Model Railway Lighting Techniques - Shop Signs

[scoopey]

About 40 years ago I had a model railway and was quite proud of the fact I had it light up.

Ok the street lights were bendy straws with yellow LEDS in the ends.

Things have changed a lot - we now have White, and blue LEDs and a whole host of new tech so when I decided to light my Blackpool Tramway it was time to do it in style with new ideas and more experience.

Right enough of the nostalgia chit chat... time to start and in this topic I'll be addressing lighting Shop Signs, the big perspex lit ones on the high street.
 

As you might have guessed we'll have to make some miniature light boxes.

Easy put some LEDs at the back of the box and an opaque front and voila!!

Well actually no - shining LED's directly at the opaque front will create nasty "hot spots" - believe me this is horrible and very distracting but I can show you how to make a nice soft light!

[scoopey]

First you will need the following items:-

• Black 0.020" Plasticard (for the box)
• Clear 0.040" plastic sheet (for the front panel)
• White 0.010" Platicard (for opaque overlay)
• Mirror Card - this is card with foil attached to one side (you can get it in silver, copper or gold but we'll use the silver)
• SMD LEDS Light tapes - these are SMD lights attach to a tape you normally attach to the underside of a shelf and attach to a 12v supply.
  These can actually be cut into sections - the "cut" areas are marked on the tape. This tape width will define the size of the box. Standard is around 8mm = 2ft in 00 gauge.
  There is a 5mm version on ebay and try to get one with many lights per metre.

[scoopey]

For this project I'm going to upgrade the Metcalfe Low Relief Cinema

I've already added some foyer lights and the area is a little bashed about after a previous lighting attempt (I did say I did a lot of trial and error!
Instead of a normal shop front name plate this will have a wrap around style frontage.
 

[scoopey]

The trick to getting a soft light effect is to not shine an LED directly at the front. Instead we will use indirect lighting.
The SMD light strip will sit in the top and point down so to try and bounce more light around the area we need a reflector

Below is how I made a custom reflector I made with mirror card. It drops down at the front and sides to direct the light in those directions. I made a template from scrap card to avoid wastage by trial and error fitting.
Note: Since the bottom of the light box is actually part of the card kit, I only needed to add black plasticard at the back of the model

 

Edited August 2, 2021 by scoopey
updated instructions

[scoopey]

Now to make the "name plate" - Make this from 0.040" clear plastic sheet.
Once you have cut the strip you'll need to sand it with emery cloth to make the front and back opaque.

Sounds strange but the rough sanding will actually catch light and help soften it!

Once the strip is roughened, attach in place.

 

[scoopey]

Complete the light box by adding more mirror card at the back.

Then cut out a 0.010" strip of white plasticard and attach it to the outside to make the outer surface opaque (I used a double layer technique as the 0.010" it too floppy but a thicker layer of white would not transmit much light)

 

[scoopey]

Time to add the roof and lights .
When it comes to adding the SMD strip you'll need as many LEDs as possible - but you can only cut the strip at certain places. You can solder the + and - at any place where the cut sections are (it does not need to be at a cut end but can be in the middle where the section edges meet).

Add mirror foil underneath the SMD strip.
Note: SMD strip lights have adhesive tape underneath. Affix with superglue as well since the tape can loose adheasion over time (I know some of my undershelf lights have dropped in certain areas and I had to glue them up!)

 

[scoopey]

And here we have it in place!

Note: The glow is very uniform and there are not many hotspots visible due to the light bouncing.
 

To complete the signage use a laser printer with printable vinyl and stick to the white plasticard.
Or print in reverse on OHP film, flip over and stick in place with clear glue. I cannot swear to this technique as I prefer the prinable vinyl method.

[armored76]

This is great! Thanks for sharing!

[scoopey]

Thanks. There's more to come!