Details, details....

[Jason M.]

Ok, anyone have a suggestion about how to make a regular plastic search light more detailed? Specifically, I want the front of the light that is supposed to be glass, look like glass...NOT Silver paint or some other thing. Any suggestions? IF they made contact lenses small enough, that would be perfect! LOL

[OftenRong]

Depending on the circumstances - MV Lenses (Model RR items) may fit the bill...

http://www.internettrains.com/merchant2 ... &Featured=

Basically - they are very small and very nicely shaped lenses.

[Ron Smith]

Paint the lens area flat aluminum and after everything else is done come back and apply a small drop of Tamiya smoke.

[Sean Hert]

MV Lenses ROCK.

[Jason M.]

I knew joining this forum would be a good idea! thanks guys...!

[Mike Pajewski]

In my experience, they were usually covered by a Naugahyde or Canvas cover, but the couple I saw exposed usually were dark, unless the sun was shining low and into them. I make my searchlights darker. I paint the searchlight the base color, then using an artists pencil, I color in the lens area with the pencil, which gives a dark gray shine. Then I take a toothpick or wire with a tiny drop of Micro-crystal clear (a white glue) and touch it to the lens. It will level out over the lens. While it is wet, it will look huge, but it shrinks as it cures, leaving a nice scale appearing transparent lens, giving some depth to the light.

[PetrOs]

In 1/350 Yamato I have hollowed out the searchlight, installed a 1 mm yellowish-white microLED (a directional, with 10' cone, one of course) inside, put a transparency foil round in front, and rebuilt the framing. LED's pins were formed as a holding bracket of the light. So you get a working searchlight this way.
Under the name plate or baseboard of this waterline model will be a cutout for two size AA accus and a switch masked into the front of the case. To turn on the night combat lighting of red LEDs on the bridge, charthouse, usw, and all four 150 cm battle searchlights.

[Jason M.]

In 1/350 Yamato I have hollowed out the searchlight, installed a 1 mm yellowish-white microLED (a directional, with 10' cone, one of course) inside, put a transparency foil round in front, and rebuilt the framing. LED's pins were formed as a holding bracket of the light. So you get a working searchlight this way.
Under the name plate or baseboard of this waterline model will be a cutout for two size AA accus and a switch masked into the front of the case. To turn on the night combat lighting of red LEDs on the bridge, charthouse, usw, and all four 150 cm battle searchlights.

WOW! Do you have any pics of this?

[PetrOs]

I havent taken any photos on progress of building LED into the searchlight unluckily, and now is nothing, absolutely nothin' visible unless it's lit ;o) and the lightling effect is not finished yet, as the project is not complete ...
right now no LED is connected, only wires handin' under the belly of the ship.
If you want, i can make a rebuild plan for you.

all LEDs and electronics were actually scheduled for my next, RC, project, but i decided to try it out.

[PetrOs]

So, as I got asked many times how I really did it, here is the sketch:

http://www.modellbaudienst.de/diff/searchlight.pdf

A few comments:
I took a hollow searchlight cylinder (5 mm outside diameter), and did a narrow cut (app. half a millimeter wide) up to the middle of it. I painted the inside of the cylinder with a silver color. Then I took an OSRAM LY-M676-PS yellow LED (from a local electronic parts supplier, I had plenty of those for railcar lighting for my model railroad, costs something like 10 cents/piece. You can really use any LED which is small enough, has an appropriate color and allows for side contacts), and carefully soldered 2 copper wires to it, so they form a straigt line. Then I inserted the LED's wires into the slot of the cylinder and fixed them with superglue, so they stick out of the middle of cylinder's side. Then I covered the wires with isolating lack, and bend them to shape. I glued a small plasticard ring to the wires, so searchlight has the right height over deck. LED wires were extended using a simple thin wire from the old transformator, so that they begin under the deck. Then I filled the slots, attached the back part (also silver colored inside), and rebuilt a front part (a plastic ring with 2 thin wires crossed, inlaid with thin transparent plastic, in my case from the overhead projector slides). Then I hollowed out the sponsons on which the lights are mounted, and inserted the lights into the holes on the platform.

I hope this sketch will be useful for you.

[Jason M.]

This should sum up all I have to say:

[PetrOs]

This should sum up all I have to say:

LOL, thats not necessary - just try it yourself. Costs are about 15 cent per searchligts and a hour of work. Plus a 15W soldering iron (mine costed about 3 euro...)... Its easy - if you can do photoetch, then you can do onboard electronics ;o)

[scratchshipnut]

Drop of carpenters glue (elmers in the US) will do. Ive done missing model car headlights that way. With your prefered shiney color beneath.