My Office Showroom Build (Display, Lighting, Mod Tips & Service)

[Pixelpiper]

Re: My office "showroom" build-out.

Thanks again for the compliments, I do wish I was further along with this. I think the "process" is starting to wear a little on the wife.

Here's an image showing the basics of integrated shelf lighting for the electrified Detolf method I've previously described. In the mage you can see the underside of the shelf, so it's flipped left to right. This particular shelf is set up to light the space underneath it for my Indy display. You can see how the wires on each side will wrap around the horizontal supports on the detolf, which have had some paint removed with scraper and sandpaper for a good electrical contact.



The wooden "beams" are 1/2" poplar square profiles and act as both a compression point for the wires around the metal rails, but also to add rigidity to the shelf itself, which is only 1/8 hardboard otherwise. You can obviously glue the lighting and wires to a glass shelf as well, but in this case I wanted an opaque ceiling for this display as I'm planning to attach some clay stonework and greenery to it.

 

[Pixelpiper]

Re: My office "showroom" build-out.

The Tumbler is in, and barring unforeseen circumstances, I should be able to set it up in the cave for a couple of quick photos tomorrow. At least that's the plan. Bespin Luke is also in the house and the included weathervane is begging for assembly and mounting.

 

[Pixelpiper]

Re: My office "showroom" build-out.

Ok, no Tumbler today - I haven't even opened the box yet. Just too busy with a big food-shop and the past few hours were spent trying to figure out how to best hard-wire the DX07 weather vane. After some thought, I came up with a simple way to route the wires, then it was just a matter of some soldering and making a small wooden shim to fit into the battery compartment. The vane has two circuits in it, each with its own set of batteries. Each circuit is 4.5v and powred by 3 small button cells. Photos below.

There are two small plugs at the very top of the vane just under the disc - one of them has a screw in it. Remve the screw and then both inserts pop out allowing you to pull the top discs from the mast. Below are the discs and the black insert that holds everything together and gets fitted with the plugs.



Here is the bottom most disc and the black disc. I shaved some plastic off shaft to allow two thin wires to also fit into the hole on the mast. On the disc I notched out some space on the ring that sits around the shaft to allow the wires to come through and bend.



[EDIT JUNE 2014] I'll have photos up soon to show a new "no-hassle" way to wire this up, which I'll have available as a product - it will be just as easy as replacing the batteries.



Assembling and wire routing.



And here we have light. And something else very important. If you don't have a power supply capable of 4.5 volts, you must use an inverter to change the voltage of a different supply.

 

[NastyNick]

Re: My office "showroom" build-out.

Very impressive work! I haven't seen this thread before. Keep dazzling me with those fine creations, i'll keep following this thread.

 

[Pixelpiper]

Re: My office "showroom" build-out.

The Bat cave/bunker doesn't seem so big anymore...





Preview of finished shelf (see first page for more photos):

 

[Solo_bones]

Re: My office "showroom" build-out.

Here are two Stormtroopers by Christian Waggoner, (reproductions/modified) varnished giclée on canvas, mounted to 18x30" Ikea Harlig doors, hinged on top. They're mounted on Ikea Expedit shelving, the 2x4 cubby model, and work as horizontal cupboard doors. The units flank the Klingsbo glass display mentioned above. Each 2x4 Expedit sits on top of a 2x2 Expedit, giving just over 7' of height.

Dude....those Waggoner's are nice. Are those the large? I was contemplating getting one, and the price tag is now $270 or so.

 

[Pixelpiper]

Re: My office "showroom" build-out.

They're repros. Shhhh, I made them myself, don't tell anyone. I had to do a decent amount of Photoshop work to get them to a quality level where I could print them this large.

AFAIK, the original prints close to this size are long ago sold out and were $500+ The Stormtrooper was also on a more square canvas and the Sandtrooper on a portrait aspect canvas, with the full helmet visible.

 

[jm9843]

Re: My office "showroom" build-out.

If you have a Detolf, here's a pretty straight forward way to provide power to every inch of every shelf, giving you the ability to connect as many lights (LEDs) as you'd like with a minimal amount of wire.

Thank you, thank you, thank you. I recently bought my first Detolf and followed your suggestion from another thread to go with a 5 meter LED strip. However, I was still dreading having to run the wires vertically down the cabinet and then having to figure out a way to conceal them. Your solution to conduct the power through the Detolf's rails is ingenious and works perfectly.

The only issue that I had was that I found it difficult to get solder to stick to the rails. Do you have any suggestions to make it easier? I've got a few thoughts:

• Cliping the wires to the rails. You mentioned this in your original post - do you suggest any particular kind of clip?
• I noticed that you removed the rubber "spacers" from the rails that the shelves normally sit on. I assume this is so that the shelves themselves help to hold the wire in place?
• Do you think stripping enough of the wire so that it's possible to wrap it around the rail is worth trying?

Thanks again - I'm so glad that i read your post before attempting to light the Detolf. And your dioramas are inspiring.

