I am mounting a camera inside a subway car, and I want to put LEDs in the front as headlights. I’d like to mount the LEDs directly through the holes in the shell to provide a “lens” outside.
What kind of glue do people use for this?
Or, are there serious problems with shell-mounted LEDs that I really should avoid by frame-mounting the LEDs somehow?
it’s going to be hard to glue LED’s into a locomotive headlight socket. and make it look convencing…what i do is use fiber optic strands, flare a strand (1.5 MM) on one end with a cigarette lighter or candle to form a headlight lens, run them through the headlight port, and attach them to a white light LED within the shell of the locomotive…I keep the fiber optic strand(s) pointing towards the white light LED with shrink tubing attached to the Fiber optic and the LED…I use CA glue to hold the fiber optic strands in the head light ports and it works good…
One way would be to use hot melt glue. I’ve seen it used in models, and it can be removed later if need be.
Bob Boudreau
I have to agree with the above post. Almost all my Locos are now equipped with LEDs and Fiber Optics and the looks and effect are very realistic. The rounded “bulb” end of an LED just doesn’t look realistic by itself. Look at the lenses around you, on cars, trains, etc. Most are flat or nearly so.
One exception I have seen is where the led was filed to a flat profile and then polished to remove any scratches. Looked quite good, but I think the Fiber Optics look better.
Another way would be to mount the LED to an actual flat lens that fits the opening. Again, I would flatten the “bulb” end before mounting. CA works good for mounting and has little or no effect on light emmission.
Any clear silicon adhesive such as Elmer’s Stix-All is a good choice to use for mounting LED or light bulbs into locomotives, but let it set at least 24 hours. I’ve seen some newer LEDs that are flat instead of rounded on the end, but they are usually a specialty item.
An easy way is to mount the led inside the manufacturers lens pointing at the lens. The led will shine through the lens in the car body. LEDs are pretty directional. I use double sticky tape built up to the right position. Soft wire back to the connections so it doesn’t pull out of place when replacing the body
So where do you get your optical fibres? The fibre I use commercially has proved to be totally unadaptable to that sort of use.
I’m sorry to say that I got 25 ft. of it from a place called the fiber optic store which is no longer in business…you may need to do a search and find someone that does sell it…there are two kinds of fiber optics…the one for industrial use doesn’t work for our needs in this hobby…you need the kind that does work in which light shines through it from one end, through the strand, and out the other end…I used the 1.5 MM for headlights and the 0.75 MM for the ditch lights in which after experimenting with them found that the 1.5 worked better for both headlights and ditch lights…the 0.75 MM was just too small…they sell a 1.0 MM which may also work well for ditch lights…it’s out there, you just have to find it and at a dollar a foot you don’t want to mess up too many pieces of it…I purchased 25 ft, of it and it’s going to be enough for at least 35 locomotives depending on how much you use and how well you want to light them up…chuck
Be careful with CA glue. The fumes will etch clear plastic or fiber optics. In other words don’t replace the shell for a few hours and the fumes have disappeared.
To add to neds suggestion, leave the shell upside down to clear fumes. I left 2 Stewart Fs upright on the workbench after CAing details, and fogged the windows. Now I just remove any clear part not to take any chances.
Bob K.
Contact Richmond Controls (www.richmondcontrols.com). They sell turned LED’s the are a direct fit into 1.5mm HO head light lens holes in the shell. I do not use fiber optics. I order the turned LED’s from Richmond, or I will put black electrical tape around the LED sides and back, and hot glue into place behind a big lens like on a PA1 or E or F series diesel. I like to use golden white or sunny white types of LED since they look more like an incadesent lamp, and do not have the blue look of the super white LED’s
This would cause problems with removing the shell, with wires connecting the chassis to the shell. Are you sure you don’t want to have the LED inside and use fiber optics? With the LED on the inside, and the fiber optics on the shell, you could have a pretty realistic light.
Matthew