|
I thought you might be interested in my latest project, my Darth Vader vinyl model from Screamin Models. It's a
pretty good model/sculpture and I specially love its 14"+ size. It was relatively easy to build which left a great deal of my planning to the lighting and electronics. I started by slicing
away his original vinyl chest piece and created another one from layers of transparent styrene to make the buttons and 'coin slots'. I then carefully masked and painted the front to be backlit by a
blinking and alternating pair of incandescent lights (difficult to see in the photo).
Darth's arm is detachable for easier portability and contains the miniature power inverter for the 3.2mm
diameter x 240mm long miniature fluorescent light which gives off a brilliant and realistic glow. I use a red colored drink straw to slip over the fluorescent tube to give it color. I chose to use
something temporary like a straw so that I can slip on different colors at whim, i.e. green and red striped straws for Xmas :-) His belt controls are also backlit with mini-incandescent bulbs. I
typically don't like using incandescent bulbs since
they emit too much heat and are somewhat yellowish in color (incandescents are a 65K light temp.). But these bulbs are 14 volts DC with only a 12 volt power supply and are rated at 10,000 continuous hours. Plus I wanted to same my white LEDs for another project.
The paint job was pretty simple. I used a variety of matte black, gloss black, and grey/silver Acryl paint for his overall costume and accents while using red, white and blue paints for the
chest plate and belt controls. I reinforced his legs and lower torso with plaster and mounted the whole thing on my personal technique for model bases:
I buy those transparent acrylic 'box frames' that sell cheap (around $3 up depending on size) at the local frame shop. I then cut holes, reinforce the inside with epoxy cement and paint the whole outside with matte black. Turned upside-down, the frame looks like a professionally made base. I use this for all my models which give it a low-key and elegant mounting base that doesn't detract from the model itself and matches all my other mounted models on the shelf.
-- Edrolfo Leones
|
