Author: Gross Models

I am planning on relaunching the Thursday “Evening with” streams, but will need some help!
If you’d like to drop in for a chat one week, drop me a message and we can work it out.
It will be the old format of general chat about life, the universe and everything (except politics and religion!) for the usual hour or so.
It’d be great to see some old and new faces, even if it’s just for a few minutes at a time.

It’s that, you you just end up with me talking to myself for a while…..

So leave a comment, send me a mail or drop into my DM”s and we will see when we can chat!

I have recently launched a new YouTube channel devoted to my gameplay videos.

If you want to hang out with me while I stream some games, come along and subscribe! You can find me at YouTube.com/@GrossModelsGaming and I’ll be playing more often going forward!

Let me know if you have any requests for games, or more model content on my main channel!

While I am unable to build properly for a while I’ve been spending more time playing games. One I’ve got back into is Elite.

After picking up the “Odyssey “ pack for walking around on planets and in stations as well as flying the spaceships, I’ve had to adapt to a hybrid control scheme.

So I use the controller for the on foot stuff, and the big Hotas for piloting. It isn’t quite ideal, but works well enough.

I am also playing around with voice controls using software from HCS voicepacks. This listens for specific commands and then does it for you hands free. It also provides extra voice feedback for the game, adding more depth and immersion to an already immersive game. With the addition of vr it almost fools you into believing you are there.

HCS have loads of voices to pick from, for Elite, Starfield, Helldivers 2 and more!

Use this link to check out some of the packs I use and get your own!

https://www.hcsvoicepacks.com/products/gravity?sca_ref=4757693.V2WWtZn0Xy

If you’ve been following the Back to the Future Delorean build you may be aware I had some trouble with the supplied “leather” straps that hold the hood box in place. They seem to have perished and become very brittle.

I bought some actual leather strap to make up replacements.

Although I got the correct width, I could only get leather that was substantially thicker than the original scale. This wasn’t too much trouble as I am able to cut it in half as I only need one side to show.

After cutting to length and thickness I am ready for the next step!

The straps are still too thick for the original buckles to fit, so I have fitted the straps underneath the box and glued the hooks to the ends on the inside of the hood.

This should make it possible to use the original bands to hold the box in place and still be able to remove it when needed.

And that’s it! I’m fairly happy with the end result, what do you think?

I have just been granted affiliate status with HSC voice packs, and here is the link!

https://www.hcsvoicepacks.com?sca_ref=4757693.V2WWtZn0Xy

If you’re looking to enhance your gameplay in Starfield, Elite or many other sims, check them out!

I’ve been looking at the power coils.

I know, I know, I’ve said it doesn’t bother me, and it really doesn’t. I know outside of a couple of pictures I’ll never turn them on again once the build is finished, but the supplied led’s just don’t really cut it.

They look great at the bulb, then good, then fine, then disappointing, then not even illuminated.

So, I have investigated.

I used EL rope before in the Exgol diorama model, and was very happy with how they work and look. So I picked up some more and went to work!

The rope pack I picked up has 5 single strips of 1m length, so plenty to replace the existing tubes. They are thicker, at 2.3mm instead of the 1.3 of the original, but with a little squeezing they should fit into the brackets and be covered by the metal plates.

My intention was to simply supply power from the cables that lead to the LED’s, and simply connect to the new rope.

It didn’t work like that.

Connecting the power directly to the rope seems to do absolutely nothing. I took the battery box supplied with the rope apart and found a transformer lurking inside. I assume it steps up the power or frequency, or amperage, or something else we’ll beyond my electronics skill.

In the end, I love the way it would make it work, but I can’t see any way to incorporate them into the original electronics. I think I will need to get de the new battery box, and route the power to the front and back of the car.

It’s not impossible, and I expect I will return and find a way of sorting it, but for now it’s gone back on the back burner.

With the new Inventr.io Adventure kit and a couple of other projects coming up, I thought it was time to brush up on some old electronics skills.

Firstly, and most importantly, soldering.

Soldering is the easiest and best way of joining electrical wires and components together with a joint that allows electricity to flow.

I haven’t done any “proper” soldering for many years and technology has progressed with the availability of soldering stations being quite common. I don’t have one, and don’t think I’ll be doing enough to warrant the purchase so I will be sticking with my old school “just plug it into the socket” iron.

Apart from a steady hand and things that need to be soldered, there are 2 other important items. The iron, and some solder. The composition of the solder has changed over the years with safer materials and improvements to how it flows and sets happening all the time. I just picked up a roll of basic solder, but you can purchase many different types depending on your requirements.

The soldering iron in its most basic form is a tip that is heated enough to melt the solder. They can be electric, or sometimes gas powered. Mine simply plugs in and gets hot. The more advanced ones can be set to specific temperatures.

Enough background, on with the project!

This was part of the beta adventure kit 2.0

In the release version of the kit it will be soldered, but I thought I’d use it as a test practice piece.

Holding it in place on a breadboard I then added heat with the soldering iron, then touched the solder to the pin allowing some to melt.

Repeating the other side, it all seems to have worked!

A good indication of a successful joint is if the solder remains shiny. If it’s a full finish, you can always go back and heat it again.

I’m happy that my skills don’t seem to have faded over the decades since I used them! It may not be perfect, but it’s a good start back into the world!

Another partwork comes to a close with issue 100 of the Ironman build.

You can catch the entire series here:

Fanhome Ironman
https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLykCLmEIfILXAvykFVGlOcolOmfkfOzep

Including the construction of the premium base.

If you’ve been following my build of the Eaglemoss Delorean you may be aware I had a packet delivered open and with a small part missing.

Now, I could contact them and get a replacement issue sent out, but as it was only 1 small part that is almost impossible to see when the build is complete I thought it would be a good chance to have a play with my moulding “skills”

As it’s a small black part and I had some in, I thought I’d try using sugru.

If you are unaware, Sugru is a mouldable product that air dries to a slightly rubbery consistency. It can be used to fit things together, and I thought it could work in this case.

I started by pulling off a small chunk and trying to get the rough size and shape.

With some shaping I thought it would be easier to do in place on the kit, although I was very aware that the seats I am fitting it to will very easily show any black stains!

The end result is a little larger than the original, and not nearly as nice, but I doubt anyone would be able to notice even if looking for it when the car is finished.

So in my opinion a reasonable job, solving a slight problem and increasing my skills slightly!