 

[Pixelpiper]

Re: My office "showroom" build-out. (Detolf, Klingsbo, Expedit, custom displays & lig

The solder I tried won't stick to the rails. It is just some very thin rosin-core I use for typical electronics. Creating a rougher surface on the frame may work or trying a different solder might also help - maybe the plumbing stuff. What would also likely work is some brazing allow - but then you'd better make sure to attach some wire pigtails to the rails BEFORE assembling it because you'd want to use a small blow-torch.

I'm replacing a lot of the glass shelves with custom hard-board shelves that allow the wire to grip the rails tightly. The primary reason wasn't the wiring, but just the desire for solid floors.

You can probably put the wire under the rubber pieces that sit on the rails, though it's going to be inconvenient. Easier would be to use some thick foam-based double-sided tape at the glass shelf edges and attach the wire ends to that. Then that sits on the rails providing both cushioning and the electrical conductivity.

When you scrape the powder coat off the rails (with a blade or scraper), make sure to then also sand it - that will take off the tiny little bits of paint remaining and provide you with an absolutely stable electrical connection.

 

[Pixelpiper]

How to hard-wire Hot Toys Tumbler (Battery Eliminator Guide)

ATTENTION: The original LEDs in the Tumbler have not been wired properly by Hot Toys and are all missing required resistors. Before attempting to hardwire this set, all the LEDs should have appropriate resistors fitted to them - one resistor per LED. Contact me if you want this done - the LED modules remove easily and can be sent to me for service.

It's time to eliminate the batteries in the Hot Toys tumbler and the process will be similar to what I've already shown for the DX07 weather vane - except a lot easier. There's nothing to dismantle and you won't need to make any fancy wire spirals.

Objective: Provide power to the Tumbler by wire from a remote power source instead of batteries, allowing continuous operation without interruption and also activation from a master lighting switch, remote control, timer, etc. Without modifying the Tumbler.

Method: We're going to replace two of the three batteries with two blocks that will each hold one wire in place and touching the main positive and negative terminals in the battery compartment, labeled in the image below. These wires will supply power from the power source of your choice in lieu of the original batteries.

Simple/quick-n-dirty alternative: Jam/attach a wire to the positive terminal and another wire to the negative terminal, then connect the other ends to your power supply. This isn't what I'll detail here because it's less stable and the wires could come loose while moving the Tumbler around.

[Images are out of date and will be replaced with my Battery Eliminator Kit - coming Summer 2014]

There are many ways to accomplish the same goal, I'll outline what I've done below and mention some alternatives where relevant.

 

[Pixelpiper]

How to hard-wire Hot Toys Tumbler (Battery Eliminator Guide)

[Images are out of date and will be replaced with my Battery Eliminator Kit - coming Summer 2014]

 

[Pixelpiper]

Re: My office "showroom" build-out. (Detolf, Klingsbo, Expedit, custom cabinets & lig

EDIT: I'm now using mini connectors that are 1/8 the size of the white ones shown here in these photos for all my wiring projects.

The project is finished off with a connector - I'm using these all around the office for the low-voltage wiring. If you wanted a "seamless" look and didn't mind modifying the Tumbler's plastics, a hole could be drilled in one of the panels and then a panel-mount DC jack installed, the kind that wall-warts/adapters plug into.



The next step for the Tumbler will be some interior lighting. For the asking price, I'm somewhat disappointed it didn't include a few additional lighting options and even greater detailing. This thing would be insanely great as a die-cast and sheet-metal model kit. Damn.

The first thing I'll try is a small strip of LED ribbon mounted somewhere near the dashboard area - my hope is to light up the interior "dramatically" without showing the light source itself.

 

[Pixelpiper]

Re: My office "showroom" build-out. (Detolf, Klingsbo, Expedit, custom cabinets & lig

Yesterday the spot lights went up in the Bat bunker along with the final two panels. I'll probably add some additional items, maybe some tools, to the panel in the background.



I had to front-light this display because the photo I used became too washed out when backlit - Fuji photo paper is a bit thick and adds too much white to the image when lit from behind.



Can anyone guess what this is? Not what it's supposed to be, but rather what it's made from?

 

[Solo_bones]

Re: My office "showroom" build-out. (Detolf, Klingsbo, Expedit, custom cabinets & lig

HOLY........that looks 1;1. Incredible work, PP. That's awesome.

 

[Geil]

Can anyone guess what this is? Not what it's supposed to be, but rather what it's made from?

Nice and that looks like a Mac Cinema Display VESA mount adapter ???!!!!!


"Resistance is Futile"

 

[Pixelpiper]

Re: My office "showroom" build-out. (Detolf, Klingsbo, Expedit, custom cabinets & lig

Nice and that looks like a Mac Cinema Display VESA mount adapter ???!!!!!

Damn, that was quick! It's an older model adapter that I had kicking around without much use - I had to buy a new/different adapter for my 27" Cinema Display in 2011.

