I figure that I as I am investing a great deal of time (and $) into this project, I might as well record my progress. Maybe some of my ideas, successes and failures will inspire, aid or even discourage. I'm not aiming for a "Golden Demon", just a quality model that looks good on the table, with a slight touch of wow factor.
Some of you that know me from the Deep Space days, may remember the Land Raider and the Chimera that I had built, both with painted interiors and lit by model train lights. I was never really happy with the light sources. The lights gave off a yellow light, and the power sources were large and hard to hide. I had to use a AA battery in the Chimera, hidden in the front section of the model, and an N type battery in the Land Raider, as it was the only one available at the time that was small enough to fit in the side assembly.
The Land Raider (LR) was a project and a half, and I was glad when it was done! B-Dizzle's awesome LR ( http://www.gamesummit.ca/forum/viewtopic.php?f=23&t=8755 ) brought back those happy/painful memories. I had recently purchased a Stormraven (SR) kit, and tucked it in the back of my closet. It too, like so many of the vehicle kits these days, has a detailed interior. At the arm and a leg that they charge for model kits, there was no way I was just simply going to glue it all shut and forget about the interior of the model (well at least for my first one
). B-Dizzle, I really have to thank you for giving me the inspiration to start this... your work is awesome!I am giving myself until November 5th to complete the majority of this project. There is an Apoc game tentatively planned for the 6th, and I would like to be able to use it by then. As I plan to paint the interior of the model and instal lights into it, I won't be able to glue it together until the interior is painted and the lighting is installed. October is looking to be a busy month for me so wish me luck!
I ordered the SR extension kit from Chapterhouse Studios. http://chapterhousestudios.com/webshop/news/43-tru-scale-conversion-kit-for-storm-raven-release
Great service! It took around 2.5 week for it to arrive via USPS and the shipping label was completed properly so I did not have any duty to pay on the kit (you guys do know that plastic toys and models from the US are exempt from customs and excise fees, right?). The casts were of comparable quality to Forge World. The product I received only had one slight warping issue, that was easily resolved with a little pressure and hot, running tap water. I hope they don't get hit by the "Warhammer", as they seem to be a good company with good product. I know there were some legal issues surrounding them, but where it stands now, I am unsure... http://www.warseer.com/forums/showthread.php?t=287850
Lighting plan... where to begin. In the past I had used model train lights I had purchased at the Hobby Center for a few dollars. Picked up a slide switch and battery holder from Radio Shack (I think it was still Radio Shack at that time) tested my circuit and began the layout. Even with 3 bulbs in the model, the lights are only effective at illuminating the whole interior when a fresh battery is in place. This was the trade off for having the three bulbs wire in parallel, having only enough space to hide one 1.5V N size battery. With the SR kit, I have even less "extra" space to work with, in fact I am limited to hiding everything in the intake vent that sits atop of the model behind the gunner turret. This time around I will be using LEDs to provide a brighter lighting source, and coin cell batteries for their increased voltage (3V) and compact size.
Sourcing the material for the lights was giving me some headaches. I need LEDs and potentially some resistors, a battery holder and a switch. For those of you who might be interested, here is a pretty awesome online tool that can help you with LED circuits and figuring out which resistors you might need: http://led.linear1.org/led.wiz
Most of the LED sources on eBay were from China, and with a diary date of Early November, there was no way that I would get them in time. One source I found online looked pretty solid. They had all sorts of pre-wired (with the necessary resistor) LEDs, holders and switched. It looked pretty good, check it out: http://www.modeltrainsoftware.com/ledlights1.html
It was only by chance that I happened into Canadian Tire one afternoon and spotted some key chain flashlights on the clearance shelf, which happened to be made up of LEDs. At $3 per, I grabbed one immediately. After cracking it open, I discovered the 6 LED flashlight was powered by 2 3V 2032 coin cell batteries, and the switch (with a little elbow grease) removable. It also had a neat little chrome (painted) reflector that I was able to salvage. Also included below are picture of the leads that I attached to the circuit board and the approximate intended placement of the "light fixture".
Funny thing, when I was rooting around my toolbox for my wire cutters and multimeter, I found another LED light. This one is a smaller single LED light with two sided tape on the back, intended to be affixed to your door above the key slot. It consisted of a single white LED and two smaller 3V coin cells. Now with a second lighting option looks like I'll be holding off on the online shopping, and I can get to the prepping the model and starting to paint.
Pre-assembly... I started by downloading the mod instruction from the Chapterhouse site and going over them and the SR instructions... several times. After clipping out the parts and scraping mold lines and filing the tab points, I started to put together the sub assemblies of the model such as the side panels, the turret, the wings and the dinky little frame pieces of the turret and cot pit canopies. I installed 1/8" diameter magnets (Lee Vallee) in the turret and all of the weapons, and teeny tiny 1/32" magnets (Wizards Tower, Barhaven) in the doors and ramps. One issue I had was there was insufficient space to place magnets on the top of the door frames of the ship's side panels. I solved this by cutting out part of the door frame and installing a a piece of thick paperclip for the magnets to hold on to. I did the same for the front assault ramp. The Hurricane Bolter frames don't line up exactly the same as the hatches, so a 1/4" diameter magnet was used to make contact with the paperclip. They definitely won't fall off during game play!
I was home today with my daughter, so nap time = painting time. Black Primer on the inside surfaces, Adeptus Battlegrey base coat, Boltgun Metal on the grills and a Badab Black wash... that's as far as I got. I'm thinking that next I will layer Adeptus Battlegrey working up to and through Codex Grey finally highlighting with Spacewolves Grey.
Updates to follow...
