Model Railroading > Help Needed For Cutting & Bending Fiber Optics

Greetings friends, it has been a long while since I've posted, I've been up to other things not necessarily trains, I'll let you in on it towards the end of my post. At any rate I need some help with regards to bending fiber optics. I would think if you just take a pair of needle nosed pliers to it and bend away that you would break it, or something unfavorable would happen to the fiber optic. As you could see in these instructions I'm working from, it tells you what to do, but just no advice in how to bend the optics, should I heat them up some, or what, advice with those that experience in the field would be most appreciated.

So as you can see from the bottom two photos, I'm building a radio controlled 1/16th scale Tamiya German Leopard 2 A6 tank, the lower hull section is almost complete, just some wire sections and the sound module, then the upper hull where the LED junctions with the fiber optic sections join in for the headlights, tail lights, turn signals, etc. I know this is a model train forum, but the years I have under my belt of build and painting model trains has helped with building this model, and I've done R/C for many years as well, but when it comes to this fiber optic stuff they give you no suggestions for bending or cutting and I don't want to waste what supplies they give you with the kit.

What is interesting is a lot of the parallels between the sound modules and the lighting systems in this and the model trains, and how these all tie together, when you start building one sub assembling you say, ah yes I've done something like this, or yes this looks somewhat familiar, so the hard core model railroaders can't chastise me, who knows where the technology came from first, did the sound and lighting come from RC first or visa=versa, I say RC first.

This kit isn't for the faint of heart let me say that, once this is done I have an M4 Sherman to build, much easier and no Nato Camo pattern to worry of ;-)

Thanks in advance guys,

Frank



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 02/08/11 19:31 by fjc.

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What it will look like completed, and what the real one looks like.

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Outstanding Frank,Tamiya make some great stuff.We (australia) just got out of the Leopard business ,in favour of some rebuilt M1-a1's to A2 standard.A most impressive piece of kit.
Regards,Daryl Kay.

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LED lighting in an r/c tank? How cool will this be??? You have got to post updates!

Andy

Hi Daryl, thanks, quite impressive indeed on the Leopard the Aussies used to use too.

Are they being sold off to other countries or used as back ups for training or say reserve units?

I borrowed those photos just incase they get removed ;-)

Tamiya just released the Super Sherman M5, which has the upgraded turret and bigger main gun with muzzle brake, I want that one next ;-)

But I hear there are other great things in the works too.

DKay Wrote:
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> Outstanding Frank,Tamiya make some great stuff.We
> (australia) just got out of the Leopard business
> ,in favour of some rebuilt M1-a1's to A2
> standard.A most impressive piece of kit.
> Regards,Daryl Kay.

Well the LED drives the fiber optics actually, the LED's are fed to a junction bar and the optics are fed into that junction bar, so really just a few LED's do it all, pretty cool, yes I'll post a updated photo if I can pull it off.


wheel_slip Wrote:
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> LED lighting in an r/c tank? How cool will this
> be??? You have got to post updates!
>
> Andy

Reminds me of the traction modeler who took a streetcar derrick (electrically powered flat car with an operating cab on one end and a rotating crane on the other--like LARy 9225 at Orange Empire for example) and replaced the crane unit with a turret from a US Army tank model of the appropriate scale. He renumbered it Car 007 (!) and labeled it the Bus Exterminator.

Daryl, where are your Leopard photos taken?

Rick

Frank, to bend the fiber optic, just dip the end in question into some warm/hot water for a few seconds. Another option is to post this question on the Modern DG on missing-lynx.com
Charlie
MP 53 on the BNSF Topeka Sub

Good to have you back, Frank

My father has colon cancer, he had the surgery, plus had part of the colon removed to resolve an issue with a kink in the colon. However the colon spread, so he's in need of chemo therapy, so we consult with the Oncologist next week, so I've been quite busy taking him to his appointments, driving moms to work, shopping, doing things around the house. So working on my R/C tank a bit at a time has been all I've been doing, I've also been getting into 1/35th tank modeling since I visited the Aberdeen Proving Grounds last August (Thanks Bruce Friedman - His Suggestion), kidding I've always liked tanks...all that stuff was moved to VA, so I was lucky to see it, so I'll balance trains and tanks, when I can of course ;-)

Frank

WAF Wrote:
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> Good to have you back, Frank

Hope all works out for the best, Frank

Thank you, I am confident all will go well.



WAF Wrote:
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> Hope all works out for the best, Frank

Hey Frank,

Cool project, even if it isn't trains. I would go with Charlie's suggestion. I had tried a fiber optic setup for ditch lights on a GP60M years ago and had 90 degree bend. The fiber was small enough that it bent ok, but warming it would have made it a little easier. But use water like Charlie mentioned, otherwise you can melt the fiber which I did with a soldering iron.

Nathan