010: SUMMARY

So far, so good… Let’s take a break!

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OK, we have come this far and so this section is more of a summary (or personal ramblings) of the trials and errors I have encountered so far. Let’s review some of the points before I star to close up the model. There are so much physical modifications done to the model that it is now a challenge to close it up perfectly.

THE COCKPIT

Before you start to modify the cockpit, you need to be aware that the two side walls does not have any gaps. Putting even the thinnest LED which is the 7020 in there already makes the left-side wall cave in towards the pilot. Following the assembly manual for mounting the whole assembly, I am to glue the console parts first. So, this means I have to create the necessary hole in the left cockpit wall, and then mount in the LED. I cannot think of any other way since this was how the cockpit will be fixed into the model anyway.

There is just enough space between the cockpit platform and the lower fuselage, which you cannot do anything to raise it. The whole cockpit platform is secured by the four 1mm or so alignment pins on the fuselage. If you’re putting decorative wires or any actual wires in that gap, make sure their thickness are well within the height limit. If they do not fit perfectly, the two halves of the Falke fuselage will leave gaps in the cockpit area.

The front edge of the cockpit platform does not have any space, not even for the foot pedals which I glued initially. I had to relocate the pedal stalks backwards into and within the platform’s boundaries.

If you really do need to put in the pair of 0805 red LEDs for the cockpit at the foot area and also did your own clear casting of the front instrument cluster, you must have the square separating plastic so that the lights of the red LEDs do not flood into the instrument cluster. The square plate also becomes the reflector for the red LED underneath and the white LED above it.

THE ENGINE

As mentioned in the article (00506: Preparing for USB Power) the original engine sits at an angle. Once it has been pushed further out for the microUSB-to-DIL adaptor, this unique feature is gone. The new placement would make the engine sit almost horizontal.

You need to test-fit the engine and the lower fuselage’s mounting when you’re shaving the plastics away. There are other detailed parts which needs to be readjusted since their original alignment holes has been moved.

You might also decide if you want to put in other details surrounding the extended Engine as plugging the USB plug in and out WILL affect/break them in the long run. I chose not to. Also, installing the microUSB adaptor is a bad idea if the USB connector component you’re using does not have through-hole anchoring. One wrong pull and the whole board is useless. And that happened seconds later.

THE STAND

I am using a CCTV stand system which uses the ¼” 20 UTS nuts and bolt. This is because the stands can be angled.

As the model is heavy with electronics, this type of stand can take the weight and has been proven with a Moebius 1/32 TOS Cylon Raider.

However, it is difficult to drill a hole through the metal screw system to pass the power cables inside. So, this means the stand would have a separate power cables.

Other connectors can solve the power problem but at the cost of the stand being custom made.

The CCTV stand is plastic, takes Krylon Fusion well and can be easily fastened to any base compared to a tall brass tube which (in where I currently reside) costs more since no one would know how to make one.

HATCH WINDOWS

It would have been ideal if there was a clear part for the hatch. I can get someone to recast the hatch in optical clear but this would mean a lot of effort plus trial & error which can become very expensive.

The original idea was to have the windows BELOW the hatch line but since the beautiful side control panels were in the way… (Yes, I can put them lower but you do not have the Pilot to accidentally stop the engine or fire the minigun with his elbow.

Solder the current limiting resistor within the body and not at the hatch as it will affect its closing and opening. You might want to try with using small neodymium magnets to keep the hatch locked.

THE THIRD-EYE

Originally, I wanted a 5-inch AWACS kind of dish for the Falke but it was so hard to find one and I do not know how to carve out from a bigger bowl nor from big plastic balls.

The Transforming toy was a fluke and luckily its design looked the part.

It would have been much nicer if I can paint the eye on the dome.

The eyelashes was an afterthought since I had no confidence in painting the eye

If I were to do this again, I would connect the LED to a flickering candle LED and let its ‘random’ flicker control the effect instead of a stead light.

