I guess I'm concerned with a component of the LED strip failing and frying. I've had diodes heat up and smoke, and don't want anything to melt the car's roof. Each of the 6 cars has at least 15 hours of work into it. I hate to have a diode fry. Yesterday I put the LED strip along the outside of the other side of the car just to see what it would appear when illuminated. I applied a full 12vDC to the strip and here's what it looked like:
The blue tint is OK with me since it simulates florescent light fixtures, although I may overcoat the LEDs with some orange tint. The full 12vDC is also a bit much. The whole interior has light blue walls, dark blue seats and blue and black floor tiles. The small window on the left isn't illuminated since it's the "bathroom." I plan on running wires through the bathroom with a 2 pin connector so I can remove the shell, but not much room there. Here's what it looks like viewing through one of the vestibules toward the bathrooms:
There's a bit of room along the ceiling. Maybe the circuitry could go there, but the LED strip covers the whole distance from vestibule to vestibule. As far as the view of the interior through the windows, here's a sample:
No window glazing yet. There's a way of making flush windows, but that's not what I'm going for. Just a "what if" Gilbert of Lionel were to make these cars. I seriously doubt they'd go so far as to make flush windows.
Ray's suggestion looks good. If I were to add a cap, I could also run it along the frame and disguise it as an air tank. I've remoted caps before in other applications for better fit.
Thanks for all the suggestions, guys. Happy New Year!
