{"id":540,"date":"2010-02-10T06:42:57","date_gmt":"2010-02-10T14:42:57","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.rightonreplicas.com\/blog\/?page_id=540"},"modified":"2010-02-10T16:16:03","modified_gmt":"2010-02-11T00:16:03","slug":"ror-project-0033-%e2%80%93-light-%e2%80%98em-up-anakins-starfighter","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"http:\/\/www.rightonreplicas.com\/blog\/?page_id=540","title":{"rendered":"RoR Project 0033 \u00e2\u20ac\u201c Light \u00e2\u20ac\u02dcem Up! Anakin’s Starfighter"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\"Twitt\"\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/a>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>

RoR Project 0033 \u00e2\u20ac\u201c Light \u00e2\u20ac\u02dcem Up!<\/strong><\/p>\n

Revell Snap Tite Star Wars\u00e2\u201e\u00a2 Anakin\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s Jedi Starfighter\u00e2\u201e\u00a2
\n\"14_lighted\"<\/a>
\nRevell Kit #85-1864<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n

Joining the line of fully-licensed Star Wars\u00e2\u201e\u00a2 kits in Revell\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s Snap Tite line is a replica of Anakin\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s Delta-7B Starfighter.\u00c2\u00a0 This kit came fully decorated out of the box (Figure 1). In addition to the features of the Magnaguard Fighter (RoR Review 20100130), this kit has extensive factory-applied weathering.
\n\"01_Box\"<\/a>
\nFigure1<\/p>\n

As part of the review of this kit, I thought it would be interesting to take the kit beyond box stock.\u00c2\u00a0 A common feature on space sci-fi craft is glow coming from the engines \u00e2\u20ac\u201c I wanted to see if I could simulate this with LED lighting.<\/p>\n

For those wishing to make this a simple snap-together kit, don\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t worry \u00e2\u20ac\u201c it fits together well, builds quickly, and all of the modifications I made to the kit are purely optional.\u00c2\u00a0<\/p>\n

To begin the lighting process, I obtained a handful of components, shown in Figure 2.\u00c2\u00a0 These included tubing, white LEDs, a hobby store jewelry box, terminal strip, two-conductor wire, battery holder with switch, and two AAA batteries.\u00c2\u00a0 Searching the internet turned up several inexpensive sources for the components I did not have on hand or could not find locally.
\n\"02_Components\"<\/a>
\nFigure 2<\/p>\n

Modifications to the kit started with the cover plates for the engines, parts 13 and 16. Drill out the centers and four corners using a #50 hobby drill bit (a 1\/16″ or 1.8mm will do also), as shown in Figure 3.\u00c2\u00a0 The snap-together studs had to be removed from inside the engine pieces (parts 11, 12, 14, and 15) as well.\u00c2\u00a0 I elected to use a #18 chisel blade, making several diagonal cuts, as shown in Figure 4 but a rotary grinder with a suitable bit would work as well.\u00c2\u00a0
\n\"03_Engine_mods\"<\/a>
\nFigure 3<\/p>\n

\"04_Engine_mods2\"<\/a>
\nFigure 4<\/p>\n

Figure 5 shows the engine halves in various stages.\u00c2\u00a0 I first removed the studs as much as possible.\u00c2\u00a0 I also cut a notch in parts 12 and 15 to accommodate the wires.\u00c2\u00a0 Next, to avoid bleed-through, I painted the interior sides with flat black craft paint.\u00c2\u00a0 Finally, to give the engines a blue glow, I painted the rear areas with a light blue over a white undercoat.\u00c2\u00a0 R2D2 received similar modifications.
\n\"05_Engine_mods3\"<\/a>
\nFigure 5<\/p>\n

In Figure 6, I modified the fuselage halves (parts 7 and 17) to allow the 5mm LEDs to be placed where I wanted them to be installed.\u00c2\u00a0 I opened up the holes in the fuselage using a battery-operated drill.\u00c2\u00a0 For lighting, I chose to add a single LED to each engine, as well as one inside R2D2.\u00c2\u00a0
\n\"06_Fuse_Mods\"<\/a>
\nFigure 6<\/p>\n

The lighting harness, also visible in Figure 6, consisted of three LEDs wired in parallel.\u00c2\u00a0 The 5mm LEDs I chose operate at 3 volts DC, matching my power supply.\u00c2\u00a0 Note that LEDs are polar \u00e2\u20ac\u201c the two legs are different lengths to denote the + and \u00e2\u20ac\u201c terminals.\u00c2\u00a0 Make sure to wire all the LEDs the same way, and use wiring with two different colors to keep track of the polarity.\u00c2\u00a0<\/p>\n

