SingleSeat
Active Hunter
man, if I'm not making any sense, let me know......
SingleSeat's Rangefinder (Scratch-built) *pics*
- Thread starter SingleSeat
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crazy4BobaFett
Active Hunter
That is amazing! You are a true craftsman, it has crazy detail.
You could corner the market in RF's
You could corner the market in RF's
Spideyfett
Well-Known Hunter
crazy4BobaFett said:
I want one!!...Mark me down...
DL44 Blaster
Well-Known Hunter
I think it would be unanimous that if these ever became "available" you'd be busy for a while
Steve
Steve
SingleSeat
Active Hunter
On to the Hyperdyne electronics!!! These high-quality pro-grade units are awesome! :cheers Thanks Hyperdyne!! As a big plus, the way it is designed allows a lot of flexibility while figuring out how to get it fitting and functioning the way I envisioned.
Please let me know if anyone doesn't follow this...
First are the pictures of the unit as it is fully modified inside the rangefinder. The LED’s are bent into position -- both the two reds on top and the white one on the bottom. The sequencing pins are cut off since I’m satisfied with the stock ESB light sequencing and I need 'em gone to fit. The front battery holder is bent slightly inward for easier access and both battery holder ends have their little metal tabs removed for easier fitting (sorry no pic). Also, the corners of the board are rounded off for better removal/insertion access(dremel :wacko ).
The LED’s are positioned to be just under the openings in the RF (see ESB). One LED is bent down sideways and then up. The other is bent down, out, and looped under the battery spring. The leads on this one are wrapped in electrical tape for now. The bottom white LED is simply pushed out of the way since 1) I didn’t have the heart to chop it, and 2) I’m still testing some ideas using fiberoptics. So the white one is wrapped in black electrical tape and stowed. The mercury switch needed to be rotated so that it would work in the right direction as the unit sat in the RF. And for all the leads, of course, there is no metal-to-metal contact.
As you follow the pictures, I’m hoping that you can follow the ghost images of the LED’s and mercury switch to understand the routing (since I didn’t think the take a picture of the stock kit
)
Please let me know if anyone doesn't follow this...
First are the pictures of the unit as it is fully modified inside the rangefinder. The LED’s are bent into position -- both the two reds on top and the white one on the bottom. The sequencing pins are cut off since I’m satisfied with the stock ESB light sequencing and I need 'em gone to fit. The front battery holder is bent slightly inward for easier access and both battery holder ends have their little metal tabs removed for easier fitting (sorry no pic). Also, the corners of the board are rounded off for better removal/insertion access(dremel :wacko ).
The LED’s are positioned to be just under the openings in the RF (see ESB). One LED is bent down sideways and then up. The other is bent down, out, and looped under the battery spring. The leads on this one are wrapped in electrical tape for now. The bottom white LED is simply pushed out of the way since 1) I didn’t have the heart to chop it, and 2) I’m still testing some ideas using fiberoptics. So the white one is wrapped in black electrical tape and stowed. The mercury switch needed to be rotated so that it would work in the right direction as the unit sat in the RF. And for all the leads, of course, there is no metal-to-metal contact.
As you follow the pictures, I’m hoping that you can follow the ghost images of the LED’s and mercury switch to understand the routing (since I didn’t think the take a picture of the stock kit
)SingleSeat
Active Hunter
Now I’ll explain how the kit goes into the RF. First, I show the final arrangement of the Hyperdyne unit. Black electrical tape jackets the LED’s (batteries taped per Hyperdyne’s recommendation). The red light only needs to escape out the top after all. The clear part needs two cuts with the band saw (plus some sanding for any blade marks), and when I put the “blueprints” up, you will see where the cut goes. Next, I show how the Hyperdyne kit sits in relation to the clear part as they fit into the RF.
As for the clear part, it is backed with a thicker photo paper folded to fit around the corners. The inside is painted flat black, while the side up against the clear is sprayed with Testors Chrome .
....
As for the clear part, it is backed with a thicker photo paper folded to fit around the corners. The inside is painted flat black, while the side up against the clear is sprayed with Testors Chrome
.....
SingleSeat
Active Hunter
For the time being, until I figure out this lighting situation, I have three flattened out wires (just plain metal wire) painted with an acrylic green glowing paint (available at craft stores). Each wire is cut to a length as seen in the ROTJ MoM photos, and this is one of the major research areas I’m exploring right now since the ESB examples I suspect are different. They may well have put a single light into the RF for ESB, but we’ll see. The last fifth of each wire is bent back to for the shape of a “7” in order to wrap around the cut corner and hold on. They punch through the paper -- that helps hold them in place too, and black tape is placed over their inside bent ends to hold them as well. It might sound flimsy, but they’re really not going anywhere. Like I said…this area is in-work, but looks alright now.
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Gator Fett
Well-Known Hunter
INCREDIBLE!!!! This has been one of the most detailed and informative topics I have read in a while. This RF looks fantastic.
Please add me to the list, if you ever decide to go into the RF buisness.
Gator
P.S. Now I have some ideas on how to modify my Hyperdyne LED unit. Thanks.
Please add me to the list, if you ever decide to go into the RF buisness.
Gator
P.S. Now I have some ideas on how to modify my Hyperdyne LED unit. Thanks.
DL44 Blaster
Well-Known Hunter
I say let's start the bidding on this one when it's completed8) May the deepest pockets win:rolleyes
Steve
Steve
SingleSeat
Active Hunter
Big thanks on the comments everyone 
!
viola... (a little blury)
!viola... (a little blury)
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Wow, that looks awesome!! Thanks for taking to time to document your process. I could most likely modify my boards to fit inside the RF as you show. How much did you have to remove from the board edges so it would fit?
