0 Scale Fiber Optics

Very expensive for what you get.  Some good ideas, but some of them are lacking when you see them in person.  Most of the lighting isn't nearly as bright as an actual LED.  I recommend you see them in person before spending your money.

They had a booth at one of the recent York's and it is neat equipment. I received the same promotion. It motivated me to check what can be bought on Amazon. It is not perfectly packaged but you can get a load of this type of stuff cheap. And after all it is under the layout.

Hi Joe,

Are the LEDs you used the bright white ones shown in the sellers link?  I guess if you were trying to simulate fluorescent bulbs that would work.  How many fiber strands did you feed with each light?  I checked the sellers "store" and I didn't see any warm white bulbs.  That's what I would be interested in.  Do you think you could substitute a different LED bulb for the ones in the kit?

John

I fed up to six strands, I think, from one source. Of course, the more strands there are, the less light is transmitted through each strand. Also, the longer the strand, the less light reaches the end. But that's why the kit was helpful. I was able to experiment. And clearly, we're not talking LED type brightness here. I get a pretty subdued effect from using fiber, and for other applications (like the fluorescent light tubes in my Times Square station) LED's worked better.

As to color, what I did was color the flared end of the strand with marker to simulate an incandescent tunnel light bulb. For signals, I covered the opening with colored plastic film. That's when I discovered that the light sources had a blue-ish tint to them: to get green, I actually had to use a yellow film!

You can ask the vendor if you have questions.  He always was good at answering mine.

Thanks Joe.  Your response is appreciated.

John

Not at all impressed with fiber lighting. Near worthless at lighting up any O gauge structure larger then a small yard building, or shack. Can not defuse light beyond the 1,5mm pin point that is emitted. Seems best used for street lights etc. not much use anywhere else. You can bundle several fibers together to brighten the output but this more or less mitigates the preposed purpose. Price point is not at all comparable to standard single 3v - 12v LED lighting or even WS plug in system. I must admit I drank the punch and bought the Dwarvin system hoping to reduce under table clutter instead it just contributed to storage shelf clutter. My opinion save your hard earned cash, continue to to use wire based LEDs, and except the under table clutter as a badge of accomplishment. However, just my opinion.

I have two Dwarvin sets and I really appreciate their simplicity.  Great for exterior lighting - for interior lighting you can notch the fiber for more output if you need to.  I prefer subtle light, and I prefer minimal maintenance to maximize my enjoyment of the hobby.

Photos above show exterior lights on last year's temporary Halloween layout.  (The lights in the chocolate river are a Christmas light string.)  This is an example of lighting that can be installed in minutes, for a layout that only lasted 4 hours - the point is, fiber lighting is very simple to install.  The main restriction is that your lighting needs to be clustered near the base.  If you have more lighting needs, you'll need more bases.

Final photo shows use of a straw to hold the 6 fibers together into the base.  I made no attempt to make the fibers neat and tidy - again, this was a 4-hour temporary layout.