# My Jupiter 2 build



## jbond (Aug 29, 2002)

Ironically the UPS guy delivered my anniversary J2 just as I was finishing this one. This is a classic "christmas tree lights" build but it turned out okay:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/lazymodeler/sets/72157625021573096/


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## jbond (Aug 29, 2002)

Where did I go wrong...


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## AJ-1701 (May 10, 2008)

looks pretty good. 

Where did you get the figures from??


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## fire91bird (Feb 3, 2008)

I think your color choices and painting are excellent! Very creative use of weathering and not overdone. What color did you choose for the hull? It looks good. Very inspiring work.


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## jbond (Aug 29, 2002)

The figures are from culttvman.com--the Robot is from the 1997 Trendmasters Jupiter 2 playset. I used Tamiya Mica silver--spraycan for the hull.


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## Sonett (Jul 21, 2003)

Very impressive build! Looking forward to starting mine early next year. Thanks for some inspiration!


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## bert model maker (Feb 19, 2002)

That is an outstanding build, great job ! I also want to use christmas lights and put them in just the right places. I noticed the amber gridded area next to the hatch is lighted, did you paint the yellow gridded area or are those decals ? The light behind the amber grid looks great ! tell me more about your build, and what color paint you used on the hulls and interior. Did you use any decals at all ? 
Bert 
model maker


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## skinnyonce (Dec 17, 2009)

jbond said:


> Where did I go wrong...


Other than some out of focus pics , you did'nt go wrong.. nice build


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## Xenodyssey (Aug 27, 2008)

Darn, now you're really tempting me to get one as well to build.

Very inspirational!


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## Captain Han Solo (Apr 5, 2002)

Very Cool Build Sir!!!:thumbsup:


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## rkoenn (Dec 18, 2007)

Looks great to me and may have decided me on whether to light mine or not. The interior looks great and the lighting really sets it off. Are the lights in the reactor core engine simply constantly lit by the Xmas lights or are they sequenced? Let me know if you don't mind. But again, a great looking build to me. You can be proud, but you do have to find a place to park it now.

Bob K.


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## jbond (Aug 29, 2002)

I bought one of the commercial "fusion core" lighting kits and unfortunately I can't remember which one but it is plug and play, has a speed control and was fairly inexpensive. The rest of the lighting is from two strings of battery-operated LED Christmas lights, one "warm" (used mostly for the circular floor lights under the freezing tubes and elevator) and one cold white "blinking"--that one had only four or five blinking lights out of a string of probably 15 or 18 and I used that to illuminate the freezing tube walls and the flashing control panel and "gyroscope."
I used the aztek dummy paint masks but I had problems there--not because of the masks but because of the Testors acrylic paints which were messy and runny (I usually use Tamiya). I also used the JAI photoetch sets and the decals from that set and another set of decals for the yellow glowing wall panel next to the gyroscope and for the wall behind the elevator. One thing I highly recommend is using glass frosting spray on any big clear parts that are to be lit--I did this for the fusion core, the freezing tube walls and the yellow wall panel and it diffuses the lights nicely.
One other thing I did that's a little unusual--I opened the space pod hatch for battery access but I left the heavy LED battery packs outside the hull. They're dark and barely visible behind the ship and could easily be disguised as pieces of equipment, and doing this reduced a lot of weight on the hull (I wanted to leave the top unglued but it was necessary to glue the top and bottom hulls together to close the seam around the rim of the hull.
I appreciate the comments--this is not a build that would pass muster at a show but it did take quite a lot of time to finally get it together.


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## Seaview (Feb 18, 2004)

:thumbsup: You did a fine job, Mr. Bond! As a matter of fact, I may go the "Christmas lights" route for my next Jupiter 2 build, considering how nice and bright they make the flight deck. :hat:
I am sorry, however, that you found it necessessary to cement the upper and lower hulls, considering how nicely (although admittedly with some difficulty) they click together without cement (at least on mine). :wave:


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## Jafo (Apr 22, 2005)

nice! labor intensive!


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## jbond (Aug 29, 2002)

My hulls did click together, but whenever I snapped one area together another part of the seam would pop open. Some of the wiring pushed the floor up a bit towards the front and I tried shaving down some of the forward bulkheads but still had the same problem--I don't mind having the hulls closed since I'm pretty sure everything will stay in place and I can always look at the photos to enjoy the whole interior...


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## Mitchellmania (Feb 14, 2002)

Excellent work!!


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## bert model maker (Feb 19, 2002)

The yellow gid area is a decal you say ? is that a kit decal that came with the model or is it an aftermarket decal ? I noticed how even your lighting was in that area. Did you paint that yellow grid area at all or is it straight decal ? You say you frosted the clear parts, did you spray the fron or back of those parts ? Did you use it on the fusion core to reduce the brightness of the fusion core lights ? What brand of frost did you use ? Geeze, so many questions sorry about that, i sound like columbo !


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## jbond (Aug 29, 2002)

The gold panel decals are from the TSDS Jupiter 2 set (the elevator wall decals are from that set too but the forward control panel decals are from the paragraphics decal and photoetch set).
I frosted all clear parts from behind with American Tradition glass frosting spray and yes, I sprayed the fusion core clear piece the same way. I would say that it is ESSENTIAL to do this if you want light to diffuse from behind a clear piece (be aware however that this spray is HIGHLY toxic and if you use it only use it outdoors). Spraying from behind is a no-brainer--it leaves the surface shiny so it will still look like glass. I did not paint the gold panel other than that--the TSDS decals are nicely transparent and allow the light to flow through nicely. I also positioned the light behind that panel so it was pointing directly at the center of the panel--but once you have the piece frosted and decaled you can experiment with the position of the light to see what gives the most even glow. Too bad that panel is just barely visible from the side of the front window.


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## bert model maker (Feb 19, 2002)

Looking at that amber/gold panel. yours looks like one of the best i have seen in all over eveness of color & even lighting. I was hoping it was the TSDS decal you had on there becuse I have a set and was wondering how they would look when lit from behind. Did you apply the decal onto the bare clear plastic part or did you do anything before applying that decal ? where did you find the plastic/glass frosting ?
Bert


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## jbond (Aug 29, 2002)

I got the glass frosting spray at Lowe's and I didn't do anything special for the decal application--it's on the "shiny" unsprayed side of the clear piece. I was actually surprised too that one LED would light that panel so evenly but with the spray frosting, when the LED was pointed at the clear part at a certain angle you get a "bloom" of evenly spread light, very nice.


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## bert model maker (Feb 19, 2002)

YES it IS very evenly lit and thats what got my attention as it looks much better than trying to paint each square the correct clear color. Henry really hit a home run with those decals. I sent him a hundred or so screen grabs from my lost in space DVD set for his first run of decals a year or so ago and he worked his magic with them so rest assured His decals are the closest thing to accuracy in existance since they ARE the real thing. Henry has contributed SO MUCH to this hobby since I have known him since 2001 on HT. He is the pioneer of everything aftermarket on Irwin Allen Model KITs. His first idea of a launch tower was underhandidly "taken away from him" after he posted pictures of his planned tower back in 2002-3. A lot of business' need to take a lesson from Henry and start doing bussiness like he does, the world would be a lot better place if they did.
Bert


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