If i were to try and incorporate some fibre optic lights into a 1/72 model kit (probably four lights at most). What equipment would i need to get to install the fibre and run it. And how easy is the fibre optic to work with?
Fibre Optics in a model
- Thread starter AlanG
- Start date
boatman
SMF Supporter
HI AL F/O is very easy to work with I have fitted it in planes for nav lights all you need is to make a small hole at the wing tips an elsewhere if usin 1mm f/o an glue it in place but no ninety degree turns with it only gentle curves back to a white bulb an then usein tamayia colour clear paints the end nr the bulb the coulour you want to show
chris
chris
D
Deleted member 7181
Guest
Similar question asked here about LED's, might be a place to start as you'll need some kind of light source to run the FO 
boatman
SMF Supporter
HI AL here is my super hornet with 1mm led's
boatman
SMF Supporter
WELL AL IF YOU don't want them this bright all you need to do is fit a heavy resistor
chris
chris
boatman
SMF Supporter
SO Al which are you goin for f/o or led's ?
chris
chris
boatman
SMF Supporter
WELL Al do you know if you want to work the lights from a batt or mains electric as mine is mains for my planes but F/O is cheaper
chris
chris
Just looked at the LED bulbs John has in the Scale Model Shop shop. I presume the wheat bulbs are bigger than the rice bulbs?
- Joined
- May 26, 2009
- Messages
- 12,983
- Points
- 113
- First Name
- Ron
Al', off subject a bit , this sounds like my missus!
- Joined
- Apr 28, 2018
- Messages
- 10,787
- Points
- 113
- First Name
- Jakko
It’s now tomorrow morning, and I’ve found the thing I wanted to post:
www.bolterandchainsword.com
That’s a thread I posted in 2008 on a Warhammer 40,000 forum about a Land Raider I had equipped with a light-and-sound show: an MP3 player with speakers, plus blinking and continually on LEDs, the former lighting up the exterior through fibre-optics. (Note that I had to disable my adblocker to get that site to load images.)
Check the thread for a thorough description, but the basics of it are that I bought some blinking LEDs and soldered them together with some resistors (again, see the thread for how to calculate what you need) into this circuit:
You can ignore the bit on the left with the MP3 player and amplifier, of course. It all looks like this in the flesh:
For the fibre-optics themselves, I used a cheap TOSLINK cable I bought at an electrics store:
On the left is the normal plug that’s at both ends of the cable, on the right is a piece I cut off and stripped. Initially I wanted to leave the black covering on it, but decided to remove it because it made the cable much thicker and less flexible. Inside the model, I put everything together like this:
I drilled holes into the sides of bits of plastic tube and glued them into the model, then inserted the fibre-optics. The LEDs sit inside the pieces of tube:
Here’s the model with the power off and on:
The fibre-optics stick out from the side of the model so that I could paint the vehicle without having to mask 1 mm diameter lights: I just painted right over them and when I was done, trimmed the fibre-optics back to sit flush with the sides of the model.
Singing and dancing Land Raider! - + WORKS IN PROGRESS +
Page 1 of 2 - Singing and dancing Land Raider! - posted in + WORKS IN PROGRESS +: As some of you may remember, a long, long time ago I started converting a standard Land Raider into a Prometheus. I always had the intention that it would become a light-and-sound show as well — so here's a short...
That’s a thread I posted in 2008 on a Warhammer 40,000 forum about a Land Raider I had equipped with a light-and-sound show: an MP3 player with speakers, plus blinking and continually on LEDs, the former lighting up the exterior through fibre-optics. (Note that I had to disable my adblocker to get that site to load images.)
Check the thread for a thorough description, but the basics of it are that I bought some blinking LEDs and soldered them together with some resistors (again, see the thread for how to calculate what you need) into this circuit:
You can ignore the bit on the left with the MP3 player and amplifier, of course. It all looks like this in the flesh:
For the fibre-optics themselves, I used a cheap TOSLINK cable I bought at an electrics store:
On the left is the normal plug that’s at both ends of the cable, on the right is a piece I cut off and stripped. Initially I wanted to leave the black covering on it, but decided to remove it because it made the cable much thicker and less flexible. Inside the model, I put everything together like this:
I drilled holes into the sides of bits of plastic tube and glued them into the model, then inserted the fibre-optics. The LEDs sit inside the pieces of tube:
Here’s the model with the power off and on:
The fibre-optics stick out from the side of the model so that I could paint the vehicle without having to mask 1 mm diameter lights: I just painted right over them and when I was done, trimmed the fibre-optics back to sit flush with the sides of the model.