The Pegasus is a massive beast when compared to the Galactica. Thanks to Bruce, we have a working copy. However the project stopped because the lighting part needs a lot of work. Plus, with most of my budget going to the fibre-optics and also the creation of the PCBs, I was quite exhausted since I do not know when my next meal is coming from.
This is also the time where I am starting to realise that going on this path is not the right choice. Time to get back on a real job and treat this as a mere hobby.
Pegasus 001
Today, we got the chance to meet up(thanks to Mr. Yep Hua Low of Hobby HQ) and see Bruce Toh‘s Pegasus from Moebius. As you can see, the Pegasus is very much bigger than the Galactica. It’s not easy to take a nice photo since the camera lens makes the view a bit distorted.
Trust me on this-When you hold the model in your hands, you can really feel its weight due and the sheer size.
Pegasus 002
Moebius has even included a brass rod for the model and for its sheer size and weight, you’d need it. Don’t worry about the empty holes as Bruce Toh did not take everything out from the runners.
So, you’re wondering, why is this so important that I must see it? Or rather, why am I needed to be there to see it? Simple.
We’re going to see if this can be lit. And after much studying, I must say, if we’re going to light it up, its not going to be a ‘plug & play’ anymore if were going to keep the cost down.
Pegasus 003
On the left is Kenny Gordvyn Mariapragasam (The President of SFTPMS which stands for Selangor & Federal Territory Plastic Modeling Society) and on the right is Bruce Toh. In the foreground, on the left, is the Cylon Centurion with its prototype lighting system and on the right, the Cylon Advanced Fighter with the Lighting System which can be bought only at Starship Modeler.
Both of them are studying the Pegasus and at the end of the day, there were a few solutions. However, this all depends on how much a potential customer is willing to pay for the set.
Pegasus 004
In the meantime, after studying the kit myself, there was one point which I wished was achievable:
To have the whole model kit to be produced in clear plastic.
Why I say this was because of the various ‘spots’ of lights seen all over the ship. So, you can do a lot of Raytheon effect on them. Personally, I do not like fibre-optics very much.
Or, how about the ‘floor’ for the two launch bays to be transparent?
Anyway, note the 4 ‘dimples’ at the entrance of the Landig Bays. These are the sets of RED/GREEN lights located on all eight entrances. Boy, this is going to be a bit of a pain if we’re going to get this right.
Pegasus 005
Failing that, I would like this middle ‘part’ between the two launch bays to be made transparent. It has the launch tube details molded in and with edge lighting, you can selectively light any tubes you desire.
Pegasus 006
OK, I would also like the two ‘roofs’ of the launch bays to be transparent too. If you look at the reference pictures on the Internet, the Pegasus’s lighting looked more like a bad light leak from a model. Ha ha ha ha!
Its just so hard to recreate that lighting mistake on purpose.
Pegasus 007
For the rest of the ship, the only solution would be to use fibre-optics if the clear parts are not possible. Anyway, there would be some extensive plastic removal on certain areas such as the entrance of the Landing Bays and the engines here.
Yes, you need to remove on of the plastic pillars for the LED to come through.
Pegasus 008
This are the only clear parts of the Pegasus model, which is actually the engine’s exhaust. Oh, and next to it is one of the Pegasus’s gun.
Anyway, stay in the loops folks, as in the next few day’s, once the decision is made, I will start the design process.
Pegasus 009
OK, the Beast is now officially on my Workbench, courtesy of Bruce Toh. I can now fully explore the kit and also given the permission to drill the h&ll out of it. And since its a Sunday, I should be having at least three hours to myself with her… Since my Wife won’t let me out of the house today.
Pegasus 010
This is how the twin launch bays are assembled, back to back.They are connected to three arms from the body.
Pegasus 011
I will definitely need to remove the blanking wall in the launch tubes if I am going to light up the bays.
If you want to know more about the Pegasus Landing Bays, go to gian-cursio,net.