The plastic spoon is a pain in the ass to glue to the square rod using thin cement. One of the plastics are not cooperating and I suspect it could be the square rod. So I used Aves on it. But every now and then, it still breaks when being handled. This really makes me not want to bring it to shows.

The toy’s underneath (shin?) needs to be sanded to fit the curve of the Falke. It does have the curve but the surface contact is minimum. Sanding it would keep the thin cement’s annual appraisal or KPI scores healthy. The best solution is to place the sandpaper on the area you want to mount on the model and then rub the toy over it until you get the perfect position.

ELECTRONICS

Despite what everyone says, I still find hot-melt glues are great solution for making sure the wires and LEDs stay where they belong. That is, just as long as the model does not travel to any Desert or stays inside a hot car.

Where possible, drill a hole for the LED using a slightly smaller drill bits so that you can friction fit the LED and not resort to hot-melt glues, epoxy or even my nemesis, the Superglue.

Un-clog your drill bits as often as you can during and after drilling, place it in an altar when praying to the God of Sharpness to lead you away from the path of The Snappity Bits.

Know how to solder well. My soldering iron of choice is a Hakko 35W with a pencil tip. You might not get the same setup, so just get the soldering iron and then the pencil tip as separate. Maintain it well and it’ll serve you for a long time.

Use the rosin flux as often as you can as one small tub can last for years. Unless it goes missing.

Do not use your soldering iron for making bullet holes in the plastic. Your model would look more like someone went through it with a lightsaber. Besides, burnt plastic stinks.

Know how to read resistor colour bands and calculate the current limiting resistor for each resistor and the wattage type required. I am getting lazier now and so, I use this website by Rob Arnold: http://led.linear1.org/led.wiz

What I loved was that the online calculator is able to give you the circuit diagram and in some instances, the possibilities with alternative circuit designs too. Here is an example below where I want to connect 5 white LEDs to the USB power bank. So I put in my values as shown on the left. And out comes my answer, with the site telling me that they must be connected in parallel too. And for fun, if I give it 9volts as the source voltage, the LEDs would be connected in series and then parallel.
Source Voltage = Your power supply’s DC voltage
Diode Forward Voltage = The LED’s voltage
Diode Forward Current = The LEDs current (in mA)
As a Rule of Thumb, I would always use these as my guide:
Red LED : 1.8 volts, 20mA
Green/Yellow : 2.2 volts, 25mA
White/Blue/Pink : 3.5 volts, 20mA

Unfortunately, I only have 1/8 watt, 68 ohms resistor with me, which is still good. OK, so I gave the LEDs 25mA instead. Whoops.

Update: the above website is gone now. The closest I can think of would be this: https://ledcalculator.net/

Invest in those thin 7-core wires, which I just found out in some countries, were marketed as Kynex. They looked the same as those wire-wrapping wires but inside the core, there are 7 wires instead.

The LED propeller was an afterthought too since I discovered the removable plastic panel at the front of the Falke’s twin booms. This is also the same technique used by some modelers for lighting up their Star Trek Enterprise’s twin Bussards. But I have my own opinions.

Without any customized electronics, I resorted to using Flickering candle LEDs as these gave an almost random flicker (If you stare at it long enough, you can see the sequence repeating itself)

Do be careful when working with SMD LEDs as their solder pad/area is fragile and in some Datasheets, the recommended soldering time was 3 seconds or less (those were for the 3528’s but you get the idea)…

Lastly, do not ever work with SMD components when you have a hay fever.

TEST FITTING

Test-fit the model every time and make sure everything fits like it is supposed to.

Depending on the circumstances, the two fuselage halves might have slight warpage even when fresh out of the box and so, they might not close properly. For my case, I think this was mostly due to my modifications and less on the deformation of the model during its journey to me.

Do take note of their fragile alignment pins as well.

Of light leaks and stubborn fittings next… Oh, My!

009
Pkf.85 Falke
011
PISCEAN WORKS