A couple of weeks ago, I posted the  detailing and painting of my Star Destroyer project. For this post, I’m going to show you how I did lit up the kit step-by-step. I also finished up all the fiber optics this week and did a light test before mounting and cementing all the panels and the wires. Maybe just a week or so and this baby will be finally done. Can’t wait!

… Let’s dive right in, shall we?

Star Wars Star Destroyer Model Kit Update No. 4

A. Fiber Optic Lights

Sourcing out the fiber optic cables was a real pain. That was one of the reasons why this project was shelved for some months. Good thing, my buddy Alex (fellow geek and modeler) spotted a Halloween toy for P50 at a mall! Sweet! We then used that (see below) as the basis for the fiber optics. The LEDs were bought individually at electronics stores for about P20 each.

Preparing For the lights – The first thing I did was to study and do some rough sketches on how I’m going to light the kit. The kit had 2 halves, the top and bottom. Most of the lights would also be on the sides of the craft. The top half was more complicated than the bottom since the battle decks were there as well as the bridge. The engines were also a big consideration. In short, here are the major divisions for lighting;

• Top Hull (6 LEDS, white)
  • Starboard deck
  • Port Deck
  • Front Panel
  • Middle Decks 1 and 2
  • Bridge
  • Minor parts on the front and sides
• Bottom Hull (2 White LEDS, 1 Blue LED)
  • first half of side lights
  • second half of side lights
  • Hangar Bay (Blue)
• Engines (7 LEDS)
  • 3 Main Thrusters
  • 4 auxiliary burners

The ship used 15 different LED lights.

Threading - Once the painting and the washing was done, it’s time to make the hundreds of holes. Whew! this took around 2 weeks to complete. Using a medium sized needle heated with a candle, I carefully made little holes from inside of the model. Once that was done, I counted the holes for each section and made bundles of fiber optics to match. The fiber optic cables were then bundled with tape then I burned the rear part using a soldering iron (that’s where the LEDs connect to). After that, a LOT of hours and nights were spent threading the individual fibers into each hole. This was done per section. I then used Elmer’s Glue to seal/hold the cables from the inside. But I also found that acrylic sealant works equally well. Let’s see some of the photos below for reference…

(above) trying to see how long the cables were so I can plan my “sectioning”

(Above) cables threaded into the holes and sealed with white glue

(Above): Each side-battery were individually sectioned with optic cables. The ends would go below the kit where an LED would meet them from inside the hull.

B. Wiring and Testing

To test each LED, I modified a cheap AC to DC converter with alligator clips. This would make it easy for me to test each light and each section. To connect the LED to the ends of the bundles, I just used masking tape and covered that with black electric tape to reduce the light inside the kit and to “focus” the lights into the fiber optics even more…

The stands provided in the box were crap. They were too small and low. So I used 2 gundam stands and modified it as the new stands…

Once the sealant dried, I trimmed the surplus cables with scissors. You can allow just a tad of fiber optic to show above the hole. After all the drying time and positioning the bundles and the LEDs, it was time to slowly close off and glue some of the panels.

I also soldered each LED to thin wires (remember your polarity kids!), ganged them all up inside the kit and prepped to do some light tests…

C. Initial Light Testing

Here we go!

For more photos and detailed entries/tutorials for this project, go to my Facebook Photo Album.

Yesterday, Alex and I had a model kit splurge! We did some shopping and managed to find some great bargains. I am now the proud owner of a Millenium Falcon, an AT-AT, an AT-ST and a NCC-1701 A (Kirk) Enterprise model kit (with sound and lights). We’re happy geeks! Weeee!

Meanwhile, I only have some finishing touches with the Star Destroyer and this will be done. One or two more weeks pa.

If you missed the previous Work-In-Progress updates for this project, here’s Part 1 and Part 2 and Part 3

May the Force Be With You!

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