Fiber optic Lanterns ca. 1845, 1/96

[lambsbk]

Several members over the last few months have inquired about some fiber optic lanterns I incorporated in my U.S.S. Constitution build and how to make them. Although some trial and error will occur for you (as with any new applied technique) I will highlight some of the details of the process I used to hopefully allow you to avoid some pitfalls. Let me start with tools you will need. Although this lantern process may seem tedious it is actually a lot of fun working with them and the rewards of lighting previously unseen areas of your build can't be beat. They do get easier as you do more of them.

 

 

The tools I used are as follows:

1. Calipers (used to gauge the size of the plastic while it is being turned and shaped) These are EKG calipers that were given to me long ago.

2. Double end pin vise from Micromark tools:  http://www.micromark.com/double-end-pin-vise,6729.html item #21104. I took mine apart and only used the large chuck (beneath the hand grip in the photo) to secure the plastic stock.

3. A slightly curved and cut paint stirring stick with blue painters tape applied. This is used to clamp the fiber optic into the ships bulwark and protects the model from the bite of the clamp. I added felt (not pictured) between the clamp as well  for the same reason.

4. A plastic jig made from extra 1/8" plastic stock. More on this later...

5. Fine modelers sanding stick (or simply spray glue fine sand paper to another paint stick).

6. Micro brush - I believe this is a Microbrush product (http://www.microbrush.com/hobby/howtobuy/area.asp).

7. 1/8" Square clear plastic stock. This one is acrylic. I got mine from US Plastics item 44135 (http://www.usplastic.com/catalog/item.aspx?itemid=24195&catid=440&clickid=searchresults) BUT they only come in 6 foot sections! Shipping was more than the product...but there was plenty of it to experiment. Pictured is a 16" section.

8. Miniature drill bits. Any will do...mine are Micromark (http://www.micromark.com/20-piece-micro-size-drill-bit-set-with-index-61-80,6758.html)

9. 3" or 4" grip clamp to compress the fiber optic into the bulwark.

10. Leather punch for cutting out lantern reflectors.

11. Medium file with sharp fine teeth. Dull files will increase friction and thus heat, melting your stock.

12. An accurate ruler for setting the calipers.

13. A hand mini drill (Mine: Micromark http://www.micromark.com/micro-hand-drill,7045.html)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

NOT pictured:

14. Drill Press

15. Fiber OPtic cable (I bought plastic cable on Ebay - 0.75mm)

16. Dremel tool with a 1/32" engraving bit.

17. Beader's snips or tree snips.

18. Emory board

19. Flat Black Paint

 

Next I'll describe how I used them.

Edited August 15, 2013 by lambsbk

[tarbrush]

Oh what great timing for me.  I was thinking of trying some fiber optic lighting in my present model.

Thanks for doing this thread.

I am grabbing a chair on the front row.

[lambsbk]

Just to note: I used fiber optic on my build for a couple of reasons. There are other options: i.e. incandescent grain of rice bulbs and ship mounted LED's. The incandescent bulbs are bright and have capabilities of easy brightness variability but they get HOT - dang hot. So much so that you can not touch them after running for a minute. So they either have to be well insulated from the plastic or incorporated into a wooden build which won't be as prone to heating (melting!). The ship mounted LED's are now much easier to incorporate but they also can fail over time or worse yet not light after the completed build for a variety of reasons - all of which you can't fix when the build is complete. Although fiber optic is a little bulky to work with it does not overheat, can only fail if you break the optic (not likely with careful handling) and allows you to put the light source and the electronics OUTSIDE of the build where they can be modified or repaired at any future date. So that is my reasoning and having said that I'll move on to how I made these lanterns and incorporated them into my Connie build.

 

Before starting consider how the optics will exit your build. I chose to alter my Connie mounts to pedestal type and will add a third pedestal for the optic cables to transit. I used an 11/64" bit which exactly cut through the center of the keel without cutting keel sides. It allowed for ten 0.75mm optic cables to exit the hole without being too tight. The trick: centering the boat above the drill press to achieve the exact midline of the keel. With care this is not too difficult. 

 

First break off about 1 1/2" of the clear plastic stock (item 7) with the snips (item 17). Using the large end of the pin vise chuck (2) tap in the plastic so it is tight.

(Note: I used the pin vise chuck because it has FOUR SIDES - the drill press chuck has three. It would have been easier to simply secure the plastic in the drill chuck - and I tried this - but it places the center of rotation away from the center of the plastic producing a non-symmetrical lopsided lamp. If you have or can find a drill chuck with 4 grips the centering in the drill would be a lot easier) Once you are happy with the placement put the pin vise chuck (2) into the drill press chuck and tighten the assembly. It does not have to be super tight but just tight enough to prevent slippage.

