The Ship Model Forum

Thanks for the info. For the double roof I had a look at it some time ago and while it must be "easy" in 1/350 there is not enough room in a 1/700 model unfortunately.

Thanks for the valuable info Simon. It may prove valuable in the future.

Hey guys,

that is some great info from all of you!

Simon, thanks for the insight on the colors used. I think I'll settle for a green shade for the well deck and a mix of white and yellow for the hangar. My first thought was to use LEDs but the hobbyshop people didn't have any there, instead they showed me some micro bulbs which are usually used for model trains. They were small (smaller than LEDs I think?) and with one Euro a piece, I thought fairly cheap, too. So I'll try my luck with those now, if I'm not too happy I might go for LEDs for the CVNs that will eventually follow. The LHD will be my testbed

Nektarios, I know what you mean. Usually the outside is too light for the inside to show but once the light is dimmed, during dusk/dawn operations or even night time...I think it has the potential to look pretty good if done right. Of course, with the "doing right" part...I have the most doubts since, just like Arnaud said...I need to work out the electronics first.

Arnaud, LEDs actually might be the better choice because I imagine they are not as "sharp" as the ones that I got. Subtle light is definitely better and I had the same idea with the transparent paper. Of course I have no idea yet how it will work out for real. Maybe you'll be the first one to work on the hangar electronics and we can all peek in at your work here

Here's a picture of what the bulbs I got look like and their size as well.



I agree that the biggest problem will be hiding them without losing the actual light they're emitting. Here's a very simplified sketch of what I think I might do...(sorry for the crooked lines )



The red lines is the missing well deck ceiling that I have to build. Since the walls also need to be raised almost another centimeter, that might be a good opportunity to leave some wide slits and cover them with sheer plastic and perhaps the transparent paper that Arnaud mentioned. The lights would then be placed behind the walls. Of course it should be tricky to find out just how thick or thin the diffusing paper should be.

Same goes for the hangar part. Since there is only one place where you can look into the hangar, placing the bulbs inside the portside walls should be ok, since they can't be seen then. But then again, all of this is just theory. First I need to find some time to actually work on scratchbuilding that well deck and then I'll start figuring out where everything should be. There should also be just one wire that's sticking out from the boat and it would be good if it would be down at the bottom, through the base. That way it will be hidden and I can always switch the lights on or off by attaching or disconnecting the wires. Theoretically...it should work. We'll see...

orb wrote:Hey guys,

that is some great info from all of you!

Simon, thanks for the insight on the colors used. I think I'll settle for a green shade for the well deck and a mix of white and yellow for the hangar. My first thought was to use LEDs but the hobbyshop people didn't have any there, instead they showed me some micro bulbs which are usually used for model trains. They were small (smaller than LEDs I think?) and with one Euro a piece, I thought fairly cheap, too. So I'll try my luck with those now, if I'm not too happy I might go for LEDs for the CVNs that will eventually follow. The LHD will be my testbed

Nektarios, I know what you mean. Usually the outside is too light for the inside to show but once the light is dimmed, during dusk/dawn operations or even night time...I think it has the potential to look pretty good if done right. Of course, with the "doing right" part...I have the most doubts since, just like Arnaud said...I need to work out the electronics first.

Arnaud, LEDs actually might be the better choice because I imagine they are not as "sharp" as the ones that I got. Subtle light is definitely better and I had the same idea with the transparent paper. Of course I have no idea yet how it will work out for real. Maybe you'll be the first one to work on the hangar electronics and we can all peek in at your work here

Here's a picture of what the bulbs I got look like and their size as well.



I agree that the biggest problem will be hiding them without losing the actual light they're emitting. Here's a very simplified sketch of what I think I might do...(sorry for the crooked lines )



The red lines is the missing well deck ceiling that I have to build. Since the walls also need to be raised almost another centimeter, that might be a good opportunity to leave some wide slits and cover them with sheer plastic and perhaps the transparent paper that Arnaud mentioned. The lights would then be placed behind the walls. Of course it should be tricky to find out just how thick or thin the diffusing paper should be.

Same goes for the hangar part. Since there is only one place where you can look into the hangar, placing the bulbs inside the portside walls should be ok, since they can't be seen then. But then again, all of this is just theory. First I need to find some time to actually work on scratchbuilding that well deck and then I'll start figuring out where everything should be. There should also be just one wire that's sticking out from the boat and it would be good if it would be down at the bottom, through the base. That way it will be hidden and I can always switch the lights on or off by attaching or disconnecting the wires. Theoretically...it should work. We'll see...

thanks for the tips orb. i'm going to check hobby shops and home depot, for a red LED, i plan to create a hangar deck and light it for my Kitty Hawk 1/800 Academy kit. and yes, i agree on drilling through bottom, and have the switch on the side of the completed disply. i can cut a path through the styrofoam water. She's coming along nicely, but this hangar thing will be a first for me. thanks again. -mega

orb wrote:Nektarios, I know what you mean. Usually the outside is too light for the inside to show but once the light is dimmed, during dusk/dawn operations or even night time...I think it has the potential to look pretty good if done right. Of course, with the "doing right" part...I have the most doubts since, just like Arnaud said...I need to work out the electronics first.

