Modelling: lighting up your bike

[lieutenant L]

Hi

I have wanted to make my bikes stand out from other bikes �I have lights in tank headlights � and decided to do the same to my bikes

 

It is an easy and straight forward thing to do � which leaves few visible marks to the fact there is a light there ( only thing is the LED shows from the back of the front armour piece � in front of the control panels � however this could be painted over or covered with some plasticard )

 

This is what it should look like

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v489/lieutenant_L/Electronics/bike.jpg

 

The tools that are used are;

Clippers

a pin vice with 2mm drill bit ( any size would do if it is big for wire to go through, used to connect LED to battery )

an old knife and a fairly sharp knife

a flat file and a circular file

soldering iron

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v489/lieutenant_L/Electronics/DSCN2381.jpg

 

Electronic parts

A 3mm LED and a 3mm mounting clip

2 different colours of wire ( 1 positive and 1 negative )

a roll of solder

heat shrink ( to protect the soldered joints and to stop the positive and neutral wires from touching )

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v489/lieutenant_L/Electronics/DSCN2384.jpg

 

A note on electronics

 

There are a lot of myths that putting electronics into models will cost a lot of money � to an extent yes � but if your sensible then no

 

I use a heat controllable soldering iron � which cost me �15 from Maplins electronics UK

However it is the best soldering iron I have used � makes electronics easy to solder and as it is heat controllable � is a safe way to solder as when im not using it I can also turn heat right down to off on the dial

 

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v489/lieutenant_L/Electronics/DSCN2377.jpg

My soldering tool iron station

 

My solder cost about �2 a roll ( I think ) � and wire was a �1 for a few metres ( though I have got some from ebay as well ) � that is from maplins

 

The LEDs im using in this tutorial I buy in bulk of 50 � however for 50 I pay only �1.40 � the LED clips I use I pay 4 pence from

 

The battery I will use is going to cost maybe �2 in the shops � or from the same place on ebay that I mentioned above 5 for �1.25

 

That shows that if you plan it you can save a lot of money � so I suspect in each bike I will have about �0.50 ( $1 ish. In USD ) of electrics in each bike � however I might put in a switch later so the price might go up slightly later

 

Part 1

Hi again

 

This is getting the LED into the front armour piece � where the old plastic head light should be � but the LED will take its place

 

This is what I used � tools from above used ( apart from flat file and pin vice )

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v489/lieutenant_L/Electronics/DSCN2389.jpg

 

After cleaning up the front armour plate - the first thing to do is to slice off the plastic headlight, I do this by resting my knife ontop of where the light meets the armour plate � rocking the blade to make an impression and then putting force onto the blade to slice it off

I have found to make a nice clean cut it is easier to work downwards as describe above � then work into the light so that if falls off cleanly

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v489/lieutenant_L/Electronics/DSCN2392.jpg

cut down

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v489/lieutenant_L/Electronics/DSCN2394.jpg

then follow the shape

 

There is a hole once you take the existing headlight off � so using a knife this is made large and with a circular file to further make the hole bigger � this is a very trial and error thing to do � this is going to be where the LED clip will go � so don�t worry if it isnt looking accurate

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v489/lieutenant_L/Electronics/DSCN2397.jpg

the original bike hole

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v489/lieutenant_L/Electronics/DSCN2401.jpg

with a little work

 

Taking a 3mm mounting LED clip � you should have 2 legs / clips which an LED should clip into � I cut these off with a clipper to make this easier and also neater to mount the LED in place

Once you have taken off the legs � place the mounting clip into hole and glue in place

 

You will probably find gaps around the mountin clip � so fill these with green stuff ( this is why I have a second knife ) and also any cut marks that might have got into the plastic front from earlier while cutting the hole / removing the headlight that was made of plastic

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v489/lieutenant_L/Electronics/DSCN2407.jpg

oohh

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v489/lieutenant_L/Electronics/DSCN2413.jpg

aahh

 

It is very important not to glue the LED in place at this point

 

thanks,

L

[Grey Knight]

nice so far, i will definately be trying this, i just so happen to have a spare bike handy, and know of some places that sell electronics cheap

[lieutenant L]

Hi

 

Thats cool grey knight - it isnt that hard once you know how and it does make a difference to the look ( i noticed I haven't posted a pic of the finished one from different angles or with the light on )

 

here is the next installment

 

Part 2

 

This is the part where a light is prepared - so im going to take it nice and slow :devil:

 

First thing to do is cut 2 strands of wire - of 2 colours

I have gone for black and red as these are what colours usually are used - and are colours I have used on past projects - so it makes it easy to remember

Red goes to positive while black to negative

 

