If you can find ones that are not a bluish white color they might be useful for that purpose. The bulbs are turned in random directions and are about 3 inches apart so you would need to find a way to make them all face the same way.
The LEDs used in these light strings are called "inverted cone" LEDs that shine the majority of their light in a 360 degree radius around the tip instead of being a single point of light like most LEDs, so they would give you a more diffused and useful light.
The ones that are called "cool white" have a very bluish tint to them that would probably give your layout a false color.
How would the string LED lights work as an under deck light source for multi level layouts. Would they provide enough light. I see this year some stores have super bright models supposedly 50% brighter than normal LED's. 36 and 70 LED's per string.
Has anyone tried these for this application, or have an opinion?
thanks
Chris