With all the work now done on the Infinity Guijia Squadron model, I was able to show off the last little addition I made. With this biggest Yu Jing model in the game and TAGs being more of a centerpiece unit, I really wanted to make things stand out so in addition to the custom base topper, I also decided to build a custom base to house an LED and have the base light up.
I don’t know why it didn’t occur to me sooner to make custom bases to house things like LEDs but this mini was the catalyst and for a silly reason. This mini is an exclusive sculpt that was only around for a little bit last year and I picked it up online. The kit had the wrong base size and when I ordered the topper part, I realized I still needed a 55mm base. After thinking about ordering a set of bases online, I realized I could just print one.
After checking out the topper kit, it has a little light sculpt that uses either a piece of orange acrylic or an MDF piece for actually painting the light. The acrylic piece gave me the idea that I could light things up instead.
I measured things out using a 5mm LED that Reese had given me last year and modeled the base with the battery compartment and wiring all in place. I modeled a little battery door and printed it up. Ironically, the part used only about $0.24 of material to make as opposed to buying a set of bases for $6.00 and paying shipping.
The print came out great and the LED housing all worked perfectly.
Next I tested it all out with the topper pieces. Thoroughly satisfied, I went on to paint the topper and get everything prepared for the mounting of the model.
The model is full metal so it is quite heavy. I decided to pin the whole thing not only to the MDF topper part but all the way into the model. Had I really been thinking, I would have done a complete infill on the 3D print to help keep the pins in but ultimately it looks to have held well.
After pinning the big guy on, I glued on the little acrylic light and the model was complete.
I’m pretty happy with how everything turned out. Colton said I should have made it with transistors to make it blink but too late. I totally would have if I’d thought of and built it into the base but it is done now and I don’t want to start tearing it up to try and make that effect.
Doubt I’ll have use for the LED lit up at night but at least I’ll know that everyone will know right where this mini is at.
This guy was a lot of fun to put all together and it was interesting to incorporate a lot of different items into this like the LED and custom base topper. Corvus Belli announced there will be a new TAG for Yu Jing but it will be one size smaller. I’ll have to see what the sculpt looks like and see what special options I can mess with to pimp it out as well.