 

 

Pin Vise chuck and Plastic stock                                                                       Put together - trim until about 1" remains outside the chuck

 

 

Use a low speed on the drill as high speeds will melt the plastic as you work with it (that is also why a Dremel does not work here - but you will need it later).

Test the general centering by looking at the turning stock. If it seems to be wobbling slightly just turn off the drill press and re-center by tapping the piece lightly with a hammer. Repeat until the wobble is minimalized. If not minimized after a couple of taps you will probably have to start with a new piece. CENTERING THE PLASTIC IS A CRITICAL STEP TO GETTING A GOOD LANTERN.

 

Up and spinning and CENTERED.

Edited August 15, 2013 by lambsbk

[captainbob]

Sounds interesting and fun.

 

Bob

[lambsbk]

Next 'lathe' the piece to specs. You'll need the calipers (1) and an accurate ruler**(12) to accomplish this. First the green shaded area will be worked down followed by the blue shaded area. Don't take too much off at once. Let the piece ease into shape giving it some cool down. The best way to describe the technique I think is to treat it like your brakes going down a long hill or mountain: hold it down for a bit then ease up, repeat. 

 

**I never really paid much attention to the accuracy of rulers until I used one which continued to give me inaccurate results - when I compared it to 2 others it was 5% SHORTER than the other 2!

Edited August 9, 2013 by lambsbk

[lambsbk]

Here are a few pics to replace a thousand words.

 

 

The file loves to jump up the lantern while lathing...hold it firmly but with light pressure to the plastic stock

 

This shows the caliper measuring the cap length set to 1.5mm while the drill is turning.

 

Measuring cap width at 1.2mm

 

This pic shows the body of the lamp. It is 3mm. I marked it using the calipers while the drill was turning and it scores the plastic to show the next area to work.

Edited August 9, 2013 by lambsbk

[lambsbk]

Next work out the blue shaded area working toward the scored mark.

 

Once this area is worked with the file use the fine sanding stick (item 5) to lightly smooth the cut areas

 

Stop the drill press once the base of the lantern is cleared and snip it off a little higher than you need for the lantern. Remove the pin vise chuck and discard the left over material (or save it for other uses - jigs, etc.) You may need to pull hard to remove the stock. In fact, I used vise grips a couple of times. Be careful not to damage the pin vise chuck though.

 

Do some final fine file shaping and smooth the base flat. And it should look something like this. Total lamp length should be 6.8mm. This one is a little on the long side. I suppose I am a little out of practice. Expect that until you get the feel for shaping the plastic at this scale. After 2 or 3 you will be turning them out like the next pic.

 

And after you have worked a few they will start looking like this...Some of these are better than others. You should make a few more than you need so you can reject the ones that won't work as well for you. I spent about 10 minutes shaping each item and about 5 minutes centering them in the chuck.

 

Next up...how to drill them and finalize them.

Edited August 17, 2013 by lambsbk

[tarbrush]

Thanks for doing this thread!  Your descriptions are excellent.

[youngtiger1]

Interesting process. I have been thinking about getting drill press stand. I guess, this might tip over the need for it right away thanks for sharing your knowledge.

[lambsbk]

I got mine in a pawn shop. Talked them down in price to.

[lambsbk]

Ok. On to the next step. This is what we are trying to get to:

 

 

To continue on finalizing the lanterns a hole must be drilled in the center bottom to a depth that approximates the oil container in the above photo. The drill bit or hole size works out to anywhere between 0.020-0.025 inch's. Most small hobby micro-drill sets have these sizes.

 

Just do this using the hand drill to get better control. Turn the piece 90 degrees every few twists to ensure you are boring perpendicular to the bottom of the lantern.

 

When complete it looks something like this. (I made the hole larger than the above description for photos. Also some redish background light  appears in these photos as artifact). 

 

[lambsbk]

Next get the micro-brush (item 6) and some flat black paint. Paint the top, bottom, and hole for the oil container flat black. This prevents light bleed through from these areas. Be careful to avoid the lantern lens.

 

 

 

[lambsbk]

The next steps show how to fit the fiber optic to the lantern. You will need to drill a hole the same size as your fiber optic cable parallel and tandem to the oil container hole as shown below. It needs to rise up and behind the oil container. This will transition the cable into the lantern from the bulwark or bulkhead, depending where you are putting it.

 

 

Try to make the cable hole as straight up. When I misguided one of mine I had a tough time straightening the lamp on the bulwark even with a jig. The cable is very unforgiving concerning sharp bending.

 

Side View                                                                               Rear View

You can see I am out of practice here. My hole is not quite perpendicular to the base as viewed from the rear. If I was going to mount this lantern on the ship it would give me some alignment problems.

