1st & 2nd Build/ 3rd & 4th Etch (pic heavy)

[DutchMF]

Haha. He said "Noob" and posted this.
I shouldn't post build reports myself anymore ...

I know how you feel, dude!

Paul

[midwayfair]

That rocket enclosure is fantastic.

[PhiloB]

Love'm both.  What type of paint did you use on the flame?  I used some model car enamel paint but wasn't crazy about the results.

[hylandren]

Thanks for the welcome and encouragement!
Sorry, but since I didn't even know how electricity worked about a year ago, I am definitely still a noob! My goal is to someday build a pedal on vero/perfboard from only a schematic. Hopefully, all in good time.

The 250+/RocketBooster flame was ground out with a dremel. I got the idea by sort of re-interpreting a rocket exhaust I saw on one of Nico's awesome pedals. The toughest part was cocking the LED just right, so most of the illumination hit the flame area (painted wirh Duplicolor Metalcast) instead of just going straight up into the air. A water clear LED with a narrow viewing angle LED was key.

C.B./Micro Burst: I might never have the skills to build a real mini, so since the C.B circuit is pretty small and simple, I figured I'd better go for it now! lol
The enclosure brushing was an attempt to simulate the tornado being in the driving rain. After the etching, painting, and then re-sanding, I drug it with 80 grit sandpaper. I messed it up at first and had to re-drag it to get it acceptable. As a result, the etch on that one is not very deep. You can tell, if you look closely in the black areas of the tornado. Live and learn. I also learned I should brush all the edges first, and then do the flats.   

Etching was pretty standard, using Illustrator, PNP, and warmed up Ferric Chloride. I go over everything I don't want etched with nail polish, because I hate accidental pits. My "etching heroes" seem to all use Inkscape and photo paper, but those didn't work for me. I may give the homemade etchant a try sometime, since its better for the environment and Guitarmagedon gets such consistently great results with it. I've heard its faster, too.
Many people say to set the iron to max heat setting, but the "polyester" setting works a lot better for me with the PNP.  The other thing is patience, I etch them for a looooong time. In fact, I accidentally left the Rocket Booster enclosure in way too long during the last dunk, and it was literally smoking when pulled it out! Lol I am etching the builds I am currently working, but as long as etching takes, my time might be better spent learning more about electronics. I may try painting or something faster for a while.

And yes, I do need to work on my wiring neatness! lol

[das234]

Very, very nice! And also a compliment on your photography, those are some sharp pics!

Paul

Ditto the photography comment.  Those look like professionally staged pictures and the lighting is great.  As for the pedals, wow.  I'm about to undertake my first enclosure etch and I hope it turns out anywhere near as nice as those.

[billstein]

Great builds. Also the photography is fantastic. Did you light those in a studio or did you drop them into background using something like Photoshop?

Also, love the Avatar. King of Queens is one of my favorite shows. 

[croquet hoop]

I can't say how hylandren did exactly, but to take that kind of pictures, indirect light (reflected/diffused) helps a lot. It would not be hard to make a lightbox large enough for a pedal (just google "DIY lightbox"); add two light sources, a tripod, and voilà.

[Vallhagen]

Delicious artistic outside work. Good precision inside.

Doesnt look much noobie to me:)

Cheers

[hylandren]

Thanks for the kind comments on both the build and the images.
The black background shots are just done on black plex, using 1 light going through a lighting scrim. No box, just a couple of reflector cards around the pedal. Its a pretty simple set up. There is a mistake in that on the side angle shot of the Micro burst, the top of the footswitch is almost black. I should have caught that.

While you could shoot them on white and then drop them into that background, creating shadows and especially the reflections in the glass would be way more work than just shooting it for real. I did use Photoshop to remove some dusts spots on the plex, and to take out cords for powering the LEDs. The gut shots are not so hot, but I was in a hurry. Afterward, I thought of a way to light gut shots faster & better, which I will do next time.

While writing this, it dawned on me that several of my favorite builders are also good photogs as well. Nico, Guitarmageddon and Basic Audio immediately come to mind. Interesting coincidence.

[billstein]

The reason why I thought it might be PS is because of that rich dark shadow under the Micro Burst. I never thought of black plexi. Really nice. Unbelievable first builds.