I was thinking about this the other day.
I build just about everything. But it never occured to me NOT to light my Mobius Seaview.

I don't sweat lighting the cars I build, or the aircraft.
With the FS-1 about to arrive, I'm already looking at how to light her...

Steve

Because there are lights in the real world.

it's fun and cool.

for me the challenge was to learn a little bit about solid state electronics. LED's 555 timers, caps and transistors. It's a bit like cooking.

That and you can achieve totally unique effects with a limited skill and tool set. And that these devices simply weren't available when we were building the first time round give it a new spin.

I'd never attempt aztec'ing an enterprise but lighting it might be fun.

I believe the consensus is you won't win any awards for lighting or other electronic effects, but it doesn't hurt, and that school of thought may change.

edit: and your username has a certain je ne sais quoi...

I was named after my Dad,..Bill 123...lol
I agree, It's such a treat to get my hands on this seaview kit. I had to do my best for this kit.
I could't afford the pre-made light kits, but by golly, I was able to cobble one together, and as you said, I was a lot of fun to do.

Now, I need to gather up the makings for the FS1 lighting....

Steve

After trying it out in a P/L Seaview with just one led I knew it was the next step for me in modeling. Like the Moebius Seaview and those builds I have done since I'll be designing my own lighting as much as I can :rolleyes: for my forth coming FS-1. I would love to get an after market lighting kit for it but with the ozzie dollar and budget at the moment?????:freak: Still garage ingenuity is part of the fun too :p

Cheers,

Alec. :wave:

Besides, what's the point of going hog wild with interior detail if you can't see inside? May as well just blacken out the windows. But then what fun would that be?

Why do we light our sci-fi kits? Because we can!

Perhaps sci-fi modelers are more into lighting their models than, say, car or aircraft or military modelers because lighting adds a dimension of realism to a subject that's inherently unreal, i.e., a fictional spacecraft or submarine. Or maybe we're just a bunch of detail-oriented geeks. :freak:I was named after my Dad,..Bill 123...lolYou wouldn't happen to be related to this dude, would you?

[IMG-LEFT]http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_tuj6CIbZibk/SSswo_AvJOI/AAAAAAAABO8/x0fwq-PPjYs/s400/lansing.jpg[/IMG-LEFT]

No, but, he was my hero when he played Gen?./Col? Savage In 12 'o clock High.

Gary 7, wasn't that his name in this roll? Terri Garr was cute in that one too.

Steve

Why light? Why else?
"They task us. They task us!"
http://www.lotustalk.com/forums/attachments/f68/108567d1232212565-ricardo-montelban-wrath-khan-560x330.jpg

Because it gives them life.

We may see cars or tanks without lights and accept them, but if we see an SF ship without lights, it can look dead ... probably because if its lights were off on TV or movies, it was dead.

Because we are anal!!!!!
Because we have a lot of time on our hands!?
Because I like hearing my wife ask "aren't you done with that thing yet"?

So we can see them in space!

Lights are a big part of the visual impact of these ships on TV and in the movies--and that wasn't really the case until the Sixties TV shows like the Irwin Allen shows (where he insisted the vehicles have large windows with lit, visible interiors so the audience could relate the interior sets to the miniatures) and Star Trek. Lights just get these models to look closer to what we saw on TV...

Windows are, if we equate them to a "human standard", eyes to the soul...in our case, the soul of the object we are building. So - Yes, I want it to seem alive. I guess its the ultimate in "Static" modeling.

Note: When I was proudly carrying my Moebius Seaview to my car, a fellow modeler approached me and asked if I was going to "R/C the Seaview!". Wow, lighting it and R/Cing it would be the pinnacle of my new pride and joy. I would just lose it in the lake!

:thumbsup:Lights niiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiice.:thumbsup:
-Jim

Aren't we told to "Go towards the light"?

i am currently lighting a toybiz ghost rider, wip's at:

http://s300.photobucket.com/albums/nn35/jackshield/

Because we can!:thumbsup:

Cuase it's COOOOLLL!:D

Its like what the Martians from Invader Zim said: "Because its Cool" like miraclefan said also.

http://www.hobbytalk.com/bbs1/showthread.php?t=251863

I am a car/bike modeler for many years, and I had neer lit anything other than a single blinking LED in my LIS Robot kit about 10 years back! When I got the Seaview kit, I knew I HAD to light it! Just think about how lifeless it would be without it! All that work on the interior, and not be able to see it?! No way! As someone else said, it's the next step for me in modeling. I am currently working on the LIS Jupiter 2, Chariot, and Pod. All will be lit. I just recieved kits from the Kit Factory that are amazing for the core lighting! I've always enjoyed fiddling with other electronic endeavors as well, non-model related, so it's nice to put the two together!

I love lighting scifi. Espicialy if the lights are not just static. The TOS Enterprise, the J2, MWM, etc. all have lights that flicker, fade, pulse and spin. This gives life to a model. And not just scifi ships. I am half done with KITT (80's version) that has a working scanner and is packed with FO and blinky LEDs. Ya just gotta love it!

http://www.imagechicken.com/uploads/1239292026092312100.jpg (http://www.imagechicken.com)

the first model I ever lit was one of the original 18" TOS Enterprises because it came with lights!

I think lighting is as much part of the subject's character as the paintjob most of the time. there are exceptions.

Some subjects are all about the build (Star Wars star destroyer or falcon)
some subjects are all about the paint (X-wings, Slave 1, B5 ships or figure kits )

and then there are those that are all about the lights (LIS pod or J2, Martian War Machine)

the first model I ever lit was one of the original 18" TOS Enterprises because it came with lights!

I think lighting is as much part of the subject's character as the paintjob most of the time. there are exceptions.

Some subjects are all about the build (Star Wars star destroyer or falcon)
some subjects are all about the paint (X-wings, Slave 1, B5 ships or figure kits )

and then there are those that are all about the lights (LIS pod or J2, Martian War Machine)

Lou, you always hit it on the mark..... My first lighting foray also was the 18"
Enterprises, after that it was all over for dark builds.....:rolleyes: Now everything I build has to be lit and filled with electronics. But it took Moebius to make it fun.....:thumbsup: Things like active video screens, rotating radar
dish and now OLED displays for the computer wall in my Seaview, MP4 video players and LED backlight units in my FS, Talking B9 with LEDs, R/C drive and working fog and spot lights for my Chariot, and on and on.....:freak: It's like a habit I can't stop, I think I need rehab....:drunk: Please send help......;)

The rest of the photos can be found in the Moebius treads....:thumbsup:

Why light models?
Cos it's pain in the butt to do it in post!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Mn4tu8vMv08&feature=channel_page

To me, it is because it is part of improving ones skill when it comes to building a kit. It takes you up a notch when you lite a kit.

and it's cool.