# Pegasus Nautilus - inc lighting



## harddrive (Jan 7, 2009)

Hi all,

So this is going to be my first WIP thread.

After loving kits as a kid and then not touching them for quite a few years, my first model getting back into the hobby was an old Sevans Davros Vac Form kit that took over 5 years on and off to complete (mind you I did move house 4 times and interstate twice during that time!). Have to say that painting is probably my weakest skill when it comes to modeling, but practice makes perfect!

So, onto the Nautilus. I'm not going to do a full review of the kit, as there are already plenty out there.
I loved the whole look of the kit and its lighting possibilities which is why I shelled out for it, and the Paragrafix's photo etch upgrade.

Hopefully as I post a few more WIP's down the track for future models you will start to see that lighting is one of the things that draws me to model building, all you have to do is look at my stash (Moebius Jupiter 2, Space Pod, Flying Sub, Fujimi Spinner, Pegasus MLEV5 Mars Hopper, DeAgostini Millennium Falcon to name a few) to see that I love anything with big electronics potential.


First up was tackling the Salon. Started by installing some of the photoetch parts on the roof.



















And then forgot to take photos of the rest of the salon construction, so here's a couple of the finished product.




























It's lit by some 12v led strip lighting, 2 strips of 3 leds. Not entirely convinced on the harsh look of it, the leds in the pic are at 100%, they will be dimmed a bit when I get the circuitry together, but I guess due to having to view it through the paneled window having them a bit brighter will help with showing off the internal detail.


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## harddrive (Jan 7, 2009)

Next was time to work out exactly what I was going to do with the rest of the lighting.
I have this cool idea to have both a 'normal' mode and an 'under attack' mode for the lighting controlled by an arduino board that will run on a loop. So say every 5 or so minutes it will enter under attack mode and then stay like that for a bit and then go back to normal mode. Never having done anything with arduino boards before this is all a learning curve for me, but i've got some stuff on order and will try out some scripts and see what I can come up with.

Started by adding some smd leds behind the large triangle pieces on the sides of the ship so that the light will shine out the mini port holes onto the main viewing windows.



















There's both a white and red led in each cavity. The white will be for normal mode and it will change to red for under attack.
Of course everything was sprayed black on the inside to help with light blocking, which is why you can see some black over spray shading on the edges of some of the pieces.

Now most of the photo etch parts from Paragrafix are additions to the Salon as well as a whole mini bridge, but they did give us some great vents for the bottom fin of the ship.
So yes in real life these would probably just be used for letting water in and out, but I don't care about that. I think they will look great lit up from the inside.



















One red and one orange led later as well as a tiny bit of frosted plastic and voila, a nice little glow from the bottom of the ship. In normal mode I think ill just have the orange led on but when under attack ill have the red led flickering as if they are stoking the furnace or something is on fire down there.










Once more little bit of lighting for this update is the grills near the top of the ship. Another red smd per side and its all done. Need to find something to sit behind the grill to diffuse the light a bit though.


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## harddrive (Jan 7, 2009)

One more post and that will bring me up to date with where i'm at with the model.

Time for some work on the base!

The base for the Nautilus is a great squid sculpt that the ship perches on, but there have been some concerns that over time the squids tentacles will deform as it is cast in vinyl. I was especially worried about this with the added weight of the photo etch and lighting i'm putting into the kit. I wanted to mount the ship on a brass rod like some other modelers have done, but also try and conceal it so it didn't look like an addition to the base.

After a while of thinking and psyching myself up, I took the plunge and decided to modify one of the squids tentacles to conceal a rod.
I bent a piece of brass rod into the shape of one of the rear tentacles that the ship lent on and then drilled through the squids head, the base and the side of the ship to create mounting points for the rod.




























I'm still yet to carve up the tentacle but I plan to place the sucker pods on the inside edge of the brass rod, attach the top of the tentacle so that it sticks out from where the brass rod enters the ship and then cover the rest of the rod in putty and sculpt it to match the ribbing on the rest of the tentacles.

