CaptainSteve

Thanks for the Kudos Steve. I also looked at the flickr circuits and almost bought a 6 channel version...but I did not want to mess with 6 different LED sources. I also realized the flickr effect was probably too strong for enclosed lanterns so a steady light output was used instead. The transmitted fiber optic light is not bright...yet. It is also cool at the lantern so heat is not an issue. However if you need a brighter light source the 'in ship' mounted LED could work. The LED's will need to be reshaped and tested but it is feasible. The fiber optic is nice because it will never fail since light is transmitted along the fiber and the source is external to the build. But it is challenging hiding the fibers and, at least the plastic fiber I used, is not 100% efficient at light transmission - in fact I would say it is only about 50% efficient - but I hope to improve that ratio by shortening the cable at the end of my build and by improving the housing (incorporating a focusing element - hopefully cheaply). That now seems more than a year away though. 

Good job on coming up with those winch beads.

Dave, that makes perfect sense.  In close quarters, verniers probably wouldn't work to well.  I will pick up a pair of EKG's (sans chart  ) soon.  The square clear stock is on its way.
 
Now, I followed you fine until you got to the array on the heat sink and then you lost me.  I get the part about your power source:  110 AC from the wall, through the transformer/rectifier with 12V DC output.  But how did you hook up the LED to the chip?  Then it looks like you fastened a shower curtain housing on a board but that could be anything that allows the bundle of Fiber Optics to be connected securely and perpendicularly to the LED light source.  Is this amenable to battery power with 9VDC?  And finally, I read that LED's require resistors in order to vary the color and flicker.  Is all of that taken care of in the IC on the chip or would that be another step that you have not covered yet?
 
I am getting pretty excited about mastering this approach and I want to understand it completely.
Verne

I got the 12V, 10W, 1050mA, 1100 lumen bulb today and I am MUCH HAPPIER with it. Not super bright but the lantern light is well simulated at this lumen level. Cost - $2 on Ebay. So far the heat sink is draining all of the excess heat from the chip so no over-heating is occurring. As expected on my Connie build there is light bleed through between the Spar deck and the bulwark but I have already figured out how to eliminate that problem.
 
http://modelshipworld.com/index.php?/topic/444-uss-constitution-by-lambsbk-–-revell-–-plastic-–-196-a-fresh-build/page-1
 
The fiber optic I have been using is still at full length (i.e. I have not cut them back yet - and won't until the ship is permanently mounted) but as they are cut back so will light loss (which is proportional to the length). Adjusting the voltage down will decrease the lumen output if it becomes too bright after trimming them.
 
It is time to move from the experimental housing to something more permanent. Over the next few weeks I will probably have that solution posted. For those of you following this thread thanks for your encouragement and comments.

I agree with Mark, the lower power lights look real good. This is an interesting tread and I am enjoying the way you are testing everything and showing us the how they work out. I will be waiting for the next test to be shown.

The low power looks good.  I was surprised on my Constellation how little light it takes to bring things to life.

This pic is with the lower power light. I am still waiting for my 1100 lumen bulb in the mail.
 

 

I am enclosing the LED in a housing that focuses the light toward the optic fiber. I made it from some scraps around the house - a little brass and copper. I had some brass micro-tubing left from the camboose floor so I put that to use in 3cm sections to guide the optic fiber straight from the 'muzzle end' of the housing. It is just a mock up right now but the principals should not change.
 
The experimental mock up. Crude but effective.

 
The housing from the bottom.

 
The brass micro-tubing on the optic fibers.

 
Together for now with rubber bands! Obviously - still a work in progress.

 

Dave,
Are you enclosing the LED in something?  Maybe Aluminum (aluminium) foil (shiny side in) to help?  The few times I've worked with fiber optics, we had a dedicated LED for each strand and special fixture that connected the two. A royal pain to say the least.  Maybe a plate with holes over each LED in the array might work and help with the focus..  dunno'.
 