It will look definitely correct if you make a harbour dio at night. Ships and especially carriers and large ampibs are very careful when underway not to be visible from a distance because its the perfect way to become targets for subs. I don t know what they do with hangar lights at night because they will make the ship visible from miles away. I only can guess that during night ops moving to and from the hangar is minimal and hangar doors are kept closed. Perhaps someone that has served onboard a carrier or LHA/LHD may know the answer.

MEGADETH9mm wrote:thanks for the tips orb. i'm going to check hobby shops and home depot, for a red LED, i plan to create a hangar deck and light it for my Kitty Hawk 1/800 Academy kit. and yes, i agree on drilling through bottom, and have the switch on the side of the completed disply. i can cut a path through the styrofoam water. She's coming along nicely, but this hangar thing will be a first for me. thanks again. -mega

Megadeth this is your first post here. Welcome aboard. May i ask why you build an 1/800 kit since there are 1/700 1/720 kits of the same carrier that can offer you better detail and more space for LED or any other upgrade??? I surely would like to see some WIP pics of the carrier.

If you're going with a diorama base, you might also consider the thought of building the base with a position to hold the batteries, and the switch, and run the wires down under the water but inside the base frame to keep them protected and intact. You can build the switch into the framing, potentially, either under the base's mounting so you lift a panel and turn on the switch as well as accessing the batteries, or else you can mount it into the side framing depending on your ammount of construction work. With your disperser layout on the well deck, Orb, I would still suggest using aluminum foil's shiny side to provide additional reflection of the light on the inside of the well deck wall area.

Nektarios wrote:

MEGADETH9mm wrote:thanks for the tips orb. i'm going to check hobby shops and home depot, for a red LED, i plan to create a hangar deck and light it for my Kitty Hawk 1/800 Academy kit. and yes, i agree on drilling through bottom, and have the switch on the side of the completed disply. i can cut a path through the styrofoam water. She's coming along nicely, but this hangar thing will be a first for me. thanks again. -mega

Megadeth this is your first post here. Welcome aboard. May i ask why you build an 1/800 kit since there are 1/700 1/720 kits of the same carrier that can offer you better detail and more space for LED or any other upgrade??? I surely would like to see some WIP pics of the carrier.

my Tamiya Enterprise is currently in storage(too lazy to go dig it out). so i went ang got the eisenhower and kitty hawk 1/800 kits for cheap at hobby lobby to "prepare me" for the big daddy. i've also done the uss saratoga cv60, but never "lit" it. i think it was a revell kit here's link to some pics of it. i dont have a gallery here.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v65/s ... C01110.jpg
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v65/s ... C01109.jpg
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v65/s ... C01113.jpg
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v65/s ... C01114.jpg
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v65/s ... C01116.jpg
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v65/s ... C01108.jpg
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v65/s ... C01111.jpg
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v65/s ... C01112.jpg


fyi, i'm very impressed with these academy kits. the molding is excellent and all the parts fit very flush. also very detailed for such a small scale.

Sauragnmon wrote:If you're going with a diorama base, you might also consider the thought of building the base with a position to hold the batteries, and the switch, and run the wires down under the water but inside the base frame to keep them protected and intact. You can build the switch into the framing, potentially, either under the base's mounting so you lift a panel and turn on the switch as well as accessing the batteries, or else you can mount it into the side framing depending on your ammount of construction work. With your disperser layout on the well deck, Orb, I would still suggest using aluminum foil's shiny side to provide additional reflection of the light on the inside of the well deck wall area.

nice, that's just what i had in mind. at the bottom of the styrofoam(which is what i use for water) i will carve out a path for the wires, and carve a cavity for the battery compartment, then extend wire and switch to outside of styrofoam, leaving enough space for the wood trim(when that day comes). i will post all pics in one post of my mini hangar deck process when completed so as not to flood this thread.

Your better bet would be to mount the batteries into the wood, router a cavity for them so you can have the position fixed, and so you can mount the terminals so they keep tension on the battery and won't lose contact.

Sauragnmon wrote:Your better bet would be to mount the batteries into the wood, router a cavity for them so you can have the position fixed, and so you can mount the terminals so they keep tension on the battery and won't lose contact.

