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David Kopielski
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1/48 ICM C-18S "Magic by Moonlight"

August 27, 2022 · in Aviation · · 8 · 0.9K

I completed the “Magic by Moonlight this week. The aircraft was mounted to the base and wired to a connector at the rear of the base. I then made the two smoke trails that are used during the stunts. I really enjoyed building this and I really like how it turned out.
I used the following to create the lighted effect:
1 pico LED warm white for the instrument panel
12 pico LED’s in cool white for the wings, cowls, tail lights and cabin. Tail lights also used two 0.5mm fiber optic line.
1 pico red and 1 pico green for the wingtip lights. These were attached to two 0.5mm fiber optic lines.
2 pico flashing red for the fuselage
2 3.0mm LED’s in cool white for the nose lights
So there are a total of 19 LED’s and 8” of 0.5mm fiber optic lines. All the wiring was routed to the tail section and soldered in parallel then two wires run thru the mounting rod to the connector at the rear of the display base.

You can see all the photos, videos, and details from start to finish in my build log section at https://davidsscalemodels.com/build-log/1-48-c-18s-magic-by-moonlight/

Reader reactions:
9  Awesome

5 additional images. Click to enlarge.


8 responses

  1. This looks great, David! You started your project with one of the best looking - IMHO - aircraft ever made, then got better from there!

    Bravo!

  2. I have a friend here in southern Delaware who owns an agricultural aerial spraying business. One aircraft he flies for state mosquito spraying contracts is a D-18. In the last few years he has adorned it with a lot of strobes because he mostly flies at sunset. The strobes and sound of the radials is quite impressive in the twilight.

  3. Excellent work making this unique aircraft stand out even more, David. Fine work, and inspiring to say the least.

  4. Amazing result, David @davids_models
    A beautiful representation of the original aircraft.

  5. What a great job, David!
    Well done!

  6. Fatntastic job with that model!

  7. Looks great very creative! Can you do one crashing thru a roadside billboard?

  8. Great looking model - all the extra work makes for a pretty cool project! Well done.

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