Pegasus 012
Looking at the size comparison, the Pegasus Landing Bay is much larger than the Galactica. We actually were about to launch the lighting system for the Galactica last year but due to its size and thickness of some parts, our solution was just too costly. Anyway, I hope to get this prototype working soon. But I am hoping someone has the proper layout pattern for the landing strip. I mean, there should be a system on the landing strip telling the Pilot entering from both ends not to collide with each other, right?
Pegasus 013
The Raytheon Effect or Fiber-optic?
This is the problem posed to me when I was examining the Pegasus’s Landing bay today. The idea is to recreate the lighting effect of the Beast as seen on the TV where the spotlights, I believe, were mounted underneath the armour plates. If I were to use the Raytheon effect, I could almost achieve the lighting effect as seen on the TV series. All you have to do is to light proof the armour plates. But this would also mean that when you look through the landing bay, you would see a lot of unnecessary and exposed LEDs shining upwards. If I were to use the Fiber-optics, then not only would it solve the exposed LED problem, but it would not give me the effect I am looking for. All you see would be the lighted white spots in the model, which is not very convincing at all.
However, this would be very unfortunate but in the end, I am sure the Fiber-optics would be used instead.
Pegasus 014
Don’t mind me, I’m just designing the Engines…
Well, I have now decided to use Fiber-optics on the Beast for a lot of reasons. There already a lot of LEDs for this model and adding more would not help in prolonging the battery’s health. The main body of the Pegasus is generous enough for a circuit board with normal sized components and, I suspect, enough for the batteries too. That is a good idea but I cannot confirm this until I have made some progress on the prototype circuit and also, how it balances out in terms of weight load spreading. (I don’t even know what I am talking about here)
Pegasus 015
This the internal cavity of the Beast. The main reason why I opted for the Fiber-Optic route is because of the three pairs of shoulders which is hollow. So, you can insert the plastic Fiber-Optic strands through them (marked by Yellow Arrows). As the Beast is big, so are the spacing inside the three shoulders.
One thing I like about the Pegasus is that the fitting is very nice. For example, the ‘head’, which is attached to the body via some very basic and ingenious method. You’d think that it is actually part of the body halves.It fits tightly and does not flex. Unfortunately, I cannot show this to you yet as it would spoil the surprise when you first open the kit.
Coming back to the shoulders, they are actually locked in place via the rectangular stub (red circle). And the fit is quite good too. The internals of the Beast is both held and strengthened by a series of pillars which, when the two body halves are mated together, there are barely any gaps that I noticed (then again, I am looking at this from the secrecy of my bedroom).
Anyway, that’s all for now. As I am still planning on the circuit board design. Anyone knows of a good bulk Fibre-optic supplier?
Pegasus 016
Honestly, I think most of the Beast’s lighting will be lit from fiber-optics. Not only is it more cost effective, it would not suck so much power from the batteries. The other alternative would be to use the ‘Raytheon Effect’ which would mean a lot of LEDs and even more circuit boards (In theory, it could be about four more). But we’ll know this in three weeks time as I have placed an order for some.
The next part I am exploring is the pair of middle cavites located on the upper landing bays of the Beast. If you look at some shots on the Internet, there are about 8 (or maybe even 10 in some pictures) semi-oval rectangle lights mounted on the inner wall. On the model, parts 32 and 33 does have this but they’re way too big. There is one very clear picture located at bruce-domain.blogspot.com but now, the pictures are sadly lost, which is a shame.
Anyway, what you see in the picture consists to two parts; the inner wall (Parts #32 & #33) and the ‘floors'(Parts #34 & #35). I am more interested in the inner wall as that is where the lights will be. The mystery is on how to light it and also the nameplate if possible. Right now, I am thinking of recasting the part in clear but after some thoughts, I think putting three Fiber-Optics together per ‘light’ are still the better option. But this would also means there would be a lot of stuff to hide under the landing bay roofs. I am still open to both options as I cannot locate any good reference pictures out there…
Oh, hey, I think I placed parts #34 the wrong way round…
Pegasus 017
OK, its time for me to put my feet up and watch the Pegasus/Resurrection ship episodes. Its not easy to ‘talk’ to other people about this project since there is no response after the initial, ‘Huh?’ and also, its very difficult to keep the whole thing under the Radar (because no Forums have highlighted this FB Page as far as I know. Phew
). I think its safe to base the Landing Bay’s lighting sequence on these episodes until her Demise with a Cylon Basestar on Youtube. Then again, this is Season 2.5, the only nuBSG DVD copies I only have and the usual store does not have other Seasons or Razor episodes at all. Even my Office’s archives are empty…..
