Geoffrey Lucier is starting another build of the Martian war machine using one of our WOTW Life force kits.
His WIP below features some techniques for installing everything inside the machine and a unique
way to install the power button.
Geof:
Note that, for clarity, just the battery pack and on/off roller switch are shown without any other
lighting or sound equipment. The purpose of this build up is to hide all the operational wiring & power
INSIDE the war machine to allow greater flexibility in displaying this model in a diorama or display.
1. Top view showing hub 'socket' cut away. Use a Dremal tool or X-Acto saw to cut away plastic.
2. Underside view of top section showing hub 'socket' cut away. Note that I left about 1/8" of socket intact below the cut.
3. View of inserted hub piece. Make sure that it rotates freely.
4. View of hub marked to show correct placement. BEFORE marking the hub, make sure that its positioning will
have the cobra head facing forward or straight ahead on the ship.
5. Glue a half round piece of sprue or scrap plastic (shown in red) to the previously marked area on the hub piece.
This bump is the 'trigger' for the power switch. The black shape below is a ~1/8" high platform made of scrap plastic or
wood for the power switch to rest on. Note that once the trigger is glued in place, the cobra neck hub CANNOT be removed!
6. Photo of the replacement switch that I substituted for the one that comes with the Starling Tech kit. It is a Radio Shack
SPDT Submini Roller Lever Switch (Part # 275-0017) and costs about $3.50.
7. Photo showing the roller switch placement on the plastic riser and up against the hub. Secure the switch
to the riser with model cement or hot glue. The roller should just touch the hub so when the hub/cobra head is
rotated counter-clockwise, the bump 'trigger' pushes the switch down and turns on battery power for the machine
lights & sound effects which will stay ON. To turn the device OFF, recenter the cobra head and then turn it
counter clock-wise again to shut off the power.
8. Photo showing 1/8" diameter hole drilled in the rear of the machine's bottom piece to accommodate the kit's
extra sound effects push button.
9. Interior photo of the push button location. This placement is optional but I felt the bottom
rear of the machine is pretty much out of sight.
10. Outside view with the button in place. Enough of it protrudes so it can be easily activated with a light touch.
I suggest removing or not installing the button until the exterior painting of the model is completed so avoid 'gluing'
the button to the shell with paint. Just give a touch of copper color paint to it as a finishing touch.
Stan Koziol came up with a great idea to replace the push button with a reed switch which can be triggered by
passing a magnet near it. I suppose the same could be done for my build-up too.
11. The last picture is of a simple template I made up to help determine the positioning of the ship's invisible tripod
legs. The black dots denote the actual location of the three belly lights which is where the 'invisible' legs would be
coming out of the ship. The red dots would be where holes should be drilled in a display base or diorama to get a
splayed leg position for greater stability of the model which is just resting on three clear 6" plastic rods secured with
Tacky Glue to the underside of the machine. The Tacky Glue is nice because you can remove the machine easily to replace
the batteries or fix a bad LED. Obviously, during construction you WOULD NOT glue the ship halves together in order to do this.
The parts fit together so well gluing isn't really necessary.
