A "cute" purchase - maybe a smaller light solution but could use better ideas

Love them!  Great idea for the layout!  Thanks for sharing!

Walt, have you thought about removing the solar panels and hard wiring the figurines to equivalent power sources and adding on/off power switches too?

You can also shine on the white led lights to the pannel as they are bright and see if it works.

ogaugeguy posted:

Walt, have you thought about removing the solar panels and hard wiring the figurines to equivalent power sources and adding on/off power switches too?

Good idea.  I tried to remove the bottom but it's glued on so tightly that I was concerned about breaking the whole thing trying to remove it, so I quit trying.  I like your idea very much though - it's what I've done to everything that I own for the layout that is battery powered.

I experimented yesterday and at least found small lights that are bright enough to work - not all were.  It's not a finished idea for sure.  My goal, besides finding a smaller less conspicuous way to light it, was to think of ideas to hide the bulb.  Since the only thing I could think of involved a close-up cover of some sort, foil seemed to be the only thing to use.  Learned something else - I also now have to protect the plastic base - the heat from the bulb (and these bulbs get HOT) left a small indent in the base.  Lit longer it might have melted it.

- walt

Smaller Light vid:

https://youtu.be/-5T-2nMF3P8   (19 seconds) – Solar Swinging Santa with small light