little rough and not quite done yet.  And here's the Body armor  I'm planing to match this movie scene   I still have a LOT of work to do on my Iron Man kit, I notest something, the neck is just a little to tall, My body armor shot, the puddy live, I planing to remove everything above my puddy line, The neck only has 2 (for the kit 3) armor rings.   Your Iron Man is going to great with your Paint Job

"Untill That Board of Inquirey, I'm Still Captain! First, Find Cyrano Jones! And Second. Close That Door!"

  • Member since
    February 2003
  • From: Sandusky Ohio, USA
Posted by Swanny on Monday, June 15, 2009 6:34 AM

Well CosmicJ, that is one reason I choose this kit to light up, it is my first light job with LEDS and puts me on the learning curve. First, with LEDs you need to reduce the current from the battery with a resistor or you will burn out the LED. A very basic rule of thumb is to take the voltage you plan on using, divide by .02 and there is your resistor value. I'm using a 9 volt battery which gives me a value of 450 so I can use any resisitor of 450 ohm or GREATER. The greater the ohm number the dimmer the LED. I'm using 470 ohm because that was easiest to find. Each LED gets a resistor between it and the battery.

Next is perf board, this is the little IC board you solder everything to. All it does is hold things together and keep things in order. You can buy these cheap at Radio Shack or from All Electronics.com.  Now just solder everything together testing at every connection, keep in mind that current flows only one way through an LED, not both like through a light bulb.

The next big thing is light leakage. These little LEDs are bright and will shine right through your plastic so coat the interior with a high density black paint, maybe a second coat of white or silver or glue foil inside the body to reflect the light back and check your work in a darkened room. After that it's basic model construction and painting. This is really simple stuff compared to lighting a starship which takes a boatload more of your time but the same basic principles are in effect. For flashing effects add a divider/counter chip like a 555 chip to your board but that is a little more complex discussion. If you want it fast and easy and don't mind paying the price then Federation Models or VCSHobbies carries a variety of lighting kits to name just a few.

Once I do the build feature for this kit I'll include more details of what I have done.

  • Member since
    December 2007
  • From: Louisville, KY.
Posted by Cosmic J on Monday, June 15, 2009 2:17 AM

Nice! Big Smile [:D] That Alclad looks great.

For those of us not as savvy, could you elaborate more on the wiring and lighting process? I've often thought that this would be ideal kit for someone who has never tried lighting a model up before.

Looking forward to further updates.

  • Member since
    February 2003
  • From: Sandusky Ohio, USA
Iron Man
Posted by Swanny on Sunday, June 14, 2009 9:07 PM
I've been playing with the Moebius Iron Man kit and here is some progress.
The main power wire runs through the right leg and into the base where a 9 volt battery and switch will be housed.

The paint process is time consuming. The model must be sanded as smooth as possible before the gloss black primer is laid down. Any imperfections found at that time must be fixed and re-primed

Then the Alclad gold is put on and now more little imperfections show up. There was one spot on the upper leg that had to be filled and sanded three times before I could make it go away.

Once the gold is complete and hardened then it can be masked off and four coats of Alclad clear red can go on. After this has hardened for a couple hours the masks can be removed including the mask on the hand impulse unit.

The interior of the hand was coated with thick acrylic black before the LED was installed then hot glue was overlaid and more black paint applied then tested in a dark room to ensure no light leaks. Pictures of that will be along shortly but trust me when I say it was really cool looking.
I started to black out the interior of the torso when I came across an article on lighting kits that talked about brass light tubes to prevent light leaks. I simply picked up a 10cc syringe, cut the end off, painted it with two coats of black, cut off another section and installed it in the chest -- tested perfect.

It is secured with superglue then that was painted with the thick acrylic paint. There's plenty of room in the chest for the main board and all the wiring.
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