#023 The Red Eyed Space Marine
Inspired by all the mad miniature skills out there these days, I delve into the world of space marines. Since my novice paint skills are not going to rock the world, I bring some special magic in the form of eyes that glow - no wires or batteries.
Here’s a quick demo..
Notes
My first miniature - starting with a classic Games Workshop Space Marine thanks to a freebie from a local hobby store. I’ve always been intrigued by the miniature scene, but never really indulged my curiosity. Perhaps getting into the Small Subjects podcast finally pushed me over the edge.
It doesn’t take long to realise that miniatures require a whole new set of mad skills, and the standard of work out there is absolutely incredible. I binged to a range of miniature artists on YouTube to get the leg up I needed - especially @lyla.mev and @trovarion.
So I know my painting skills are not going to be the best right out of the gate - but there is some special magic I can bring to the table. The goal here is a space marine with glowing eyes - and no wires or batteries.
The Kit
This all started at HobbyMate - a local hobby store that is superb for all manner of materials and paints. The owner was kind enough to give me a free sprue of a basic Primaris Intercessors aka a free bag of crack?
The Electronics
This uses the simple wireless power transmission circuit I’ve tested earlier in LEAP#584.
The power transmitter is a 1.5V oscillator similar to joule thief circuit. As a I discovered later, the device sense protocol of wireless charging mats also powers the circuit beautifully (flashing rather than continuously on).
Build
Head carefully hollowed out and an 0402 red LED inserted, with wires that will go down through the body.
First test - wireless power transmitter below the base
Relatively complete: some of the detail still petty crude and should be tidied up a bit. Enough contrast - maybe?
On a wireless charging mat. The device sense protocol is probing for a device to charge - this is enough to power the space marine and blink the eyes;-)
Credits and References
- this project on scalemates
- this project on hackaday.io
- Primaris Intercessors - games-workshop
- Primaris Intercessors - scalemates
- Intercessor - warhammer40k wiki
- Fall’s Space Marine Release Lineup - 2019 - faction inspirations