I just snagged the coolest SW toy I never new existed. The AST-5.
vehicle bio
The AST-5 Armored Sentinel Transport was an atmospheric combat vehicle.
Characteristics
The vehicle featured two blaster cannons, each capable of swiveling 360 degrees. The vehicle had a "sentry" mode, an "attack" mode wherein the engine section would rotate to a 90-degree angle with the pilot section, and a "pursuit" mode where the engine section would rotate to a parallel position with the pilot section.
History
Pilots of the AST-5 were known to include the Klaatu and bounty hunter Boba Fett. Jabba's hired enforcers also patrolled Tatooine in Armored Sentinel Transports.

Pursuit mode meh

Sentry Mode Huh?

And the real reason I snagged this guy. Sentry AKA Insertion pod/regeneration sarcophagus/repair chamber/the possibilities are endless mode.



I cannot wait to get some paint on this thing. So excited. And I need to find more, I want a wall unit of these things.

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Yeah those vehicles are cool, nicely detailed to, can't wait to see what you do to it.

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I think this might be my first attempt to add LEDs to a piece. I want this badboy lit from the inside. Anyone know of a good, easy to follow, LED tutorial. I have done large led arrays that could be run off of a AA battery box or a 9v, but nothing in miniature.

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Check Jin Saotome's site for some tips on using LEDs. Its mostly about using them in action figures but the principles are the same for what you're thinking of.

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It's much easier to go to Dollar Tree and rip apart a LED book light and it's only a dollar.

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good tip on the book light. Thanks.

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http://www.modeltrainsoftware.com/ledlights1.html

This is the place Fireflyed orders his lights from, It's the place I got the Lights I put inside of an ARAH BAT chest from... They come pre-assembled...the led, resistor, and wires are all attached already...you just need to connect to a 9v or equivalent battery.

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Thanks for the link. If the shipping is good I will be grabbing some of those.

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I bought 100 purple led lights:


- RoHS : Yes
Life Rating : 100,000 Hours
Emitted Colour : Purple
Size (mm) : 5mm
Lens Colour : Water clear
Peak Wave Length (nm) : 395 ~ 405
Forward Voltage (V) : 3.2 ~ 3.8
Reverse Current (uA) : <= 30
Luminous Intensity Typ Iv (mcd) : 3000(Typical) ~ 5000(Max)
Viewing Angle : 20~25 Degree
Max Power Dissipation(PM): 80mW
Max Peak Forward Current(IFP): 75mA
Max Continuous Forward Current(IFM): 20mA
Lead Soldering Temperature : 240 Degree (<5Sec)
Operating Temperature Range : -25 ~ +85 Degree
Preservative Temperature Range : -30 ~ +100 Degree

guess what? I can't get them to work. I can get them if I go straight vertical with 3 or 4 AA batteries. Can't them to work parallel . I tried putting them in a string of LED christmas lights..no go. LEDs are a tricky thing

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I've been using candy toy LEDs. I haven't completed anything yet, but TRU sells light up lollipops and such, and those use button cell batteries, so they're a lot more compact. Still probably too big to fit them completely inside a figure (at least at 3 3/4th size while maintaining articulation) but easier to conceal. No clue what kind of life the led has though. Still, I think if I can get it to work the way I envision, it's going to be pretty badass.

one of the key things about LED is that you may need resistors. Smaller LEDs that are in those things hypno talked about are DC universal and can run on a button cell with no resistor. My hundred can run on a 9 volt but need resistors.

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Awesome little vehicle. My daughter loves Jawas, and I got her a Jawa and one of these (It's brown.....), plus some MJ accesories.
Jawa needs a Nokia and a briefcase after all.

That said, i can't wait to see what you do with this also.

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When I have used LEDS I have just worked enough into the project to utilize the battery I have. If I have a 4 "AA" battery pack I included 6V worth of LEDS. That way I didn't need to use resistors. I will probabaly swing down to radioshack later today and see if they have any disk battery holders, then see what the nerd herd there tells me I need to put in between it and the light. I am thinking either traditional blue or maybe green for the lighting.

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I have had one of these for many, many years and love it!

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Good luck with the Radio Shack people. Last time I was in there the staff seemed more interested in selling cell phones than transistors.

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