RMS Titanic Academy 1/400

[Walter Wombat]

Hi,

 

After getting back into modelling during lockdown I have progressed to what I would generously call an intermediate standard. I now fancy tackling my first large scale model and for this I have chose the 1/400 Academy, as it seems to get the best reviews for accuracy and detail. I plan to add some aftermarket extras, as well as LED lighting. I'm aware that there was a limited edition kit with lighting however that no longer seems available as new in the UK.

 

My question primarily concerns the use of LED lighting. It doesn't seem to difficult, however if anyone has any experience of this I would much appreciate some tips and pointers. I also did wonder if the kit available for the 1/400 Lego model could be adapted?

 

Any other advice would be more than welcome….I know my limitations 😀

 

Thanks guys.

 

Phil

[Killingholme]

Depends on how far you want to take it really. Personally, I'm not a fan of the proprietary lighting kits available for Titanic models. I think they're too bright and certainly too expensive considering you could buy their constituent components- namely LED light strips- from amazon for a couple of quid! 

 

But most importantly, I think they're totally unrealistic. The brightest lights on Titanic at sea would be the navigation lights on each side of the bridge, and the masthead lights. To my knowledge these aren't included in any of the proprietary lighting kits that are available.

 

Also worth noting that Titanic's funnels were not 'uplighted' as depicted in James Cameron's film- that was a director's decision to help light the film sets. Before the bridge would be kept blacked out at night to ensure the officers and lookouts could retain their forward night vision. The Bridge itself would be dark for the same reason. There was also a big variation in the intensity of lighting between different parts of the ship. The public spaces were of course amply lit by electric lighting, but the crew spaces were much more sparsely lit. And if you really want to take realism to extremes- there wouldn't be many circumstances in which every single light along the ship was blazing. When Titanic struck the iceberg many passengers and crew were asleep. The public spaces were closed variously between 23:00-00:00. Some, such as the dining saloons would have remained lit only because the staff were busy cleaning or setting places for breakfast. It all rather depends on what you want to achieve- a display model or a depiction of the ship in a moment of time. These are the reasons why many modellers resort to using fibre optics.

 

Practically, whatever method you choose the challenge is making sure light does not 'leak' through plastic parts that you don't want it too. I think the reason many people chose fibre optics over LED strips is because you have more control of the individual 'spots' of light, which goes some way to representing the differing intensities of light on the real vessel. I have seen models completed with a single, large light shining through every single opened hole in the hull and to be honest it rarely looks realistic!

 

Good luck!

 

Will

[Walter Wombat]

Thanks Will. That is pretty much my thinking as I’ve seen the kit LED’s and they don’t look great. I’ve ordered a bunch of LED and fibre optic lights and plan to try the subtle approach. 
 

cheers

phil

 

[Cklasse]

Now that I have vouchers to spend on my local hobby shop, I am toying with the idea of building the 1/400 Airfix Titanic too. 
I want to put in PE parts and lights too. This is going to be a long road to finishing and challenging for someone who does not build ships.

I found a site that outlined how to light the Titanic and it is a good reference to start.

Lighting the Titanic

 

Now to the shop first……

[dnl42]

Are you familiar with LEDs? If not, some useful facts. They are polarized, the longer lead is the anode (positive), the shorter lead is the cathode (negative). They are available in a variety of voltages. They need a current-limiting resittor. They're typically wired in series; sometimes paralle. GIYF on using them.

A useful tool to have is called the "LED Buddy", by Velleman. It's a kit that must be assembled (you'll need a soldering iron). It allows you to determine the polarity and correct resistor for a given LED, supply voltage, and brightness.

[Walter Wombat]

Have to say I found the LED lighting quite straightforward and interesting. I used strip LED's from Amazon and purchased some specialist nano LED's from Small Scale Specialist lights https://www.smallscalelights.co.uk for the mast, navigation lights etc. Power supply was an old power brick and USB connection glued into the base. If you use this method be ensure that the LED's operate at 5v (USB output voltage) as some require a higher voltage. The biggest issue I had was light leaks. I would suggest stepping down the brightness of the LED's using inline resistors (easy enough) to make it look more realistic as they are very bright. Despite this you will need to use a reflective paint on the inner hull and the underside of ALL decks otherwise the LED's shine through the plastic. I used spray aluminium paint. For the foremast I used brass tube with a nano LED. Here is a link to the finished model with lighting.

 

https://share.icloud.com/photos/0ebplG-MTZIf0aDX5DCHykkxw

 

Good Luck

Phil

 

[colin]

Another important consideration, when you light it you need warm LED's or tint the white LED's, a lot of people light the with ultra white LED's 

Old lighting used incandescent bulbs which gave off a yellowish hue 

[Killingholme]

On 12/10/2023 at 11:16 AM, Walter Wombat said:

Have to say I found the LED lighting quite straightforward and interesting. I used strip LED's from Amazon and purchased some specialist nano LED's from Small Scale Specialist lights https://www.smallscalelights.co.uk for the mast, navigation lights etc. Power supply was an old power brick and USB connection glued into the base. If you use this method be ensure that the LED's operate at 5v (USB output voltage) as some require a higher voltage. The biggest issue I had was light leaks. I would suggest stepping down the brightness of the LED's using inline resistors (easy enough) to make it look more realistic as they are very bright. Despite this you will need to use a reflective paint on the inner hull and the underside of ALL decks otherwise the LED's shine through the plastic. I used spray aluminium paint. For the foremast I used brass tube with a nano LED. Here is a link to the finished model with lighting.

 

https://share.icloud.com/photos/0ebplG-MTZIf0aDX5DCHykkxw

 

Good Luck

Phil

 

 

Excellent result Phil! Very subtle effect.

 

Will

[Walter Wombat]

Thanks Will.

 

[dnl42]

I just found some things that may be useful

An LED driver board, https://www.tindie.com/products/terraintronics/conwy-castle-simple-4ch-led-driver/

Associated LED tutorial, https://github.com/Audio-Rochey/TerrainTronics-Conwy-Castle

 

HTH

-- 

dnl