Light Up My Lego Eh

[legodac]

Light Up My Lego Eh, for EB

I purchased Lego’s Winter Toy Shop when it first came out,and yes, I bought more than one. The model came with this really cool LightBrick, that when pressed, lit the top of the model. It was so cool in fact that I decided to finish what had been started.

A small review note: This model is awesome on many avenues,but the two that impressed me most were; the model is small enough that it can be put almost anywhere in your layout, second, it packs that special creative punch we are all looking for.

#1

If you find Lego under a tree, it must be Christmas. #1

#2

These are all the tools you need to “Light Up Your Lego”,the pin vices are most important.

#3

You should see my place after the sun goes down. =)

#4

Now that’s what I call stealth, can you say Lego Olympics; sure, I knew you could. ;)

#5

Our best friends are getting the rest of what we’ll need to complete this project, like mini 12 volt lights, solder etc.

#6

Don’t get stuck in the duct stuff, duct seal is crucial here, and is not very expensive, you won’t need much eh.

#7

Electricians are crazy. The reason Dr, Dave is smiling is the fact that the other end of the solder just shorted out on 13.8 KV, he does that sometimes.

#8

The 12 Volt Micro Lights can be found at your local Hobby orTrain store, though I’m sure you won’t need a forklift to bring them home.

#9

Here is where you will use your pin vice to drill the Lego pieces to allow the wires to pass. The tools by the way, can also be found at any hobby or hardware store.

#10

A closer look at wiring the light standard.

#11

Don’t touch this mess; I know where every brick is.

#12

Let’s take a break and sit for a bit.

#13

I have enough white bricks to build a mountain, though I opted to go a little on the conservative side for the Snow, yah, I know it’s pathetic for a builder of my potential, lol.

#14

A little corner I like to call home, and soon home to a Toy Shop.

#15

When is Lego going to make a dog? I know what you’re thinking but I’m not talking about a lap dog. =) =)

#16

Trust me, the tree looks out of this world at night.

#17

Oh look, it snowed. If only Lego really did fall from the sky, for if it did we would all be meeting about 10 times a year in whatever Country we decided upon. ;)

#18

It’s not A/C, it’s D/C, one positive and one negative, the perfect Marriage (she says I’m writing fiction).

#19

More holes are needed, so don’t put away that pin vice just yet.

#20

This battery operated rotary tool comes in real handy, and if I may, I suggest you get one; they are super handy in a million apps. The ground down single stud brick will allow a wire to pass. A good mini bastard file will suffice here as well.

#21

Things can get tricky if you are adding multiple lights, remember to make sure one is positive and the other, the other.

#22

Wiring Lego is easy, because it’s plastic and there is always something you can do to attach a wire or simply make it blend in.

#23

How many of you actually do the window shopping thing.*suddenly breaks into song*

“How much is that cho-cho in the window ?”

“The one with the brickalee wheels” Sorry eh….lol….

#24

Have you noticed yet the skiers behind the tracks that are behind the shop? It’s just a junior hill eh.

#25

Do you train Bricknatics think it would be cool to create a diorama layout with this big guy leading the way?

#26

I have another whole set of pictures detailing the wiring on the tree, though I think all of you have figured it out already.

#27

Don’t worry; I’m not going to burst into song again. Though I may cry, they’re singing “Silent Night”.

#28

As blurry as it is, this picture is my favorite; it’s my signature in MLNO.

Well I hope you all enjoyed this. I did my best considering it’s my day off.

I had two goals in mind for this presentation, one was simply to enlighten you in the ways of the “Lighted Brick”. The other was even simpler, to make you smile.

Keep on Brickn’ and always remember to…

Play Well eh…The legodac Brickerage Firm

[JopieK]

Nice job! I also do that with e.g. the Winter Toy Shop but I try to be as non-destructive as possible. I also use SMD LEDs instead of 3mm ones now and then. No offense, but I think you are b.t.w. using too much non-LEGO parts. The electricity poles are nice, but making them more out of LEGO would be even much better!!!

[legodac]

Nice job! I also do that with e.g. the Winter Toy Shop but I try to be as non-destructive as possible. I also use SMD LEDs instead of 3mm ones now and then. No offense, but I think you are b.t.w. using too much non-LEGO parts. The electricity poles are nice, but making them more out of LEGO would be even much better!!!

I realize that it would be possible to wire without drilling Lego, Fibre optics would be the way to go in that case. JopieK, good day Sir, may I ask, what is SMD LED, I know the LED part. Pleased to meat you. I can appreciate your comment about non-Lego parts, however, unless you are willing to glue your Lego, the pole line construction would have proved to be much more difficult and requiring much more area. Remember, this layout runs through 3 rooms of my home and so does the shelf it sits upon.

Please elaborate if I'm missing your point, there is always something for me to learn.

Also, how would you have done the hydro poles?

[kage28]

Very nice! You have fulfilled the lighting potential of this set

[JopieK]

Well legodac,

you use tiny light bulbs. They are nice, but they have disadvantages. So do LEDs, but they have major advantages too. The first one is the life. LEDs will (if properly used) almost never die. You will need a current limiting resistor of course and make sure polarity is right, but then everything will work and keep working :)

of course you have normal LEDs that are 5 mm or 3 mm in diameter. That might be too large for LEGO in some circumstances. That is where SMD (surface mounted device) LEDs come in. There are different versions: from tiny to really really tiny.

See also this link: SMD LEDs

[legodac]

Thanks for the heads up Sir and the link as well, you've given me a great deal to think about.

[F0NIX]

legodac, I have seen your work before and it is wonderful. Specially like the train layout and the tunnels through the walls.

The lights give it a extra dimension and seems more "alive".

But I wonder if there is a reason for using those pesky 12v bulbs?

Normal bulbs has a few disadvantages vs LED: First of all bulbs produce a lot more heat than a LED with the same amount of light (measured in candela or lumen). The other thing is they use a lot of power, so you need thicker wires to feed them enough current. And third as other have mentioned, LED has longer running lifetime than bulbs.

But they have two advantages vs LED: the bulbs gives of a better light color (measured in Kelvin) and looks more like normal household bulbs that we use in our real houses. The second thing is that they normally spread the lights out in a broader angle than the LED.

I have found nice LED with a nice warm white color (around 3500K) with high intensity and they draw almost no power at all. And best of all, no heat! :)

Se this thread for more info about it:

http://www.eurobricks.com/forum/index.php?showtopic=47675&st=0&p=836627entry836627

I have later also used SMD LED strips with self-adhesive tape on the back inside some LEGO buildings with great success. They are even flexible so you can bend them easy around corners or objects. You can cut them (at marked points) and extend them with some wires. You can get these in lengths up to 5 meters long.

And as a comment about you "damaging" so much LEGO: hey, its just a hobby, everyone may do as they want with the hobby! But I think most of us here on this forum will try the best we can to give the layout a "true" LEGO look, and do as best we can to hide all wires and at the same time not harm any LEGO-parts so they can be used in another creation at a later time. And some will even never use any Non-LEGO parts in their layout. So we all do it different. Do what YOU think is best for YOU, and what you are most comfortable with.

[lowbike1]

Pretty sweet setup

[pdxa4]

Ah I enjoyed this, tks...