Pegasus 018
I got some Mori-Mori (or what I think its called) from ICW (Infinite Creation Workshop) last night. This is one of those ‘temporary’ mould for casting. Its cheap and not so dangerous. Raymond (rayloke) was kind enough to give me some of the clear casting resin for me to try.
OK. I’ll continue this as *ahem* someone needs to go shopping. But I won’t be going there as I will be in my usual haunt on the place which Starts with “H” and ends with a “Q”.
Pegasus 019
Using the Oyumaru is very simple. All you have to do is to put it into the boiling water and it will go soft. Then, you just take it out of the boiling water and press onto the part you want to mold. I have used the plastic granules before and just like those granules, its not hot to the touch. Since its a flat piece, I just lay the two parts facing upwards and then laid the Oyumaru on top and pressed them. But not too hard or it will go through the Oyumaru and create a hole instead. As these are reusable, I did not place the mold on top of any silicon or plaster bath to create a solid mold. I’ll just have to take my chances.
Raymond of ICW (Infinite Creation Workshop) said that the mixture of the hardened to resin is 1:3. Also, its by weight and not volume. Unfortunately, the only scale in the house was not that sensitive. So, I’ll just have to wing it.
Pegasus 020
Here is the shot of the mold after I let the Oyumaru cool down which I did by splashing cold water over it. The imprinted details of the Pegasus’s Landing Bay External Sidewall from the mold is quite good but alas, because I chose the White Oyumaru, it is not easy to see what I am talking about. Next time, I am going to try with other colours instead.
You can find a lot of examples example on how to use Oyumaru from YouTube. I did not use metal utensils to lift them up from the boiling water. However, the plastic granules I used before, did stick to metal when melted.
Pegasus 021
When the two parts of the clear resin has been mixed, it has the consistency of… milk or moderately thinned syrup. So, when I poured the resin onto the Oyumaru Mold, it flowed quite nicely. I did a sweep on the molds to let the extra resin flow out. As a precaution, I left a few drops/puddles as test indicator. So, at room temperature, it should be OK in 10 hours… And that is what is written on the label (in Chinese where I had to get my Wife to translate it). The resin mixture initially was a bit warm but not too warm as to heat up and melt the Oyumaru mold.
Pegasus 022
Almost seven hours and its a bit hard now. The test puddle reacted to my fingernail and so, its not ready yet. I was out today and so, no one was there to stir the bubbles away… I think I’ll just leave it overnight. Amazingly, its still clear and I just hope it has some UV resistant properties to prevent it from turning brown too quickly. In Malaysia, because of the temperature and 80 plus humidity, things eventually turn brown or go sticky.
Pegasus 023
The Beast is going to be very heavy, even before the after-market parts are installed. This much I can tell you. As I have mentioned before, the two halves fit in so nicely that you can hardly see any gaps in the seams. The spaces within the ‘Head’ and the rear is quite huge and so, I do not really need to scratch my head on space limitations.
However, I have chosen to put the circuit board at the rear since at the ‘Head’ (although it has a lot of space but half the height), there might be some complications where Fibre-optic strands are concerned.
Pegasus 024
This is the basic lighting design for the Pegasus. The main problem for me is the lighting sequence of the four landing bays. I would be very grateful if you could supply me with information on the sequence of the lights. Is it running? Or maybe I should make it static as what can be seen on the ZOIC files.
