At the train show this weekend, I saw a small setup with police cars and fire engines with flashing lights. Of course, my 6 year old was fascinated and wants to add something like that to our HO layout. How is this accomplished? Do I have to buy a model car with this capability or can I accomplish it some other way? Thanks! Norm
You can get vehicles with flashing lights ready to go such as these two on Walthers site: Police Car Ambulance I wouldn't be surprised if you can get a flashing lights kit to add to an existing vehicle however.
You might be able to get a cheap flasher circuit at an electronics store, and some small led's and either put them in the car with the tip coming out a hole in the roof, or build the flashing light housigns and have the led flashing inside them. Im not sure how easy that would be to build. just an idea
Most toy stores have these cars in blister packs for police, ambulance and fire trucks. They are cheaper than Walthers, but a bit large for HO, and too small for O scale, so about right for modern S scale use. I figure a sharp hammer blow would provide the "works" to mount in a scale HO car or engine easily. They run off a hearing aid battery, or wrist watch battery. Theres always a way!
If the car is permanantly mounted to the layout then there is nothing stoping you from putting all the electronics below the layout.
I need to fit a blinking light or LED to a MOW unit I'm currently working on.. Thing is, these light units are hard to come by! At a reasonable rate! [ 16. October 2002, 16:38: Message edited by: 7600EM_1 ]
I think Mintronics makes a unit that will work for this, and its not too expensive. Probably under 20 bucks.....Mike
Thanks for your ideas everyone! I guess you all just confirmed what I figured...either pay $15-$20 for a car that is already set up or do it myself. I have a feeling that I will spend the money since I have other projects that currently need my attention. Norm
I saw a layout at my trainshow this weekend with a highway accident scene, and they all had blinking lights. However, they were all blinking in unison, which tells me they were all fiber optics with the ends on a blinking bulb. I once saw an article where a modeler took the fiber optic threads of one of those funky lamps that looks like it has brightly lit fur. He ran the fibers to rooms of a high rise building he modeled, then put all the other ends together in a bundle, and placed a bulb at it. This lit every room in the building, without being overkill from a hundred grain-of-wheat bulbs lighting up the sky.
I don't have much experience with fiber optics. Do you think you need some kind of bulb on the end or could you just drill a hole through the bottom of one of those matchbox police cars with plastic lights on top and run a fiber up to each of the lights? Norm
One fiber up to the roof of the vehicles. Remove the plastic bulbs/domes and push the fiber up thru the hole. Using a heat source, such as a lighter, carefully heat the end of the fiber so it melts a rounded edge to simulate a dome bulb. All fiber ends (the other ends) are bundled together and stuck into a box or fixture that holds the light source. Use a blinker on the source, and a red filter, and you should have your blinking lights. Not sure, but maybe the fibers are red tinted?
Not sure what the policy is here on good ol' fashioned commercial opportunism, but I have a few 3mm (T1) LEDs with built-in flasher circuits that I'd be willing to part with for a couple of bucks each. You just hook them up to a 3V coin cell with a switch, and they flash for hours. If you want an even smaller light, just connect a smaller standard LED in the same circuit and it will flash too. I have both red and yellow. If you're interested, please contact me at dcobb@kitbashdepot.com. Thanks, Dan
Take a look at my TruFX flasher. It has several the following flash rates! # Police 1 # Police 2 # EMT 1 # EMT 2 # Alternating 1 # Alternating 2 # Utility 1 # Utility 2 # Lighthouse beacon # Fire simulation # Welding simulation # Strobbing effect Flasher page