 

[Geil]

I am still on the old one just before thunderbolt. That adapter wasn't cheap but luckily I found mine on CL. Now why would it be diff for the 2011 models though ?!
Darn can't believe how small that tumbler made your dio look. Yu should take a picture of it without the tumbler but batman etc it would be huge!!


"Resistance is Futile"

 

[Pixelpiper]

Re: My office "showroom" build-out. (Detolf, Klingsbo, Expedit, custom cabinets & lig

I am still on the old one just before thunderbolt.

So am I - summer 2011. When I said "old" I meant REALLY old. The adapter is from 2004 and it was for the all-aluminum (front and back) Cinema Displays.

Darn can't believe how small that tumbler made your dio look. Yu should take a picture of it without the tumbler but batman etc it would be huge!!

I'll probably do that because I still have to add all the spoilers to the Tumbler. Plus take some of it apart to try and fix a couple of parts I "pushed in" this afternoon. The intake part to the right side of the photo:




Today has been occupied with a lot of dirty work, including rebuilding a door lock actuator for a friend's car - I can't believe I actually pulled it off. Unfortunately the new one he bought to replace the old one was wired all wrong and didn't work properly. With wiring harness and micro-switch from old and rest of parts from new, I got something together that works reliably. But only after first breaking the whole thing and figuring out how the gears and spring went back into place.

But I also managed to finish the Tumbler lights hard-wiring and also installed some cockpit lighting so you can see the inside when the top is open.

 

[Pixelpiper]

Lighting the inside of the Tumbler

I ran wires into the cockpit/cabin through the joint/crack where two panels meet above above and in front of the driver's side rear wheel.



You might notice I used the opposite connector from what I used for the battery compartment. This was done on purpose so that it's impossible to connect the wrong plugs together - because these wires will carry 12v and the other 4.5v. The lighting at the other end of these wires is provided by a 3 LED segment of ribbon-mounted LEDs - the same stuff I'm already using elsewhere. Using the adhesive on the back of the ribbon I've mounted the segment at the bottom right corner of the passenger's foot-well.



It's probably going to require my real camera to best represent what the lighting actually looks like. The iPhone just can't handle any kind of darkness and point-sources of light freak it right out too.







The big black snake-like thing is supposed to be a thick conduit that will be connecting the Tumbler to a diagnostic computer, which I still have to build - the "conduit" is actually drain hose from my Fisher Paykel dishwasher A metal coat hanger from the dry cleaner is inserted inside along with the wires so that I can bend and shape the conduit.

 

[Pixelpiper]

Re: My office "showroom" build-out. (Detolf, Klingsbo, Expedit, custom cabinets & lig

UPDATE at the bottom

So I've just discovered there's a short in the lighting of my Tumbler. I'd only ever powered it on for a few minutes at a time and tonight while doing something else I left it on a bit longer which showed/solidified the problem.

Since the hard-wire is connected in with the rest of the lighting system, when the problem happened half the displays started turning off/on. Right away I knew the power supply was cycling because of an overload. Sure enough it was much hotter than typical. Since the Tumbler is the latest addition to the wiring I figured I'd check there first for shorts, starting with the DC-DC converter which I immediately unplugged from the rest of the system.

As expected, the system functioned properly when the converter (and therefore Tumbler) was disconnected, and the power supply returned quickly to a much cooler temp. When I unplugged the converter it was blazing hot - also not normal, so I started inspecting it for any loose components or crossed wires/solder. Looked fine. That's when I noticed the smell of hot plastic - coming from the Tumbler.

First inspections were the wiring I added to it - checked out fine, including the battery compartment. The DC-DC converter was also verified to make sure it was not outputting more than 4.5v. By this time the smell couldn't really be pinpointed, so I connected up a spare power supply to the DC-DC converter and ran it through the Tumbler for a second. Immediately I could hear a little bit of a sizzle coming from the front-most LEDs near the passenger side wheel. A quick sniff test helps confirm this is the spot with the short.

The wiring on the Tumbler seems pretty basic and there are a number of mini connectors to allow removal of at least part of it. The front most lights however seem to be the most buried and I haven't yet looked carefully enough to see if I can get at the wiring without taking apart the whole front end. I did notice that there are a few screws visible, but I can also tell Hot Toys used its fair share of glue in putting this thing together. The repair will have to wait until next week sometime unfortunately.

If anyone has any info/links to posts/blogs/whatever of any take-aparts for this vehicle, I'd love it if you'd share. It's always nice to see someone else's efforts first.

UPDATE: I may not need to get at the wiring as it seems the issue is isolated to one LED - after reading that the dual LED fixtures were modular I took another look and easily popped them off on both sides. One LED on the passenger side module is cooked and responsible for the smell.

The offender:



ATTENTION: The original LEDs in the Tumbler have not been wired properly by Hot Toys and are all missing required resistors (you can see a lack of them above). Before attempting to hardwire this set, all the LEDs should have appropriate resistors fitted to them - one resistor per LED. Contact me if you want this done - the LED modules remove easily and can be sent to me for service.