MARTIN LOVELL adds lights to this petrol station canopy.
In this article, I shall describe the addition of lighting to the GM424 Service Station. As this article is specifically about installing lighting, I will not describe buiding the kit itself. Suffice to say, it is being built as per the instructions apart from any modifications I will mention.
First off, I will tackle the canopy over the petrol pumps, as this is the tricky job compared to the interior.
I used some of the Viessmann LEDs (VN6046). I carefully drilled holes in the underside of the canopy where I wanted to position the lights, then fed the wires from the LEDs through the holes, and, using a spot of Deluxe Materials Rocket Rapid (DLAD-44) affixed the LEDs in place.
Installing the LED modules into the roof of the canopy.
The diode and resistor were removed and put safely to one side, as I didn’t want to make the wiring holes too big.
Next, I soldered the fine wires to some thicker wire, in order to create what is known as Parallel wiring - keeping the same colour fine wiring to each leg.
Wiring all of the feed wires in parallel.
Having done this, another pair of fine wires was fed down via a thin tube, masquerading as a drainpipe, through the base of the petrol pumps emerging from the base could be led under the baseboard when the canopy is in position.
The main feed wire is dropped down to the baseboard inside the 'drainpipe' on the right.
The resistor and diode were then reattached to this feed wire, and when connected to a 12volt supply, all lit up. I had of course tested the LEDs previously, just in case one was faulty, but all was well. These LEDs are designed to work at 16v AC, but a 12v DC supply gives a softer light - however - you have to watch the polarity on DC, as LEDs will only work in the right polarity. If you connect them to a DC supply and they don’t work, try reversing the +ve and -ve supply.
It works! The lights have power fed to them and they glow in unison.
So there we are, a fairly straightforward way of improving an already good kit.
The reason that the decals haven’t been applied, is that we are hoping to download some typically 1970s petrol signs, to go with the theme of our shop layout. Next time I shall deal with the interior lighting of the main building, which is a lot easier.
Happy Modelling,
Martin