Nausicaa - Ohm

[strobez]

So besides the M26 Chaffee that I picked up at the 2018 Hobby Fair in Seoul this past weekend, I also stumbled across another kit I've been thinking about for a long time - the Nausicaa "Ohm".

Technically this kit is supposed to be 1/20 scale, which falls well outside my usual 1/72 Studio Ghibili project parameters, but conveniently baby Ohm look exactly like adult Ohm (or in this case, adolescents), so with a wink and a smile, I can make it fit.

The boxing, while not the original, is of course one of Tsukuda's from the 1980's, so I managed my expectations accordingly.



The sprues (which include a 1/20 Nausicaa figure I won't be dealing with) are basically 7 large block pieces and a zillion tiny legs.



The fit, of course, leaves something to be desired... manage expectations... manage expectations...



So the first thing I did was cram as much leftover sprue bits into the gaps around the base to give it some structural integrity.



Then I used some epoxy putty to start filling those gigantic gaps.  I'm not quire sure how to sand something that's supposed to have an uneven insect texture to it though...



I also plugged up every hole I could find on the inside.  I'm hoping to keep it well sealed...



because I have a plan...  now we'll just see if I have the skill and knowledge to pull it off.



Of course it never rains but it pours... during another hobby-related excursion to the less-often-visited-shop-on-the-other-side-of-town I stumbled across the Bandai "reboxing" of this kit.  Curiosity got the better of me, so I picked it up too.  Two Ohms are always better than one, as they say...



When I opened up the box though, I was quite surprised.  Bandai's boxing is supposed to be an update with "New Parts" (as per scalemates.com), however this constitutes a "New Tool" rating if I ever saw one.



Not a single bit is the same.  The layout, the texture, the part count... and least of all the size!



Hmm... they say people are bigger nowadays than they were in the past, so I suppose it's understandably that a 1/20 Ohm from the 1980s would look undernourished compared to one from 2006... right?



Bandai's new tool is a snap together one with a support structure skeleton.  I might have to get rid of some of that if I want to cram in some electronics.  I'm not sure yet.  Besides getting a single LED bulb to turn on in my Ponyo submarine build, this will be the first time I attempt such a task.  I've already got a headache from looking at electric circuit diagrams...



One of the big questions I have is if I should try to just hollow out the skull and fit in 2-3 "big" LED bulbs or should I try for a "small one in every eyeball" approach.  I can see pros and cons to each.  Where's jalles when you need him?

[zenrat]

Mamma Ohm & Papa Ohm.

Good luck on the wiring.  Remember, you know you are getting it wrong when you see the smoke escaping from inside the wires.   

[NARSES2]

Fascinating. I've neither seen, nor heard of this before

[strobez]

Mamma Om & Pappa Om.

Good luck on the wiring.  Remember, you know you are getting it wrong when you see the smoke escaping from inside the wires.   

As good advice as I've ever heard. I've been able to cobble together a proof-of-concept circuit on a breadboard which actually works... so that's something.  After a bit of thinking on it, my plan for this project is to actually use the old kit as a "derelict" - basically the leftover shell of a dead Ohm similar to the one that Nausicaa finds at the beginning of the film.  By doing that, I can a) do something different for each of the kits, and b) use various fungi and vegetation to cover over some of the more glaring fit issues

I will build out the new kit as a live Ohm and if my proof-of-concept can scale up slightly (by adding a few more bulbs) I will be able to turn it on with a button, choose between blue and red with a switch and adjust the intensity with a dial.  I've gone back and forth on trying to fit bulbs into each eye or just light the interior and I think I've settled on the interior because a) less bulbs/wiring and b) I don't really want to see the bulbs in the middle of each eye.... and c) less bulbs/wiring.

Now i have to try and figure out how many bulbs is appropriate.

[Weaver]

Slightly off-topic, but some crazy-but-awesome guy in Japan has made a working full-size version of the Möwe jet-glider from Nausicaa:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VkXRg8FkwlY

[Steel Penguin]

ty weaver  that was amazing to watch

and Strobez a cleaver take on the 2 different sizes of Om, a very clever idea. 

[strobez]

First off, yep Weaver... I've seen that video.  It's awesome.   

Also thanks Steel Penguin, Inthink it might take some encouragement to see this one through to fruition. If it turns out the way I hope, I'll expect a Whiffies nomination... if it turns out the way I expect, well, it's about the journey not the destination, right?

I got inspired by a few of the derelict car/plane builds I've seen... so bad they're great.  The fit of the old Ohm kit is best sescribed as "close...ish" so i'm excited about trying something a little different. We shall see if it works or not.

There's gonna be a few wires in this thing... luckily they're more or less all doing the same thing...



My trip to the dollar store also provided me with most of the other stuff I'm going to need.  All in the base is less than $10... thank god for cheap wooden cheese serving trays from Vietnam.

[Weaver]

That cheap cheese tray as a base is a good idea: might nick that. Some of them have turntables too. 

You know, the way those Ohms are designed, you might have thought the kit makers would have tooled them by making each segment a separate piece so that the model's joint line are where the 'real' things' are. Maybe they didn't because the legs were already pushing the parts count up and they didn't want to scare people off by having it too high.

[strobez]

I also thought about using a cheap picture frame and removing the stand hardware... the glass has some possibilities too, but if you're going to cover it anyway, you might take out the glass and put in some plastic or orther workable material - thin chipboard, plywood, etc...

Last night was a bit of a struggle, I'm trying to try something a bit fancy (for me) with the electronics, and after two hours of fiddling and checking polarities and connections I finally figured out that the colour scheme of two of the diodes were inverted.  Swaped them and voila! It worked!

I was so enthusiastic in my victory that I explained the struggle to my wife... to which her slightly deadpan response was... "wow, you must be a genius".  Bah! I'll impress her yet!

[Weaver]

I also thought about using a cheap picture frame and removing the stand hardware... the glass has some possibilities too, but if you're going to cover it anyway, you might take out the glass and put in some plastic or orther workable material - thin chipboard, plywood, etc...

You can always put the glass to work as a tool: a small piece of glass is great for sticking tape to in order to paint it and cut it to make straps and the like.

The first thing I ever built on here was a flying saucer (kinda) made from two cheap clocks, and the glass out of them is STILL doing that duty.

I was so enthusiastic in my victory that I explained the struggle to my wife... to which her slightly deadpan response was... "wow, you must be a genius".  Bah! I'll impress her yet!

Guessing you haven't been married very long....

[strobez]

Muhwahahaha!

No touchy! https://youtu.be/3NpLxuKVtZ4

[Weaver]

Muhwahahaha!

No touchy! https://youtu.be/3NpLxuKVtZ4

Hah - that's excellent! 

[zenrat]

Wooooooooooooo...

...magic!

[strobez]

So, after soldering 14x3 (red/blue/ground) wires together with 14 x 2 resisters (of appropriate Ohms... ba dum bum), the good news is that I now have 14 red and blue eyeballs.  The bad news is that the proximity switch now turns the red on without turning off the blue.   

Hopefully this is just a case of the resistor values screwing with the op amp's voltage comparison.  I think i had it set so when blue's voltage was higher than the set value they were on, but lower turned them off, at the same time the comparison turned red on.  By lowering the voltage on the blues, they no longer meet the threshhold to turn off... or maybe vice versa...

If that sounds like I'm trying to explain it to myself, that's because I am... 

[Rheged]

It's electrickery!  I don't understand the finer details either.