how do you light your models?

[raser13]

all right time to ask the masters, first off hi i'm new here. secondly i have a few models that i intend to light and was wondering what do you use as a light block for the areas that you don't want the light to shine through? and how dou you get the holes in said material to line up with the windows and such that you do want to illuminate??

[RocketmanTan]

frankly, I have never tried lighting models (the damned lights will probably explode in my face LOL). However, I suggest putting black electrical tape on the inside of the model and punching holes for the windows (if they're teeney), or cutting out the larger windows. If you're cutting out the larger windows, use transparent tape as the "glass". Once that's done, place a light bulb in the center, and there ya go!
Hope this helps.
--Bryan "Opposite over Adjacent" Tan

[raser13]

thanks for the input! i was planning to use led's instead of bulbs just for the heat+paper=fire factor. i'll have to look into the electrical tape angle. i usually do plastic model and have just gotten hooked on paper just recently. i know when i light my plastic one's i usually mask off the area i want the light to penetrate with tape, then spray paint with black paint. i can't see this working well with paper. first the tape would want to bond with the paper and would probably rip things up more than work right. secondly the paint would more than likely bleed through the paper. another way i was thinking is along your electrical tape idea, and that's to use the aluminum tape that they use for duct work. that way i not only get the light block but i also get the light to bounce around inside the model better so i don't have to use as many lights and the light is more even all the way around. but how would you guys suggest getting the right sized and shape holes for windows and such in the right spots? let me know what you guys think.

[RocketmanTan]

Originally Posted by raser13

thanks for the input! i was planning to use led's instead of bulbs just for the heat+paper=fire factor. i'll have to look into the electrical tape angle. i usually do plastic model and have just gotten hooked on paper just recently. i know when i light my plastic one's i usually mask off the area i want the light to penetrate with tape, then spray paint with black paint. i can't see this working well with paper. first the tape would want to bond with the paper and would probably rip things up more than work right. secondly the paint would more than likely bleed through the paper. another way i was thinking is along your electrical tape idea, and that's to use the aluminum tape that they use for duct work. that way i not only get the light block but i also get the light to bounce around inside the model better so i don't have to use as many lights and the light is more even all the way around. but how would you guys suggest getting the right sized and shape holes for windows and such in the right spots? let me know what you guys think.

hm....you have a point. I guess the tin foil idea would work very well. As for making properly sized windows...If they're pretty small, use a needle or a leather punching tool (not the mechanical ones--the ones you need a hammer for). Simply press the puncher into the window until the hole is the proper diameter, and there ya go!
By the way, I use tape for my prototype designs, and they don't do any damage at all to the paper. The only problem with the electrical tape idea is that it, combined with the electrical components, will make your model quite heavy.
Best of luck to ya!

[scarmig]

I recently tackled some of these problems with my Star Destroyer model (www.scarmig.com/StarDestroyer). I ended up going with a single LED and a fiber optic cable. I made little paper sockets where I wanted the ends of the filaments and then glued the filaments in place one at a time.

I did not do *any* masking, and in the deep dark there is some glow from the solid area: light leakage from some broke filaments and from the LED socket. Knowing what I know now, I would do basically the same thing, except that I would put a second layer of paper on the inside of the model to block more light.

I would also 'line up' the filaments by first punching a hole with a needle where I wanted the light, then positioning the socket over that hole. I would then run the filament through the hole until the tip sticks out. I would glue that and then once it was all dry I would cut the light flush to the paper with a sharp exacto. Some fine sandpaper very carefully would finish off the end of the filament.

[miseryguts]

Electric tea lights possibly?