Forum adverts like this one are shown to any user who is not logged in. Join us by filling out a tiny 3 field form and you will get your own, free, dakka user account which gives a good range of benefits to you: No adverts like this in the forums anymore. Times and dates in your local timezone. Full tracking of what you have read so you can skip to your first unread post, easily see what has changed since you last logged in, and easily see what is new at a glance. Email notifications for threads you want to watch closely. Being a part of the oldest wargaming community on the net. If you are already a member then feel free to login now.

I'd go with the right.

Liking what you're coming up with for the lighting so far The terminal idea for connections is a good one, once painted they fit right in. For removability I think OMN has the right idea with metal contacts between pieces, seems like the 'easiest' solution.

The warm light does look more fitting for a cathedral look


Oh...and, no, WIP shots are never boring, I'm always interested in seeing the process, plus it shows progress, and that's a big thing in a project of this scope

Stormwall wrote:I'd go with the right.

monkeytroll wrote:Liking what you're coming up with for the lighting so far The terminal idea for connections is a good one, once painted they fit right in. For removability I think OMN has the right idea with metal contacts between pieces, seems like the 'easiest' solution.
The warm light does look more fitting for a cathedral look
Oh...and, no, WIP shots are never boring, I'm always interested in seeing the process, plus it shows progress, and that's a big thing in a project of this scope

Cheers both - on the subject of the light, I'm torn: I think it'll come down to having to paint the full interior and then try it with both before making a final decision: once I've settled on the design, construction of the ceiling housing will be quite easy (ha) - the wiring beneath, not quite so

The idea will be that the floor/ceiling plates will be glued in place so as to give structural stability to the tower, but I might leave the trunking on the walls removable so that I can more easily connect up the wires to the ceiling lights and up into the next floor - again, more experimentation will need to be done before I draw any firm conclusions.

And while I'm grateful for the encouraging feedback MT, I do still wonder whether the updates are of interest to most. It always seems to me that progress is so bloody slow that you're all bored rigid by seeing not very much, but I want to try and document the process as much as I can a) to remind me how to do it all in case everything goes up in flames b) so that others can (if you want) use some of what I'm doing for your own projects and c) so I can get useful feedback...

Mind you, I also wish I could turn my brain off - as it just came up with this possible idea for more internal lighting:

Quiet how I could pull this off is a totally different matter...

Dude this project has been amazing since the start, don't you dare stop the updates!

You could just use one resistor in one line but it has to be more watts (and a different value off course) to dissipate the heat

I think the lighting is coming along very well. We need updates so we can see what your doing, its nice makes the blog more interactive so people can leave ideas/help.

I thought you was mad when you started this project now I am convinced

Well how you are going to match all this in is beyond me but i take my hat off to you for your persistence, can you not add some kind of decorative covers to the connectors ?

Boring never mind boggling totally all though I dont always post I always intrigued by your updates, plus all information helps someone so its all good

Since your cathedral is battle-damaged, maybe just leaving exposed wires dangling in certain places would actually add to the effect instead of take away from it? Maybe add a broken pipe or two sticking to from the wall to add to the "guts of the building are hanging out" effect.

Sorry for the late replies but finding time to work on the build and update the log is a bugger at the moment. Roll on two weeks time when I've got a week off, and can throw myself at it 100%! In the meantime...

@master of asgard: thanks, and ok I won't!
@ Jehan-reznor: I could try different wattage, or voltage, or stuff, but frankly my poor non-mathematical or physics liking brain can nearly cope with what I've got at the moment, so I think I'll just stick with making do... :(
@GiraffeX: glad you think so. Feedback, positive or critical is always welcome (although I do cry a little inside at anything negative lol)
@lone dirty dog: I've been convinced a lot longer than before starting all this! As for the decorative covers, see more boggling below...
@SisterSydney: I may go the exposed route, but it'll have to look good otherwise it'll just jar with me. Once I get to that part of the build I'll see - maybe put some pics up for comment. I'm also itching to get on with the crater area of the broken side, as I gave some ideas about how I can incorporate more 'realism' to the damage there - but I'll need thicker boards first...

 OneManNoodles wrote:
Pegs / plugs?

defo the way I'm now thinking of going, especially for removable areas. Yesterday went out and bought some brass rod that fits the size of the terminal blocks snuggly, so what I'll eventually do is get thicker base boards, then lay the wires into it, cover them with the movement tray vase plates but leave contacts sticking out that will then fit neatly into the terminal blocks on the lower floor. Then just wire up everything above....

So anyway, here's what I was working in yesterday: lighting the front balcony section:

Obviously the final result won't be in total darkness, but it's a cool look

What's more fiddly is the cover up job to hid everything:

(Again, I still need to install and finish covering up the lower light, but hopefully you get the idea!

With a few bits removed you can see how everything links together:


And a close up of the main housing. Frankly it's ridiculous the amount of tiny, fiddly little pieces that needed to be cut up and glued to get to this stage, and I've not even riveted it yet!


The whole frontage will now be removable, but with the terminal plug idea from OneManNoodles above should mean I can get this lit!

When it comes to electrics for models try model railways books for help I have a couple from the old man which are full of info, they seem to have a long history behind them so have either had or dealt with issues and offer some great ideas and answers.

The top picture is very atmospheric by the way even without the finished paint job, also have you tried to find smaller connectors ?

