Good to hear from you again Vic. I'll be interested in how you light up the lanters. I have two that I want tp put on mu pushboat just for fun but need some ideas on how to wire them. pete

well.....very simple....got something which looks like grain of wheat bulbs at michaels ...photo shows.....althought the model i copied didn't have this kind of mount, i used tubing for ease of maintenance and oversized the tubing for strength and ease of bulb replacement......the actual model i copied had a very delicate support system which was impractical.....guns screw in and screw out.....not by themselves of course.....have to blacken hinges and add pull ropes...my terminology for the hatches.....will still have alot of trimming, painting, and varnishing to do..not to mention sanding and reshaping lot of the sculptures......which, i think will take some time.....but i'll install the dead eyes first.....it for now

hand held a quick shot of the lights....am wondering if i should rather make the lighting more general rather than pinpointed...maybe put in some kind or diffuser? as it is...lights show or don't show or bright or dim...depending on where you're standing......or sitting....

They were oil lamps, or tallow dips, and wouldn't have been all that bright any way. The higher officers may have afforded beewax candles or whale oil which would burn brighter - but not much.

What you have should be fine at dusk and after dark - you could stick halogens in there and not see it that well in sunlight.

I think it looks very realistic for the lighting represented of that period.

okee dokee...i'll leave em be......thanks!

You can now get bulbs that flicker.
I have a vague recollection that some are LED. If there are flicker LEDs then these will possibly never need replacing, making wiring easier. Perhaps.

Looks perfect to me!

KM

They look great Vic and that's in the light. Will look much better in the dark. Thanks for the info on wiring the lights. Pete

yes i really wanted led's....but couldn't find the right color or the ones that weren't spot or focused.....i still could change them, if i found some that could persuade me to do so ....like i said ...it's a trial and error project and the greatest satisfaction for me, is that i've now finally learned not to be afraid to screw up..........since i've lived in fear all my life ........cheers..vic

Vic,
Walthers, the big model train supplier, has some LED's made by Miniatronics that look like incandescent (yelowish vs blu-white) lights. I have use them and they really do look like incandescent light bulbs vs the harsh blu-white of regular super-bright white LED's.
They are called yeloglo at this catalog link:
http://www.walthers.com/exec/productinfo/475-1251005

These are the larger size (5mm dia vs the smaller 3mm) and give a lot of light.

To get the light to spread vs coming out the end, you drill a cone shape into the top of the LED (care not to go too far). The cone spreads the light.
I'll post a pic if you want.

Here's a pic of a tugboat I built with the yeloglo LEDs as deck lights. Compare to the blu-white mast lights and the spot on the bow.

wow...what a fountain of information!!.......great to be impressed with all this experience...will check it out......
ok i checked it out and they look great......the lights i have now are non directional....the only thing is that they probably take more power and would be more inclined to burn out............so........i figure although they will probably be used very seldom, it is still a tempting thought......what do you figure is the difference between my bulbs and the led's regarding power and length of life?.....i'm thinking that if the ship ended up being on display somewhere, it may be nice to have lights working which have longevity and are safe.......feedback?
vic

LED's use far far less power than incandescent lights. Don't know what bulbs you are using, but I wouldn't be surprised if the LED's would use less than 1/10th the power.
LED's can last thousands of hours. Bulbs much less.
With the size of the battery required to operate your boat, probably in the range of 6 volt, 6 - 10 Amp-hours sealed lead acid (SLA) battery, you can leave your LED's on probably for days...
LED's can be run off almost any voltage by using a "dropping resistor" to limit the current flow thru the LED. By selecting the correct value for this small resistor, you can adjust the brightness of the LED's.
I have a small potentiometer in the Syren that adjsuts the lantern, cabin and binnacle LED brightness.

ok, thanks......ponder....ponder ......ponder...................................... .....ponder.......................by the way the tug lighting looks fantastic and a pot. is the way to go.......how long is it?
vic

hi...... having pondered........i figure i'll leave the lights as is for now, but that info is good to have ..
and i'll have to wait a while for another posting, as i suddenly realized how much work i've left to do.....the futsy kind...which doesn't show any change ........thanks....vic