If I put small optic lights in a model what do I use to light them up . Also do you wire them all togeher to one power source.
By optics I take your talking about fiber optic strands? The cool thing if that is what you are using, is you basically just plug one end into your light source, the other inthe “window” you want lit.
The offing of fiber optics is they do not “glow” , or provide area illumination, for that type of lighting you need very small incandecent lamps or the better solution, LEDs. These can be manipulated to give back light or area illumination without worry of heat. LEDs work on low voltage, so with some basic electrical hook ups and a 9v battery you have lights. Hope this helps.
I’ve added lights and sound machines to HO scale box cars etc. If adding lights, use surface mount LED’s, they are very small and readily available. For a power source, i would use a couple of wafer or hearing aid sized batteries in a place you can get at them to change them. Pre-wire for your lights using motor wrapping wire (ca. 30-32 AWG); it can be bent, wrapped, and glued from the LED’s through the model. I’d use a slide switch for on/off circuit, or similar scratch-built switch that can be hidden but accessible. A simple spring metal pair of contacts that you can separate with a slide-in non-conductive tab would work. If using LED’s, check the voltage and amperage rating…most are 3-5 Volts, and will therefore need a resistor if the combination of you batteries exceeds that amount, especially if you put a 9 volt batterie in the model. It will definitely need resistors, which can get warm, so mount them on a heat sink or in a location where heat will not be an issue. BTW, if you don’t use resistors in line for overages of voltage, you will most likely experience the phenomenon of releasing the magic smoke. Then you start all over. Good luck!
For science fiction and space, there are good results with fiber optic kits.
I just completed a 1/350th NX-01 and added 2 light kits and some fiber optic strands my Mother gave me back in the late 60s or early 70s. They have been in an envelope all this time doing nothing so I thought I would try them out.
One thing I discovered is that they are a bit sentisive to superglue. A few of them got grittle and snapped, forcing me to re-drill the small lights I was gluing them into.
As it turns out I painted the inside of the saucer with silver paint to help it reflect into the windows. When I tested this out I found out that the clear plastic was too bright when lit. To cut back on the glare, I found some old frosted material we used long ago to cut back certain light frequencies when using film. These were glued over the windows and worked well.
What I discovered by chance is that after running all sorts of optic lines from L.E.D.s to the area I wanted, some were a bit short but the reflection inside the saucer still caught the ends of the short fibers and lit them up enough for my purposes.
It might be something to experiment with.
I went old school with my Round 2 Warbird. It was all I had and wired them directly to two AA’s in the base. I painted the inside of the saucer and engines with flat black to help prevent light from shining through the plastic, then chrome to help reflect it back in. It seemed to work, I used blue, red and green colored LED’s for the Bussard collectors but you can’t tell from the pictures.
Thanks for the replies what I’m thinking about doing i have a minicraft 1/350 deluxe titanic I want to light up all the rooms and crew quaters. Don’ know if I’m up to the task alot of wire
Then I would paint the inside of the hull and deck flat black and put a few LED’s inside, even the superstructure. That will keep the wiring low and keep still light it OK. I would also paint the inside chrome to reflect the light. The black exterior of the hull will also help keeping the light from shining through.
Steve
Thanks MC this is all new to me as far as the lighting part if I think about it to long probably won’ do it .I’ve got all 6 sheets of photo etch for the titantic lights added to that would be a great show piece.probably take me a Yr to build it as slow as I am.
Armor 2.0
I am going to take you to task .There is no such thing as a dumb question .It’s the consequences if you never ask it .