# How I light up Plasticville buildings



## Dave Sams (Nov 24, 2010)

I recently picked up some Plasticville buildings at shows and an auction.

I like them for their history and the way they look.

The Cape Cod reminds me of our first house. We had a 1976 Nova, very much like the one in the picture.









I start with a yellow LED and a 470 ohm resistor. You can get the LED on Ebay for a few dollars per hundred, some vendors include the resistor. I have had this setup on my layout for 3 years and haven't had a LED fail yet.

Don't worry about the leads of the LED touching.









Hot melt glue the LED to the under side of the roof. (Why did people insist upon putting glue all over the Plasticville buildings? My guess is kids did it by the way the glue was applied.)









Viola! A lighted house!

And a lighted roof.









A little flat black acrylic paint to the underside of the roof. No need to be too fussy as it won't show.









Now the yellow LED gives off a nice warm light. The walls of the house light up too, but it shows up much more in the photo than on the layout.









And there you have it. The telephoto makes it look like Jr. is playing too close to the tracks at night!









I also like the way the light spills out of the front door.

I'm happy, and it MY railroad, and don't you forget it.


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## Bwells (Mar 30, 2014)

"If you have a layout, you can keep it. If you have locomotives, you can keep them."


The other guy lied, I hope you aren't.

Looks good but Jr. should be doing his homework!


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## erkenbrand (Dec 6, 2010)

That looks great! One thing you might want to try - take an old gallon milk jug and cut some squares of the translucent plastic the size of your windows. Hot glue those in place. It helps disperse the light and give an even warm glow.


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## Dave Sams (Nov 24, 2010)

That's a good idea. I have that on another building. 

I'm toying with the idea of furnishing the interior. 

I have to decide how much detail I want.


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## Big Ed (Jun 16, 2009)

Install a smoke unit under the chimney?:thumbsup:

The light looks good. 
I say the more lights here and there on the RR the better. :smilie_daumenpos:


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## Dave Sams (Nov 24, 2010)

big ed said:


> Install a smoke unit under the chimney?:thumbsup:
> 
> The light looks good.
> I say the more lights here and there on the RR the better. :smilie_daumenpos:



Meanwhile on the East end of town.......

The stove in the freight station is going to town.









I agree, the more lights the better!

There are 11 in this scene. 22 if I had pulled the camera back a little.


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## sjm9911 (Dec 20, 2012)

Nice, if I only had the still or technical know how to do the LEDs. For sad old me its regular old school bulbs. I like the roof fix, I was actually thinking it before I got to the next step! Agreed with the lights, the more the better! The smoke looks good too. I actually put some bulbs in the background on my layout, in the open but where you cant see them to illuminate the outside of stuff. The car headlights are cool too!


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## BigAl56 (Dec 14, 2011)

Got any leftover lights from the holidays to recycle? I cut up a string of holiday lights and simply glue one of them inside the building. 4 of those bulbs in series does the job .


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## Big Ed (Jun 16, 2009)

Dave Sams said:


> Meanwhile on the East end of town.......
> 
> The stove in the freight station is going to town.
> 
> ...


And....I see smoke. :thumbsup:


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## Dave Sams (Nov 24, 2010)

BigAl56 said:


> Got any leftover lights from the holidays to recycle? I cut up a string of holiday lights and simply glue one of them inside the building. 4 of those bulbs in series does the job .


Great minds think alike!

Two years ago, I ditched my C9 strings for LEDs from Wally World. The bulbs may last 20,000 hours, but the wires didn't last one season.

I salvaged all of the bulbs, which came in handy.

































(Thanks to Karen for the tip on the fork lift!)


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## erkenbrand (Dec 6, 2010)

Here's a great resource when working with LEDs. They're pretty simple - you just need the right resistor to hook them up. You can usually find the resistors and LEDs at Radio Shack.

http://ledcalc.com/


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## Dave Sams (Nov 24, 2010)

erkenbrand said:


> Here's a great resource when working with LEDs. They're pretty simple - you just need the right resistor to hook them up. You can usually find the resistors and LEDs at Radio Shack.
> 
> http://ledcalc.com/



True, you can get LEDs at the shack, but on evilbay:

http://www.ebay.com/itm/60Pcs-5mm-D...555?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item3394ea88fb

At 50 per $1.07 you can experiment all you want as long as you can wait for delivery from China.


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## erkenbrand (Dec 6, 2010)

Yup, and they're fun to play with. I built a 6' tall outdoor light house 4 years ago, and the LEDs in the windows of that have been burning almost 24x7 since without any problems.