From the back you will be able to see that there is a brass rod protruding from one of the tentacles










From the front, the ship does a great job of hiding the area where the rod impales it!










Whilst waiting for things to dry, and also mustering up the courage to hack at the tentacle, I started work on the photo etch bridge.
It still amazes me how much detail you can get in something so tiny! Even just with a coat of primer on it looks great.


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## Richard Baker (Aug 8, 2006)

Looks magnificent!


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## Steve H (Feb 8, 2009)

Does look amazing.

I have an odd idea for that brass tube support. How about taking some RTV, pulling a mold off the sucker side of the tentacle, making a thin resin cast of that detail (or two part epoxy, which would be slightly flexible for a time), superglue that to the brass then careful putty to cover the rest of the tube, poof, it's a tentacle. 

I'm sure you were thinking something similar, I was just thinking pulling a mold off the sucker side of the arm would be faster than a full scratch sculpt.


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## veedubb67 (Jul 11, 2003)

Have you thought about lighting the spotlight? I drilled mine out, place a SMD inside and filled with 5 minute epoxy. Turned out great!

BTW - the tentacles are pretty stiff. I've had mine built for over 2 years and haven't noticed any sagging.


Rob
Iwata Padawan


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## Xenodyssey (Aug 27, 2008)

Excellent work so far, the photo etch does add greatly to the detail. I'm looking forward to viewing more WIP and then the final lighted masterpiece.


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## harddrive (Jan 7, 2009)

Thanks for the compliments guys 

Rob, I was thinking of creating a mold of the spotlight and doing a quick pull with an smd or other small led of some sort encased in it, but drilling it out is also a great option. It's good to hear that your tentacles haven't shifted at all in a couple of years, but at least I now have somewhere to run all of the wires that is concealed. Also, great work on your model, the paint work looks spot on and LOVE what you have done with the base, its very creative!

Steve, I actually hadn't thought of doing a cast of the tentacle instead of the sculpt from scratch. I've just ordered some casting silicone and resin so ill have to give it a go! I had originally planned on hacking at the kit tentacle and salvaging the sucker pods section, but your idea is much better!


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## Steve H (Feb 8, 2009)

I'm glad you like the idea! I've been doing casts with epoxy for years (stupid little pins for costume work and suchlike) and I discovered by accident if you take stock 5-minute epoxy and mix it with just a slight touch less hardener it stays some what flexible which means, when working with a costume detail like an insignia pin it'll bend some rather than snapping off. 

So my thought is, using epoxy and an RTV mold, treat the sucker detail like it was a foam latex makeup appliance. while the epoxy is still slightly soft, press it against the brass tube to let it cure in the right shape, then superglue it on, blend with putty to make the arm. 

It's worth exploring.


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## harddrive (Jan 7, 2009)

So not a lot of big progress this weekend despite actually having time to work on the model. With this being the first time I've actually had large chunks of time to dedicate to building a kit I can now see why some people have a couple on the go at one. The waiting time for paint to dry, glue to set and filler to harden can really put a dent in any momentum especially if you are waiting for delivery of other bits and pieces to keep working on other sub assemblies. Oh well, at least small progress is still good progress!

Managed to finish off the paint job on the bridge, pretty happy with how it turned out. Did a quick dry fit of it all in place, and you really cant see a lot of it when the 2 window frames get put on. I've decided not to use the clear kit pieces they have supplied for the windows as they do not fit properly and end up masking a lot of the detail. Instead ill have a go at using Micro Krystal Klear to create 'panes of glass' in the kit piece.










Also attached the great vinyl mask set from Aztek Dummy to the salon window pieces. The kit does actually provide a set of paint masks in paper with an adhesive backing, which is a nice thought!










Then decided to attack the base.
Now I knew I had to create some sort of additional base so that I could house my control board in it as it would not have fit under the kit base. Originally I was looking for an oval wooden box that I could just use the lid from to create a small pedestal to mount the kit on. When I couldn't find anything the was either the correct size or didn't cost an arm and a leg I had to rethink the design a little and decided to take inspiration from the original base and create more of the sea bed.
Off to the shops I went and found a suitable serving platter that I could turn upside down and use as a base. I ended up deciding not to use the fake aquarium plants, even when I cut them down to just one little bloom of leaves, they still looked a bit big when up against the scale of the ship.