Pegasus 025
Sorry I’ve been busy for the past few days. Not only has my trusty 11-year old Notebook went bye-bye, I am now trying to scrape some money to get a replacement. Without it, I am dead in the water since I cannot program any chips for both the Viper and the Pegasus prototype.
In the meantime, here is the result of the clear resin casting from the Oyumaru which was done last week. Its more than two days old and the reproduction is perfect! There is some problem with the edges as you can see from the top of the photo as I forgot to cut some tiny flash off the original…
Pegasus 026
Here is a clearer shot of the casting. As you can see, its quite detailed. The only problem is that its still quite… flex-y.
I think I shall leave it on the window for some UV testing…
Pegasus 027
Just a light test on the clear resin. What I am trying to achieve here is the to use the ‘Raytheon Effect’ for the nameplate and also, trying to light up the clear part at the same time. Oh, don’t mind the red light as it came from my DIY LED tester.
Frankly, the test is a failure. So, its back to Fibre-optics and no lighted nameplate. There is another reason, which is due to the kit’s construction but I do not want to reveal this at the moment.
Pegasus 028
This is the basic core design for the Pegasus’s Circuit Board and with all the measurements and dimensions ready, I am ready to put to the software.
What is most important here is the size of the board which, I can see, will change very often. The bigger the board, the more expensive it is to mass produce. And, well, never mind.
Pegasus 029
Lovely surprise waiting for me today. The Fibre-optics I have ordered from TheFibreOpticStore.com have arrived. I have a very good impression from them as not only did they packed the FO well, they also gave a few samples of other FO in their store, so, this is great because I can experiment with the various FO diameters. I have ordered about 75 feet of FO and they really packed it well. Although I have not calculated the ‘points’ of lights on the Beast, 75 feet might not be enough after all.
For example, each point of light takes about an average of say, 10 inches. And say, there are maybe, 240 (OK, I gave up counting by 190+ odd and it was only the top and sides…).
So, 10 inches by 240 equals 2,400 inches, which is… Oh, frakk… 200feet…
Pegasus 030
The second package which came was actually a sort of a ‘temporary’ replacement for the old parallel port microprocessor chip programmer which I have been using since for more than a decade. This one is actually USB which, in theory, should be able to pick up the slack in my progress. I have not tested it as my daytime job is crawling all over me at the moment. I got this from PICCircuit .For the time being I might have to migrate all my work and its files to the remaining Notebook.
I mean, even a decent PC costs about USD500 to 600. However, I cannot spend anything more than USD30 for such ’emergencies’ since I need all the available budget for the Beast’s R&D plus its production.
So, anyone has a spare Mini-ITX or a Micro-ATX PC? eh? eh?
Pegasus 031
The Beast has a pair Landing Bays on each side which is a bit of a problem for me. The reason is that there are lights located on the exit of some launch bays. And so, feeling a little bit OCD today, I decided to allow lighting for them. So, I really hope someone will do a set of photo-etch to cover the inner walls to hide all the FO and wiring….
The only question is whether to use LED or FO. But we all know the answer by now, don’t we?
Pegasus 032
OK, here is the next problem I am facing. Things are getting a real bit slow as I am trying to get things back on track and also, things with the Family suddenly just got very worse. Hope they still remember me as Dad in months to come.
Coming back to the problem, the ‘floor’ of the Landing bay is quite thick, nearly thick as a Circuit board. And in order to use the LEDs in there, I have four choices. From left is the 0603 which I used for the Cylon Raider, the 0805 which was used on the Cylon Centurion Prototype and the round expensive @#% one has wings. Looking at the height of each LED, you can agree with me that the itty bitty 0603 is definitely out. Heck it was so small, I lost one when I trying to arrange them for this shot.
Oh, and the fourth solution? I need to search the Internet for this which means, another three weeks for delivery.
Pegasus 033
Mounting the LEDs onto the ‘flooring’ of each bay is a challenge. The issue is that the LEDs needs to sit flush with the floor and also, does not jut out on the other side. Just for the upper Landing Bay alone, there is about 40 LEDs in there.
