Best Light Diffusing Material

[Thomas E. Johnson]

What material works best to pack on top of a bunch of LEDs or other independent light sources to defuse the light into looking like one whole source?

[schweinhund227]

http://i170.photobucket.com/albums/u255 ... resize.jpg

Acrylic Rod or Bar ... seems to have done the trick here...
Like those big Towel Clear at any Home Decor place...
Once Sanded on one side... it will Absorb the light and the remainder of the rod should be Taped with Metal foil to Trap the light inside and make it travel inside the medium ....

Experiment... !!! have fun !

[Scott Hasty]

That Falcon is MOI impressive! But for something easier, I HIGHLY recommend FiberFill (if you want cheap and effective)

http://www.airtex.com/product/prdFiberfill.asp

You can get it at Wal Mart for about a buck...not convinced?

Before:

http://i2.photobucket.com/albums/y28/s_ ... tstrip.jpg

Stuffed:

http://i2.photobucket.com/albums/y28/s_hasty/Test.jpg

Scottie

[tetsujin]

The fiberfill technique looks interesting - but it also looks patchy. It'd be interesting to see the effect on the finished model - without light leaking through the rest of the nacelle, etc.

[karim]

The fiberfill technique looks interesting - but it also looks patchy. It'd be interesting to see the effect on the finished model - without light leaking through the rest of the nacelle, etc.

Here ya go.

[tetsujin]

But that one has hot-spots. The spots are OK for thrusters but for a nacelle grille it might be less attractive...

[karim]

But that one has hot-spots. The spots are OK for thrusters but for a nacelle grille it might be less attractive...

That's easy enough to solve... point the LED along the surface instead of at the surface. The Fiberfill will collect and diffuse the light to fill the space.

WHat it comes down to is you just need to experiment with it.

Go to a fabric store and drop $1.50 on a bag of Fiberfill and take it home and play with it.

[tetsujin]

But that one has hot-spots. The spots are OK for thrusters but for a nacelle grille it might be less attractive...

That's easy enough to solve... point the LED along the surface instead of at the surface. The Fiberfill will collect and diffuse the light to fill the space.

WHat it comes down to is you just need to experiment with it.

Go to a fabric store and drop $1.50 on a bag of Fiberfill and take it home and play with it.

Well, probably at some point I will. Right now I have a lot of other stuff going on, though...

[intergalacticthingamejig]

Just tried frosted glass spray paint....it works a treat!

I have the Master Replica Enterprise model, looking at the windows i'd say that this is exactly what was used here


Wayne

[Quintillus]

Go to you local Theatre supply and request a FREE Rosco gel swatch book.

Take home and look at numbers 100-163 in front of your lighting setup. These are all different diffusion materials used to soften lighting, and could be combined or layered to give the required amount of diffusion. A 20" X 24" sheet will run you about $5.

You can beg a local theatre for a cut (probably 6" square) but diffusion often loses its uniformity when its been used.

The frosted glass spray is good, as is tons of matte finish (let dry between coats) but they can "spit" while you're painting and leave you with circles of heaviness. Not bad when doing your front door, but quite huge in scale.

[Ti Raven]

But that one has hot-spots. The spots are OK for thrusters but for a nacelle grille it might be less attractive...

That's easy enough to solve... point the LED along the surface instead of at the surface. The Fiberfill will collect and diffuse the light to fill the space.

WHat it comes down to is you just need to experiment with it.

Go to a fabric store and drop $1.50 on a bag of Fiberfill and take it home and play with it.

Well, probably at some point I will. Right now I have a lot of other stuff going on, though...

You could also sacrifice a small stuffed toy to the cause.