Perfect, thanks so much Rob.
I do think the substitute I found is quite acceptable, though.

My grenades came in today, now I am equipped for some action:

Looks great. So was the SD studios deal good after all ?

It was for me at least, yeah. The 3 SD Studio ones go very well with the one I already had, so I for one am happy I got those.
All that had to be done was to add the white pinstripe to the red cap and voilá: nice grenades for blowing up pesky xenomorphs and/or lieutenants!

Outstanding now all we Need is a deck of cards Well done mate.

Neil

_________________
Cpl N.Storey A12/TQ2.0.02132E1
MARINE RAIDER

We could also do with power loaders, dropships and APCs, right?

With the last bits&bobs ordered, I should be able to show the complete outfit very soon. Helmet cover, radio pouch, knife sheath, ear defender/Beyerdynamic and a proper IR sight are on their way to me already, and patches are being sorted out. And here I am already thinking about upgrading to metal armour...

It never ends. Welcome to the club of "almost there".

_________________
Sgt. Frank Peters 'reload' Smartgun Operator
A03/TQ3.0.12136E1 "It will be no picknick!"
AL Colonial Admin. - Sergeant at Arms (SgtA) -- 2020-2022
GERCM - Executive Officer (XO)
UKCM Foreign Legion: The Deviant Dragoons

Hobbies...they make me poor, but it just is too much fun.

The metal armour project is just a plan thus far. No money to spend ATM!

Did a test print of my patches files on paper in 1:1 size and it came out convincing. Looks good held to the BDU shirt!

Awesome work on the Armor. Nice touch to the Nade too, makes it feel way more *alive*. Great!

Looking great.

_________________
Sgt. Frank Peters 'reload' Smartgun Operator
A03/TQ3.0.12136E1 "It will be no picknick!"
AL Colonial Admin. - Sergeant at Arms (SgtA) -- 2020-2022
GERCM - Executive Officer (XO)
UKCM Foreign Legion: The Deviant Dragoons

I have now changed the shoulder lamp bulb from LED (super bright via a 9V block but not accurate when switched off) to a normal spot bulb. It's powered via a model car racing battery pack and is actually really really bright, while also quite accurate to the kind of piece the movie-used lamps had.





Let's hope the racing batter pack doesn't get TOO hot during drops...

Aside from the temperature there are a few other things to consider in regard to drops:
- If you are talking to people at a con you'll be "blinding" them with the shoulder light (it's annoying at best and can even be dangerous). So if you don't want to constantly switch the light on and off (have you tried it wearing your armor? ), you might want to install an additional eye friendly low power setting.
- Even a low power 10W/12V bulb will draw a current of 0.8Amps. So an ordinary 2500mAh accu pack will only last a little more than 3 hours.

Cheers,
Stefan

PS: Looking forward to see you at the RPC!

As a kind of compromise I placed a bulb on top of a LED and lowered the battery power for me Shoulder lamp.

To further add what Bugstomper wrote we had some one using a extreme bright LED and that was also not good
when it came to taking pictures.

For my next lamp I will use very bright Bike lamp, but with different settings to dim it properly.

_________________
Sgt. Frank Peters 'reload' Smartgun Operator
A03/TQ3.0.12136E1 "It will be no picknick!"
AL Colonial Admin. - Sergeant at Arms (SgtA) -- 2020-2022
GERCM - Executive Officer (XO)
UKCM Foreign Legion: The Deviant Dragoons

It will of course be tested on conventions, and should it be bad, it might get replaced yet again. Thanks for your insights, guys!

Is that bulb one of those kitchen halogen ones?
If it is then it definetly will melt any plastic close to it, I'm speaking from experience, it might start to cook your face too.

_________________
AKA: Simon

I have it on just now continuously to see how long it will last with one charge, and it won't last at all I have found. So yeah, a setback. Good news is that it doesn't give off too much heat.



I tried that too beforehand, damaging one of the bulbs/focusing housings. Can you give a tutorial and/or show a pic of your solution?

Are you planning on attending cons with no lighting?

_________________
SSgt Kris "Bloodsucker" Kobus, VAS.
A09/TQ2.0.12136E1

No, but I'm planning to have the lamp light up in some reliable, enduring way.
Preferably LED in a spot reflector like the one shown in my latest tests. Just like Frank mentioned basically.

Ok I just got the impression you wanted it to be lit all the time

_________________
SSgt Kris "Bloodsucker" Kobus, VAS.
A09/TQ2.0.12136E1

You could always try removing the halogen element (the bulb part) and replacing it with a singular LED? Effectively just using the beam focus part.

You could use a 5mm or 10mm LED similar to these here.

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Ultra-Bright- ... 43b142aace

They have a similar 'look' to a standard bulb and are about the right size.

I've got some of the 10mm ones here if you need one.
I don't know how bright they'll be on 12v, but they won't drain your power source in an instant and they don't give off any heat.

_________________
You don't have to be pitilessly sadistic to work here.... But it helps.
http://www.chefs-creations.co.uk/shop/index.php/colonial-marine

http://www.kgbairsoft.com/wordpress

And you could choose a fancy colour ! How about pink for the Apex Predator ?

The light bulb I used came from a car replacement.
You could also use the small bulbs from the bicycle rear reflectors/lights.
You will see at RPC the LED behind the bulb can’t be seen.

It is dimmed at 50% the attached picture makes it much brighter than it really is.
With other (power) LEDs you could make it very bright, for me too bright.

The other bicycle LED I have is sufficient enough to light a small room better than your average 60W bulb.

_________________
Sgt. Frank Peters 'reload' Smartgun Operator
A03/TQ3.0.12136E1 "It will be no picknick!"
AL Colonial Admin. - Sergeant at Arms (SgtA) -- 2020-2022
GERCM - Executive Officer (XO)
UKCM Foreign Legion: The Deviant Dragoons

I'll see what I can come up with, thank you gents.

First update: the hardest part will be removing the bu8lb from the beam focus part, my dremel says NO to cutting glass. Even with the high quality heavy duty cutting discs I have.
Maybe I'll try score-and-snap for a clean, forced break or I'll have to loook for another non-glass beam focus piece.

Meanwhile I've found an OK substitute for an LED spot that'll do for now, but it really isn't any closer to the screen used ones than the first one I used. Meh.