In the image above, I have placed two types of LEDs in there. The squarish 0805 sinks slightly but when you solder it from the other side, they will just out about 0.5mm or so. Then you would be seeing 10 pairs of the LED’s undersides on both sides of the PCB. The round LED on the other hand, has a much flatter undersides and can be part of the model’s detail. The only problem is, these LEDs are from OSRAM alone and I could not get them from anywhere else. And the Pegasus would need about an insane 80 LEDs.
And they would need to match the decals of the landing strips, which must be put over a masking template of say, a positive film. This will give the pin=point tiny running lights and not a giant 3mm circles. This will be very apparent when dealing with the lower Landing Bay.
2022 Update: I had to re-write the paragraph as I can’t even understand what I posted so long ago. The language was quite rushed and assumed the reader knew what I was talking about.
Pegasus 034
With all three LEDs tested on the plastic part, I think I am going to go with the 0805 LED. The round LED is a great solution but its big, expensive and well, just doing the landing bays, the LED count can escalate very quickly. However, I would also need to locate a PCB manufacturer who is willing to make those square holes. I have to assume here since rounded holes are easier to make and therefore cost effective since mine would be less than many MOQ (Minimum Order Quantity)
Yes, its going to be another untried method, just like the Cylon Raider. The risk is big and if this one fails….
Dear God, I can’t even fathom the consequences – Skies will fall, cars will crash, Thunder will boom, Families with slap each other and so on. You get the drift.
Pegasus 035
OK, I got the template printed out. But I am not sure if its the printer’s error as there is a slight difference in size and all. Also, I am starting to worry because of the LED’s running light sequence. I have asked a few questions in the Forums but no one can give me a reply. Not even my friends. Shall I stop this project completely?
Seems like a waste of time now and I hate going into the unknown by myself.
Hello, Mr. Gecko. Are you happy to see me after so many months? I am happy to see you too.
You look happy don’t you, huh, don’t you?
Yes, you look happy wappy, Mr. Gecko.
Someone made a PE set for you to dress up and now, yes, I am happy too. Because I am going to add more LEDs to your head…
Pegasus 037
Finally, after more than a week, I have received Paul Bodensiek‘s (aka Paragrafix) photo-etch set for the 1/4105 Moebius Battlestar Pegasus. Bear in mind, he is selling them as three items; the Flight deck or Landing Bay, The Exterior plates and lastly, the set of Registry Decals. You can buy all three sets or any one of the three depending on the level of detail you wish to put on your soon-to-arrive Pegasus.
Personally, if you ask me, I would not hesitate to get all three of his Pegasus PE sets. The quality of his frets are second to none and for a very reasonable price too.
Pegasus 038
What I am more interested is in the Landing bay PE Fret. Form the above shot, you’re actually looking at the roof of each Flight deck. Now, let me explain why this Lighting system would be coming out late.
Initially, I wanted to get this out of the door in February but because there was a idea of making our system more ‘friendly’ to other professional solutions, we have to wait for them to get their kits out so that I can use their sample to make sure our system fits. So, now, with Paul Bodensiek‘s PE set in my hands, I will have to make sure that my lights matches his design. And what with Bruce Toh opening his Pegasus tonight, I will need the Flight deck decals as well…
Pegasus 039
By now, everyone all over the World would have ordered their Pegasus from Starship Modeler or from their own Hobby Shops. So, no more blurred photos or weird shot games from now on.
I just wanted to share with you about an idea I got from looking over the model last night. As I was pretty much on high gear which spilled over from work. And so, this idea hit me and now, I now know where to put the control circuit board.
Pegasus 040
Here is another shot. Originally, I wanted to place the circuit board at the rear end of the model to sort of balance the electronics in the forehead and also the possible resin castings that will be sold later. So, naturally, the rear end was the most logical place. However, the sample that we had, did not have the metal rod. It did not occur to me that BS-75’s metal rod was the same. So now, I will have to find my model and see if this is true.
