Lighting nacelles evenly

grim_marmazet · Post by **grim_marmazet** » Mon Apr 05, 2010 12:23 pm

Hi,
I'm new to lighting sci-fi model kits and am building a Revell 1/677 U.S.S. Voyager kit.

The question I have is what is the best way to get an even blue glow on the warp nacelles with LED's?

Also is it best to paint the inside white, or use foil to reflect the light? This applies to the whole kit.

Cheers,
Rik

robiwon · Post by **robiwon** » Mon Apr 05, 2010 12:38 pm

Try this, take two blue 5mm LEDs and put one in each end of a plastic tube the length of the clear part so they are facing each other. You can get the right size from your hobby shop made by Evergreen or Plastruct. When lit it should provide a nice even glow behind it, almost like a flourescent tube. Paint the inside of the ship white. It actually reflects light better than silver paint or foil.

grim_marmazet · Post by **grim_marmazet** » Mon Apr 05, 2010 1:10 pm

Thanks for the tip, is that a clear tube or a white one? How bright does the effect come out?

Should I paint the white in gloss, or matt?

Cheers,
Rik

robiwon · Post by **robiwon** » Mon Apr 05, 2010 1:47 pm

grim_marmazet wrote:Thanks for the tip, is that a clear tube or a white one? How bright does the effect come out?

Should I paint the white in gloss, or matt?

Cheers,
Rik

White plastic. I'm not sure you can get clear plastic tube from Plastruct or Evergreen. If you can I would give it a sanding to "diffuse" the light so it spreads out more. You could also try drinking straws as well. Just don't use the ones with red stripes! This is how I am lighting my Galaxy Quest Protector.

I would do flat white for the enterior.

grim_marmazet · Post by **grim_marmazet** » Mon Apr 05, 2010 2:43 pm

Thank you for the advice.

Just one more question, do you think it'll be worth painting the inside of the warp grill blue as well?

After painting, should I still use blue LED's? Or White ones?

Cheers,
Rik

robiwon · Post by **robiwon** » Tue Apr 06, 2010 6:57 am

I would paint the inside of the grill with Tamiya transparent blue. Use blue LEDs. But experiment first to see if your happy with the effect.

grim_marmazet · Post by **grim_marmazet** » Wed Apr 07, 2010 4:22 am

Thank you again robiwon, your advice is invaluable.

I'll tinker about when I get to setting up the lighting. I'm looking at how to do the deflector dish as well. I've read on here that fibrefill can work quite well. Also frosting the back of the clear part can work as well.

Cheers,
Rik

Delorean Man · Post by **Delorean Man** » Wed Apr 07, 2010 7:28 am

delete

Delorean Man · Post by **Delorean Man** » Wed Apr 07, 2010 7:45 am

grim_marmazet · Post by **grim_marmazet** » Wed Apr 07, 2010 1:38 pm

Thank you Delorean man. Did you do this on a Voyager kit? How many LED's did you use? Do you have any pictures at all?

Would this work to get an even glow on the deflector as well?

Cheers,
Rik

Delorean Man · Post by **Delorean Man** » Wed Apr 07, 2010 6:04 pm

delete

RickP · Post by **RickP** » Tue Apr 20, 2010 3:34 am

I always use 6 inch cold cathode lights for the nacelles. For the voyager you have to break away the casing. They're cheap, very bright and fit perfectly. Only downside is that you need 12 volts. The driver board fits nicely in the hull.

EDIT: Here's a photo of my voyager with cathode nacelles: http://i42.tinypic.com/r034ag.jpg

Nakira2ca · Post by **Nakira2ca** » Wed Apr 28, 2010 7:36 am

robiwon wrote:Try this, take two blue 5mm LEDs and put one in each end of a plastic tube the length of the clear part so they are facing each other. You can get the right size from your hobby shop made by Evergreen or Plastruct. When lit it should provide a nice even glow behind it, almost like a flourescent tube. Paint the inside of the ship white. It actually reflects light better than silver paint or foil.

You can also use white drinking straws. They are cheap and very thin so light can penetrate easiy.