LOL my dad and i JUST talked about that exact thing. i completely envision what you are saying too. as there will be tension when turning the switch on and off. great idea bud. below is my progress so far.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v65/s ... /HD1-1.jpg
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v65/s ... /HD2-1.jpg
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v65/s ... /HD3-1.jpg

and eventually i plan to set the LED as so, so that it beams red down the entire bay.
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v65/s ... /HD4-1.jpg

Not a bad idea on the choice of location for the bulb, but you might also consider the bulges around the doors as well to mount your lighting, so you don't wind up with aircraft obscuring your lighting angle at the far ends of the hangar. You can run your wiring under the floor braces, and up a small hole in the deck so it goes into those sections, which you can then go for broke, line with alufoil so you get the reflector quality, and use to project light outwards into the hangar bay.

This thread is taking me back, its like my old GCSE Electronics class on here.

If you are worried about the brightness of LEDs, then you need a potential divider in your circuit. One that can be adjusted so that you can control the power going to the LED, less power is less brightness.

Actually, the main problem I think we were facing was not the actual intensity, but the sharpness of the light, and thus decreasing intensity would not help, it would still be too sharp, focused, and thus the diffuser concept was put forward, a lamp shade effect so to speak. Other than that, it was also the situation of wiring multiple LED's in serial rather than parallel wiring so as to maximize effectiveness.

tomorrow we will experiment with "powering" the lamp and light distribution.
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v65/s ... h1/HD5.jpg

Sauragnmon wrote:Not a bad idea on the choice of location for the bulb, but you might also consider the bulges around the doors as well to mount your lighting, so you don't wind up with aircraft obscuring your lighting angle at the far ends of the hangar. You can run your wiring under the floor braces, and up a small hole in the deck so it goes into those sections, which you can then go for broke, line with alufoil so you get the reflector quality, and use to project light outwards into the hangar bay.

this is brilliant for light distribution, thank you. i will put some foil on the underside of the flight deck that will carry the light "around" the interior aircraft so shadows will be cast more "downwards" giving a "lit from the ceiling" look.
.

MEGADETH9mm wrote:tomorrow we will experiment with "powering" the lamp and light distribution.
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v65/s ... h1/HD5.jpg

i'm also thinking of drilling very small holes in those side "cavities", to create a downglow on the lifeboats and other side areas. simply putting foil above the hole would shoot light down through the hole, illuminating those areas. carriers use red lights dont they? i was thinking of using green for the eisenhower when i do that one.

Sauragnmon wrote:If you're going with a diorama base, you might also consider the thought of building the base with a position to hold the batteries, and the switch, and run the wires down under the water but inside the base frame to keep them protected and intact. You can build the switch into the framing, potentially, either under the base's mounting so you lift a panel and turn on the switch as well as accessing the batteries, or else you can mount it into the side framing depending on your ammount of construction work. With your disperser layout on the well deck, Orb, I would still suggest using aluminum foil's shiny side to provide additional reflection of the light on the inside of the well deck wall area.

I have thought to put when the time for dioramas comes a metal plaque on which are written the date, event and whatever is needed (for example: U.S.S. Enterprise CVAN-65 1962 Cuban missile crisis) . I had the idea to put the batteries and switch on the corner of the dio and create a sort of box. Its top will be this plaque. Of course it will be removable so that i may have access to everything inside.


The white colour of the hangar walls wont it help to reflect the light a bit???? white is a colour that doesn t absorb too much light.

MEGADETH9mm wrote:My Tamiya Enterprise is currently in storage(too lazy to go dig it out). so i went ang got the eisenhower and kitty hawk 1/800 kits for cheap at hobby lobby to "prepare me" for the big daddy. i've also done the uss saratoga cv60, but never "lit" it. i think it was a revell kit here's link to some pics of it. i dont have a gallery here.
fyi, i'm very impressed with these academy kits. the molding is excellent and all the parts fit very flush. also very detailed for such a small scale.

Nicely built kit MEGADETH9mm

Megadeth, that's a nice model and base and nice to see some pics of your progress.

Simon, the aluminum foil is of course a good idea and I'll be playing around with it for sure just to see what gives the best result. It's a shame that I can't find a miniature sort of glow stick, electrically operated of course. Those could then just be strapped to the edges of the ceiling/walls and into the walls you could drill small holes or better yet slits to distribute the light and it would look fairly realistic, just like in this pic:



It would have to be a sort of "glowing stick" so the light is distributed evenly, but I haven't heard or seen anything like it in the size that we need, maybe someone else has? Somewhat along these lines but of course electrically powered...shaking the entire ship might not be the best idea



As for the wiring and batteries, my idea was to just have one wire sticking out from underneath the base. If everything works out right and my other CVNs will also be lit the same way, then I can just connect all of those wires from all the other bases onto one transformer and light them up at the same time.