For a model so big, its quite obvious now why the rod needs to be solid, due to the possible weight of plastics, photo-etchings resins and electronics.
Pegasus 041: Fibre’s good for you.
Just got this a few hours ago, and for 100metres, its surprisingly small and not the 1m x1m x1m container I envisaged. Still, this whole bundle is very close too 600 smackeroos. And also, the whole box stinks of PVC chemicals.
Anyway, there are 25x 0.75mm fibre-optic strands in there and looks like the inner diameter is about 5mm-ish. Great isn’t it?
Initially, the guy said the spec was 7 strands instead of the 25 strands which worried me. But now, everything is alright. And it made my day!
Once I get home, its going to undergo a few light tests….
Pegasus 42: FO Test.
I am not sure why but when I plugged in a LED onto one end of the roll and lit it, the other end did not light up. Maybe they cut the fibre in the middle or worse, the brightness fell after a certain distance. Then again, we’re not going to put Kilometres of FO into Mr. Gecko. So, I cut about 10 inches from it and tested it again.
So far so good. There are about 25 0.75 FO strands in one PVC sheath and yes, you can just force the other end of the PVC into the LED which fits like a glove.
I am happy. I can go to sleep now…
Pegasus 043: Would Sir prefer the 0603 or the 0805?
OK, here is my dilemma. I am very busy with work and just this one night, I am able to sit down and continue with my design before going outstation for days tomorrow.
What you see here is Paul Bodensiek‘s wonderful Photo Etch for the Pegasus and tonight, I am going to re-design the lighting for the roof, no thanks to a crapped out HDD. The two little dimples are the LEDs. The smaller one is the 0603 with an average height of 0.55mm is ideal. I used this for the Robot Raider but here, I am afraid that it might go through one of the slots and short the whole circuit. The bigger 0805 is much better but it has a height of 0.8mm which means, it might interfere with the Photo-etch. Paul did mention long ago that I had about 1.6mm clearance and so, either way, I would need to use a 0.8mm PCB.
This means I would need to engage a different PCB manufacturer since my normal source uses the standard 1.6mm. The next problem is, should I design them to fit only the Pegasus or to accommodate the Galactica as well? Hmmm….
Pegasus 044
Its amazing how one can get some work done when the Guests have gone and the kids taking their afternoon nap. These are the test designs for the inner landing bay lights, which I am hoping to get the one shop to prototype my design next week.
OK, have to stop here now, since Boss called to see about video streaming…
Pegasus 045
OK, I am going to be out of town for a few days and if I am lucky, I might be able to make it back by Saturday. If I am lucky.
This is just a test of the alignment of the lighting for the Landing Bay. I am picking up where I left it months ago and its very difficult for me as I did not keep any notes about this very important piece except in the HDD. I am a little worried about the holes near the side door where the Raptors are usually located. This is because I do not want to drill the holes too further in until they get blocked by the Viper launch tubes. And I do not want to drill them too further out until it affects Paul Bodensiek‘s PE set.
On another note, you can see that I have drilled the first and only hole in there. Its not easy to drill them by hand since not only is it tiring but the drill bits feels very fragile on a manual drill. I suppose I could get on of those Tamiya battery drills but its freakingly expensive and also, I don’t think I am going to wait for weeks to get them shipped. Perhaps at this stage, it is better for me to abandon the Fibre-optic idea completely. What do you think?
Pegasus 046
I just collected the prototype PCB today, on the way home after being out of town for four days. It was to be five or even more but on the last task, there was nothing I could do. Man, I’m tired from all those driving! It’s also nice that on every Hotel, I could plug in my Media Player and let Star Trek Voyager episodes play me to sleep. But I end up experiencing insomnia as each episodes were very exciting.
Anyway, on the first day of the trip, the shop called me up and said the prototype PCBs are ready. Since I cannot wait to see the PCB, this kinda makes my trip tedious and boring. Anyway, now that I got them in my hands, I am thrilled to start them. However, I need my beauty sleep now and later, I’ll clean them up and solder them before I can do any testing.
