papasmurf

A bit more progress on the LIS Pod project, images posted below. I'm getting a bit more familiar with this kit, and the work is going more smoothly. Had the instructions been more informative, and images in color, like the Chariot kit's, Moebius also produces, I wouldn't have sounded so negative about it. I know many kits "by heart" now, steady sellers, but a new kit, in a "build-for-hire" production set up, can be frustrating. It's not just "fun and games" when a client wants really good results, and takes longer to create. Just passing on the experience I've gone through with this build, from my perspective. It's quite small, and to light it up nicely, was rather difficult. Now that I'm confident my planning will be succesful, I'm a bit happier about the whole thing. But there was much tension and 'cussing in the Studio, aka, "The Smurf Cave", for a few days, trying to sort all the fine points out. All tests indicate the lighting will be quite spectacular, and the exterior masking/painting stage is in progress. Taking a bit of a break, once Easter hits here, and Spring Break in Daytona Beach is over, Ma and Pa Smurf take a week, or two off, to catch our breath. This project should be completed by the end of the month, and I'll post those final shots then, meanwhile, here's a bit more work on this project.......

Well, thankfully, the LM J2 was already built, I simply added exterior details, and internal lighting circuits. A little "slice & dice" work to get the desired effect. I use natural rock and crystals in several of my dioramas. If your looking for a "real life" visual effect, use real materials when possible. Aquarium shops are great for natural rock, and simulated plants, for modeling diorama accents. Living near the beach here, I often use sand and epoxy, to create different textures for various applications. This is merely the desires of the client, not pure science I realize. An alien world may have a different resistance or density than ours, perhaps the J2 would have survived in such a way. I build displays per customer specs, not my place to argue wth their wants or "vision", of a desired display. But I agree with your perspective on such a crash scenario, spot on there. It was a more "fun" project, than serious reproduction work, somewhat whimsical and a bit dark. Heck, I just build them to order, a little artistic liberty enters in the creation process, you get my concept.......

Beautiful scratch-work ewahl, I'm duly impressed. Yep, those LM kits really drove me up the wall, got to a point where I refuse to build them anymore. Builders who get nice results off those, know how hard it is to do it with an LM kit. Always wanted to do one of those, I'm curious how yours will progress, keep us posted!

Thanks! It was a project that was a bit "different" than my usual routine, so it was a bit of fun. Client really liked it, and that's what matters most.

I've used those Fiber Optic kits, they work fine. Like all aspects of modeling work, it takes patience and a steady hand. I'm not saying it's a totally "crummy" kit, I was just hoping for better, as model production techniques must be quite evolved by now, and I had expectations of Tamiya-like quality. Just disappointed, that's all, plain and simple. "Epic"? Well, that remains to be seen, gotta finish it first, then you be the judge, many thanks for the kind words, as well.

A client from London, sent me this already built LM 16 inch J2, to modify, and turn into a "Crash" Diorama a few months back. A relatively simple project, requiring a sculpted base, made of lightweight material, and special lighting effects inside the crashed J2. The dimensions were close to 2 feet by 2 feet, and it was a very dark theme, but still interesting. Hull ruptures, with fiber optic effects imbedded in circuit boards from various gadgets, to simulate exposed internal works on the J2. A randomized flashing light burst effect, to simulate intenal instruments gone "haywire", and a lighted, blown airlock door area, with a filter that looked very close to a smoke filled interior with the rear lighting on. The Base was made with sculpted foam, then covered in Bondo jelly material, looked very much like rock. Real Lava rocks were used to accent this "desert" motif, and sand and landslide effects were pronounced on the upper outer Hull, to complete the overall look of the J2 crashed into a mountain cliff. Here's a few images of this unique project, as I usually get requests for "pristine" versions, and in this case was told to make a "wrecked" one!

I'd agree on many points mentioned, especially the poor intructions. My fit issues probably stem from modifications for lighting, although I was careful to stay within the internal dimension limitations. I agree that these bigger scales are very nice, and previously unseen kits are great, but I really was hoping for better overall quality. On the Fusion Core, sanding down the clear insert, top and bottom, will help it glue more flush with the bottom Hull, it projects beyond the outer Core section a bit. I found that the inner walls of the interior projected forward and had to be trimmed, as I could barely get the front hull on without doing so. If I had the opportunity to build it "out of the box" without lighting first, it probably would have helped me figure out some fit issues before I went to a lighted version. I usually do this, but in this case, my fault for not doing so. Not knocking Moebius here, just got real excited at the notion of bigger and better LIS kits, but both the Chariot and the Pod have had issues that bugged me. I love a challenge, but good instructions, and step by step images of each stage, would be very helpful in building these new kits. I'm getting ready to mask the exterior Hull for the Aluminium and Orange coloring, hope my results are as nice as the one seen in this article, which came out extremely nicely in my opinion! With the problems I've run into, it really boils down to what the final results show, and hopefully, like the Chariot I completed a while back, the Pod will come out nicely as well. Thanks for posting the link, some useful and helpful data mentioned, on his experience of building this kit. Papa didn't meant to come off negative, been a rather "grumpy smurf" lately, working on that......

I've not corrected, but mostly modified them, for lighting. As my first attempt at this kit, lighted, I'm still trying to learn how to do it right, the first time. There are many lighted instrument panels, and yes, those fibers are heading for various areas on the build. Had to use wispy hair-thickness ones for flexibility, and squeezing through very tight quarters. If I ever get talked into building it again, I'd be more comfortable augmenting this basic version, but not yet. It's a level 2 kit, with terrible instructions, so Moebius lists it as a level 3. It's a so-so build experience due to fit problems, and another's may disagree with me, just my opinion, and what I had to work with. Not really fuming, but very disappointed in the quality of the kit, and other Moebius kits I've looked over or built. In my book, the older Polar Lights kits are far better.

