discussion Fibre Optics in a model

[AlanG]

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?

 

[Si Benson]

Never done it myself but seen it done on YouTube. A guy did it with a watch battery, an LED and some fibre optic strands.
Maybe YouTube has the answers?

 

[AlanG]

For some reason this has gone into the wrong forum area. Should have been in General Modelling Chat. Hmm. Mods could you move please?

 

[boatman]

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

 

[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 :smiling3:

 

[boatman]

HI AL here is my super hornet with 1mm led's

 

[AlanG]

Cheers guys. This needs a bit more investigation. It could make my build 'pop' a little more

 

[boatman]

WELL AL IF YOU don't want them this bright all you need to do is fit a heavy resistor
chris

 

[Guest]

I’ve done this before, but it’s a bit awkward to post about it now. Will do so tomorrow morning.

 

[AlanG]

Not sure how bright i want it yet. Think a variable resistor would be the way to go

 

[boatman]

SO Al which are you goin for f/o or led's ?

chris

 

[AlanG]

Not sure Chris. I'd have to take some measurements to see what would be feasible.

 

[boatman]

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

 

[AlanG]

It would have to be a battery operated system. It would only be turned on once in a blue moon lol

 

[AlanG]

Just looked at the LED bulbs John has in the SMS shop. I presume the wheat bulbs are bigger than the rice bulbs?

 

[spanner570]

It would only be turned on once in a blue moon lol

Al', off subject a bit , this sounds like my missus!

 

[Guest]

It’s now tomorrow morning, and I’ve found the thing I wanted to post:

http://www.bolterandchainsword.com/topic/145792-singing-and-dancing-land-raider/

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.)

View attachment 353200

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:

View attachment 353201

You can ignore the bit on the left with the MP3 player and amplifier, of course. It all looks like this in the flesh:

View attachment 353202

For the fibre-optics themselves, I used a cheap TOSLINK cable I bought at an electrics store:

View attachment 353203

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:

View attachment 353204

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:

View attachment 353205

Here’s the model with the power off and on:

View attachment 353206
View attachment 353207

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.