Basic Installation

sound board electronics to be mounted inside diorama base	two wires from model are connected to sound board	if lights are installed, a circuit board is placed in the model	connectors are provided to enable typical model construction

• The sound board is designed to fit under a  hollow diorama base with an interior height of .75 inches

Recommended Installation Sequence:

Always install electronics before adding interior parts such as cockpits, bulkheads, etc.  If installing interior circuit boards and lighting, choose a fuselage or wing half and install on one side only

• Insert DC motor into model kit engine front.  The shorter the shaft of the propeller, the better the performance

• Attach propeller and test before gluing.  Care must be taken not to get any glue inside the DC motor or on its bearings

• Place circuit board (if installing lights) in an empty space in the fuselage and glue or tape to the fuselage wall

• Connect motor to circuit board and tape down wires

• If installing lights, drill out holes for fiber optic rods and tape into place.  To prevent light leak, the rods can either be painted or covered with bare metal foil. 

• Assemble fuselage as per model kit instructions leaving wires accessible at the fuselage/wing joint

• Assemble wings.  If running power wires through landing gear, make sure these wires exit from wheel wells.

• If adding wing lights, locate light locations and drill out to accept fiber optic rods.  The ends of the rods can be polished and rounded to that lens may not be needed on some models

• Attach wing to fuselage after connecting wiring.  Make sure that the colors of the wiring mate.  To ensure reliability, tape the connectors together.

Spinning propellers

The difficulties with spinning propellers in scale model aircraft are twofold:  First, what size motor will fit into the engine nacelle given your level of detail (resin engines, motor fronts, etc) and second, making the propeller/spinner concentric so that it spins true..

• In general, the larger the motor you can fit, the more realistic the slow speed performance.  Most pager size motors are designed for very high speeds and must use gearing (as in servos) to generate any torque.  Our electronics control the motor without gearing which takes up space allowing for placement in small scales.  

• The bigger issue is truing the propeller.  We have found that most model makers do not have precise casting molds and that their props are not designed to be spun (static modeling).  Tamiya has the best engineering by far and their kits produce the best results.

• Props with spinners are a particular problem as any wobble is noticeable at slow speeds.

The best solution is to use a lathe to center drill the prop.  Our motors in the sound sets come with a shaft that has been trued and is gauged for particular model kits. 

Propellers with spinners

• Two piece spinners are a particular problem as front and back halves of the spinner do not always mate correctly

• Spinners should be glued together with a very small amount of glue then spun up to see if there is any wobble.

• Correct wobble by sanding the mating surface slightly to center the spinner point

• Drill press is required

Inserting DC motors into scale engines

• Remove the molded shaft then drill a 1mm pilot hole through the casing

• Use progressively larger drill bits and turn by hand until the correct diameter is reached

• The DC motor shaft should protrude through the crankcase so that it can be attached directly to the propeller

• The motor wires can be disguised as plumbing etc.

8 mm motor inserted in resin BMW 801. 1/48 scale	8 mm motor inserted in DB601. 1/48 scale	8 mm motor inserted in PW2800. 1/48 scale	4 mm motor installed in Fokker DVII airframe. 1/72 scale

Installing connectors in wheels to connect power from base

• To make electronics installation unobtrusive, the wires from the model can be disguised as cable to GPUs or as brake lines to the wheels. 

• To be able to readily move the model from the base, connectors can be installed (Extra charge)

connector sizes measured in millimeters			completed landing gear - male silver pin is mounted in diroama base

Lighting Tips Different colors of LEDs have different voltage requirements so resistors are needed to run on the same power circuit HINT-To change the color of a white LED to incandescent, clear coat with ORANGE Ends of fiber optic rods can be mushroomed with a soldering iron Pictured L-R: 0805, 3mm, 5mm white LEDs Pictured L-R: 0805, 3mm, 5mm white LEDs installing pass through lights in wingtips and vertical stabs shrouded leds and fiber optic rods Since LEDs are manufactured specifically for their application,  the aftermarket/surplus sources supply many different specification LEDs.  Often purchasing from the same source at different times will result in a different LED even though the size will be the same. Modeling Note:  Liquid plastic cement can melt fiber optic rods so care must be exercised when gluing around light outputs.  Super glue clouds the rods as it does with canopies. Here's a link to a modeler's article on how he added lights to a PBY Catalina.  Amazing work: http://www.ipmsdeutschland.de/Flugzeuge/Gaeste/Wolf_Catalina_pt3.html Sound Improvement All of our sound sets come with an 8 ohm, 2 inch diameter speaker which is adequate for 1/48 scale and smaller single engine aircraft models.  typical 8 ohm speakers 3mm female rca type jack can be installed for external speaker typical desktop computer speakers can be used    For multi-engine and large scale (1/32) models switching out the speaker for a larger diameter speaker will improve the sound by providing more bass.  Any 8 ohm speaker will do  a 3.5mm female jack (as used in walkmans and ipods) can be installed upon request so that a desktop computer type speaker can be used  It is advisable to install speakers in a box or cylinder to maximize performance Splicing wires without soldering after joining wires cover connector with tape to prevent shorts Making plug connectors Tamiya's Kettenkraftrad with aircraft power supply cart provides modelers with an opportunity to supply power to model electronics from diorama bases without running wires through landing gear. Tamiya #32533 Diorama Bases Links to Animation Articles in Online Forums http://www.aircraftresourcecenter.com/Gal4/3701-3800/gal3712_Do-335_Pereira/00.shtm http://forum.largescaleplanes.com/index.php?showtopic=7455&st=0 http://www.aircraftresourcecenter.com/Fea2/1001-1100/Fea1014_Mi-24_Boot/00.shtm