Next was to attach the original kit base to the platter. I decided to offset it from center as when the ship is complete it looks as though it is not held centrally on the squid, so by offsetting the base I could get the ship a bit more central to the full base.










Then it was time to get to work with some florists foam and plaster bandages. I wanted to try and mask the overall shape of the platter and how it had a sharp edge before curving down, and also wanted the new rock formation to blend seamlessly with the kit piece.










Once that was done and I had the rough shape of the rock formations, I mixed up a small batch of plaster of paris and did a light coating over the top of the bandages to fill in all of the holes and give a more rock like texture. Once it was dry I primed the whole thing with grey to see the overall look.










I quickly sprayed a coat of brown onto it to give me a base to start the detail paint, and also so that I could see how it looks with some of the kit pieces dry fitted in place.










That's about it for this weekend. May not have a lot to update over the next couple of weeks as I have to build a fake body that can be hung in an amateur stage show, oh the joys of being a prop builder on the side!


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## Fozzie (May 25, 2009)

That is looking really good. Like the base idea!


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## veedubb67 (Jul 11, 2003)

Base is looking great!

Rob
Iwata Padawan


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## harddrive (Jan 7, 2009)

Well its been a few weeks since I last posted, and I've only just had time over the last couple of days to work on the kit.

First up was to mold 2 pieces from the tentacle that I had replaced with the brass rod. I molded the sucker section and also about 3cm of the tip of the tentacle. I cast the sucker section in 5 min epoxy after the great suggestion from Steve H, thanks Steve! I was able to pull it out of the mold while it was setting and bend it to shape around the brass rod. I then cast the tip of the tentacle in resin and superglued that onto the rod.



















Then it was onto the Aves Apoxie sculpt to recreate the back of the tentacle and blend all the pieces in together. For my first time sculpting I think it came out quite well. There is probably a bit too much detail on it compared to the other tentacles, but I like it. 



















Then it was time to paint the beast. Now as we all know hindsight is always 20/20, and to anyone who is planning on building this kit in the future, paint the tentacles first before gluing it all together, unless you want to make it difficult for yourself 
With the squid finished it was time to finish the paint job on the base. After sponging on 2 browns and a green, then a dark wash and finishing with 2 different greys drybrushed on I was happy with the result.


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## harddrive (Jan 7, 2009)

Next up was to try and finalise the lighting for inside the kit so I could start putting it all together. I tidied up a lot of the wiring inside the kit and extended all the cables to be able to run down into the base.



















I also decided to redo the lighting in the salon. I was never 100% happy with how harsh the 12v led strip lighting was, so decided to pull it out and replace it with some SMD's. This had 3 benefits, the first being that I could now run it off 6v, which is what the rest of the model will be using from the Arduino Nano board, secondly by using 4 SMD's I was able to give some subtle lighting highlights on certain sections. Theres 2 SMD's over the couch, one over the organ and one over the desk. Its only a subtle highlight, but looks nice. The last benefit was that I could also install 2 red SMD's above the roof so that when the ship goes into 'under attack' mode these will come on and replace the whites, which is what happens in the rest of the ship.



















I also molded the spotlight on the front of the ship and then cast that in epoxy with a SMD inside it. Just waiting on that to harden up before I pull it out and see how it turned out.










Just before the long weekend I had a delivery arrive. My new airbrush!










I have only ever had a cheap airbrush off ebay, so decided it was time to upgrade. Can't wait to use it on the kit!


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## veedubb67 (Jul 11, 2003)

Looks like a Revolution (0.5mm needle/nozzle). You should be able to paint 1/32 up to 1 1/2 inches with that brush. You can also upgrade it to a 0.3mm needle/nozzle for really fine lines. 

Tom can help you if you have any questions about your Iwata airbrush or any of the accessories. 

Iwata, Artool, and Comart Airbrush Products at TAG Team Hobbies

Rob
Iwata Padawan


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## harddrive (Jan 7, 2009)

Back to it again this week with another update.