Pegasus 047
OK, just a quick one before I go out with the Family for dinner. This is the prototype lighting for the Beast’s landing Bays. The prototype is quick thick and so, it affects Paragrafx’s PE set. Yes, not having a proper PE bender also affects the bending a bit. But yeah, the lighting looks good, don’t you think?
I’ll have a closer look after dinner and sigh, yes, I will need to go to another PCB manufacturer. It’ll be more expensive but they will get this roof design done!
Pegasus 048
Its taking ages for the rotary tool to charge up its batteries and now, its almost midnight. That’s the price you pay when you do not have enough cash to get what you needed. So, you had to make do with what you have and work around its shortfalls.
Anyway, there is nothing much I can do so, I’ll just show you the lit Landing by from another angle. I just love how the walls look. I am tempted to turn the LEDs into spots so that the floor would have circles of lights but nah. Don’t worry if the PE set looks bent to you, this is because I am forcing the prototype into it. Yeah, I need to get a proper PE bender as there are some limits what rulers and scrap circuit boards can do.
By now, most of you would have or will be, asking this question, “Who is doing the decals of the whole floor, especially the long strip?”. The answer is, I don’t know either. Either way, this is going to be a problem for me when the lighting system is ready.
Pegasus 049: Flying into the Bays head-on…
OK, so the batteries to my rotary is not keeping charge. I had to grind, charge, grind, charge, etc. before I more or less got a clean surface to the inner sides of the two landing bays.
So, I can say for now, that the ceiling lights are done. Its not very bright to me because I think the 9volt battery is going flat soon since it was very difficult to take macro shots on such a tight area/opening and it took longer than I thought. Once I have designed the other two boards, I can put in the fibre-optics.
Comments, please.
Pegasus 050: Launch the frakkin Viper already!
Wife just injected some cash for me last night to get this done. This is a single fibre-optic test which I drilled the holes through the board. The FO was placed more or less just in front of one of the twenty four Viper launch tubes.
I have sanded the two ends of the FO which means the lights are diffused. Tomorrow, I think I will try with one end being heated up to form a mushroom head. This indirectly would stop the FO from being pulled inside and also, become some sort of lens. Anyway, I have to stop here since battery operated my rotary tool needs recharging again.
Note the lights are leaking from the FO so, you might need to give it a coat of black to make it more dim. Somehow, I think I might need to tone the brightness down a little…
Pegasus 051:Piloting in the Haze, or
“Off all the plastic pillars in the model kits, you have to crash into this one.”
OK, due to the Haze and all, this should be the last post for the day although its lunch time. I thought I could wing it with the mask but I really am getting dizzy from breathing the smoky air since nine this morning. And my work table is at the back of the house where it really needs ventilation.
I was planning to light up the Landing Bay today and also work on the Mk.IX Tricorder but sadly, these will have to wait…
Pegasus 052: The power of a 5mm LED
Yep, its not bright enough but more or less the kind of dim I am looking for. These are the FO strands which I pushed through and if you look at them, there is no difference between sanded ends and flat tops (OK, so I screwed up on the mushroom heads and I flattened them with a soldering iron instead). And the lights come from one single 5mm LED.
Also, there is a slight problem where the Raptor hangar is concerned. The holes for the FO is actually underneath the two pieces that makes the Raptor Hangar. I can push the holes back a little but this would affect Paul Bodensiek‘s PE set a smidgen. So, you guys might need to shave off some plastics in the end…
Pegasus 053: The power of a 1 Watt LED
Whoa… its so bright that well, its too bright and not only that, you notice that some of the lit area are dim and some are brighter. This is because of the narrow viewing angle of the 1 watt LED. No, I don’t think I am going to put this in. No, sir.
But the more I go into this design, I must tell you that there is a very bad news. This lighting system, when (or if) it comes out, cannot stand by itself. You WILL need Paul Bodensiek‘s PE set, moreso when you decide to do the Landing Bay. Really, I am quite serious about it.
Pegasus 054: Its so bright, we’re gonna crash!
OH-oh, the landing bay LEDS are too bright. Maybe I have to really use some programming to dim it. In this case, there will be some flickering which as Bruce Toh would say, looks good for a ship that scale…
But on a technical issue, Paul Bodensiek‘s PE set still fits with all those FO inside. You can see his PE set being reflected on the floor of the LAnding Bay. Its just a matter of time when my ceiling lights PCB comes back, I’ll test the whole thing. Its going to be very cramped in there because I still have not added the FO spots on the outer hull.
Anyway, once I design the light blocking template for the floor, it should patch things up. Unless JT-Graphics’s decals does not stick on paper…
Pegasus 056
Something nice just came in for me on Monday. And this is the first time I have seen my package vacuum-packed. Its so tight in there, you can even see the shape of the tape that is holding the items inside.
Pegasus 056
Yep, its something I have been waiting for. Since the design requires them to be very thin, I had no choice but to engage a local PCB manufacturing company. For the price I am paying for, its actually value for money (although I have to eat bread & water for some months). They are very Professional and after a few guidance on the design, I paid them and they did what I wanted them to do and it was actually done within the stipulated time.
They have also designed the boards in such a way that I can easily solder the components there and then, sort of like an assembly jig. And when I need to pack them, I just snap them off.
For those who are not sure, the normal thickness of a PCB board is 1.6mm, this one is half of that.
Pegasus 057
So, do you know which part of these PCBs are meant for? Have a good guess…
Some of you would be happy that, yes, I am starting production but in a very slow manner. I wished it could be faster but you know my problem by now. Just hang in there.
Pegasus 058
OK, so now Paul Bodensiek‘s PE set looks more convincing but I think I will need to use a different LED as you can still see that the PE part is not very happy sitting there like that.
Also, I am redesigning the Landing Bay with some slight modifications after some discussion with Bruce Toh today. The Pegasus Lighting System will now fully support Paragrafix’s PE set. It will be very difficult if you got this lighting system without the PE set. Really.
Pegasus 059: There. Are. Nine. Boards!
The more I think about it, the more the main circuit board needs to be relocated to the front of the head. It will offset the balance of the model but then, to me, at this time, seemed to be logical unless I want to increase the number of circuit boards from nine to ten. Here is my argument.
The main reason why I need to do this is so that I can put in the LEDs to light up the trench and using holt-melts and individual LEDs would not do the trick. So, why not out them into a cicuit board where it can be ‘positioned’ as one sees fit? Oh, you might either need to trim down the trench walls or cut holes in them to let the light out even more. This means that the main controller board does two jobs; light up the trench and also controls the whole model’s lighting. It would be a shame to just create another board just for the LEDs. I could also use those LED strips but this would also mean upping the lighting system’s voltage to 12 volts, something which I am not too comfortable with.
What do you think?
Pegasus 060: What the frakk…
OK, I am tired. Really tired.
I just realised that I have wasted four hours trying to figure out why the latest Landing Bay template did not fit even after I had made a lot of adjustments. Yep, I had picked out version #18 instead of today’s which when no one was looking, I had it printed out and kept at the bottom of my pile of papers.
And after cutting out the correct piece, I am scared as Hell. The fit of the front triangles are still eluding me. But I will get it done by the end of this month as I have calculated that I should have a bit more cash to go for another round of prototyping after settling all our bills before our Family Trip.
Yeah, I just can’t wait to get the main board up. This Landing bay is taking too much of my time. It should have been completed in April or there. And now, I have a lot of back-logs. Damn. And to be honest, the pressure from my day-job is not helping at all either. Double damn.
27082014 Pegasus 061
Well, well. Just as I was looking for some stuff, the Pegasus box was in front of me and so, just for sentimental sake.
This is the ParaGrafix Modeling SystemsPhotoetch part for the Pegasus with one part of my LED circuit board. Right now, I am slowly trying to raise some cash to get those expensive LEDs so I can complete the landing bay prototype assembly.