Are you going to try and use conducting plugs to complete the wiring circuits and hold the pieces together? I personally don't think that would be a good idea, unless it is really secure, like screwed on secure.
Of course then you have to worry about lining things up properly too which can be frustrating if you are not paying attention.

I'll also point out that screwing in wire in confined places is also a huge pain.

Depending on just what you want to do; try Rapid and Maplin, both sites are easy to get around though the range is limited you may find what you are after,
There is also RS and Farnell but it depends on how much you know what you are after and how much time you are willing to spend searching.

Make sure your brass pegs & holes are perfectly aligned.

Have you thought about copper strip on the top & bottom of levels to act as a contact?

Yes the updates are interesting and useful. and not just for the "I'm glad I'm not making that" reason

And do continue to wire it up, if you plan it properly it'll work fine, it's a hell of a lot easier to fix something at the start and while planning than when you are half way through.

I like how you're hiding the wires and stuff really well.

@ jabbakahut - Thanks jabba - there's plenty more that'll need hiding by the time I'm done!

@lone dirty dog - Yeah, I've been scouring the interweb for info, lots on trains etc - my main issue is that I'm really, really REALLY not good when it comes to maffs 'n stuff - so I'm trying as much as possible to keep things 'simple'. As for smaller connectors - these are pretty much the smallest I've found, and as I now have half a gazillion of them, there the ones I'm using!!

@ OneManNoodles - the plan is to only use conducting plugs at the very base of the walls - I'll be running wire up from them into the floor above's connector, and then repeating each level. Hopefully the way I'm designing the circuits, and where the connectors are, I'll be able to get things screwed in... Fingers crossed... The number of design plans I've worked through it better bloody work at the end of it! I'll check out the sites you mentioned too, cheers for those.

Hopefully by the end of the evening I'll have completed the housing for the lower light...



Automatically Appended Next Post:
Done, for a given value of doneness... Just need to paint it all and glue it together.. And do the pins in the base to power it...

Soooo.... It's been a while since my last post, so better update you on where I'm at. I'm sure many of you will have seen on various Facebook groups that I've been updating there recently, so some of the below will be a little repatious, so apologies in advance if you've seen these pics before. For anyone that hasn't - am now very close to finishing the entrance/balcony:


Should have he rest done and all glued up by the end of the week. Alongside that I've finally gotten round to constructing the first of the main tower lighting rigs:


Along with my first foray into the world of soldering for over 20 years - could be neater, but it does the job...


In order to prevent getting paint on the LEDs chose to paint the rig separately first:


And then finish the rest once it was (carefully) glued in place:


Which is all rather pointless given that once it's in place no one will ever be able to see any of it...

(Obviously I still need to trim the training cables once I've sorted out the connectors to the floor - there'll be another update at some point detailing that, I'm sure...)

So that's that side done - now need to get cracking on the top:

This will be fun. Not. By my calculations, that's a total of 244 individual tiles, or 976 sides that need edge highlighting....

^ you are a martyr to the cause sir Astounding work, as always.

Man...mindblown!

Keep it going Phutarf awesome stuff as usual

Looking really awesome man. The wire coverings were definitely worth it. I hope you'll be doing lots of battle reports and photo shoots with this thing once it's finished!

That looks really cool. Have you considered that if you put some little resistors in to your circuits, you can make the lights flicker. Capacitors will make them blink. Both can allow you to add some additional dramatics to your lighting.

Entrance is almost done? Time to add some more stuff to the design then

Great going, looks fantastic

Looking great Phutarf!

Awesome dude.

Thanks for the pics and the inspiration

And then for making me want to try adding LEDs to stuff

Thanks one and all for the comments

@Master of asgard - sorry, no battle reports - I don't game - just the Armies on parade display (assuming it's still going by the time I ever finish) - maybe I might sell it after that. Wonder how much I could ask/get for it?

@aka_mythos - yep, it's a possibility. I have a controller that woukd allow me to flicker some lights in circuit, but that does the same 'pulse' for all lights in the circuit - I've got my eye on some individually flickering LEDs on eBay though - I might get them and put them in the more damaged areas...

@monkeytroll - NO!! no more changes! I've still hit a load still to finish/build anyway

@JoeRugby - sorry mate - for what it's worth, unless you REALLY want to, don't bother, it's a hassle I could do without, I can tell you!

anyway, today I've been working on a few bits n bobs, but mostly the top of the floor plate - firstly the metals:


And this evening the tiles. I've decided to add more complication to my life, and to do something a bit more interesting that JUST green - each floor will now have a different white sub design as well - this floor, echoing the vent plates:

Hopefully looks ok - I can't tell anymore, as I'm going boss-eyed painting these stupid little tiles... Honestly, it's exhausting!

Looks awesome mate keep going lol

This is one of the coolest projects I've seen on this forum in a good while.

Like the new tile detail that is looking great, although it does remind me of the multi storey car park near me where it has tiles in this format for floor numbers all be it blue and scuzzy white

Err - thanks LDD, that's just the effect I was going for...!

Very impressive! The scale is very fitting to the idea of 40k.... all those details and sections are great in their own right!

Excellent tile work, reminds of the public toilets at old train stations and down by the coast ... (And no, I do not regularly frequent public toilets or am I acquainted with George Michael )

 Ruglud wrote:
Excellent tile work, reminds of the public toilets at old train stations and down by the coast ... (And no, I do not regularly frequent public toilets or am I acquainted with George Michael )

I think he protest too much