Looks so cool no issue with getting the parts from eaglemoss this time like the delorean , be quite a show stopper when complete coser


Regards Phil

Coming on very nicely.

Mark

OK, I'm still waiting for my next delivery, but have a modification that I have received and installed in the mean time.



The front strobe and side light kit from Mr Fusion Designs. I also picked up the replacement reflectors for the side lights to save me the hassle of drilling the supplied parts.



There's a fair bit of electronics to this mod, but thankfully no electronic work is required for installation. All the control system is already complete and all you have to do is add power. To this end there is a PP9 (9V) battery connection, a power extension lead, and a connector that fits the EM battery pack all supplied.



The first stage is to remove the section of the grill with the strobes supplied by EM from the rest of the grill. You will then need to remove the strobes from this section and dismantle them. I did this one side at a time to remove any possibility of getting parts mixed up.



Having removed the strobe from the grill component, I used the blade of my scalpel to gently ease the cover off the mount, and then gently pressed down on the supplied 'bulb' to remove it ready for replacement.



With the new, working strobe bulb in place, you will need to remove a small section of the grill, as shown below.



This is necessary so that the strobe mounts once again fit flush on the grill section. The strobe mount covers all of this area, once it is re-fitted, and the section is at the rear of the component and most likely hidden anyway.



I found that it was necessary to use a little superglue to keep the lights in the correct place in the mount, but it is easy to apply a little with a cocktail stick to the sides of the wires and glue them to the edges of the slot I had cut. This prevented the bulbs dropping down in the mounts.



With both sides installed, I ran the wires through the grill at a point just under the main central beam, in positions along its length that corresponded with the locations of the lights, as shown. The section was then screwed back into place in the grill.

Time to turn my attention to the side lights. It was at this point that I belatedly decided to check the function of the set. I wired it up to the installed battery pack, bought new batteries, ensured the battery pack switch was on, turned on the mod lights and ....... nothing. I realised that I should have tested this first, as if anything was wrong with the mod, I'd have a sticky situation explaining why I couldn't send the strobe lights back.

However, as there is a 9V battery connector supplied, I thought at least I should check that first and eliminate the EM battery pack as the problem. I went out and bought a battery, and bulbs lit up, strobes strobed, and all was right with the world. This does mean that I will need to get around to checking if there is a problem in the EM wiring - if I can see the problem, I can generally solder any connection that has broken. If I can't see the problem, I'll just call and get a replacement.

So with that out of the way, I looked at the replacement reflectors. It was here I had another disappointment.



The colour looked like a grey, and although had obviously been given a varnish, it had some obvious defects. Well, I know just the product to deal with that.



As you can see above, the difference when installed makes the replacement look almost white. This is not an effect I wanted when the lights were off, which would be most of the time after all.

So out came the foam sanding sheets I have, and I started to smooth out the paint finish as suppled. As I was doing this, and as I got deeper into the paint, I noticed some regular lines appearing through the paint. As this happened before I had got the smooth surface I needed prior to paint, I had no option to go on - but my idea of a quick sand to smooth it off was now out of the window. These are now obviously FDM 3D printed parts, the lines being the areas where the filament doesn't make a smooth surface as the layers are placed on top of each other. I now had to sand the raised, central, area of each layer to get a totally smooth surface so that it wouldn't show in the chrome.

Cue putting on some Amazon Prime, sitting back, and gently twisting a foam sanding sheet until I had gone through all the paint and the inside of the reflector was smooth.

Several days later.

I finished the left hand side pair of reflectors. Gave them 3-4 very light coats of Alclad Gloss Black Base, drying with a hairdryer between coats. The Molotow Liquid Chrome I use needs to go on fairly heavily so that the surface of the paint can produce enough surface tension to pull it flat to the surface and give the best results. This is easy to see when airbrushing as the gloss goes up dramatically at this point. I let that dry naturally for a day before giving is a final coat of Alclad clear gloss lacquer for protection.



As you can see, the difference is startling. The left is the colour of one replacement - admittedly one I had already started sanding - and the one on the right is one I have sanded and re-painted myself.

So, with all the reflectors now looking chrome, all the lights have been installed.



And wouldn't you know it, I managed to take this picture between the strobe flashes! The strobes are a nice cold white, with the side lights being this yellow, warm white. The contrast between them looks very effective.



The small box with the logo on it is the circuitry for the whole rig, and it does a lot. You can carefully remove the logo sticker, unscrew the lid, and then you get access to what's inside. There are only 2 items that are of any note to me, a small white button and a small dial. The dial is how you can change the speed at which the lamps flash. Although I turned mine down slightly, that is only personal preference - and if I turned it down any more, it went noticeably too slow. So this was set up almost perfectly from the start.