I hope you'll turn this into tutorial for the articles section. Excellent work and research.

Both of the lamp types arrived today. I tested them with a 12VDC 'wall wart' transformer and they lit up fine. The units that are in a can (the 'R2D2' looking ones) will probably work better but I need to test the brightness transmission to the lanterns on the build. I'll make a simple enclosure and post the result.
 
The second unit (the array) was also tested today. It is a slightly different unit than what is pictured above: 12VDC 600mA putting out 620 lumens. OK, that did not mean much to me either. Then I plugged it in - 10 minutes later I was STILL seeing flash spots! It lit up like the sun. And it got hot. Very hot. Quickly. I consulted the seller and he confirmed what I already found out - it has to be mounted on a heat sink. A heat sink such as is used for CPU chips would suffice. Now, I like to make my own computers and have for years and like all computer buffs had saved all my old mother boards, CPU's, video cards, etc.(all of these have heat sinks). That is I saved them UNTIL last month! I made room for my future 'official' work bench for modeling by getting rid of the large plastic tub of collected computer 'junk.' Darn. You never need anything until YOU THROW IT AWAY. So - bottom line - it is hot enough that unless it is well cooled some of the heat will transmit to the fiber optic plastic cable and that my friends means it may melt it. The chip will need LOTS of cooling and the distance to the light receiver end of the optic cables will need to be extended to 4 to 6". But it DOES LIGHT UP A ROOM!
 
The nice thing about these particular lamps is their ease of use. NO external resistor is required (although to be sure I did not burn out the array I used a 1ohm 10W resistor placed in line for my tests.)

I have ordered the light sources for the fiber optic light box and should be able to experiment in a few days. I picked 2 types to test shown below. I will post the findings and 'how to' when finalized.
 
 

 
 
These should both be adequate in lumen output and have 30,000 hours bulb life if they are powered correctly.

Mark:
 
It looks like there are already a couple of good tutorials on the LED lighting techniques right here on MSW. I will add to that discussion when I build the light box for the optics. I am still looking at those variables.
 
I would just add a tidbit: if the light reception at the optic is low it can be magnified by holding a flame from a candle or lighter NEAR the end of the optic. Watch it carefully for a slight melt and convex widening (don't let it turn over like a 'mushroom top') and this will increase the reception by 25 - 40%.

The light source should be as close to natural light as possible. An LED rated at 3000K (low temp) should do the trick. It should also be bright  -  5 ~ 7 watts. The only current source of such light is in the new natural light LEDs. The newest have high wattage, have good heat sinks, and can be incorporated into small circuit 'light boxes.' I'll describe this a bit in a week or 2.

Dave,
Well done.  Can you add some instructions for the light at the other end?   I think it would be great if you could put this in a format (PDF if you can, Word probably could be used but we'd have to convert it). and let me know.  I'd like to get it added to the articles area as a reference topic.

I think this will be my last post on this thread in regards to instructions for now. I welcome posts from other members to show modifications, suggest other possible approaches, or just to comment. I hope that this thread has helped you with ideas on how to achieve adding some life from lighting to your build.
 
For me it has been challenging fun to make these lanterns and figure out how to make them. I plan on adding a flicker effect on 4 or 5 channels (http://www.northcountryradio.com/Kitpages/ctrlwiring.htm) to the optics from the base of the mount and am hoping to turn a bit of Blue Jacket transom Connie brass into a touch on/touch off switch. Hopefully in the next year or 2 or...

When the clamp is released secure the optic cable so it does not crack or break off the bulwark since the area of exit from the bulwark is very fragile. You can secure the cable along its length with a couple of well placed globs of glue. When you have all the completed cables ready run them through the previously drilled exit hole in the keel and secure them gently (no harsh bending) under the build out of the way until you are ready to pull them through a mount when the build is complete.
 

There will be a little variability in the size of the completed lanterns. Size them in order from smallest to largest and place them fore to aft in this order. This will prevent obvious size variance observation to the casual observer.
 

