Here is one simple, cheap and effective way to make yard security lights.  I've chosen old rail for the post, a 1600 mcd LED and a 3 mm steel washer for the parts.  The wire to the cathode (-) leg of the LED runs up the rail and the rail itself is the conductor for the the anode (+).  It doesn't matter which way you connect LEDs to AC power, but I have a 12 volt Regulated DC power supply for my display power.  I always try to solder the resistor to the (+) longer leg.




As the wire is going to be attached to the rail with CA glue, it's best to get all of your soldering out of the way first.  CA glue gives of unpleasant cyanide gas when heated.  A 1 kOhm resistor will give a nice bright light on 12 volts without prematurely burning out the LED.




Bend the wire over the top of the rail and glue one end in place.  The pegs are ordinary clothes pegs with the wooden parts reversed, and a little plastic one from my grand daughter's toy box.




Once the top is securely anchored, the wire can be pulled tight and glued into the web of the rail, high up under the railhead.




The wire can then be bent up so it is in line with the centre of the rail foot.




The legs of the LED are slightly off centre to allow the wire to be attached.




The anode leg (which is the longer of the two and near the round side of the LED), has been bent around and soldered to the rail.  The short leg has been cut off.  The wire has been cut off and bent down.  By setting the LED up slightly offset, there is room to solder the wire next to the shortened leg and still keep the assembly looking balanced.




The positive wire is then soldered to the resistor and some shrink tubing placed over the join.  Invert the assembly and put a dob of thick CA glue on the top of the LED.  As the glue runs down, drop the washer over the LED.  Washers are punched when they are made, so have the rounded side facing the sky and the flat side facing the ground.




 I slipped a small piece of 3mm shrink tubing over the lens of the LED before I sprayed the finished article with grey etch primer.  It might be necessary to hand paint a bit of grey over the top of the LED to stop the light showing through.  Code 100 rail is just the right size for a 1/8" drill, and the resistor will easily slip through.

Now, I just have to find a place for it to live . . .





Here are some double lights I have made.  In this case, the resistors are at the top.  The anode wire is connected to them and runs down inside the tubing.  The cathodes are soldered to the post in this case.


 http://yourmodelrailway.net/view_topic.php?id=2669&forum_id=7&highlight=yard+lights

Excellent Max, just what we need.

Thats very neat Max

If you dont mind a little feedback, it looks a bit bright (might be the picture) and the colour of the light is a bit cool for what is an old looking lamp.  Try using either a golden white LED or alternatively you can get translucent paint that will 'yellow' the light a tad

HTH

Jim

Damned clever Max, was wondering about making just a thing, thanks

Hi Jim

I used golden white and proto white in most of the layout to represent the lamps you're talking about.  I deliberately wanted a blue looking white for the particular lamps I am copying.  I have close on a hundred LEDs on my layout and I feel that I need some arc lights to break it up a bit.

Your point is well made.  Perhaps I should post some of the others to show a bit of balance.  Actually, now I look again, I can see a golden white above the door of the water tower in the background.

I understand what you mean about the style of lamp.  Maybe I should develop a more appropriate lamp design to use with the blue/whites?  Food for thought.  Thanks very much for taking the time to comment.  I appreciate it. :thumbs

Max

Thanks for this, Max. Another excellent how-to.

Mike

Thanks from me too, Max.  Amazing what can be made from a few odds and ends…

Another thing to add to the list….:thumbs

Excellent.

One silly question: What is 'shrink tubing' please?
I only ask because I know nothing.
That I know nothing is well known.
I know too because lots of people have told me.

Usually called heatshrink tubing DD.  It's a special kind of thin walled plastic tube that shrinks when heat is applied.  I use it for wiring when you need to insulate a soldered join.  You don't apply heat directly.  Simply holding the soldering iron 5mm away is enough to cause the plastic to shrink to the size of the wire insulation …

Useful stuff…:thumbs

Thanks, guyz.  Jim has given me something to think about.  I can only get 3 mm white in super bright, and goldens and protos in 1.8 mm oblong and towers.  When I did the Decapod and Consolidation, I replaced the headlight globes with super bright white LEDs and painted them with yellow acrylic which worked.

Gordon's right, dd.  There is a yellow bit of it in the third to last photo.  The only difference with the stuff I've got is that I have to rest my iron right on it to get it to shrink.

Thanks Max, very useful tutorial.

My pleasure, Fidge.

… and thanks for the info. Gordon and Max.
Whatever will they think of next?

There must be other uses too.
Trousers for little figures?
Reinforcing little joins in scratchbuilds?

I agree a very good tutorial:doublethumb

G'day Max,

I've done something similar and smaller using lolly sticks ( from Chup-a-chups) and using a sequin as the lamp shade. Cost very minimal and colouring taken care of! I do like the taller ones using rail though!

http://www.xdford.digitalzones.com and check the menu…


Regards

Trevor

PS After the next post… Thanks for the compliment Max but I already have a few projects involving your style lamp for the Melton MRC On30 layout station… so thanks Max for your suggestion! Regards  Trevor (originally from Adelaide…)

Hi Trevor.  They look pretty good.

just found this thread looks great and im going to have a go my self how can you get them to look more modern if you get what i mean as i could use them on my platform as its a modern image layout.

I'll be watching, Shaun.  :thumbs

[user=381]shaun2000[/user] wrote:

just found this thread looks great and im going to have a go .

Ditto -  one question Max - what typr of washer did you use ?  I assume it is non metallic so as not to create a short across the LED wires

No, Dave.  It's a steel 1/8" x 3/8" washer, or it could be a brass one.  Once the leads on the LED are bent, I invert the LED so the wires are at the bottom and drop the washer on to it.  The I put a drop of CA on and it runs down the plastic part of the LED and glues it in place.

LEDs have a collar which stops the washer from going past.  I hope that makes sense.  See photo 7 at the start of this thread.