Belafonte Reboot....Ambulance to 4x4 Camper Conversion

[tgreening]

Got the last light off tonight, got the edges of all the holes sanded and primed where needed, and put a couple light layers of primer across the red stripe. Not sure if it was needed or not but I was a bit concerned about it causing some shading when I shot the Raptor over it. The grey primer covered enough that the transition between the white and grey is not near as pronounced as the white/red. I think I'll be good to go.

Anyone know a good source for led lights of sufficient size and proper shape to cover these existing holes? Without spending the eleventy-gazillion dollars the builders want for their versions. It would be nice to bring the power consumption down, which considering the lights in there now I would imagine to be considerable.

Pictures later tonight, after ice cream.

 

[patoz]

Anyone know a good source for led lights of sufficient size and proper shape to cover these existing holes? Without spending the eleventy-gazillion dollars the builders want for their versions. It would be nice to bring the power consumption down, which considering the lights in there now I would imagine to be considerable.

I guessing you forgot about it, but we have an entire thread devoted to your question, and so far no one has come up with a magical solution. Just a lot of good ideas!

 

[bobrenz]

In my opinion:

The simple solution would be to track down some newer halogen fixtures - ebay, junk yard, etc that can accept one of those LED tail light conversion bulbs - either clear or amber. Then put clear lenses on the fixtures.

 

[patoz]

I put LED backup bulbs in my F250 which do OK, but they are nothing like an actual scene light. The lens design for incandescent light bulbs is completely different than what is used for LED bulbs. The type of light and focal length of each is completely different.

However, it would be much cheaper and may produce enough area light to get the job done.

 

[tgreening]

I didn't forget Pat, I was just thinking that thread was all about modifying the existing housings to accept LEDs. I didnt really feel like modding them, I'd rather just R&R the whole thing, but maybe I mismembered what that thread was all about. I'll give it a check. Uhmm, where is it? *edit* (derrrr. there's the link)

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The contrast between the white and grey isn't quite as pronounced as the pictures make it look, but in any case, it's way less than the white and red. I just hope the color I picked trips my trigger once on the rig. I might hit the hood first just in case it makes me want to hurl.


BTW, did you guys see the new tactic the US troups are using against ISIS over there? Kind of turning their own idea against. They call it an IEG.
An Improvised Exploding Goat. Placed upwind of ISIS encampments and when they come a callin for relations....BOOM! The penetration detector sets it off.

Derka derka....

 

[patoz]

Here ya go...

Converting Whelen 900s/Similar Scene lighting to LED?

http://www.expeditionportal.com/for...ing-Whelen-900s-Similar-Scene-lighting-to-LED


Don't forget to tape off any electrical plugs or connectors on the wires also.



Yep, I saw the IEG training video a couple of days ago...

 

[patoz]

...Yep the diamond plate will end up black. The base color is going to be a desert sand-ish color, which got me to thinking. I'm wondering if I'm going to end up with some shading because I'm painting over white, and that big fat stripe is red.

Beyond that I don't really have a "design". Artistically challenged doesn't even begin to cover it, which is why I'm starting with the tried and true base color / black out the bottom design.

I'm all ears for ideas.

OK Tom, here ya go...










These are some of the many weird, odd, and interesting exhibits from BURNING MAN. Burning Man 2016 takes place August 28 – September 5, 2016 in the Black Rock Desert of Nevada. And these guys are on their way there. http://burningman.org/


08/15/16 Florida is preparing for a zombie apocalypse (walk around of vehicles)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OHIQ0jcw2jY (Skip ahead to 9:50 in the video)


Convoy of the Dead
http://www.snopes.com/mutation-response-vehicle/

 

[huskyhauler]

Paint design, unless you have a cult-like obsession with something (Husky Football for me) can be a daunting task. There's a reason streamline motorhomes are sexy to this day, and motorhome paint schemes of 5 years ago look dated. The current paint schemes of new motorhomes are even worse. They're all brown/tan/black with varying sweeping arcs.

I would go with a tried and true method. Use the body lines of the ambulance to dictate paint lines, and create a color scheme that works for you. What is your personality? Do you prefer bright yellow, stand out colors, or do you prefer subtle, blend in to the background colors? If you generally prefer blue over, say, gray, go for it. Then look at accent color of your primary color, and use the body lines of the can to dictate the sequence. You don't have to get crazy with it.

The large sides of the box are great for decals. Do you have a favorite newspaper comic? Fast Signs or a similar company can cut and attach a large image for you (I'm thinking Snoopy as the Red Barron, or Calvin dancing with Hobbes, or Bugs Bunny in whatever your favorite skit was).

If all else fails, keep the rig white. It's clean and economical, though boring.

 

[tgreening]

This will be the basic paint scheme and the base color here is similar to what I bought. Not going for bright this time around, but not a flat color either. I have just about -zero- color sense so I haven't a clue what would be good accent colors, which is why the black, because I do know that it works with just about everything.

I'm not a sports fanatic or music fanatic or anything along those lines. I am fond of science fiction/fantasy type movies and get a big kick out of the whole Zombie Apocalypse thing, but that genre at least has been pretty beat to death lately. Plus that theme seems to lend itself best to a base black and I really didn't want to go that way because of the heat soak issues involved.

I was a super-fan of Japanese sci-fi when I was a kid (still. ) and thought about working that in somehow, Japanese alphabet and all. My Japanese wife thinks I'm an idiot, but that's just because she'll actually understand what would be written, and more importantly to her, so will her friends. Hehe.

