Been working on-and-off (mostly off) on the Pegasus Hobbies ‘Area 51 UFO’. Up until tonight this consisted of spraying primer (duplicolor Black) and basecoat (Duplicor Metalflake Silver) whenever the weather warmed up enough I could use the garage. This evening I finally got some time to test-fit lights.
I wanted to try out a Lochtech LED Driver – he’d sent me a few samples. Turns out you can’t hook the one that’s rated for 1.5V – 12V input directly into a 9V battery ….. it started smoking. I disconnected it … and managed to accidentally power the LED string straight from the battery. POW – shot the top of a bright white clear across the room – one of the more spectacular LED failures in my checkered history with the devices.
Went to Radio Shack and picked up a 2x AA battery holder. That worked much better …. well, it lit the LEDs without fireworks, anyway. I then taped the four bright whites in place near the top of the upper dome, pointing down.
Previously, I’d built a little structure from beads and wire on top of a clear plastic disposable picni plate – just something to fill up the interior of the model. The LEDs illminate it just like I wanted – I was pleasantly surprised. Then I press-fit the green plastic parts in the openings and tried again. I’m happy with it.
The green parts are pretty cloudy. I tried dipping them in Future (as I would for any other clear parts) but — oddly enough — Future will not stick. It fisheyes and puddles. This despite several cleanings with progressively stronger agents. I may have to fall back on old-fashioned polishing with Novus and a T-shirt.
Despite the setbacks, it feels good to actually work on a model. I’ve been working 12-14 hour days and there just hasn’t been time – and probably won’t be again, come Monday.
>Sigh< And Wonderfest is barely a month away.
Posted by onezero 
