Halcyon Aliens Dropship 1/72nd Scale
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After this build is done...
i'm Going To Have A Nervous Breakdown...
i've Worked For it...
i've Earned it...
And No Bugger is Going To Deprive Me Of it!!
Or i'll just have a drink and a few days off, either will work.
Greetings gang, a shortish update for you all.
Now then, lighting up the APC time it is.

This was no fun.
You'll remember the die cast APC? Looked a bit like this...



Well to begin with, a little dark wash and some drybrushing was in order.









OK, so to build in the lighting and battery power.
Well first was to remove the screws and have a look at the room we got to work with...
After removing the metal weight inside it.



Now there isn't a lot of room, as an example a AAA cell will just about fit down the center between the two axles.
Well the AAA power option was out as 3v needed and two cells just wouldn't fit in any way shape or form.
I went through more than a few permutations of power.
Rechargeable cells and so forth but in the end, a lithium button cell holder fitted in a hinged swing out setup was done.
Nothing more elaborate than a button cell holder secured to plasticard and a small length of brass rod.
Also stuck in some foam to make it stay put when folded up.
Here be what the mess inside and out of it looks like.





The front LEDs are secured with quick cure epoxy putty.
The fiber optic for the rear lights and the interior light are all secured to the roof inside with a goodly dose of matt black paint plastered about.
Not the most spectacular around but to do more would mean potentially ruining a rather nice and bloody hard to get die cast APC model.
A replacement for which would cost a goodly lump of what i'm being paid to do this in the first place so that's out.

Well to cut a long story short, this is what it looks like along with the Dropship.

And nothing fell off when I did this which, oddly enough, is part of the plan.
Having gone this far, bits dropping off is just not on.

Plan in mind is to have the Hadleys Hope landing grid and a clear stand part.
idea being the Dropship can be on the deck with APC in or out.
Or if desired, the Dropship/APC will rest on the clear part.
More specifically, the APC ramp will rest on the clear part so the 'coming in to land' bit can be represented.

So the lights on test time.











Not looking too bad I have to say.
Of course it occurred to me that maybe this was a good time to check if the battery I was using was up to spec.
Turns out that it wasn't so ordered up some new ones.
The workout on these being the same 3v but in the 90mah range.
One day i'll be organised and have the righteous stuff to hand...one day.
Anyway, slotted the fresh cell into place, switch thrown and we got this...



Brighter...that'll work!
Well time for a few parting shots of the pic variety.
Chucked in some larger res pics as well.











And that as they say is that for now, next and hopefully final update to come as soon as I can make it happen.
You merry lot go easy now!
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