Yes, folks, by now you would have heard the news about Revell Germany’s 2013 Sci-Fi model line up. Apart from the 1/30th scale X-Wing for Star Wars fans, there is the 2009 JJPrise, which (at that time) was expected to be released months after the movie and not those Playmates Toys or the nearly one foot long lit model from Qmx. So, years came and gone and there were nothing.
So, why was this news so relevant? Well, you see, I have the electronics boards ready.
Yes, you heard me. Ready. But there is a slight hitch because the board was designed for 1/350 ships hence the non-SMD components. Originally, it was intended as presents for some friends who got their 1/350 Polar Lights NCC-1701A Enterprise. But because the PCB manufacturer wanted a minimum quantity commitment, I ended up with more than I needed. Not only that, because there were a lot of space inside the chip, I programmed four different Navigation and Strobe sequences into it, each mode selectable via jumpers. Right now, this is the first module. Yes, module because they are designed to work independently or controlled from a main controller board. They modes in the chip are:
- NCC-1701A Star Trek:The Motion Picture
- NCC-1701A Star Trek VI:The Undiscovered Country
- NX-01 Star Trek:Enterprise, and
- NCC-1701 2009 Star Trek (aka JJPrise)
I wanted to sell them but the Battlestar Galactica Cylon Raider electronics was more ‘important’ and it was really a wonderful challenge because not only did it force me to think out of the box, it was also my first commercial product using SMD devices.
The whole module was designed to work out of the box and all you need to do is to connect it to a 9volt battery, plug in the CORRECT colour LEDs and well, select the mode you want. But because of limited resources and no marketing skills, it went KIV. And also, crimping and soldering those LEDs were a pain in the butt. So, maybe, I will release them as severely limited editions in the near future, once I have completed the following modules:
A. Photon Torpedoes (just need to output this to a test PCB and fine tune the programming)
B. Deflector Dish
C. Warp & Impluse Engines
D. Spotlights and Main controller board, and
E. Shield LEDs in base (maybe as in 3% maybe)
Anyway, here is an old video I made last year, before the Cylon Raider product. Its a bit blurry because the Nokia n8 has trouble focusing due to the shaking makeshift tripod thingy I used.
