Saturday, October 14, 2017

Tiny Bandai Millennium Falcon Build II


Using 3d software to create the background image that will be incoprporated in the Bespin diorama as a lightbox. Will act as a backdrop and lightsource for the millennium falcon sitting on it's platform.

Tuesday, May 9, 2017

Tiny Bandai Millennium Falcon Build I

I've started a new scale model build as a youtube video series. In part 1 I'm starting to add landing gears to the tiny model and to my amazement find small enough optic fibers (and a matching 0.25 mm drill bit) to attempt lighting this true small but very detailed minature.




Boat Update V

I've finally started painting the boat. Allthough the deck is far from perfect, I decided it would be nicer to show the wood instead of hiding it with paint. So the deck and coamings are in clear varnish. Interior in grey. Before that I reinforced the cockpit bottom with some slats. Still working on some deck fittings, the cleats mainly. Plan is to launch the boat in two weeks!

















Tuesday, April 18, 2017

DIY USB Anchor Light and Foldable Anchor Ball for a Small Boat

These little side projects are so much fun. By law you need a anchor light for the night and an anchor ball for the day, if you're using the anchor. But since my boat is just a small one it becomes very important to keep these things light and easy to stow away.

The anchor ball was quite easy to make. It's two black plastic holes with a slit cut to the center so they join together to make a ball. It folds flat and I've drilled holes in them to attach it to my flag pole.


The anchor light was a bit of a headache. First I looked around for quite a while to find a small but bright light in a housing that allows the light to be seen from 360 degrees around. I finally found such light on Ebay. It's powered with a standard USB connector, 5 volts. Which is handy cause I plan to take powerbanks and a solar charger with me on the boat.
I then cut a wooden rod in half and hollowed out the center for the power cable. Glued back together with epoxy and I have a mast with a small light at the end.

Now all I have to find out is where to put this mast on the boat. It should be removable and not permanently on the deck but I am also very hesitant to cut any holes in the deck. Need to think about that some more.
In the meantime check out the photo's of the build and the result.






Thursday, March 30, 2017

Boat Update IV

I'm currently working on the coaming top, half round wood to protect the plywood. I totally underestimated this, it was really hard to bend this half inch piece of wood into the half round shape. Have lots of sanding and filling to do. A better and faster result was creating the anchor locker. I was so pleased when I actually made the hatch and it fitted perfectly. First I made the frame that covers the anchor locker deck frame and then made a piece of plywood to fit exactly into that frame, no small feat for an amateur like me. But I was cheering when it came out so nice. :)

















I am already thinking about some kind of boat tent or cover for spending the night or protection from rain. I need to hold some cloth around the cockpit. And I would need some small hooks on the outside of the coaming to hold bungee cord that holds the cloth down. I couldn't find any of this sort of hardware anywhere. The closest I found were these small plastic J-hooks that are fitted on kayaks. So I decided to make my own out of aluminium. And then it got me thinking, what else can I make out of aluminium? So I made a deck vent, I don't really need one, but they look cool. I hammered a wooden pole into a sheet of aluminium and bent the edges in a vise. Drilled holes, sanded it and polished it. Looks like the real deal with a sort of homemade quality to it.

Soon I'll be starting to think about paint.




Saturday, February 25, 2017

Thursday, February 9, 2017

How To Destroy a Y-Wing


In my latest youtube series I'm building a Star Wars Deathstar Trench diorama with a Y-wing exploding, just as we saw in the first Star Wars movie (A New Hope). For me what was interesting about this was all the elements coming together, the model, the diorama, the lighting and painting. Because these Bandai models are so small it's less time consuming to do all of this. I don't know how much time I spent on this sofar, but I don't expect it to exceed 100 hours.

The diorama was pretty straightforward, built using pieces of wood and parts from a tank kit. The Y-wing model because it is so incredibly detailed was easy to build. However, the explosion part was a real headache, I tried all kinds of materials, foam, caulk, styrofoam, cotton. I finally got the best results soaking cotton in wallpaper glue and sculpting a cloud like shape.

If you'd like to follow me build this, please watch the youtube series: