Advice on Lighting Kits

[roughy]

Hi all
Intend to do my first lit kit by the end of the year. Any advice on lighting kits would be appreciated.
I have come across three makers: Tenacontrols, Galactic Modeler and Trek Modeler.

I'm not terribly knowledgeable when it comes to electronics.
Cheers
Mark

[slookabill]

Which kit are you thinking of lighting? Another manufacturer is Big Easy Lighting Solutions

[roughy]

The 1:600 Revell Enterprise. Because it isn't an accurate kit I'm happy for it to be an experiment. And it is big enough for my clumsy fingers.

[Tracy White]

There's also Madman Lighting or rolling your own with a microprossessor like an Arduino.

[TurkeyVolumeGuessingMan]

There's also Madman Lighting or rolling your own with a microprossessor like an Arduino.

I have no background in electronics, but I was able to finish my lighted Revell Cylon Raider last night. In order to tackle an Enterprise, I am going to forgo an expensive Arduino and use a 556 timing chip instead. There is a guide online to do the Enterprise's running lights and nav strobes here:
http://virtualight.com/?p=1199

[Tracy White]

$7 is expensive? How about less that $2? $3 with wireless?

I don't use the Chinese clones myself but some people seem OK with them.

[TurkeyVolumeGuessingMan]

$7 is expensive?

I'll have to admit my ignorance about Arduinos. I saw one for four times that price, or at least whatever it was I believed it to be an Arduino. Perhaps it was pre-programmed or something. I should look up some tutorials on how to use them. I do know that they are good for more than mere flashing lights. A part of me wants to tackle learning how to wire up a 556 timing chip though.

[tetsujin]

$7 is expensive?

I'll have to admit my ignorance about Arduinos. I saw one for four times that price, or at least whatever it was I believed it to be an Arduino. Perhaps it was pre-programmed or something. I should look up some tutorials on how to use them. I do know that they are good for more than mere flashing lights. A part of me wants to tackle learning how to wire up a 556 timing chip though.

I think it's generally worth learning things when the motivation is there... But unless you are specifically interested in studying 1970s/1980s-era electronics hobbyist projects, collecting (awesome, classic) Forrest Mims books and all that, I think you're better served in this case by learning microcontrollers instead.

A 555-based circuit is a relatively easy way to get some basic time-varying effects going, and they're absolutely dirt cheap, but for really simple jobs microcontrollers are just about as cheap, and probably as small as the 555 circuit. As the behavior you're trying to achieve gets more complex, the complexity of a discrete logic/analog circuit to achieve that behavior gets much more complex and larger, and if you get something wrong it means redesigning or rebuilding part of the circuit to change the behavior. With a microcontroller you can just hook up a cable and reprogram the thing.

[Kylwell]

https://www.adafruit.com/product/1501?g ... oCPm3w_wcB

[Tracy White]

12mm x 12mm Arduino planned. It won't be the cheapest, but frell is that small for a microprocessor board.

[EVApodman]

What kind of lighting effect are you looking for.

Steady on- LED and resistor
Blinking/pulsating- the above plus electronics like a charging capacitor. Blinking LEDs are commercially available.
Blinking at a certain rate or pattern- requires logic chips and circuitry. This is the most expensive means of lighting.

[modelbldr_207582]

There's also Madman Lighting or rolling your own with a microprossessor like an Arduino.

I have no background in electronics, but I was able to finish my lighted Revell Cylon Raider last night. In order to tackle an Enterprise, I am going to forgo an expensive Arduino and use a 556 timing chip instead. There is a guide online to do the Enterprise's running lights and nav strobes here:
http://virtualight.com/?p=1199

This is an awesome machine leaving Space Dock - Have seen a couple of videos from Trek Works that have done a number of videos of ST-TOS Builds. This is where I got my inspiration to get back into modeling again.

[Craig]

Hi all
Intend to do my first lit kit by the end of the year. Any advice on lighting kits would be appreciated.
I have come across three makers: Tenacontrols, Galactic Modeler and Trek Modeler.

I'm not terribly knowledgeable when it comes to electronics.
Cheers
Mark

Just doing some research before I attempt to light my 350 refit. I have very little electronics experience. In fact, the last time I lit a kit was the old Lights and Sound Enterprise back in 1991.

I bought the light kit from Galactic Modeler. The transaction on ebay was fine. I paid about $100. I thought it was meant for someone with no electronics experience. It comes with an instructional DVD which is not helpful at all. There were two sheets of paper which shows where you should place the lights. I really wanted help on how to wire the thing together. Anyways, I'll use the supplied LEDS, but I have to do my own research on how to wire this sucker together.

[EVApodman]

Hi all
Intend to do my first lit kit by the end of the year. Any advice on lighting kits would be appreciated.
I have come across three makers: Tenacontrols, Galactic Modeler and Trek Modeler.

I'm not terribly knowledgeable when it comes to electronics.
Cheers
Mark

Just doing some research before I attempt to light my 350 refit. I have very little electronics experience. In fact, the last time I lit a kit was the old Lights and Sound Enterprise back in 1991.

I bought the light kit from Galactic Modeler. The transaction on ebay was fine. I paid about $100. I thought it was meant for someone with no electronics experience. It comes with an instructional DVD which is not helpful at all. There were two sheets of paper which shows where you should place the lights. I really wanted help on how to wire the thing together. Anyways, I'll use the supplied LEDS, but I have to do my own research on how to wire this sucker together.

Do you have a main board that the LEDs are wired to? Are there points labeled or numbered in any way on the board to show which wires should go to which LED? Is any polarity on these wires given? Are you given colored wire to use? I recommend using one color wire for positive and the other for negative.

If the answers to these are yes then the only problem is to maintain correct polarity to the LEDs so they will light properly. This can usually be determined by looking at the leads, one will be longer than the other which is usually the anode, which must be connected to the positive wire. I also recommend getting an inexpensive multimeter that shows volts, ohms and current. It will help a lot with something like this.

If you can any specific questions you can PM me and I will be glad to help. Also pics of the diagrams will help.

[Craig]

Hi all
Intend to do my first lit kit by the end of the year. Any advice on lighting kits would be appreciated.
I have come across three makers: Tenacontrols, Galactic Modeler and Trek Modeler.

I'm not terribly knowledgeable when it comes to electronics.
Cheers
Mark

Just doing some research before I attempt to light my 350 refit. I have very little electronics experience. In fact, the last time I lit a kit was the old Lights and Sound Enterprise back in 1991.

I bought the light kit from Galactic Modeler. The transaction on ebay was fine. I paid about $100. I thought it was meant for someone with no electronics experience. It comes with an instructional DVD which is not helpful at all. There were two sheets of paper which shows where you should place the lights. I really wanted help on how to wire the thing together. Anyways, I'll use the supplied LEDS, but I have to do my own research on how to wire this sucker together.

Do you have a main board that the LEDs are wired to? Are there points labeled or numbered in any way on the board to show which wires should go to which LED? Is any polarity on these wires given? Are you given colored wire to use? I recommend using one color wire for positive and the other for negative.

If the answers to these are yes then the only problem is to maintain correct polarity to the LEDs so they will light properly. This can usually be determined by looking at the leads, one will be longer than the other which is usually the anode, which must be connected to the positive wire. I also recommend getting an inexpensive multimeter that shows volts, ohms and current. It will help a lot with something like this.

If you can any specific questions you can PM me and I will be glad to help. Also pics of the diagrams will help.

Thanks EVAPodman! I'll PM you shortly.

The kit basically came with a battery pack, a bunch of wire, a bunch of LEDS in a few baggies, a few strobe LEDs and a few strands of fibre optics. Apparently no resistors are needed. No circuit board. I'm thinking I'll need to wire the whole thing in parallel starting with the battery pack and then running it through the entire kit. I bought a wire wrap tool.

[TShark]

If you desire to add lighting, sound, or motion to a plastic model I highly recommend becoming familiar with Arduino compatible boards. The boards themselves can be found for under $15. The programming software is free, as are multiple tutorials/forums. You don't need to be adept at programming, because a program probably already exists and it is just a matter of cut and paste right off the internet. A basic Arduino starter kit will give you the basics of LED lighting and allow you bench test all your electronics outside of the model. Then you can add your lighting to your kit once perfected. The freedom of creativity the Arduino gives you will have you looking at every model kit differently.

Here is a sample of a bench test I am using for my WIP TOS Enterprise:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1aFZbrLPVJ8

This was done with off the shelf parts and combining several Arduino programs together. Also this cost less than half the price of Tenacontrols or other "ready made" lighting kits.

Hope this helps

[EVApodman]

Just doing some research before I attempt to light my 350 refit. I have very little electronics experience. In fact, the last time I lit a kit was the old Lights and Sound Enterprise back in 1991.

I bought the light kit from Galactic Modeler. The transaction on ebay was fine. I paid about $100. I thought it was meant for someone with no electronics experience. It comes with an instructional DVD which is not helpful at all. There were two sheets of paper which shows where you should place the lights. I really wanted help on how to wire the thing together. Anyways, I'll use the supplied LEDS, but I have to do my own research on how to wire this sucker together.

Do you have a main board that the LEDs are wired to? Are there points labeled or numbered in any way on the board to show which wires should go to which LED? Is any polarity on these wires given? Are you given colored wire to use? I recommend using one color wire for positive and the other for negative.

If the answers to these are yes then the only problem is to maintain correct polarity to the LEDs so they will light properly. This can usually be determined by looking at the leads, one will be longer than the other which is usually the anode, which must be connected to the positive wire. I also recommend getting an inexpensive multimeter that shows volts, ohms and current. It will help a lot with something like this.

If you can any specific questions you can PM me and I will be glad to help. Also pics of the diagrams will help.

Thanks EVAPodman! I'll PM you shortly.

The kit basically came with a battery pack, a bunch of wire, a bunch of LEDS in a few baggies, a few strobe LEDs and a few strands of fibre optics. Apparently no resistors are needed. No circuit board. I'm thinking I'll need to wire the whole thing in parallel starting with the battery pack and then running it through the entire kit. I bought a wire wrap tool.

So, no circuit board and no IC's. I'm interested to see how this kit has flashing lights, if any. If no resistors are supplied it looks like they are driving everything from a 1.5V source. One thing I would suggest is to get a a small circuit board from Digi-key or similar supplier.

The purpose of this is to simplify wiring the LEDs to power. Circuit boards like this have lines that can be used for bus bars. One line will be for power (+ voltage) and the other is for ground (- voltage). This can help prevent power lines from being mis-wired and creating problems. The boards are cheap and can be cut to size.

[Craig]

Thanks! The strobe feature is apparently built into the LED. I haven't run power to it yet so I can't confirm for sure. He does have a few vids on Youtube showcasing his work and I see strobes. Yes, it comes with a battery pack for two AA batteries.

He posted a vid of the 1/537 refit. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ROpBWGLfnxs


I've learned more from your posts than what came with this light kit.

[EVApodman]

Is that the lighting kit you have? I'm curious how they managed to get the correct flashing sequence without a controller of some kind. I know there are flashing LEDs that will flash on their own but how do you get them to flash at the right rate. Also do you have the warp nacelle lighting or is that something extra? I'm also guessing that the windows are lit by lighting inside the model as opposed to kits that have the LEDs mounted in the windows.

If you can achieve all that's in the video then you will have a real cool model.

[Craig]

Is that the lighting kit you have? I'm curious how they managed to get the correct flashing sequence without a controller of some kind. I know there are flashing LEDs that will flash on their own but how do you get them to flash at the right rate. Also do you have the warp nacelle lighting or is that something extra? I'm also guessing that the windows are lit by lighting inside the model as opposed to kits that have the LEDs mounted in the windows.

If you can achieve all that's in the video then you will have a real cool model.

I'll post a pic of the LEDS that came with this kit.

Apparently it's one stobe LED and you use fibre optics to light up the navigation stobes. I have some alligator clips on the way so I can try powering up the LEDS.

I have to say, the instructional DVD that came with the kit is useless for someone who has almost no experience with lighting.