styromaniac Posted July 5, 2017 Posted July 5, 2017 Back in the day...and I mean waaaay back...working features were popular in scale automotive modeling. Started with opening up doors and trunks, then progressed to poseable steering...working shocks in the suspensions. Somebody somewhere got the idea of borrowing from the scale railroad hobby to put working lights in their model cars. If memory serves I think it may have started with "grain of wheat" bulbs placed in headlights & taillights, powered by concealed battery packs. Not sure if the heat given off by those bulbs caused problems with the paint and plastic from extended use. With today's advancements in technology I've been wondering what success anybody out there has been having illuminating automotive subjects...or is that something that's just not as popular as it once was. I've talked to a few sci-fi modelers at IPMS events about what they've used...would like to hear from anyone who has had good results and what they have used.
BigTallDad Posted July 5, 2017 Posted July 5, 2017 I did a '55 Chevy with functional headlights (hi/low beam), parking lights (front & back), brake lights, and turn signals. Here's the link to the visuals, and the link to the schematics/circuitry is contained in that link. Hope this helps.http://www.modelcarsmag.com/forums/topic/102446-my-55-chevy/
peteski Posted July 6, 2017 Posted July 6, 2017 Lightbulbs are so 20th Century - most lighting affects nowadays are done using Light Emitting Diodes (LEDs). Same techniques and components used by model railroaders and SciFi modelers can be applied to automobile models.
Modelbuilder Mark Posted July 6, 2017 Posted July 6, 2017 I did a '55 Chevy with functional headlights (hi/low beam), parking lights (front & back), brake lights, and turn signals. Here's the link to the visuals, and the link to the schematics/circuitry is contained in that link. Hope this helps.http://www.modelcarsmag.com/forums/topic/102446-my-55-chevy/ very cool Ray!
BigTallDad Posted July 6, 2017 Posted July 6, 2017 Lightbulbs are so 20th Century - most lighting affects nowadays are done using Light Emitting Diodes (LEDs). Same techniques and components used by model railroaders and SciFi modelers can be applied to automobile models. When I built the '55, dimmable LEDs were not available...I needed the dimmable property for high/low beams, taillight vs brake light/turn signals.
peteski Posted July 6, 2017 Posted July 6, 2017 When I built the '55, dimmable LEDs were not available...I needed the dimmable property for high/low beams, taillight vs brake light/turn signals.I understand. But the question asked was about the current trends. You did a very good job with what was available at the time.
BigTallDad Posted July 6, 2017 Posted July 6, 2017 (edited) I understand. But the question asked was about the current trends. You did a very good job with what was available at the time.The circuitry does not change; merely substitute dimmable LEDs for the filament bulbs, paying attention to the polarity of the LED. Edited July 6, 2017 by BigTallDad
styromaniac Posted July 6, 2017 Author Posted July 6, 2017 Outstanding work there Dad. Thanks for all the info and pics.
MeatMan Posted July 6, 2017 Posted July 6, 2017 Back in the day...and I mean waaaay back...working features were popular in scale automotive modeling. Started with opening up doors and trunks, then progressed to poseable steering...working shocks in the suspensions. Somebody somewhere got the idea of borrowing from the scale railroad hobby to put working lights in their model cars. If memory serves I think it may have started with "grain of wheat" bulbs placed in headlights & taillights, powered by concealed battery packs. Not sure if the heat given off by those bulbs caused problems with the paint and plastic from extended use. With today's advancements in technology I've been wondering what success anybody out there has been having illuminating automotive subjects...or is that something that's just not as popular as it once was. I've talked to a few sci-fi modelers at IPMS events about what they've used...would like to hear from anyone who has had good results and what they have used.I thought about doing it. Check out this site. It was mentioned on a past post. http://www.modeltrainsoftware.com/ledlights1.html
martinfan5 Posted July 9, 2017 Posted July 9, 2017 (edited) I thought about doing it. Check out this site. It was mentioned on a past post. http://www.modeltrainsoftware.com/ledlights1.html Great people to deal with, all the LED's I used on this came from them, their customer service was top notch. Edited July 9, 2017 by martinfan5
BigTallDad Posted July 9, 2017 Posted July 9, 2017 That's a very impressive display of the "Emergency" function, Jonathan. Does the lighting array also have a "Normal" mode (headlights with high/low beams, tail lights, brake lights, and turn signals)?
martinfan5 Posted July 9, 2017 Posted July 9, 2017 That's a very impressive display of the "Emergency" function, Jonathan. Does the lighting array also have a "Normal" mode (headlights with high/low beams, tail lights, brake lights, and turn signals)?No, it only has flashing and steady on functions.
Bill J Posted July 10, 2017 Posted July 10, 2017 The AMT original annual 64 Ford Galaxie kit had grain of wheat headlights included with the kit. Both the hardtop and the convertible.
Jantrix Posted July 10, 2017 Posted July 10, 2017 I had a friend in Florida I met at a show. He used fiber optics. He created a light box in the trunk area where the single LED was and used fiber optics out to the lights.
peteski Posted July 11, 2017 Posted July 11, 2017 (edited) My most complex lighting project was the Peterbilt Can-Do Wrecker. I built it in the '90s. It was before small SMD size LEDs became available but I was able to get some small red and amber LEDs which I used for all the red and amber lights. Headlights and fog-lights are small 1.5V bulbs from Miniatronics. I designed and built the power supplies and flashers and housed them inside the wrecker body. This was before the Arduinos and Raspbery Pi were available. The channel display (showing "19") on the CB radio is also backlit with a green LED. Edited July 11, 2017 by peteski
peteski Posted July 12, 2017 Posted July 12, 2017 Thanks Ray! That was about a year's worth of fun (and few frustrating moments).
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