Radar Scope - Part 2

Just a quick update on the radar unit.  I printed off a generic radar image and fixed that to a clear disc, which in turn was glued into the radar unit's housing.  A green LED will shine behind this giving a nice ethereal (or spooky) glow to any operator.

I still have some minor details to add, and then I can start on it's power unit and desk.

Vents!

Big electronic devices like retro computers need to be cooled, and that means vents and grilles.  Finding suitable parts in 1/6 scale isn't that easy, so I looked to smaller scales... and found a set of engine deck grilles for a 1/16 scale Panther tank.  These are etched brass and have some nice bolt head detail on them.

The rectangular grilles are perfect for air vents on the front of the tape-drive cabinets.

Once painted and with a black wash in the recesses that should look pretty effective.

Radar Scope - Part 1

The computer lab concept is only a part of the diorama project I'w working on - as well the computers there will also be monitoring and tracking equipment for things that fall from space and land on remote Scottish islands where only a few people can thwart their menace...

Anyway to keep track of these falling objects the personnel need a radar and so I came up with a fairly generic design rather than be restricted to a specific model... this gives me a fair bit of freedom to create something visually interesting and at least plausible.

I made the basic shell of the radar unit from plasticard and dressed it with tiny screws and bits n bobs... it also gave me an excuse to use my circle cutter - which was nice.  So I cut an opening on the face of the unit and then cut a circular frame.

There will also be lighting - a flashing yellow and steady orange light on top and a steady green LED inside to provide back-lighting for the CRT radar screen.

The screen itself is a cheap reading magnifier from China made from rigid PVC.  I cut the handle off and printed off an image from the internet.  This image will be glued around the edge to the reverse of the screen, which, as well as magnifying has a ribbed texture to give a slight 3D effect when viewed first hand.

The magnifier has a slight convex shape which helps with the illusion.
The screen has already been fitted into the unit but I don't have photos as of this post.

There will be a desk and sundry equipment to accompany the radar unit but this is still very much a work in progress.

Retro Computers - Part 3

With the two tape-to-tape computer cabinets finished and ready for painting I started on the mainframe computer (the brains of the set).

Again I used a basic shape and drew that out... this time construction would be simpler as there are no inserts other than the front of the unit.  I made this as a separate panel, with holes drilled for all of the flashing LEDs that I would be fitting.

As usual, I made this from 1mm plasticard with some ribbed section for interest.

I build the basic cabinet, found it was too short and then added some height using ribbed sheet and plain sheet at an interesting angle.

So with the basic cabinet built I then proceeded to install the LEDs... 27 of them!

The photos don't show it (of course) but this is a mass of twinkling, flashing lights...

I'm just glad that LEDs don't generate any appreciable heat...

These are all powered by a 9V battery.  The panel with 6 lights are powered by a separate AA battery pack.

I need to add a roof to this unit (removable) and the front needs a lot of detailing, but this is pretty much where I am at the moment on the computers.

Retro Computers - Part 2

Once the cabinets had been built I needed to add the tape reels so typical of retro computers in films and on TV.  For the actual spools I found a couple of (expensive and quite hard to find) reel-to-reel type tape cassettes...

Which I then gutted...

I then built the gubbins (mechanism) which would look visually interesting behind the clear plastic that I would be adding once all was painted.

The Lego wheel here has been replaced by another cassette reel as this just looked silly.  I also installed a couple of LEDs into the workings to distract from the fact that these reels will not be spinning.

This is the general layout of the cabinet... there are two identical cabibnets so I'm building these in tandem to ensure they are exactly the same... even then there are a tiny differences that are obvious to me but won't be too glaring once they are painted up and finished.

I painted the backing to the reels, installed the lighting and fixed them into the cabinets.

I fitted AA battery holders into the cabinets to allow them to run quite happily.  Finally I added tops to the cabinets, filled the gaps and sanded smooth.

With them ready for painting I set the cabinets aside and started on the mainframe unit.

Retro Computers - Part 1

Some weeks ago I decided to construct a diorama for a photo project based around a generic early 70s British SF TV 'base under siege' typical of Doctor Who stories of that period.  This meant practically everything is having to be made from scratch.

I decided to start with the biggest props needed: computers.  That means tall cabinets with tape reels and lights along with a processing unit encrusted with flashing lights.  So armed with visuals in my head I built a paper model of the basic cabinet using PowerPoint.

 

Then I needed to translate this design to 1mm plastic card...

The access/viewing panels were cut out on both cabinets and after filling gaps and joins I started to add some surface detail...

Next... interior detail!

New Blog

Hello gentle visitor...

This is a blog for me to post updates of my model-making for 1/6 scale dioramas and props for 1/6 scale figures.  I thought it was better to keep these projects in one place for ease of archiving rather than scattered across Facebook in various pages and groups.

I have been model making for most of my life, starting with Airfix and Revell kits as a child and progressing through most other manufacturers as time progressed.  At some point, I can't remember when, I started to kitbash - putting unrelated parts of models together to create something new and unique, and shortly after started making things out of balsa wood... and eventually plastic.

Fast forward several decades and I'm scratchbuilding and kitbashing things in a dramatically larger scale and thus requiring more detail and a better finish.  Below is an example of my model building - a 1/6 scale section of spacecracft.  This was made from PVC sign board material and scrap plastic/sheets of plasticard.

I have several projects on the go at then moment and will upload posts concerning these as time goes on, so please, if you view this little blog and find it interesting be patient with me.  I'm not the fastest builder in the world.

As well as my models from scratch I will also post about my repaints of 1/6 weapons and equipment as well as commercially available diorama model kits.

Thank you for joining me on this blog... I appreciate the company :)