Love those lanterns! Looking forward to seeing her all lighted up like a Christmas tree!!!
Will check out Lighthouse Lighting too, I keep saying I’m going to light another Trek ship but never ever get around to it…
Outstanding lanterns.
Happy Turkey Day.
Hey thanks Capn and Gamera.
Happy Thanksgiving to you All!
And the same back to you guys!
OHO !!
Advanced modeler my foot! I now model for pleasure (Mine, for sure) And you do what you feel is right. I for one have done this in the past too. What you are doing is awesome and will always remain so in my Book!!
Remember I specialize in ships so all bets for parts are always in play from Tractor Supply toy aisle to the Hardware Store for those miniature kerosene lights for Stack Crowns on Riverboats, with PVC for the Stacks!
I once built a four speed cut-away tranny in 1/16 scale with Watch crowns( The little external Knob for setting it), As the gears in the tranny! I had to show the crowns, cause folks had a hard time believing it. It’s easier than it sounds! So- I had a little baggie of them on display next to the Tranny/Clutch assembly
This is just one bad A$$ build so far Steve. You’re sure throwing about everything you can throw at it into it. Wow man. Whadda show!!!
It sounds awesome TB. I wish I could see it.
And thanks for the kind words.
Hey Joe, I don’t know what to say other than … THANKS! THAT and, the show must go on!
PS: The lanterns are done. I should have an update later today or tomorrow. [:)]
A Muse
I had my brother over for a visit last night and at the end of the evening he asked, how is the model going? I updated him. To which he asked, what will be next? I reply, the rock auger. He replied, What! He was mortified, like I am killing the project.
His reaction and confusion was not expected. Somehow, he maintained a vision that this will remain a hot rod of some sort. He asked, why would a hot rod have a rock auger? To which I reply, this is not a hot rod build, it is a gold carrying Nemo inspired mining carriage.[:P] He replies, yeah I know, but why would this car or carriage have a rock auger? I reply, why would a carriage have a gun turret and smoke stack! Lol.
I mean seriously.
That is my muse for the day. [:|]
And the rear lanterns are done.
I will start by saying that the lanterns were sadly molded. There were steps and misaligned parting lines that lead to distorted shapes. More on that later.
For now, I want to mention a technique I came up with on my Icarus build. When I constructed the flooring on the Icarus I wanted a way to round corners while at the same time fill joins. I accomplished this by flowing CA over the entire piece. I used a disposable hobby brush dipped into thin CA. Excess is shaken or wicked off the piece. And if more filling was required to round corners, more CA was added. Once cured, I was able to sand the piece to a perfect finish. The added benefit of using CA glue is that it strengthens the piece.
This brings me to my lanterns. Because of the issues mentioned earlier there were defects that I’d need to spend time fixing, probably by using fillers, or primer. That would be difficult to do given the size of these and the tight quarters of some areas. Not in the mood to deal with that-- I opted to flow on CA. By doing this it filled any minor imperfections, and it glossed the piece making it perfect for a thin layer of Alclad paint. And by doing this it also rounded, in some cases, helped align some wonky lines.
This is not something one would want to do on intricate detail, but it is nice option where one is not that concerned about it. Such was the case here.
Painted with Tamiya flat black, then coated with CA.
Below: The lanterns painted with Alclad Brass, sealed with Testors Dullcote. A side note about the dullcote, it knocks down the metal shine and some of its nice effect. That is good or bad depending on what you prefer.
Sadly–once I painted them, I notice how wonky the symmetry is between the two. I should have spent more time addressing that. In my defense it was not as apparent to me until painted. Too bad now-- I am not wasting time fixing it. Henceforth–the lanterns were damaged during a firefight with a roaming band of gold bandits. The repairs less than desirable.
Below: The lenses are installed using Future. The process was this: The lenses were first coated with future, both the front and back, the coatings allowed to cure. Then the lenses are positioned on the lanterns, a fine brush dipped into future, a fine bead of future drawn around the circumference of the lens. This allows the future to wick around and under the lens, setting it in place some. I didn’t want the lens moving on me before the next step because if the lens moved on me and I could not align it quick enough, I may end up with a marred finish from my trying to readjust things. Before that application sets too much, I dip the brush with more future, starting at the top center work future over the entire lens, flowing the future towards the joins. Then let is set.
Below: I love how light plays on lenses coated with future. That is the beauty of using future because it enhances the depth of clear parts, it removes imperfections, it enhances optical clarity, and it provides a nice clean install. Along with that it gives a decent bond because the wax wicks incredibly well flowing around and under the piece. It self-levels extremely well too!
And this brings up a tip for anyone wanting to try this. I find it important to coat the front and back of the lens first, allowing the applications to cure. Because of the extreme wicking action, the wax will wick under your lens and if you don’t coat it first, you may notice areas where the wax creeped. Somehow-- by coating the piece first-- any creepage does not get seen. It blends perfectly.
Sorry about the next images but I find imaging lighted Leds next to impossible. The bright light overexposes blowing out the detail, so I must underexpose it dramatically. Secondly, the color does not translate well. It is difficult to image the red color. To the human eye, the lenses are red, they are bright, and they look nice when lit.
Timmy-- if you have your ears on-- I am using some parts that you sent me. I will use the parts below as part of the rock auger assembly. I plan to light the tip of the auger. This a nuclear enhanced bit that melts rock as it augers through it. That Nemo is genius!
Phew. This update was work!
Later gator.
PS: The formatting of the last post is wonky because after an hour and half of working on this, when submit your reply was hit-- the whole thing dumped with an FSM error. I had to start all over. Fortunately, I had all the verbiage saved in Word. But when pasted from Word all the indents get hosed.
Ridiculous.
Hmm, dissimmilar lamps? Perhaps a slight difference in tone/finish might suggest having to get a replacement from the local equivalent of the General Store.
Augers make my rane get all wobbly, and inclined plane spiraling around a cone is a simple concept–just hard to execute in practice [:)]
So, having a starting point to work from will be a considerale advantage.
Mind, I can’t ut imagine a bit of thin brass sheet to follow the base, which could have an eroded, worn, torn edge–but, back to the practical aspect os how to whittle such a thing out . . .
They look pretty awesome to me!!!
In place I’m not sure I’d notice the differences without you pointing them out to me.
This just gets better and better .
Thanks Guys.
The main issue is with the crown of the lanterns. One is rounder than the other and it is a result of my trying to fix a misaligned mold join. But what the hey-- it is what it is. [;)]
I was just looking at something and thought I might mention this. On the image below while looking at the bottom of the piece–notice how granular the finish looks. I did not sand, nor did I coat the bottom with CA. Being the bottom, it won’t get seen, and being the attach point-- I didn’t waste my time. Everthing above that has a nice smooth finish, the CA setting the stage for that. I have to say… I kind of like that granular look because it looks like something that was cast using a sand mold and that it was not polished.
Just musing. [;)]
Been waiting with bated breath to see the lanterns lit up. They look great, even if I have to imagine the in-person look. [Y][Y]
About the lanterns not matching exactly, I am only starting to learn in my own modeling that I try to model perfection but real life isn’t perfect.
I shall assume the lanterns were made by hand, not mass-produced. No worries.
Thanks Greg.
Thats true
Simply stunning mate!
Thanks Mate!