 
Next make item 3 out of a piece of paint stirring stick and painters tape per the pic below. It's a little blurry but you get the idea.
 

 
To mount the lantern - with the lantern fit to the jig and ready to go - fill the cut with plastic cement - gel type - and fit the optic cable into the cut allowing excess glue to over flow the cut.
 

 
Push the jig flush to the top and place a piece of blue painters tape over the optic cable and the cut groove so it widely covers the area.
 

 
I used the covered paint stick (item 3) to compress the optic cable into the cut groove by placing the curved portion over the center of the optic and clamp it relatively tightly to the hull with the grip clamp (item 9).
 

 
The press of the paint stirring stick will even out the glue and the painters tape does not stick leaving a renewed smooth surface to the bulwark when dry. After repainting the area it looks like this:
 

Just for the fun of it I tried adding some copper foil a friend gave me to the lantern I just made. OK - it really does not look that good but here is an advantage - no extra light transmission through the foil. It was a PITB getting the foil on this lamp and I believe would require the patience of Job to do more than a few but it made me think that thicker metal shaped correctly could speed up the lantern process. If anyone has a press and can shape the caps and bottoms of the lanterns they would look better, be produced faster (since no lathing need be involved on the plastic stock), and would block top and bottom light transmission.
The holes then would be the only production item that would take time and that too could possibly be automated.
 
 
 
Oh...and a side note - I did use CA to attach this reflector and it IS holding much better to the acrylic lantern than Hypocement. It also dried perfectly clear.
 

The reflector seen in the black and white photo is the next item to make. This is not very hard. Use the leather punch (item 10) and some of the cheap plastic craft Mylar items . I found mine in the garage from a craft project of the kids. They should be relatively firm but THIN. Punch out a reflector from the smallest setting on the punch. They tend to get stuck in the punch (since we want what would normally be waste for this tool.) A long tooth pick or straightened paper clip will free your reflector.
 
The punch process creates a natural concave image on one side. Locate it. This is the inside of the reflector. Glue it on with Hypocement or CA (although I have not tested the CA for clarity it will have a better bond.) Center it carefully behind the optic to match the vintage B & W photo seen previously. Let it dry completely.
 

 
After the reflector is attached we are ready to prepare the bulwark.
 

Now paint the top and bottom of the lantern the metallic color of your choosing. I painted mine Testors Brass. Cover the flat black base coat but avoid the lens of the lantern carefully.
 

... about one hour of time and a lathe ... and you can carve yourself any bell

I think we have forgotten just how skilled many craftsmen and skilled artisans were in the past. I believe that their skill was predicated on a greater amount of time honing their skills and being taught the value of doing a job with the greatest care and attention, and not necessarily the fastest cheapest way. 
 
250 years ago some extremely fine optical and scientific instruments were made, not to mention clocks and watches, so I am not surprised by the quality of work done then.  I am more surprised by that same quality today.
 
We seem to be living in an instant world that is in a constant hurry to finish everything at the lowest cost. What I find so refreshing about this hobby is that this hurry is for the most part ignored.
 
Michael

Dan's excellent work on his chain pumps prompted me to post these photos from Model No. 43, the Swan class model in the Naval Academy Museum collection. Keep in mind these chain pumps were made over 250 years ago by hand. No photo-etching. Of course these Navy Board models were built by teams of the best craftsmen of the time and the chain pump was no doubt made by a master jeweler.
 

See, like I said there is always someone here to help out. Welcome to MSW.

Now, some more pictures. Just moved out from home and city in the last few days. Bigger house, lots of space and just that perfect room to put my studio in. Hope some more models come from there ^^.
 

 

 

 

 

 

 
Please, don´t mind the glue stains, All will be sanded away as the days go by. Put the rails on the aft castle, sanded till masts got a soft conic shape and there they are, ready for the rigging, ropes and sails.