At the moment im still thinking how im going to base my bikes - so decided to use a nice long length of wire - about 20 cm to 25 cm

 

The wire has metal strands inside and a coloured plastic casing, to solder we need to use the metal inside so that electricity can flow

For this reason we need to strip the plastic at the ends

 

You could buy tools to do this - however I use my modelling clippers - by clamping the wire ( from about 2 cm in from the edge ) I then wrap my other hand index finger with wire - and pull

This will take the plastic off - and leave some metal wire ( depending on what you used )

 

Mine had quite a few strands of wire inside of the plastic coating - so to make soldering easier i twisted the strands together so that I had all of the wire in one strand ( i hope that makes sense )

 

Do this on both wires

 

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v489/lieutenant_L/Electronics/DSCN2423.jpg

Many strands of wire to a single strand.

 

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v489/lieutenant_L/Electronics/DSCN2425.jpg

My 2 wires ready

 

With an LED there are 2 legs - the longer of the legs is positive - shorter is negative

 

Because of this - I twisted the strand of wire with red casing on the long leg and the black cased strand of wire gets twisted onto the shorter of the legs

 

I twist them on so that i can ensure I get a good solid contact of LED to wire - and that it is thin - which is needed in this case - as large soldering done in blobs will be a pain to fit through a bike and will run the risk of breaking

 

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v489/lieutenant_L/Electronics/DSCN2426.jpg

A leg and twisted wire

 

With the wire twisted around the LED leg - I grab my soldering iron, hold it where the wire and LED are touching - and feed solder into the soldering iron tip which will make a nice clean joint

 

I then take some heat shrink tube - which will be used to insulate this joint and stop the circuit from short circuiting which could happen if it wasnt there ( as the positive and negative wires will be next to each other tightly packed in )

 

All you have to do is cut it to length to go nicely over the exposed soldering, feed it up the wire to cover the joint - and apply heat to shrink it

 

To how you might shrink it with heat - I use my soldering iron on a low setting - I have done it before with a normal soldering iron and running it along the tube quickly and carefully, the main thing is to be patient so that you dont burn through the plastic

 

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v489/lieutenant_L/Electronics/DSCN2430.jpg

Heat shrink on the negative wire

 

And that is it - 1 ready to be fitted LED, I will tell how soon ;)

 

thanks,

L

 

( if at anytime you are confused or have a question etc. please dont hesitate to ask. )

 

Edit - there is als a problem with new bikes as opposed to the older ones which i used - it is easy to fix though, just means in stage 1 you have to make your own hole

[Robofish]

is there any chance of a step three? i'm thinking of doing a ravenwingesque army and some variety would be nice.

[lieutenant L]

Hi im so sorry - didnt realise anybody was following this guide

 

As i have an extended weekend I will try to complete the tutorial then

;)

 

thanks,

L

[Robofish]

Hooray! thank you, looking forward to it. Are there any specific technical specifics i should ask for regarding the Led/ battery when i take a trip to maplins? i know nothing of this field, and dont want to buy the wrong stuff. thanks

[lieutenant L]

Hooray! thank you, looking forward to it. Are there any specific technical specifics i should ask for regarding the Led/ battery when i take a trip to maplins? i know nothing of this field, and dont want to buy the wrong stuff. thanks

Seems my first post has gone weird with boxes where i had text ?

 

Ok basically how many bikes you thinking of doing ?

I would try ebay if you can - I buy my batteries and LEDs from there - I get batteries in packs of 5 which cost about same price as 1 does from Maplins - they are small disk batteries ( consider in this 60 mm base i have a battery and a switch with lots of room - Linky )

 

I also would stay stick to LEDs to under 3 volts in power - I can do a list with links to stuff on either ebay or maplins of stuff that would work if that would help

 

On another note I used my green stuff up on a lamp i made and some eldar bikes :blush:

So I will probably do tutorial next week when more arrives ( used to get battery holders into bases and keep everything looking nice )

 

thanks,

L

[Robofish]

that list of parts would be very helpful, would this technique work for other vehcles? rhinoes or landspeeders for example?

[FallenLion]

hey finish lighting! xD lookin 4ward 2 seein it done

[Commander Sasha]

To anyone following this, don't wire up your LEDs until the thread is finished; as I'm sure Lieutenant L will be showing, it's not quite as straightforward as wiring a bulb.

I for one am looking forward to seeing how you solve the battery location and switch problems! My only LED project to date was my Monolith, which has plenty of space inside! (It also makes a whooshing Tardis sound when it Phases, thanks to a sound effect module from a Dr Who Easter egg!)

Keep up the great thread!