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Im more the model maker and painter, but this will boost my GK's to over 4000 pts, id like to play more, but i tend not to take the game very seriously

Very cool, can't wait to see the end product, *subscribed*

EDIT: becasue I can't spell

when i attach and pin the wings on, ill have flashing navigsation light, a cheap little kit from Maplins and it works perfectly

Where are you locating the Nav Lights? Also, I think the landing lights are wicked perfect. I think on Electro-Hawk II I will do landing and Nav lights. Hopefully by then I will have the EL Wire stuff down and can do a really good Turbo Laser destructor effect.... Is the red light below your cannon the only weapon light? or are you gonna do the barrel end

If i were to light the gun barrel up, i would have to drill the laser barrel out, the resin on the top part of the body is very thick, almost top heavy. so to avoid any mess and hassle, the gun is powered down, When the body is painted the bright red will be a lot less bright .

Makes sense, I am having bleed through problems with the LED's in the Plasti-card, too, but I imagine worse than with the Resin. Hopefully the layers of armor will cut it down enough that the paint job will finish off the bleed.

I am considering buying a FW T-hawk just to do this......

The resin is not too bad, its quite dense. The gunship is a pain of a model, triming sanding, heat bending a lot of the parts to fit. but its worth it.

I am considering the internal details, servitors carrying out maintainance, and maybe a onboard toilet, or a big flat screen for movies.

cjharrisman wrote: or a big flat screen for movies.

Dude, rip apart an old smart phone and put the screen in the bird with a movie playing or a DakkaDakka page up for viewing....LOL

I like that idea. lol

That looks ace! I did think about doing LEDs but didnt have the balls

Big rep to you sir

Its really not that hard to do LEDs, as long as you use a low enough voltage, say a 9 volt source or AA batteries, and resistors on all of the LEDs, you wont have a a build up of heat and a melted model.

This is actually my second thunderhawk, the first one was affectionally called the Flaming Thunderhawk of Death, which is exactly what happened to it,

12v battery, 12v LEDs and a lot of wires inside a cardboard model...... :-(

You had me at "LEDs". Thunderhawk is wonderful by itself. Looking forward to seeing this finished, I like where it's started!

I need to do some clever drilling to fit the wires from the wings to the body and also pin the wings on,

Oh if anyone is thinking of buying this kit, you must pin the wing to the body as there is little room for the wing to sit on the body, i am going to drive a steel bar from one wing, through the body and into the other wing.

thanks for all of your support on this, its nice to see that my work is liked.

I have completed the first wing, took ages of drilling holes for the wires to go from the wing to the body.

The last pic is the rats nest of wires which will be neatly hidden in the back

Holy sweetness batman!

Hey, just wanted to ask.
have you seen this stuff that photographers use. its a spray that masks light sources so that they are more diffuse. It will help make those LED a little less pinpoint and spread the light a little bit. I cAnt tell from your pics wether or not you are using something like that, but one of our locals has a FW titan that looks like a christmas tree because the LED are just too pinpoint bright.

one thing i like to do is sand the LEDs with some wet and dry paper, it diffuses the light and also helps them stick, but cheers for the hint too

This just might be the most impressive lighting project I've ever seen on a model ostensibly made for wargaming. Looking forward to continued updates!

I am always putting LEDs into models of all sizes and shapes. the best was my scorpion landraider.
I was wondering if anyone would be interested if i were to put a how to guide on how i do my LEDs?

cjharrisman wrote:I am always putting LEDs into models of all sizes and shapes. the best was my scorpion landraider.
I was wondering if anyone would be interested if i were to put a how to guide on how i do my LEDs?

Yes, I'm mostly interested in the spec's on how to set up ones own system, ie, how to properly calculate LED's and resistance along with power connections.

My dad is an electrician, and he made something which to meas so incredibly difficult look so impressivly easy. I only use 3v LEDs, as they take a small amount of charge and are really cheap.

If your from the UK, do not buy from Maplins, I get them off ebay, There are several bits of kit you need, A multimeter , a good soldering iron one which is temperature controlled , not one of the plug in yellow ones as they are only good for burning yourself, a natural sponge, not a kitchen sponge as they melt. a pair of the helping hands.

When i am done with the thunderhawk, ill write a nice how to guide, although i am not an expert at all, just a model maker with a passion for burning things, the first thunderhawk i built i set fire to.

I have learnt all of this through trial and error and more errors. If you buy a copy of Electronics for dummies, you will spend half the book reading about Ohms Law and electronic thoery. This is all very useful if your building a robot or an atomic bomb, but if your just wanting to put a few leds into models then a little guide would be a good use.

Thanks for all of your coments, im happy to see my work is appreciated.

I think that I will be reading that guide, CJ. Over and over and over and over and over again......

Another update before i head to bed, I am going in for surgery tomorrow so i might not be able to update for a few days.

Now that wing number 2 is on, and all of the leds are tested and fitted, i can now get to the interesting bit of tying off all of the wires into bunches so its all nice and neat and not looking like some mad puzzel. The flasher unit is going in last with a switch on the battery lead, so all of the wires are now in, lighting is all fiteed, then its down to detailing it, then painting.

this is turning out to be a bigger project than i thought.

Cheers

I have learnt all of this through trial and error and more errors. If you buy a copy of Electronics for dummies, you will spend half the book reading about Ohms Law and electronic thoery. This is all very useful if your building a robot or an atomic bomb, but if your just wanting to put a few leds into models then a little guide would be a good use.

Totally, I'm a technician and studying electronic theory is completely different than application. Hope surgery is well. Cheers.

Amazing work, look forward to seing it lit up in all it's glory.

Hi all, im back from hospital, my operation went very well, i now have a fixed shoulder, the miracles of keyhole surgery.

Ill be back on the Thunderhawk in a couple of days so ill keep you al posted.

Chhers

Oh i lied about the update, here is more thunderhawky goodness. and now i have finally got the wing engines running..

You should wire in a couple of rumble motors for the hum and vibration effect.....

Woah, dude! That's a very cool build. The lighting looks fantastic. I'm sure it will be an awesome piece once it's finished.

next after the lighting is finally done, ill be detailing inside it, extra details such as weapon racks, hand rails, all sorts of fun. Maybe even a small chapel.