It looks like if I repositioned the red LEDs, moved the tilt switch, and installed the pin header on the battery side everything would fit great. Is this about right??
It looks like if I repositioned the red LEDs, moved the tilt switch, and installed the pin header on the battery side everything would fit great. Is this about right??
SingleSeat
Active Hunter
hyperdyne said:
Actually the lengths of the LED leads opened up options. I needed room to play since I've never exactly built one of these before
. I shaved the corners so bringing the board in and out would be easier. Your pin header idea might work, and that way I could keep the pins intact. The biggest option-expander would be longer leads on the mercury switch. I'd like to tilt this switch even more if I could, but I'm afraid this might go as far as tilting the whole board forward; i.e. I'd like the lights to activate a little further down in the pivot range from the sheer vertical, so that Fett can tilt his head to a greater degree without activating the RF -- but no big deal right now, it's still wicked cool!!! 8) 8) But now that I think about it, the leads on the mercury switch are aligned side-to-side along the long side of the board. It might open up more twisting/tucking options if they were turned 45deg. in their mounts (I wouldn't say so for the red LEDs though). -caddycorner- As it sits in the RF, the mercury switch is pointed along a down and aft axis. If I could get longer leads I could bend it back and then "scoop" it back up toward the board to give Fett some more head movement freedom. The sturdy battery mount welds are great, they held up to the slight bend. All in all, centralizing componentry opens up options (such as the bottom chip and little bits).-edit- However, I don't want anyone to get the idea that this unit is less than ideal....quite the contrary. This is a very specific example of a very specific installation and we're only talking about progress improvement. The Hyperdyne kit is fantastic!!!
I made a picture to show what I mean...the ghost mercury switch is what I would do if I had longer leads.
To everyone out there: a few obvious statements...remember to be careful when bending any of these leads, 1) no metal-to-metal contact, and 2) don't break 'em, be gentle.
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SingleSeat
Active Hunter
Ok Fett fans, let me back up a little. The weathering in these pictures is about 4/5th's complete. The painting is but a minor task after all this work. I really don’t have any recommendation for the black. I used a Testors Flat Black – of the Model Master variety. After some priming and correcting minor sanding errors, I sprayed the black. I masked the white interior from the spray. I coated the piece in Testors Semi-Gloss (clear).
All weathering went topical – this piece is so small and most of the weathering (scratches) are on the corners which made masking fluid and layering impractical to me. Testors silver (aka bright silver) makes up the “scratches.” I used the tiniest brush I could find and trimmed it down even further. Still, the “chips” under the LED’s would take some tiny dabs of flat black inside them per the ref. material (can’t see a lot in some pics since the flash just wipes it out). Sometimes dry-brushing gave me the rough gritty look to the scrape that I was looking for. Then I would create black scratches and tiny dents with an array of sharp (read: small), yet dull metal instruments. Everything from a tweezer, to a scissor tip, to the backside of a hobby knife blade provided the small “black” scratches into the semi-gloss to match the ESB rangefinder .
-side note- Notice that the .080" styrene gives the same thickness as the ESB piece as you look in the LED holes. Not so if I were making an ROTJ RF -- I'd use a thinner piece to match the MoM example to drill holes into.
All weathering went topical – this piece is so small and most of the weathering (scratches) are on the corners which made masking fluid and layering impractical to me. Testors silver (aka bright silver) makes up the “scratches.” I used the tiniest brush I could find and trimmed it down even further. Still, the “chips” under the LED’s would take some tiny dabs of flat black inside them per the ref. material (can’t see a lot in some pics since the flash just wipes it out). Sometimes dry-brushing gave me the rough gritty look to the scrape that I was looking for. Then I would create black scratches and tiny dents with an array of sharp (read: small), yet dull metal instruments. Everything from a tweezer, to a scissor tip, to the backside of a hobby knife blade provided the small “black” scratches into the semi-gloss to match the ESB rangefinder .
-side note- Notice that the .080" styrene gives the same thickness as the ESB piece as you look in the LED holes. Not so if I were making an ROTJ RF -- I'd use a thinner piece to match the MoM example to drill holes into.
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SingleSeat
Active Hunter
------oops double post.
Everyone...keep checking back...I hate to cause any re-reads, but I edit a lot to make everything as clear as possible.
Everyone...keep checking back...I hate to cause any re-reads, but I edit a lot to make everything as clear as possible.
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SingleSeat
Active Hunter
I experimented with many different ideas for the interior with an eye on the ref CD. Dark backgrounds for the clear part looked wrong entirely. White and lighter backgrounds just made it look like you were looking into a hollow box, with the three line cuts creating their own shadows -- lame :facepalm . I created a plate from more .080” sheet styrene that would fit in the roof of the RF and painted with Testors Chrome (liquid cement holds it inside). This provided the look of infinity when looking directly into the RF; i.e. as Fett would look into it in the down position. The walls were kept clean and white since they weren’t as much of a factor when looking into the piece and the clear part would needlessly scrape paint off when removing/replacing it for battery access. The non-visible interior areas were painted with a flat black to help seal off extraneous light and promote shadows if looking into the LED holes. This infinite background also provided the illusion that the three-line cuts were in the middle of the clear part.
-side note- when looking into the clear part, the camera flash is somewhat swallowed up by the sides of the prism...it's not as opaque as the camera would lead you to believe and the three-line cuts do indeed seem to refract down into view from the top.
-side note- when looking into the clear part, the camera flash is somewhat swallowed up by the sides of the prism...it's not as opaque as the camera would lead you to believe and the three-line cuts do indeed seem to refract down into view from the top.
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DL44 Blaster
Well-Known Hunter
OK now that you have the "easy" stuff out of the way,....go paint the helmet
Steve
Steve
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