Sandcrawler project

[artoodeeto]

oh you'll see lighty pics when I get the wiring all done LOL. there will be at least 119. I'm thinking about adding interior LEDs to the lower sections, but I'll likely "only" be able to add in 24 more due to limited accessibility. max number will be 143. they'll mostly be wired in strands of 6 lights + resistor in series, then all those strands in parallel.

Semi-overdue thanks to Randy Cooper on this build (even though he'll probably never see this thread) - he is an incredible model builder, and just made a sandcrawler kit replica. I discovered this, contacted him for advice on mine, and he was kind enough to send me his reference material, which has been an incredible help! If you've got some money to spare and want to get yourself an awesome, looks-identical-to-the-film model from a good guy who's REALLY good at what he does, take a look at his site:
http://randycoopermodels.com/purchase-kits/

[artoodeeto]

question on an idea - I'm working on rewiring the lights. Despite the fact that I'm doing strands of series lights, and wiring the strands together in parallel (thus I *should* be able to run many more lights off a single 12V source at approx. the same brightness as I had before), I will still need several plugs. Fans are one, 11 higher voltage LEDs are another, one or two plugs for the 120 lower voltage LEDs in the upper section, and another plug if I do another 24 LEDs in the lower section (easier to wire).

An idea that's crossed my mind is rather than using molex plugs to hook the wires from the top portion of the case to the PSU in the bottom part, run the wires to small metal squares, maybe sheathed in plastic or MDF, and mounted on springs. The plan would be that when I put the top of the case onto the bottom, the plates in the top make contact with the matching ones in the bottom, the springs ensure they stay that way, and the sheathing around them makes sure no sparks fly out. I wouldn't have to worry about plugs, and I wouldn't have to have access to a particular side of the case.
Alternatively, I could just bolt plugs in so that they meet up when the two halves of the case go together, but my hesitation there is molex especially tends to be a tight fit, and I don't want it to be difficult to pull the top off or put it on.

Sound like a good idea, bad idea, or one not worth attempting? Assuming it's a good idea, would copper be the best metal to use (can't afford gold ) and would cheaper metals, like steel, work? Thanks!

[x88x]

A friend of mine did something similar with the fan and lights on the side panel of his tower. He used conductive foam, and it worked beautifully. I'm not sure where you would find such a thing, or even what it was, but it worked great. Large surface area + ductile contact = perfect contact, every time.

For the power levels going to the LEDs, I wouldn't really worry about sparks/etc, just make sure you make it so that it's not easy to short them out.

[artoodeeto]

interesting...I didn't know you could get that stuff. I took a quick look around - most of the "conductive" foam seems to be the anti-static variety they package IC's in. any idea if that's what your friend was using? It seems odd yet oh so cool to stick unininsulated wire ends into foam and watch my lights light up. Especially since it's easy to work with, and I probably have some kicking around somewhere.

[x88x]

After a little bit of looking around last night, I think it was conductive fabric covered foam, like these. I honestly don't know what exactly he used; I think it was left-over stuff from a university project.

[artoodeeto]

k, it's been awhile since I last updated this. Still no lighty pics yet, but... THEY WORK! I've finished rewiring the upper section. Big relief when I tested the lights and they all lit up (except for a couple, but at those strands aren't finished yet, I wasn't expecting them to light up). I just haven't soldered in the final wiring, and I discovered that my jury-rigged setup for testing purposes wasn't stable enough to let go of it long enough to take a photo.
Now I just need to solder in the plug, add 24 more LEDs to the lower areas, get those wired into the same plug, do the back roof section and add 8 LEDs to that, and rewire the 6 LEDs that are in the base of the model...it's not as much work as it sounds like. Really.

cockpit area wiring. Sure hope the roof still fits on there...there's not a lot of room between the back of the cockpit section and the underside of the roof, so those extra black wires being there might be a problem.

old light strand, scissors, extra resistors, extra power cord that'll run the higher voltage "outside" LEDs

one of the old light strands, each light wired in parallel and no resistors.

[artoodeeto]

All but 8 LED's are in there; looks like I need to fix one circuit of 6, as they're not lighting up (probably soldered one in backwards). So right now there's 135 LEDs in the model; 125 of them are lit. The 8 yellow ones I'll add will be going in the back section, in the upper area above the red-lit compartment visible through the rearmost cutaway panel.
You can see the 3 plugs for the lights and fans sticking out the side. Since all the lights work off of 2 molex connectors that are ultimately coming from the same plug in the PSU, I'm going to cut off one of the light plugs and solder its wires into the other plug, so there'll be just one plug for all the LEDs instead of 2. And that, happily, was my goal: 1 plug for the LEDs, 1 plug for the fans. Simplify...simplify...simplify...I should post pics of all the excess stuff I pulled out during this phase. There was a lot...

[SXRguyinMA]

those lights look awesome!

[Waynio]

Nice project artoodeeto looking great so far +rep +subscribed.

The LEDs add an instant layer of awesomeness.
I'm really going to have to start practicing new tricks if I ever want to do something eye poppingly special which I do want , switchable on/off leds being pretty high on the list of things for me to learn, it's a pretty big list already, but if I get cracking on it I should have some new skills ready for my next project .

[blueonblack]

LOVE the lighting! Very well done. +rep