Use of Fiber-Optics

[Anonymous]

Hey, I was just wondering if anyone had experience or ideas on the use of fiber-optics. I'm something of a novice when it comes to model railroad scenery, and I was wondering if the pros of using it outweigh the cons. If anyone has some ideas to get me started, or some good sites to see, it would be greatly appreciated.
Thanx for the help!

[Anonymous]

Hey, I was just wondering if anyone had experience or ideas on the use of fiber-optics. I'm something of a novice when it comes to model railroad scenery, and I was wondering if the pros of using it outweigh the cons. If anyone has some ideas to get me started, or some good sites to see, it would be greatly appreciated.
Thanx for the help!

[scotttmason]

Pros - light multiple items (car headlights, marker lights, etc) with one light source (LED or other) using a bundle of strands, a single fiber is closer to scale that any actual bulb, widely used by professional modelers
Cons - can't bend into right angle, fairly expensive per foot, needs to be hidden within structures or vehicles so some extra work when compared to placing a GOW bulb behind a plastic lens
Can create "poor mans" fiber optic by melting / pulling sprues of clear plastic, don't get same transmission quality as true fiber, but reasonable over short distances

[scotttmason]

Pros - light multiple items (car headlights, marker lights, etc) with one light source (LED or other) using a bundle of strands, a single fiber is closer to scale that any actual bulb, widely used by professional modelers
Cons - can't bend into right angle, fairly expensive per foot, needs to be hidden within structures or vehicles so some extra work when compared to placing a GOW bulb behind a plastic lens
Can create "poor mans" fiber optic by melting / pulling sprues of clear plastic, don't get same transmission quality as true fiber, but reasonable over short distances

[Anonymous]

Walthers has a neat kit in HO that uses fiber optics to run a theater marquee. Real fiber optic cable is glass and is hard on hands. Cheap source of plastic fiber optics is at yard sales. Look for fiber optic x mas trees or fiberoptic flower and lamps. One will give you lots of strands and I paid $3 for the last one I purchased. Plastic kind can be melted with a flame to make "bulbs".

[Anonymous]

Walthers has a neat kit in HO that uses fiber optics to run a theater marquee. Real fiber optic cable is glass and is hard on hands. Cheap source of plastic fiber optics is at yard sales. Look for fiber optic x mas trees or fiberoptic flower and lamps. One will give you lots of strands and I paid $3 for the last one I purchased. Plastic kind can be melted with a flame to make "bulbs".

[der5997]

Capable of producing neat effects. I once had the "Power on" indicator for my entire layout showing as the red light on the front of a freezer on a house porch in HO. It rreally worked, and could be seen from across the room!

The "Con" of not being able to be bent in a right angle could be put the test. I'm a great fan of the persuasive properties of a hot soldering iron when it comes to plastic fibre optics. [:o]

[der5997]

Capable of producing neat effects. I once had the "Power on" indicator for my entire layout showing as the red light on the front of a freezer on a house porch in HO. It rreally worked, and could be seen from across the room!

The "Con" of not being able to be bent in a right angle could be put the test. I'm a great fan of the persuasive properties of a hot soldering iron when it comes to plastic fibre optics. [:o]

[Anonymous]

QUOTE: Originally posted by der5997

The "Con" of not being able to be bent in a right angle could be put the test. I'm a great fan of the persuasive properties of a hot soldering iron when it comes to plastic fibre optics. [:o]

This should work if you bend it in a curve to a right angle; but a sharp 90 degree bend won't. Worthwhile to try as you say and see just how sharp a curve you can get away with.

[Anonymous]

QUOTE: Originally posted by der5997

The "Con" of not being able to be bent in a right angle could be put the test. I'm a great fan of the persuasive properties of a hot soldering iron when it comes to plastic fibre optics. [:o]

This should work if you bend it in a curve to a right angle; but a sharp 90 degree bend won't. Worthwhile to try as you say and see just how sharp a curve you can get away with.

[Anonymous]

Something I messed with is using monofiliment trimmer cord from a weedeater (the milky white kind) to make florecent tubes. It worked, but required a halogen bub to get it bright. The halogen bulb melted a hole in the buiding it was in. Still, it was a neat effect, but turned out to not be worth the effort as it was one of them details you had to look for in a building, and of course the melting wasn't too cool, or hot?

[Anonymous]

Something I messed with is using monofiliment trimmer cord from a weedeater (the milky white kind) to make florecent tubes. It worked, but required a halogen bub to get it bright. The halogen bulb melted a hole in the buiding it was in. Still, it was a neat effect, but turned out to not be worth the effort as it was one of them details you had to look for in a building, and of course the melting wasn't too cool, or hot?