What do you guys use for billboard lighting? I'm looking to make my own billboards but I'm not sure what I can use for lighting? They don't have to be lighted however it would be a nice effect to go along with my MTH ones.
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try modeltrainsolftware.com they sell leds lights
kevin
I would look towards LEDs. They're bright, cheap, cool (temperature and effect) and are not difficult to make work. There are many ways to buy them with current limiting resistors already attached or you put it on. For power, I use left over ac adapters from the myriad of obsolete electronic trash that no longer exists in our household. Everyone has drawers full of these things. I generally use 12 VDC sources with current outputs close to or more than 1 amp. LEDs draw 0.02 amps so you can run a reasonable amount of them with a single adapter. You can use other voltages too, but there would require resistors that I'm not stocking. I have 470 ohm for a single LED fed by 12 volts and 330 ohms for two LEDs in series. You can run many other with other arrangements. There are convenient LED calculators on line that you can use to identify the proper resistor to use. If you accidentally run straight 12 volts to a 3 volt LED, it just lights up a bright green and then instantly goes out never to light again.
Ogre models has lights that might work for you. Here is a link to thread I put up about using them. I lit a sign on a building, so it's similar to a billboard.
Link to Ogre - Ogre lights.
I would recommend the Ogre lights as well. They were exactly what I was looking for. The color of the light is a nice warm white, and the lighting is uniform on the billboard. My picture does not do the lights justice. 
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wmcwood posted:I would recommend the Ogre lights as well. They were exactly what I was looking for. The color of the light is a nice warm white, and the lighting is uniform on the billboard. My picture does not do the lights justice.
Zeke posted:Ogre models has lights that might work for you. Here is a link to thread I put up about using them. I lit a sign on a building, so it's similar to a billboard.
Link to Ogre - Ogre lights.
Guys thank you. This is exactly what I'm looking for. I was going to try the led but I wasn't sure how the mounting would go. Although I haven't ruled out the leds I might try to use them for backlighting something else