Got the headlight cast up and pulled from the mold and it turned out great. Put some black on the sides and back to act as a light block and then glued it in place.










Also ran a couple of SMD's directly underneath where the headlight goes to be able to light the bridge in both white and red. Had some issues getting the wires to stay put and out of the way...what do you use to glue down tiny wires in your kits? Tried some hot glue just below the leds but it got too messy...










It was then time to get the bridge mounted. I ended up gluing the bottom, one side and part of the top of the mail hull together first so that I had a solid structure to install the bridge and so I wouldn't knock it out of place when I put the rest together.










After this it was time to get the rest of the hull closed up. Once it got to this spot it was such a great feeling seeing it all come together and have all of the wiring fit inside the brass tube! The kits fit is pretty spot on, and I think all of the seam lines have been positioned so that they are natural joins in the paneling of the ship.



















Last thing to do at this stage was to add all of the photoetch that came with the kit. With this kit being the first time I had worked with photo etch it was certainly a bit of a challenge to say the least! The stairs on the side are so tiny and I was afraid of snapping the photoetch when I had to bend them into place, but luckily I didn't and they held up to quite a bit of abuse from myself




























The fit of the kit supplied photoetch wasn't the best in some places. The worst parts were the support lines that run up to the front tip, these pieces were just a tiny bit too long so they are not perfectly taut but its not too noticeable.


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## harddrive (Jan 7, 2009)

Next was painting, and this is the daunting part for me as I know that my painting skills are not the best. Plus i'm too much of a perfectionist, so I tend to second guess my actions, and also have a hard time with weathering as I either want to make things look symmetrical or perfectly proportioned, but in real life that doesn't always happen!

After a coat of grey primer, I fired up my new Iwata airbrush for the first time to spray on the rust base coat and I was amazed at the difference a good airbrush makes. The paint flowed so easily and smoothly and did not clog at all! I will never buy a cheap airbrush ever again!!

Here it is with the rust base coat and then a darker shade to add some preshading.










After a clear-coat next was a wash of green to help with the rusted look, and then a black wash over the top of this! Going into painting the ship I hadn't really decided what colour scheme I wanted to go with, I had thought of a more sandy colour, then a grey, and then settled on the rusted brass look. In hindsight I should have thought a bit more about the colouring of the model overall as the final ship colour doesn't quite gel well with the vibrant colours of the squid, but one way of looking at it is that the ship is quite old and beaten up and dirty, whereas the squid because it very rarely goes up to the surface isn't affected by any of the other elements, and also if you look at some of the natural sea life that inhabits the lower depths, they can be quite bright in colour.



















Here it is with all of the masking taken off and all of the pieces fully assembled apart from the bridge window frames. I have to say that the mask set from Aztek Dummy was so easy to use and the pieces came of cleanly with no paint bleed through at all.










They got a coat of Krystal Klear to create the window panes as the clear kit part didn't look too good to me.










This is where I'm at with the kit atm. Last few steps will be to attach the bridge window frames, fix up a couple of small light leaks and then finally attach it to the base and wire up all of the lighting.

On a side note, I finally got the Dekards Sedan kit from Fujimi in the post, so now I've got the complete set of Blade Runner kits. My plan is to one day build a diorama of the 3 kits, fully lit with a whole bunch of scratch built pieces and other accessories. I've already got the photo etch sets from Paragrafix as well as some resin figures, a resin garage kit of a streetlight in the same scale and some 3d printed parking meters. I'm going to wait to build this until I have a few more kits under my belt so as to build up my experience and skills. I've already got the Moebius Space Pod on the go atm too, I find it helpful to have a couple of kits going at once so if I get bored with one I can switch to the other, or if i'm waiting for paint to dry etc, I can still do things.


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## Xenodyssey (Aug 27, 2008)

The Nautilus is looking pretty good so far. I am looking for to seeing the finished article with working lights. BTW I tend to glue down my fine lighting wires with super glue and "welding powder". The powder acts both a filler and accelerator.


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