Maybe some kind of Resident Evil thing but all in Japanese.

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(Pic filched from another thread on here)

Whatever I do I'd like to do with stencils and spray it with plasti-dip so it's easily removed and changed, or with vinyl maybe, but I'm not sure how that's going to apply over Raptor Liner.

 

[huskyhauler]

Go with the Japanese thing! Just make it awesome/hilarious. Instead of the traditional things white people put on their body as tattoos, go with your favorite food recipe or a ridiculous American phrase written out in kanji. The best part is you can do this in decals for pretty cheap and it'll be removable.

I'm thinking something along the lines of the great poet The Stranger (Sam Elliot) in The Big Lebowski. Turn his quote "Sometimes you eat the bar and sometimes the bar eats you, oh well" as a thick pinstripe (white strip with black lettering) between your light and dark colors: "己回冊ヨ卞工冊ヨ己　と回凵　ヨ丹卞　卞廾ヨ　日丹尺　丹几句　己回冊ヨ卞工冊ヨ己　卞廾ヨ　日丹尺　ヨ丹卞己　と回凵，　回廾　山ヨしし"

I used a random website to convert it from ABC to Kanji so I truly have no idea what is going on there. http://www.sljfaq.org/cgi/kanjiabc.cgi Have your wife check it for accuracy/idiocy.

 

[tgreening]

Hey it gets the gears turning so thanks!

On the tattoo thing. I don't know how many times she's seen someone's tattoo and chuckled about it, telling me later what it really says. Most of the time it's similar to English in that you can have two words that are pronounced the same but spelled differently, and have two completely different meanings. Tattoo artists have the right sound but get the spelling wrong.

I call my best friend Bubba. The first time I did that in her presence she busted out laughing. She told me later, and of course I told my buddy, that to a Japanese Bubba sounds like a word that in their language that means "chithead". My friend wasn't completely amused.

I'm fairly certain the translation above is essentially gibberish. It appears all its done is taken the English letters and turned them into something that looks like kanji. Look at the first word, "sometimes", then look at the kanji translation. It isn't really a translation, it's just a visual conversion, as is the whole thing.

Japanese is a difficult language to describe. The use essentially 4 different alphabets in their written language. Hiragana is for their native language, katakana is for borrowed foreign words that have no roots in Japanese, kanji comes from China and is used in conjunction with hiragana/katakana for clarity of meaning and brevity. You'll never see a sentence written ONLY in hiragana or katakana, there is always kanji mixed in. And then they toss in standard English now and again, seemingly just to confuse everybody who isn't Japanese.

You think that's bad, you should try to get a handle on their numbering system. There Re different ways of saying "one" of something, based on what it is being counted. One dog doesn't sound the same as one apple. My wife says even Japanese get screwed up on it.

 

[tgreening]

Got all the base color on today. Sweet baby jesus there's a lot of real estate to spray, and in the end I didn't quite get what I wanted. I couldn't quite get the texture where I wanted it, but it's probably my fault. I wanted a smoother texture and according to the instructions you should up the pressure and back up a bit, and that's where I ran into trouble. I've got good solid high volume compressor that pumps up to 175psi and is regulated down to 90. I put one of those mini regulators on the Shutz gun like they recommend but couldnt get more than about 40 trigger down psi through it, and I REALLY struggled with maintaining distance.

I ended up way rougher than I wanted and a bunch of ghost lines in the spray pattern. Dont know the proper terminology to describe that last bit but essentially the individual spray passes werent blending together so you could see them. I was hoping they'd fade away once it cured but I wasn't sure so I tried a desperation tactic. I mixed up a couple liters and forced myself to spray from about 2 1/2' and it seems to have done the trick. The texture is still rougher than I'd like but I figure I can live with it.

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[FDM2012]

Looking good! I have been wanting to eventually go a similar route, but maybe a little more gold-ish.

Kinda like this:



But I have MANY other things to address before worrying about that........

 

[luthj]

Looks really good from this side of the internet. Plus, once you get a few scratches from obstinate tree branches, no one will care!

 

[rlrenz]

Looks great from MN as well!

Some thoughts from when I used to design painting equipment for industrial and auto plant use:

I don't know what kind of spray gun you were using - body undercoating is sprayed with a schutz gun (which is one step more sophisticated than an insect flit gun) - it's basically a throw-away spray gun. The material may have been too heavy to spray with a normal gravity gun as well - it can often substitute for a pressure fed gun, particularly with conventional, low viscosity finish materials, such as enamels and lacquers.

The optimal gun would have probably been a pressure-fed spray gun, probably working from a 2 quart cup. Auto plants use pressure fed guns with about 10 PSI fluid pressure (with a approx. 0.040" fluid tip), but you might need more with a heavy material. You might also have to use a larger than usual fluid tip, maybe 0.060 - 0.070". It might also take a little experimenting to figure out the optimal air cap for the spray gun - they are available with different air hole patterns to help atomize finishing materials more effectively

Regarding your struggle to get more air pressure at the gun - it sounds like your air regulator was maxed out. You might lave better luck with a higher capacity regulator hanging on your belt, with a whip hose to the spray gun. You could add a pressure gauge to the line close to the spray gun.

You can also send an e mail to the technical contacts at DeVilbiss and Binks for their recommendations. Odds are that they've tested the same material you're spraying in their labs, and can give you some ideas.