Today’s developments: my first stab at the hoses for the bonnet, and the speaker fitted to the roof. Also I remembered to order some more red paint as I’ve very nearly run out. #HistScaleModels

First fit of my 3D printed Land Rover fire engine back, and I’m pretty happy with that. Now I need to add space for a switch, and mount the speaker on top for the nee-naw sound effect.

A nice feature of the @pimoroni.com Tiny FX is ‘stealth mode’, where you can disable the on-board indicators by cutting through the trace on the back marked with the LED symbol. You can always resolder it if you want them back again.

Waiting for all my grey 3D prints to be done, but I’ve now got everything I need to try out tinting my clear resin for the various lights on the Land Rover.

Latest version of the CAD for the back of the fire truck. Includes battery holder and space for the @pimoroni.com Tiny FX speaker. Ladders, pump and pump controls will print separately. The plan is to hide the batteries behind a hollow hose reel.

Lights off. Lights on. I’ve finally got a (largely) glued assembly. Tomorrow I’m going to get into the code on the controller to adjust the brightness of each of the @pimoroni.com Tiny FX outputs - and turn off the indicator lights on the board. #BlueLights

Some weathering washes on the wheels and bodywork, plus a bit of overall grime on underbody and chassis. Always seems a bit perverse having spent all that effort getting a good gloss finish just to dull it down, but it is meant to be a working fire engine after all.

Managed to make my power supply even smaller, but I’m not sure it has the pep to keep the lights on for long.

Headlights and sidelights fitted, thanks to a bit of Sugru mouldable glue. Also great at preventing any light escaping from behind the LEDs. Now I just have to leave it all well alone to set completely, so time to get on with some editing for the follow-up to part 1: youtu.be/uYwRTmubj-4?...

Starting to properly fit the lighting for the Airfix Land Rover. I can double the lights per output by using the @pimoroni.com Tiny FX expansion boards, so both tail lights run off the same port.

I managed to louse up one of the decals, so I’m going to have to make do with a hand-painted dial. Not brilliant, but it could be worse.

More red paint. Wheels and bits of the underbody that I’d forgotten.

Got myself some resin dyes for the 3D printed tail lights and flashing #BlueLights so they’ll be coloured even when not on.

Today’s progress: still all held together with tape and blu tack, but we do have what now looks like a Land Rover.

Electrics parked for now, it is on with the modelling with a first coat on chassis and wheels.

Half dry assembly with my latest 3D printed back section. Speaker for the siren SFX now fits perfectly, so the next step is to make a grille for the top and come up with an onboard button battery holder.

Galvanised metal frames painted in Mr Hobby ‘Super Metallic’ super fine silver, and looking really nice against the bright red bodywork.

It’s only when you’ve actually printed something that you find out what does and doesn’t fit. The speaker aperture is just about right, but needs more space for the wires. Pump is also too high, so I think that’ll be printed separately.

I’ve also decided to go for the side lights on the Land Rover, using one of the expansion boards cut in half to double up on sockets. Like the rear lights these can be set quite a bit dimmer than the main headlights.

Today's fire truck developments. I've got space for the speaker at the top, under the ladder. First resin test print tomorrow.

I’ve now got flashing lights AND a siren (sound on) from the @pimoroni.com Tiny FX controller for my #Airfix fire truck conversion - to be included in the follow-up video to part 1 of the project: youtu.be/uYwRTmubj-4?...

Very first test print - in filament as it’s quicker for trying out the fit. More detail to be added for the resin print.

Back from a week in Cornwall, and back on with the Land Rover conversion, with my first CAD for the back of the fire truck. I've got a whole bunch of references, all slightly different, so this is going to be an amalgam of the best bits for covering the Tiny FX board.

Everything you need for the perfect holiday: a 1000 piece jigsaw and a local model shop to stock up on extras for when you get home.

My Land Rover fire engine conversion now has an on-board button cell power supply for the @pimoroni.com Tiny FX lighting. Still quite a bit of work to do with the modelling, but you can see how I got this far here: youtu.be/uYwRTmubj-4?...

My button cell holders have arrived for on-boarding the power supply for the Tiny FX.

Brand new video out now! Working lights for a scale model fire engine conversion, featuring @pimoroni.com Tiny FX fitted to an #Airfix Land Rover kit: youtu.be/uYwRTmubj-4?...

Working lights for a scale model fire engine conversion with Pimoroni Tiny FX – Part 1

YouTube video by Pater Practicus

youtu.be

Flashing blue lights 3D printed in clear resin, unpainted and just sitting on the cab roof for now, but looking good.

3D printed lamp looks about the right size, and even with opaque resin looks pretty good lit up. Time to switch out for clear resin.