Marker Lights on GGD P70 coaches

cool, yep same here.

very nice work John. tell us some more about the model LED you used.

John,

Can you tell us where you purchased the detail parts also?

Thanks,

Bob

John,

Always refreshing to see some actual modeling on the forum. 

An internet search on tower LEDs proved interesting.

Well done and thanks for taking the time to share your ideas and photos. 

Matt

Nice looking, just like the prototype!

Thanks guys for the comments.  Here are some more details:

The lamp housings.  This was a test piece, the "lid" is flat on the ones I used

The Tower LEDs (got them from Phil's Hobby Shop)

I had to shorten the tower so the when the pedastel of the LED was sitting on the inside of the end wall, the tower stuck in the correct amount into the lamp housing

Here is the backside of the end wall

And here is the front. 

Sharp eyed viewers will note vestiges of a hole just inboard of the lamp housing.  The ugly sordid details that led to this state of affairs do not need to be retold here, but that's what led to the discovery that Polly Scale Mineral Red is a very close match to the GGD P70 Coach color

Thank you, John.

I've archived this thread.

The Department of Information Retrieval is already working on those details.

"An internet search on tower LEDs proved interesting."

cute.

a search did reveal a number of options. I was particularly interested in WHICH ONE John used, for comparison to the red MICRO LED's I already use for this application.

lest someone asks, the micros I have are also Miniatronics.

Digikey had some neat ones that are just 2mm in diameter, no tower.  They're perfect for small spaces.  They're a lot more expensive than the tower ones that are available everywhere.

Chris,

Typically, I would reduce the size of an LED using files then polish the surface.  I was not familiar with tower LEDs but thanks to John and an internet search, I am better informed.

Matt

Nice job which I fully intend to copy!

"He gives me a hard time because none of my tail end coaches show marker lights, per regulation.  He also gives me a hard time for modeling the Pennsy. I decided to do something about the lights:"

Just don't do anything about modeling the Pennsy.  Remind him about who owned a big chunk of the B&O back in the day.

Guys

Good discussion here.  There are many options for these marker lights, including miniature LEDs, separate fiber optics coupled to an internally mounted LED, and the route I took.  One could make all of them work I am sure.  I chose these Tower LEDs'  because they have that integral rigid 2mm diameter light pipe cast right in and a well defined flat pedestal base that allows you to precisely register their depth. Both of those made life a lot easier. It also helps that they are cheap

One thing to keep in mind is I wanted to simulate a bulb recessed in a housing.  I wanted to avoid the "bare bulb sticking out of a hole" look

Of course, no matter how good the lamps now look, those factory diaphragms could use some work.

If the tower LED's don't work, here's an alternative.  These are only 2mm in total diameter and very compact.  They're also somewhat expensive, but if they're the only ones that will fit, the cost is reasonable.

Lumex SSL-LX203CSRT at Digikey