Edited August 17, 2013 by lambsbk

[lambsbk]

Next prepare some of the fiber optic cable. You will need a fair length of it to run to outside of the ship. Most of mine were at least 24" long. Taper the lantern end with a bit of emory board to 'rough' up the end. This will allow better light transmission at the tip.

 

Before

 

 After

Edited August 12, 2013 by lambsbk

[lambsbk]

If you drilled the holes correctly the fiber optic should fit snuggly into the lamp. It is this cable that will mostly hold the lantern to the bulwark after gluing so it should have a good fit. The natural plastic curve of the optic cable should follow the curve of the hull.

 

This is the lantern with a little light put to it.

 

 

Once you are happy with the fit use your flat black paint and paint the optic cable as far as you can without affecting the cable that will be in the lantern. This helps prevent side firing light from showing up.

 

 

Paint the cable for the entire transit of the ship, again to prevent bleed through and side firing light,

Edited August 12, 2013 by lambsbk

[lambsbk]

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.

 

Edited August 12, 2013 by lambsbk

[lambsbk]

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.

 

Edited August 17, 2013 by lambsbk

[lambsbk]

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.

 

[lambsbk]

Well, if you have not thrown in the towel yet chances are you are ready to tackle the next project - mounting the lanterns. This will take some individual skills and varies depending on the build. For instance a wooden build can probably run through the bulwark depending on its thickness but may require modification. For the plastic enthusiast several members of this forum have thickened their bulwark to better reflect the actual bulwark of the ship. For them it is simply a matter of incorporating the fiber optic into the styrene with a hole as an access for the optic. I did not thicken the bulwark on my build but cut the plastic from inside the hull to incorporate the optic cable. This took care but I must say was not as hard or as dangerous as I thought it would be.

 

You will need a lantern jig next to keep the lantern height even from the top of floor of the spar deck above. I made mine from scrap plastic acrylic stock...there is plenty from the lantern production. I used a Dremel with a small cone rotary file attachment to hollow out a receptacle for the lantern top and a drill to hollow out the center for the lantern cap (red arrow). The sides were then glued on with CA. I had to file a little off the inside so the lantern could move freely within the jig. I then scored the jig at the optic entrance to mark gauge it's height on the bulwark prior to making the cut (white arrow). I rounded the top of the jig to allow easy removal from the lantern after the glue is dry. To describe: it looks like an upside down "U" when viewed from the side. Just dry fit the jig to the bulwark and use the scored jig to transfer a stop line to the bulwark. Remove the jig before starting your cut.

 

 

This shows the jig and lantern assembly (the lantern here is simplified to show position).

 

 

 

The cut into the bulwark was done by first taping off a line to follow. I used a Dremel and 1/32" engraving bit. The tape protects the work from 'bit jumping' and is a good work guide. The bit is touched over the plastic like using a pencil to sketch. Dremels work for you because of the speed. Minimal pressure is needed for the cut. Keeping the Dremel at a 45 degree angle will help prevent cutting too deeply. After a couple of passes check the fit of the optic cable. The cable should be flush to the bulwark above the gun deck and can exit the hull in a tapered fashion below it. Make your mind up about how far up to bring the cut depending on your mounting preference - remember the cut will end at the height of the optic cable's entrance INTO the lantern from the bottom.

 

 

Once the cut is completed for both length and depth clean up the extra plastic debris completely. Re-test for fit and if you are satisfied you are ready for the next step

 

 

 

A WORD OF CAUTION: I planned on evenly spacing my lanterns but the first cut was one gun port to far back. 'Measure twice cut once.'

Edited August 27, 2013 by lambsbk

[lambsbk]

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:

 

Edited August 14, 2013 by lambsbk

[lambsbk]

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.

 

Edited August 14, 2013 by lambsbk

[lambsbk]

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...

Edited August 14, 2013 by lambsbk

[mtaylor]

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.

[lambsbk]

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.

Edited August 15, 2013 by lambsbk

[tarbrush]

thanks for doing this thread lambsbk. will be looking forward to your next installment.

[lambsbk]

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%.

Edited August 16, 2013 by lambsbk

[mtaylor]

Dave,

Yes, there are.  But none deal with fiber optics. 

[lambsbk]

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.

Edited August 21, 2013 by lambsbk

[lambsbk]

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.)

Edited August 26, 2013 by lambsbk

[lambsbk]

A quick update: the 'can' type LED's were not bright enough at 2 watts each OR the glass lens prevents their getting close enough to the light source so I am now moving onto the 10 watt array. I will cool it and place it into an enclosure. I'm already thinking of how....I'll further update when it is finished.