LIghting the Moebius Battle Star Galactica kit.

I really wish it would display the photo in the thread.....but here is a pic of trying to do the lighting of the GALACTICA sign as in the series.....

i374.photobucket.com/.../DSCI0038CloseUp.jpg

Ok....so I wrote my response way too late in the morning and should have been in bed.  Yes, If you look at the photo with the 10mm blues, you can see the .15 - .20 white polystyrene sheeting.  Sheesh! Sorry about that mis-information.  

My Cylon raider has nothing blocking LED from clear plastic, so it is blinding.   My colonial viper doesn't either, but for some reason it isn't as bad.  

No plans do diffuse the engine lighting.  My camera is not terrific, so the pictures really don't accurately represent what you see.  I have also done the old series Cylon Raider.  I learned my lesson there, because the big blue jumbo LEDs  (10mm) I used are blinding.  I didn't know about the diffusing technique then.  However, these for the GALACTICA really don't do that at all.  They are common 3mms.  The engine effect is very subtle, as I didn't want to go overboard (probably should have anyways - LOL!), but when it is ready, I will be happy to post.  

 So far, I have been working on the old series colonial viper cockpit.  I have the pilot with a lighted head and a few blinking lights there.  My hope is to post soon.  I think the engine effect on that model is much better.  It is all a continuing learning process, to be sure, with lots of re-do's along the way.  Thanks for all the nice words.  Will post soon.

Now that is a sophisticated approach to lighting.  The first thing to came to mind was how big and bright those engine lights are going to be.  How do you keep them from overwhelming the area with light?  Are you going to incorporate some kind of diffusive material to tame the light?

I'm also interested in you use of electronics.  You'll have to post a video of the engine effect once you are done.  I look forward to following your progress.  Thanks for sharing.

Nice.  I have been watching with interest as I have a couple of kits I plan to light.  However, I am not an electrician and know next to nothing about it.  Kind of a challenge for me.

Shows alot of skill and dedication. Keep Going!

Just got the 2nd Paragrafix kit today.  You know, the one with the landing bay detail, souvenir shop grills and detailed guns.  WOW!!!! So, there is my 4th of July in a nutshell!!

Love the build, that is a ton of scratch built electronics! Great build so far, look forward to more

Cool!  My wife and I are just finishing up season 2 on Netflix.  Great show so far!

Missed placing these......The FTL circuit board.

Another shot....

Cementing both parts together....

10mm jumbo blues for the FTL drive.

JUMP!!!

I have discovered, as I am sure many have, that light leaks between the two halves, so I am placing some styrene sheeting in the right places.

Cementing the head.  It will also have fiber optics for the sparce lighting and antennae. 

5 mm blue for the 4 thrusters.

Another pic...

Lighting the front.  My plan is to use more paint and simply light drill just deep enough into the plastic with a 1/32 bit to create the windows.  Seems the very front had no lighting. 

OH YEAH!! PARAGRAFIX kit just came today.  I made a copy of the kit so I would work the lighting on a paper mock up without damaging the kit itself. 

That's it for now.  

Been awhile, but here is the latest work on lighting.  Fitting the propulsion system lights.

http://i374.photobucket.com/albums/oo182/tejanovader/GalacticaThruster.jpg

<a href="http://s374.photobucket.com/user/tejanovader/media/GalacticaThruster.jpg.html" target="_blank"><img src="http://i374.photobucket.com/albums/oo182/tejanovader/GalacticaThruster.jpg" border="0" alt="Galactica Thruster photo GalacticaThruster.jpg"/></a>

Thank you guys.  The circuit board is mostly for the propulsion in the back.

I am actually looking at several things for this most amazing little model kit.  First, Paragraphix has two photoetched kits that are out for Galactica now.  One has the nameplate, more accurate guns, ribs for inside detailing on the landing bays, etc.  The second, just released, is for the inner detail where the landing bays go during Faster than Light Jumps.  

For lighting, Galactica has red spot lights for the inner detailed area just spoken of (around 8 or 10), port hole lighting in the front section, lighting on the "GALACTICA" name plate and lights coming off of the front antennae area.  

I will be working on the model in the next few weeks and will be happy to post progress pics......

Very interested in watching your build.

Keep posting updates.

I'm wondering why you need a circuit board. Flashing runway lights?

It'd have thought they would all be just solid lights, bu then, I don't know

anything about lighting.

Continue to post updates, very interesting!

This is for the two large propulsion units. The timing circuit employs one 555 timer for the two large ones and the other 555 timer for the four surrounding propulsion units.  They are close in flickering effects, but the difference in the capacitors makes for a more independent feel.