Well, it seems "Lost in Space" is still my most popular client theme order. 4 projects in a row, based on that series, now on the "Pod" build, a Jupiter 2 follows that. Posted below, are some current updates, on early lighting work on this small kit. I'm not impressed with Moebius, the fit for parts is poor, and the instructions lack a lot of data for the builder. I'd place Ertl, at least, a notch above Moebius for quality. The Chariot kit has decent instructions, but a lot of fit problems, and surface casting errors. The Pod instructions are truly awful, and the fit for parts not far behind. I'm truly disappointed to report this, but as I was expecting Tamiya, or Bandai style quality, on these newly released kits, and got a major headache through both kits. Can't say I'm very fond of them, until I get more familiar with them. With clamps, sweat, and plain obstinate determination, here's the results so far. I'll post final shots of this build, on it's presentation base, when completed.

Thats a question, I get asked a lot by e-mail, and it's relative to your knowledge on the basic circuit required. I always answer, go to the library, get a primer on electronic circuits, and get familiar with the material you want to use. Stick with 3 volts, no resistors needed at that power level, and make a simple "loop" circuit, with a switch. It's hard if you don't do a little homework, it's easy if you do.

The 5th Element is one of the most underated SF films ever, did poorly at the box office. It's a great film, and has a HUGE cult following. Superb special effects, and I purchased the soundtrack, great stuff on that! Music to model SF by, and an awesome track by Peter Gabriel! And yes, she's incredibly hot in that!

Those are cool, and I agree, very "German" looking armor lines, very menacing!

Good suggestion, he's too good, would give others more incentive to compete. If I can find time to re-start the game, in the future, I will, but it got so popular, that it was too time consuming. I'm heavily swamped, hence my desire to step down as mod, a couple of months ago. But, without the game, I'm happy to stick around, as it's nowhere near as busy. Times are tough right now, gotta work extra hard to keep the biz afloat. I'm sure many of you can relate.

My Buddy is really into these figures, nice work!

Woah! Very nice indeed!

It was the 60's, gentler times, nowadays, it would be more like the execution scene, in last weeks Battlestar Galactica!

Thanks Ed, those are 5mm white LEDS, behind the kits own Headlight clear parts. The entire build was powered by a 9 volt, plug-in power supply. As a lighting block/shield, I usually go with a primer, a layer of flat black, and a layer of silver, followed by the primary color. Go thin on those airbrush paint layers, or parts will become hard to place. Yep, a heck of a lot of masking involved. Just noticed that someone came up with a masking set for this kit, on the Starship Modeler's Store site, the other day, might want to check that out if I ever build another.

Thanks, I appreciate your positive comment!

Here's a few shots of the latest project completed for a client at the Kit Factory, a 1/24th Moebius Chariot from "Lost in Space", on a Alien Terrain diorama base, in a presentation case. A randomized "Bio-Luminescent" blue lighting pulse effect, under the "ice field", which is approx. 1/8 inch of clear resin, with airbrushed texture. Metal foil detailing on Chariot, fully illuminated B9 Robot figure, detailed Robinson family, and Maj. West figures in matching scale, illuminated dashboard, headlights, control panels, scanner. Tough kit to build and paint, 70% clear, and a lot of careful masking and airbrush work required, not really recommended for the novice builder. Tough color scheme too, mostly international orange and metallic colors. Glad to see the SF section is still running well, no one seems to have stepped up to claim the moderator position, since I asked for someone to do so. Since I'm still listed as mod, I am willing to keep the title if no one else wants to, but I don't have the time luxury of running things like the Movie game anymore. I didn't want to back out of this site, but the workload I have in the Studio presently, went from "lots", to, "frakkin' incredible", and I am a tad overwhelmed. My apologies if any feathers were ruffled. If anyone objects to my resuming as mod, just say so, I'll back off. I can only look in on occasion, but this is a civilized group, little moderation is actually required. Anyways, here's images of the Chariot diorama, based on the episode entitled "The Hungry Sea". Several film clips of lighting effects posted at the Kit Factory website. If any issue requires my attention, please PM me, thanks.

Thanks guys, it was a lot of work, but the client is happy, and that's what matters. Indeed, the "Smurf Cave" is strangely quiet, barren, and closed up until next week. Taking some time off before I begin the LIS Chariot diorama project, next in line on the schedule. Happy New Year everyone!

Voyager finally completed! Here are some beauty shots with the illumination details, as well as some daylight close-ups of the exterior Hull detailing. Randomized Thruster effect, dual Photon Torpedo banks, fully lighted Navigation and Strobe effects, detailed Shuttle Bay with 2 lighted Shuttles in Bay. Hand-weathering with the Tamiya "Master Weathering" set, good stuff. Mounted on a very high-quality, custom-made, Lexan sail stem, and Lexan base and Clear Cover. Client was extremely happy with the results, and picked it ip just this morning!

Some progress on the Voyager to share, see, I'm still here. These are the last week's painting stages, and adding the primary colors to the Hull sections. "Tiling" effects done per reference of the real studio prop images, I have on hand. Still much detail work to do, but the airbrushing is mostly done at this stage. I start to hand-detail, the remaining details over the next week or so.

Well put, and very accurate.

Thanks Mike! Indeed, those fighting scenes, very "Matrix" style, were awesome!! Great film, I highly recommend it!

Makes sense, I'll start a new thread "Part 2" style, good idea!