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## callmeIshmael2 (May 28, 2012)

I bought a five-buck bag of two-strand bulbs from "We Honest People" firm from Asia and hot glue them wherever I want them. Easy to do, powered either from extra power (small transformers or even cheap cellphone chargers found in many used bins in second-hand stores. I haven't had a burnout yet in over two years of putting these wherever I want them.


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## erkenbrand (Dec 6, 2010)

That looks really nice. You can't have too many lights.


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## Dave Sams (Nov 24, 2010)

Great Scott!

A layout with the interior of buildings decorated for Christmas!

The whole town looks very festive and I like the furnishings inside the buildings. Don't tell me you remove the snow in the spring.

I also like turning the Cape Cods to look like different houses.

I may add knotty pine to the interior of mine as our first house had it in the dining room.

One of my buildings:









Years ago, I had a radio program. I called in. Twice, my wife and I broadcasted from the studio. I guess I have to paint the floor now.


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## mrnavy2 (Oct 29, 2014)

Do they sell LED's already with the Resistor comnected? And do u have to include a resistor for each bulb? Thanks.


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## gunrunnerjohn (Nov 10, 2010)

mrnavy2 said:


> Do they sell LED's already with the Resistor comnected? And do u have to include a resistor for each bulb? Thanks.


They sell them that way, but you'll pay dearly for the privilege of having someone connect the LED!


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## Wood (Jun 9, 2015)

> Two years ago, I ditched my C9 strings for LEDs from Wally World. The bulbs may last 20,000 hours, but the wires didn't last one season.



Great ideas here. Very smart and thanks...


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## Guest (Jul 14, 2015)

Good solution, Dave. I had several of the Cape Cod Cottages as a kid and have always liked them. Your black paint was a good solution. :appl:


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## feldon30 (Dec 30, 2012)

callmeIshmael2 said:


> I bought a five-buck bag of two-strand bulbs from "We Honest People" firm from Asia and hot glue them wherever I want them.


Any idea what their current name is?

They were "We Be Honest", then "We Honest". They don't show up as "We Honest People" anymore. Sad because they have low prices, reliable seller, with reasonably fast shipping.


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## gunrunnerjohn (Nov 10, 2010)

wehonest_cn is their current eBay name.

There are a lot of vendors on eBay with LED's, probably with better prices as well.


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## feldon30 (Dec 30, 2012)

I know this is off-topic, but since the model train world deals heavily with LEDs, I wonder if anyone has a source for a type of LEDs that haven't been made since the 70's and early 80's. I'm talking rectangular 2 and 3 bulb LEDs...



















We're trying to recreate a television prop that used these and we're having a heck of a time acquiring them in any quantity.

http://www.electronicspoint.com/threads/obsolete-component-led-rectangular-light-bars.270687/


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## gunrunnerjohn (Nov 10, 2010)

Never saw those, but have you considered making them? Some clear Acrylic and a simple form and you can "roll your own".


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## feldon30 (Dec 30, 2012)

gunrunnerjohn said:


> Never saw those, but have you considered making them? Some clear Acrylic and a simple form and you can "roll your own".


I looked some on Google but could not find "naked" LEDs without the acrylic lens. Maybe your Google-fu is better than mine?


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## gunrunnerjohn (Nov 10, 2010)

I'd just use the 2mm flat post LEDs, knock the post off and then embed them in the Acrylic. From the picture, I'm assuming the LEDs are oriented so the light goes out the top.


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## feldon30 (Dec 30, 2012)

Those 2MM flat post LEDs might be just the ticket. Now to learn about casting acrylic!


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## gunrunnerjohn (Nov 10, 2010)

Mix it up, pour it in the mold, let it harden.


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## feldon30 (Dec 30, 2012)

gunrunnerjohn said:


> Mix it up, pour it in the mold, let it harden.


I'm stuck on the "it" part. This?

http://www.smooth-on.com/Urethane-Plastic-a/c5_1120_1156/index.html

Crystal Clear 202 plus various tints?

And what's the best material to make the mold out of? I know professional plastic is done with metal dies.


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## gunrunnerjohn (Nov 10, 2010)

Here's one of many sources: Clear Polyester Casting Resins.

Here's a brief video showing how it's done.






I'm not sure what you'd make the mold from, that's what the video is for.


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## feldon30 (Dec 30, 2012)

I think resin is a bit different than the 202 stuff but it might even do what we're wanting. Thanks so much for the advice and answering questions. Really appreciate it.


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## gunrunnerjohn (Nov 10, 2010)

I was just looking for something that would do your job, that clear stuff looked like a good fit. 

Let us know how it works out.


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