How to attach tiny LEDs inside plastic jet aircraft models

[Colonel Mike]

Gentlemen,

I'm building Tamiya's 1/32 F-4 Phantom and wish to illuminate the wing tip and other lights.  I purchased mini [rice grain size] LEDs from MicroMark, but am not sure just how to attach them internally to the aircraft.  Any suggestions?  

[arg]

I'm building the Star Trek 1/350 Enterprise Refit, and lighting the navigation lights.  I attached micro-LEDs (SMDs - Surface Mounted Devices) to the bottom of the kit's clear plastic nav lights with 'G-S Hypo Cement', an adhesive for watch crystals.  Dries clear and provides some "work time" before it fully sets. Its worked wonderfully for me - and its available from MicroMark also - Item #80343.

[ElectroSoldier]

You might want to consider some of the Surface mount (SMD) LEDs

A "grain of rice LED" is a bit old now... I used them eons ago when I built the 32nd Tornado. but that was such a long time ago, technology has moved on loads and you could light  up a 48th scale Tornado now with an SMD LED. 

Google something like smallest SMD LED and have some fun. Once you get an idea on the size, fitting them will become obvious 

[MoFo]

Well first and foremost, if you bought the actual 'Grain of Rice Bulbs' from Micromark... they're not LEDs.  Just hook them up to a 9V or 12V battery and you're good to go.  For routing through your model...   there isn't really a set method; you just have to do whatever works.  In your case, you may need to drill through the outer wing panels, to run wiring through the wings and into the fuselage.  Or you may need to scribe a channel for the wires into the outer wing panels,then fill and sand flush.  Whatever works.

 

For sourcing actual LEDs, first, see the size comparison here: EastBay RC: SMD LED Sizes (eastbay-rc.blogspot.com)  Decide which size you want, then hit up eBay or I am a spammer, please report this post. and search for the size you need.  This is far and away the most economical route.  Note that you'll have to sort through various colour options, clear or tinted bulbs, solid, flashing, RGB/colour changing, etc.  It can feel a little overwhelming, but it's all fairly logical.  And if you want any sort of sequential patterns (strobes/blinking), you're better off running it from a small microcontroller like an Arduino, rather than relying on blinking LEDs.  Blinking LEDs will flash at around the same rate, but not exactly... so they'll go in and out of phase over time; a microcontroller will let you set everything to flash in constant sequence.

 

Also note, most LEDs run somewhere between 3 - 5v, so you'll need a low-voltage power supply and/or resistors to run them.  Google 'LED resistor calculator' for a bunch of websites that will help you calculate the resistance needed for your specific circuit given your power and LED specs.  It's also worth noting that you're better off upping the resistance by a couple of values; the LED won't run at peak brightness (which you don't need anyway) which will make them last much, much longer.  It's always better to under-power your LEDs.

[Tinhead_Ausf_B]

Great pointers, MoFo - I was just scratching my head a bit about this.

Cheers