Need to build (or buy) a headlight reflector for my Little Red General. Have you done this?

I'm sure that this subject has been covered on the Forum before and I have done something similar although in a smaller size.

You can get brass/aluminum round blanks and make them concave with a small round headed tool (I forget the right name for it). Alternatively get a plastic blank of roughly the right size and sand/grind the center to a dish shape.

Either way the reflective surface is the main thing. I used a product called Molotow chrome, which is a highly reflective chrome finish supplied in marker pens and a refill bottle that can be sprayed through an airbrush. It's actually an ink and takes a fairly long time to dry but is just incredibly shiny.

You'll need a clear lens for the headlight too and these I find more difficult than anything else. Of course a round shape can be cut out of clear plastic but I never find that flat clear plastic looks very realistic. You might look at whether Precision Scale or one of the other detail suppliers actually does a 1/4" lens. I have found them in smaller sizes and some even replicate Fresnel lenses but had less luck with anything bigger than about 1/8 inch.

You could also look around for a suitable LED.  Fishing through my parts box, I see a couple candidates.  Both of these are a bit larger than 1/4", probably could be made to fit.

The one on it's side has a curved dome like a lens and might work out just right.  It's about 5/16 in diameter.

@Hancock52, thank you for the suggestion. I'll check a LHS next time I'm out and about, which isn't very often these days - but I really would like to try what you suggested, and i have seen the tools you referenced for creating concave or even cone shaped surfaces. I just finished watching a You Tube video where a lad was expounding upon the virtues and some minor issues with Molotow chrome - interesting stuff, looks like it would do the job.

@gunrunnerjohn, thank you for your suggestion - where did you find such large LEDs? I'd like to try one of the round 5/16" lights on my other General. 

I decided to move ahead cuz I'm a bit compulsive at times  so I found a 2mm clear warm white tower LED in my parts bin,

and was quite delighted with the candle-like effect of just sticking the LED halfway up into the lamp box. I first lined the interior of the lamp box with aluminum foil - I knew I would never be able to do this with just foil cuz I would tear it to shreds, so I used some tacky glue to stick some to a sheet of paper, then bent foiled-paper into the proper shape to cover the back & sides, and glued it in place. I then added the LED. To keep it to what I think would be realistic, I experimented with various resistors to get the brightness just right - lower than newer steamers or diesels, but bright enough to be noticed - ended up 5 ma of current at 12 volts using a single diode produced just the right amount of light. I painted the lower portion of the LED black to eliminate light from that area - this almost makes the end of he tower look like the flame of a candle. I wonder if I can find a 2mm flickering warm tower LED somewhere? Anyway, had to epoxy the LED in place and am waiting for it to set up. 

Oh, and for the lens? I used a piece of a clear plastic shell that is used on so many things you find hanging in the store, like kids toys, large packs of batteries, etc. That stuff worked great, it's totally invisible when glued in place. I would have preferred some sort of fresnel lens cover, but just couldn't seem to locate anything that small.

Thanks for the suggestions. I will probably try them all and eventually line all the engines up to see which headlight I like best.

George

There are randomly flickering (not flashing = blinking) LEDs available from a number of sources; I've used these from Evan Designs for coal/fire effects: https://evandesigns.com/collec...ducts/flickering-led

But not sure in a headlight these will give you the effect that you want as opposed to looking like your command signal is faulty or track is dirty! There are also multi-LED simulator modules (Ngineering.com) that produce a very subtle effect - actually too subtle for my purposes as they are meant for smaller scales than O. Anyway, there are options.

GeoPeg

I dressed up a cheap Lionel General 4-4-0 model 8005, that looked like yours, as shown dressed up in the pictured below

The upgrade included adding a reversing switch and a 4 amp bridge rectifier on the loco and adding mini light to the head light after painting the interior silver.  I could have made a light reflector from some aluminum flashing or heavy duty aluminum foil.  I also painted the boiler black, gold painted the light bracket and steam dome and added gold foil trim rims on the boiler, silver paint on wheels, added weight  and screen insert in stack.

Details are show on the OGR post below.  I wanted mine to look like some pictures of The Texas 4-4-0  of the Great Railroad Chase movie.  I think it is prettier than my 1862.

https://ogrforum.com/...-lionel-general-8005

Charlie

I purchased a used General at a train show.  It already had a an incandescent light bulb in it.  The unpainted headlight housing (just like your James Gang loco) lit up like a glow-in-the-dark night stick whenever I ran it.

I decided to do some painting on the loco, and of course this included the headlight housing.  I painted the inside of it a bright silver, then the outside black, with "polished brass" trim (using a gold paint pen).  I also cut a piece of clear plastic and glued it to the inside of the housing.

After reassembly, the loco now has a headlight that looks more realistic and doesn't glow in the dark as it used to.  Can't really say it lights up the track all that bright, but at least it works. 

@Choochoocharlie and @Mixed Freight, I totally like what both of you have done, so much so that I compiled a to-do list of your combined ideas, and as soon as I get through a couple of projects that are now in process, I will return to the General to start doing some of them. Both your Generals look great! Thanks!

George

"You can get brass/aluminum round blanks and make them concave with a small round headed tool (I forget the right name for it). Alternatively get a plastic blank of roughly the right size and sand/grind the center to a dish shape."

I know this is an older thread but I didn't see the name of this round headed tool, and I was wondering what it was. I'm going to be doing the same thing and need to know.

Thanks!

http://www.mvproducts.com/Contact.html         They sell lenses.

Another possibility for a reflector is using an American Flyer self stick headlight sticker from the F9 diesel series. Guys that carry American Flyer parts would have them. It would stick in the headlight housing. But it wouldn't prevent the sides from glowing.