This post is Steve's fault, his comments got me thinking about one of my own custom mini projects that I haven't mentioned on this blog yet. Actually, it was my first really major rebuild of a miniature ever, and is still the favorite among many of my Battletech friends.
If you didn't see Steve's comments, he has a history of adding lights and electronics to Warhammer 40K models. It's some impressive work. (Go look at the links now, I'll wait).
Now where was I ... Oh yes, the Guillotine mini I put together for my son ... and lights.
One thing about the Guillotine mini; it's got that big spotlight on the top. One day at a model train show I discovered "Grain of wheat" light bulbs used scale trains and dioramas. They only need 1.5 volts, and can be run off of a hearing-aid battery.
So I got this idea in my head that I would mount the light in the mini as a Christmas present for my son.
Here's the short version of the project: Cut the legs of the mini away from the base. Cut of right leg. Drill top-down through spotlight and right-hip-up so the drill holes meet somewhere in the middle. Do about the same thing with the right legs (but goof and blow out the side). Bore out the inside of the spotlight. Drill a pin hole in the left foot/left for mounting later. Cut and re-pin right arm at different angle. Cut hole in standard hex base.
Run wires for the "grain-of-wheat" bulb down through the torso, the right leg, and base. Pin everything together. Fill in (or resculpt) the damage done to the mini with green stuff (can you spot my goof?). Make a wire jig for mounting the left leg and glue it in the base. Fill in the base with green stuff, leaving a bump (pushed up from the bottom) so there will be room for the battery. Add a metal clip and widgetry to make the battery connection on the bottom. Add a little green stuff to the bottom of the base to anchor the clip and give room for the widgetry. Mount the mini. glue everything down. cur a small piece of clear plastic and insert it as the "glass" in the spotlight. Paint. Paint. Paint. Flock. Done.Unfortunately the battery is dead at the moment and you can't actually see the light operating in these photos - not that it shows up real well in bright light anyway - but it's still cool to see peoples faces when I turn it on and set it on the gaming table.
It was about 50 hours of work, but I was learning everything back then. I bet I could do a better job in half the time now.
12 comments:
Totally cool, if a little insane. I do mean that it the nicest possible way, BTW.
What about my Warhammer stuff. What, is that chopped liver? It just doesn't get any sillier or more out there than a laser-pointer in a Leman Russ.
But mind you, it made sense, as the Russ had to have line of sight to bring that puppy to bear. What better way in a horrifically WYSIWYG constrained game than to install a laser?
Last one I built had replaceable batteries, working headlights and engine 'glow' lights, as well as a rotating radar dish. Gave it away at a local hobby shop's WH40K tournament.
Never heard of it again.
Nice work with the Guillotine, Dan. I have been working with SMD LEDs, but your grain of rice lamp from the local hobby railroading store is the way I got my start, too. By the time the light bulb burns out, the mini will be either forgotten or destroyed. Or you'll be dead of old age and beyond caring :)
Steve
Yeah, you know, I use the tiny wires and the SMD LEDs, but that is a very good idea for the mini.
Question: Have you seen page 97 of BattleTech's TechManual? That Pinto was photographed with a spinning main rotor. I installed a pager motor in the little darling and created a base, which Bill Burt subsequently embellished and painted.
So yeah, modifying the little dears is a challenge, but it sure can be fun.
Steve
Everyone loves a dropship. Bill and I made this one for GenCon 2007. Hasn't been topped yet, and probably never will be.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hZhtqg39-24
Steve
> I installed a pager motor in the little darling and created a base ...
That was you? Figures! :-) I missed seeing it live, but my buddies all came back from the Con saying "WOW Dan ... you should have SEEN it!".
(Right Sam?)
> Everyone loves a dropship. Bill and I made this one for GenCon 2007. Hasn't been topped yet, and probably never will be.
You again? Figures! Very nice work. I've got pictures of diorama somewhere about:
http://giantbattlingrobots.blogspot.com/2008/11/camospecs-diorama-gencon-2007.html
and
http://s238.photobucket.com/albums/ff32/Trebuchet3025/2007-08-18/?start=60
I had my own dropship project, though on a somewhat smaller scale. Since Iron Wind came out with the resin-cast Union I'll probably never finish it.
Not so fast dropping that dropship. The resin cast Union is really small, what they call 'map scale'. To field one which is 1/285 scale, such as the one we made for GenCon 2007, you have to build it big. It does not have to be as fancy as ours, but then, ours wasn't really that hard to do.
Oboy, guess where that dropship turned up again? CG purchased it from me after the con... now it is on the back cover of Strategic Ops.
Steve
I was building mine to "map scale", so about 3 inches in diameter (1:12000 scale, more or less). It's a little smaller than the Iron Wind model, but I started mine before I ever knew they were coming out with one. (There might be a block post in that, if I can get some other projects out of the way).
Also? If you ever consider lighting a metal miniature again, here's a tip - run only one wire up the inside. The 'Mech itself can be the other 'wire' as long as you have good mechanical contact.
Soldering is an option, but the mini absorbs heat at a tremendous rate, so you will need a forty-watt iron or a hundred-watt soldering gun to pull it off.
Me, I would just drill a tiny hole behind the light, fold a short lead from the light in half and jam it into the hole. Then I'd check it with a VOM set to check continuity. Finally, I'd solder a wire to the bottom of the foot.
Or you can run two wires. They both work.
Steve
Once the hole was drilled, running two wires was no problem. I've been asked about doing the same with a Warhammer where there is not room to drill anything, and using the mini itself to complete the circuit might help. (Alternately, cut off the searchlight and build a resculpt around the bulb itself, but I'm not that crazy, yet).
Hi Patricia,
Your post is suspiciously non-specific, which makes me suspect it is more flattery SPAM. StatCounter tells me you have been following along for all of 3 minutes and 39 seconds following a search for "model train", which seems to confirm my suspicion.
I'll give you the benefit of the doubt though. Post again in accordance with my Posting Policy, and I'll bring your first post back from limbo.
Wow. Dan, you're being visited by a web 'bot? Wow. I guess you have arrived, eh?
(more non-specific flattery upon request)
Steve
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