For wiring, I used 24 AWG speaker wire that I had on hand.\u00c2\u00a0 The electrical current draw of three LEDs is rather small, so light-gauge wiring is fine.\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0 I soldered all of my joints and covered them with electrical tape to avoid shorts.<\/p>\n

To provide a mount for the Starfighter use some K&S or similar tubing . Epoxy a small piece of 1\/8\u00e2\u20ac\u009d brass tube through the existing opening in the bottom of part 17, as shown in Figures 7 and 8.\u00c2\u00a0 Note that I filled the rest of the opening with epoxy as well.\u00c2\u00a0
\n\"07_Lights\"<\/a>
\nFigure 7<\/p>\n

\"08_Fuse_Bott\"<\/a>
\nFigure 8<\/p>\n

The main support is made of 3\/16\u00e2\u20ac\u009d aluminum tubing.\u00c2\u00a0 To add some interest, I bent the tubing into an \u00e2\u20ac\u0153S\u00e2\u20ac\u009d shape.\u00c2\u00a0 These bends were accomplished with a tubing bender.\u00c2\u00a0 These inexpensive devices are simple to use and help avoid kinks while bending the tube.\u00c2\u00a0 The process and finished product are shown in Figure 9.\u00c2\u00a0
\n\"09_Tubing\"<\/a>
\nFigure 9<\/p>\n

Throughout the process check to make sure that the lights are working properly.\u00c2\u00a0 Before putting the fuselage halves together, check to make sure the lighting effect is what you\u00e2\u20ac\u2122re after, as shown in Figure 10.\u00c2\u00a0 Even with all the modifications, only a small amount of CA (superglue) was required to complete assembly of the Starfighter.
\n\"10_Light_Test\"<\/a>
\nFigure 10<\/p>\n

Figure 11 shows the bottom of the base. Remove the hinges and hardware from a hobby store jewelry box, saving the lid.\u00c2\u00a0 Drill a 3\/16\u00e2\u20ac\u009d hole in one end of the lid and mock up the electrical components on the underside of the lid. Use some epoxy to attach the battery box lid and two segments of the European terminal block to the lid.
\n\"11_Box_Components\"<\/a>
\nFigure 11<\/p>\n

To complete the base, spray paint the entire assembly with flat black enamel followed by some textured spray paint, as shown in Figure 12.\u00c2\u00a0 With a wood base, the finishing options are endless \u00e2\u20ac\u201c I simply chose a less time-consuming option.
\n\"12_Finished\"<\/a>
\nFigure 12<\/p>\n

Slide the Starfighter over the main tube, feeding the wire through the tube and into the base. Connect the wiring from the battery and the Starfighter into the terminal block, completing the project.
\n\"13_Finished2\"<\/a>
\nFigure 13<\/p>\n

Figure 13 shows the finished Starfighter.\u00c2\u00a0 Figure 14 shows the lighted engines \u00e2\u20ac\u201c just the look I was going for!
\n\"14_lighted\"<\/a>
\nFigure 14<\/p>\n

Overall, this build took about five hours. Of that, four hours was spent on the lighting.\u00c2\u00a0<\/p>\n

Finished Dimensions:
\nLength:\u00c2\u00a0 8″
\nWingspan:\u00c2\u00a0 4″
\nScale:\u00c2\u00a0 Approximately 1:39<\/p>\n

Pros:
\nFully decorated body with markings and weathering; good parts fit; options for gear up (with base) and gear down positions<\/p>\n

Cons:
\nWhite markings not opaque<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

RoR Project 0033 \u00e2\u20ac\u201c Light \u00e2\u20ac\u02dcem Up! Revell Snap Tite Star Wars\u00e2\u201e\u00a2 Anakin\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s Jedi Starfighter\u00e2\u201e\u00a2 Revell Kit #85-1864 Joining the line of fully-licensed Star Wars\u00e2\u201e\u00a2 kits in Revell\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s Snap Tite line is a replica of Anakin\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s Delta-7B Starfighter.\u00c2\u00a0 This kit came fully decorated out of the box (Figure 1). In addition to the features of […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"parent":16,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","template":"","meta":{"footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-540","page","type-page","status-publish","hentry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.rightonreplicas.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages\/540","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.rightonreplicas.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.rightonreplicas.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.rightonreplicas.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.rightonreplicas.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=540"}],"version-history":[{"count":8,"href":"http:\/\/www.rightonreplicas.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages\/540\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":559,"href":"http:\/\/www.rightonreplicas.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages\/540\/revisions\/559"}],"up":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.rightonreplicas.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages\/16"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.rightonreplicas.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=540"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}