The small button is more interesting. The unit came set up so that the side lights stay on, but the strobes flash in a right/left double flash pattern. As you press this innocuous white button it causes the light pattern to change, primarily including the side lights in the pattern, and then changing the strobe pattern. There must be over a dozen different strobe patterns built in to this little unit, some where the strobe and side lights on each side flash in unison, others where it follows a pattern (Left side lights, right strobe, left strobe, right side lights for example). I returned mine to the side lights being constantly on, reduced the speed slightly, then buttoned it all up again.

I love the detail this adds to my model, and thoroughly recommend it to anyone working on this build. The only decision you will have any trouble over will be whether you get the replacement reflectors and do the work on them, or if you want to drill out the already supplied ones.

Hi Coser,

Good to see what`s occurring with this and it looks good.



Also gives me the reminder that my next parts will be here in about a week.


Regards
delboy271155
(Derek)

Looking good, going to be quite a sizeable model when complete.

Mark

And just found out that Mikelanemods.com has up for pre-order a set of proper carpets for this build. I have ordered a set, and they should be delivered in a month according to the website.

So now I am going to remove the supplied rubber mats, clean off the remains of the double sided tape, and wait for them to arrive.

He also has some more great mods for the BTTF Delorean, but I'll put those in the relevant thread.

And I'm getting fed up with this.

I started out pretty close to the same stage that the YouTube channel "World of Wayne" was at. He's now on stage 57 in his videos. I had an e-mail back on the 28th October saying there had been a problem with my payment. The problem is their end, I paid for the first year up front and have only had the first 11 deliveries so far.

Apparently their system cannot cope with annual payments. There have now been two occasions where it has tried to take a payment when one is not due, and when they cancel the payment it sends out the e-mail.

I had previously been told that my delivery was due to be shipped back on the 17th November, but still had not received a shipment notification this morning. Now I get told that my account has had the first part of the fix applied, so my delivery should be on the way by the end of next week - so by 4th December.

My next annual payment is due on 11th December, and I believe that means that my first delivery from that payment should be dispatched around the 18th.

I am tired of this. I will be taking a serious look at whether I continue this iconic build - I may well send an enquiry to Agora and see if they would consider duplicating this model as they have done with Hachettes T-800 and Bismark models (Or is it just Hachette they are doing this with). I have a nasty feeling they are only working with Hachette on this, and therefore I will be forced to either continue the Ecto or bin the work I have put in so far.

My feelings are obviously worse because of the pandemic and the current lockdown, but I doubt I would be OK with this even if those were not a factor.

Praise be. Have had my dispatch notification. The next stage, finishing the front seat and adding the rear deck, is on its way. "World of Wayne" painted his rear deck, and I may end up doing a similar thing to mine. I wish I had some better pictures because most of the time you just don't see the interior of this classic vehicle.

God, these people couldn't find their backsides with both hands and an ass detector!

Had another "We've had a problem with your payment" e-mails today. This time though it had a link to their payment gateway.

Which shows not only that I pay monthly - despite their assertion that the problems have been created because I paid yearly and their system was not coping with that - but that all payments have gone through and on time.

My payment for delivery 11 (stages 43-46) was taken on 02/10/20, and the payment for delivery 12 (stages 47-50 plus the base) was successfully taken on 27/11/20. So despite having all payments taken correctly, they have delayed my 12th delivery for almost a month.

I will be calling them again, which will once again cost me for correcting their mistake, and asking them to expedite another delivery to get me caught up to where I should be.

EDIT:

If it wasn't for my love of the subject matter and the face that we are so far into this build already, I would be calling to cancel. I just hope that Agora take up some of my other favourite builds (K.I.T.T. from Knight Rider, Barris Batmobile, etc.).

Stage 48



This stage covers the seat backs for the front bench seat.



Once again, the foam is inserted into the flexible seat back covers. The foams are identical so it doesn't matter which one goes where.



The hard plastic pieces are inserted into the covers. Here there is a need to align the cut-outs for the back supports.



As with the base, the flexible cover is secured to the hard pieces with flanged screws through the tabs.



The hard backs are then attached to the assemblies. Once again the parts need to be aligned so that the supports will fit.



At this point I skipped ahead a little and added the side plates before adding the backs to the seat. This gives a better method of ensuring that the correct back goes on each side.



The seat backs are attached to the supports. At this stage, the seat should be attached to the floor, but I am waiting on some carpets for the front and won't attach it until after I have fitted them.