Well, I have noticed that in N scale, it is a rarity to see lighted vehicles in night scenes, hence naturally that was in my list of to-dos from the very beginning. And I am glad to say, 4 years on, I finally achieved it!
Vehicles are not new to those who are following the progress - very humble Kato's Toyota Automobile set (http://www.modeltrainstuff.com/KATO-N-23500-Toyota-Automobiles-6-p/kat-23500.htm), and one of the woodland scenics Bad Boy bikers (http://woodlandscenics.woodlandscenics.com/show/Item/as5344/page/1). And as for equipment - Model Expo drill set (http://www.modeltrainstuff.com/Model-Expo-MT1041-61-80-Drill-Set-With-4-Mouth-Pin-p/mei-mt1041.htm) and Circuitron 0.04" optic fiber. Plus I used locally available cheap and thin optic fibers (0.5mm dia) for the bike.
I think the trickiest one was the bike. Those who owned an N scale bike knows that it IS tiny! Moreover, the cheap and fragile local optic fiber kept on breaking or bending resulting in reduced luminosity or no light at all. I actually had ruined the headlight of one of the bikes in the process, the poor tiny 'bad boy' now needs to keep his bike permanently facing the backdrop. The second attempt came out to be satisfactory after a few tweaks.
The cars were pretty easy - just drill a 0.04" hole so that the optic fibers are snug fit to the hole and then bend them through the car's contour. One difficulty was that the Circuitron optic fiber was pretty strong with a lot of elasticity, so straightening it or bending it was a challenge and it would push the light plastic car out of it's place. little fiddly, but nothing that a good model cement cannot handle!
So without further introduction - here are the photos:
I will have to put a couple more lighted cars in the far right corner of the approach (where the cafe is, and a couple of vehicles in the the main port - that will make the night scenes complete.
Vehicles are not new to those who are following the progress - very humble Kato's Toyota Automobile set (http://www.modeltrainstuff.com/KATO-N-23500-Toyota-Automobiles-6-p/kat-23500.htm), and one of the woodland scenics Bad Boy bikers (http://woodlandscenics.woodlandscenics.com/show/Item/as5344/page/1). And as for equipment - Model Expo drill set (http://www.modeltrainstuff.com/Model-Expo-MT1041-61-80-Drill-Set-With-4-Mouth-Pin-p/mei-mt1041.htm) and Circuitron 0.04" optic fiber. Plus I used locally available cheap and thin optic fibers (0.5mm dia) for the bike.
I think the trickiest one was the bike. Those who owned an N scale bike knows that it IS tiny! Moreover, the cheap and fragile local optic fiber kept on breaking or bending resulting in reduced luminosity or no light at all. I actually had ruined the headlight of one of the bikes in the process, the poor tiny 'bad boy' now needs to keep his bike permanently facing the backdrop. The second attempt came out to be satisfactory after a few tweaks.
The cars were pretty easy - just drill a 0.04" hole so that the optic fibers are snug fit to the hole and then bend them through the car's contour. One difficulty was that the Circuitron optic fiber was pretty strong with a lot of elasticity, so straightening it or bending it was a challenge and it would push the light plastic car out of it's place. little fiddly, but nothing that a good model cement cannot handle!
So without further introduction - here are the photos:
I will have to put a couple more lighted cars in the far right corner of the approach (where the cafe is, and a couple of vehicles in the the main port - that will make the night scenes complete.
