I want to light up some N scale structures and I would like to use short pieces cut from LED light strips to do it. However, I have several questions before I make a purchase.
1) I don't want a bright light with a blue tint. I think the brightness and color should be something like warm white or cool white - nothing brighter. I have seen comments saying that the warm white are too yellow. That may vary by brand. What type of lights have you found to best represent the interior lighting for a house or shop?
2) Since I am working with N scale, I find that some of the strips are too big for my application when you chop off a three light strech of the light strip. I have seen some as short as 1" on the cut line but many are as long as 3". I can deal with that in some situations but many of my structures cannot accomodate even the 1" strip. Has anyone seen a light strip than can be cut into lengths shorter than 1"? If not, I will use single LED's but I was hoping to use the light strips due to cost.
3" If a light is too bright, I am assuming than I can add a resister in the line and dim it down. It that correct? I will be using a 12VDC source.
4) Any way to modify a typical three light piece of a light strip to trim it down to a single light by retaining the existing resister and only one light? That would give me a much shorter strip to deal with. Would also let me use a single light when three is too many.
Paul D
N scale Washita and Santa Fe RailroadSouthern Oklahoma circa late 70's
I use the warm white or golden white for my first generation diesels, and I think they look fine. Not too yellow, not too blue. Should work for the typically less bright older incandescent lighting. Early fluorescents were rather bluish, so the bright white might do to light a commercial establishment that might have fluorescent lighting.
You can always use the clear Tamiya acrylics to tint the LEDs, especially since in a structure no one will be able to see the LED directly, unlick a loco headlight where there might just be a clear lens between the viewer and the LED on the inside - which is why even though the LIGHT emitted by the LEDs in my Stewart Baldwin switchers in the correct color, the LED case itself is very orange and very vissible when the headlight is off - yuck! So I repalced them with the golden-white ones from Miniatronics, these have a clear case and there is a slight yellow dot of an internal filter (or pehaps the actual visible light emitting part as the diode itself might actually be UV, similar to a fluorescent lamp) that looks like a light bulb screwed into the middle of the headlight assembly - as long as you don't look too closely and see that it's a square shape (the internal material, the LED itself is round). So it gives a good effect. For structures, you can take the bright white LEDs and tone them down with the Tamiya paints, using orange, red, or yellow, or a mix, whatever looks best to you. But I think warm white will work out fine out of the box. Bright white is definitely out for residential use - I have some strips of bright white LED tape under the bottom shelf of my workbench to light up the work surface and it is VERY bright, and the difference between them and the more warm white LEDs in the ceiling light of the room is very noticeable.
--Randy
Modeling the Reading Railroad in the 1950's
Visit my web site at www.readingeastpenn.com for construction updates, DCC Info, and more.
Got a cool white (5000K) LED strip to play with. Has 3 LEDs (& 1 resister) in each 2" segment. I figured out how to chop it down to 1 light (with 1 resister) so I can now make a 3/4" single light strip which will fit much better in my N scale structures.
Cost was $8.60 for a 16.4' strip. That translates to 98 segments of 3 LED's. About 9 cents per segment. I can use them as 3 LED segments or chop them to 1 or 2 light segments as needed. Very cost effective.