T.Albers posted:Hi Pete & Hancock
I tried to make that CoLA neon tail sign out of plastic with three LED disk lights. But as Hancock52 recommends above I should have used multiple smaller LED lights to lessen the chance of bright hot spots showing through the tail sign.
Also, I wanted the neon tail sign box look shiny but was not getting this effect using silver paint. The box above still looked plastic. So, I gave up on the plastic design and made second tail sign by bending a thin sheet of flat metal. Then installed six, 3-volt micro LED’s and wired them in series, That way the lights could handle direct 18-volts from the track.
Also, I followed the advice above to get the neon effect I used four layers on the sign. The bottom layer was clear plastic, the 2nd layer was 20 weight white paper (as recommended by GRJ in another posting), the 3rd layer was a black and white City of Los Angeles sign and finally on top was the full color City of Los Angeles sign. That way, whether the LED lights were shining or not it would still look like a neon sign.
T, next time you want a chrome like finish, this will do it. Apply it wet and it will dry like polished aluminum near chrome.
Pete
