Friday, November 23, 2012

005 The Augusta Railway - Layout Lighting

Because of how the layout is going to be installed, the lighting must come first.  I've decided to go inexpensive and use twin tube fluorescent strip lights with high quality, high Kelvin bulbs.  This has worked well for me before and requires a minimum of cost and labor for installation.


I'll need four light assemblies, each 49" long.  This should work fine...but I'm open to comments.

Scott

2 comments:

  1. Thought...if you place the lights close to the front edge then those items on the layout closer to the front edge will have the front sides lit. To say another way...you will be on the shadow side of scenic items in the area from the edge of the layout to the center. This might not stand out in day-to-day use but certainly would when taking pictures.

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  2. Good thought...I did this with previous layouts. What I found is that on benchwork that is deep (this one is 32") that putting the light in the front doesn't cover the back of the layout well. Shadows aren't too much of a problem with florescent lights. I'm throwing twin T-8 bulbs to every inch of the layout...so it should more than cover. In fact it may be too bright! I need the extra light for my poor eyesight. It is also VERY prototypical in the deep South in August.

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