169: RC Car Scale LED Light Diffusion

[@DoRC]

Ive had good success with sanding the tip of the led flat as well. This does a pretty good job of softening that spotlight effect.

[@AMPROEngineering]

That is a great idea. I will try that.

[@Thoooooms]

Building a couple of ABC Hobby M-chassis shells at the moment, will definitely be doing this. Thanks for the great tip!

[@AMPROEngineering]

No problem!

[@StratRC]

Great thinking! That made a major difference.

[@AMPROEngineering]

Yeah and it is easy!

[@AMPROEngineering]

And cheap!

[@andyrichey1192]

Awesome thanks for sharing this is good to know, still waiting on the interior for this bronco but I know it Will be worth the wait.

[@AMPROEngineering]

I am doing the final build now!

[@NordicRC]

Good job. Thanks for sharing. I’ll take that advice with me too: Always check a fifth time ☺️

[@AMPROEngineering]

Don't ignore that 6th time either...

[@kinslersrccustoms6945]

I just got a light kit in for my RC4WD Marlin Crawler and I was just going to put it in but now when all the body work is fin then I will be doing the same as you did in this video!! Thank you for the tip It is one of the best ones that I have found for LED's .

[@AMPROEngineering]

Not a problem! Glad you liked it.

[@scalebuildersguild]

Love it sir! Great tip.

[@AMPROEngineering]

Not a problem. Something I thought any scale person would like.

[@BobSmith1980.]

Great idea I'm definitely going to use this

[@AMPROEngineering]

Good to hear!

[@TimberWolf429]

I can tell you, the tail lights look perfect now. I have owned a few square body Ford Econolines, they have the same tail lights as the 1974-1979 Ford trucks. The real tail lights only iluminate the top portion, with some slight light bleed to the bottom. The markers also look almost right, but on the real ones, the bulb is in the middle.

[@AMPROEngineering]

Well thank you so much! It is important to compare with the actual cars too!

[@roadkillraker]

Awesome mod. Good thinking.

[@AMPROEngineering]

Thanks! Good morning to you too!

[@dangavin]

Lighting kits was the reason I subscribed😂😂

[@AMPROEngineering]

Haha, I have a few more to look at also.

[@mikeymike3240]

Awesome idea, I'd never have thought to use hot glue to Dissipate the light spread. It looks waaay betterer now lol Great video. 😀👍👍👍

[@AMPROEngineering]

I know when i figure that out I was upset I never did it sooner.

[@thestuffz]

pretty good mod to make them look better. IRL the trucks have a single hot spot and the rest of the light for side markers only is reflector. Tail light lights up all of the rear but the middle of it has reflector in it to. Currently trying to find new lenses for my 73 F100. yay first year truck... had to make them different lol.

[@AMPROEngineering]

Yeah good point, even on the real trucks there is a hot spot!

[@carmaster65]

Thank you for sharing. I was looking to fix this exact issue on a scale drift body.

[@AMPROEngineering]

Glad to hear it

[@robertrosson1990]

Aluminum foil works better than silver paint as long as you don't have a lot of wrinkles you can smooth it out as you are putting it in the light buckets does a great job reflecting the leds.Just depends on the type of lights you are working with

[@AMPROEngineering]

That is a good idea. I will need to give that a go. I used to have some "chrome" pain that was about as shiny as foil but it was dry when I decided to make the video.

[@pocher69]

Bare metal foil or even tape you use on heater vents, I used BMF on by TF 2 when I did it and it looks pretty good

[@mikeymike3240]

@@AMPROEngineering tamiya do a great chrome paint, either brush or spray.

[@AMPROEngineering]

I have tried that but many is it annoying!

[@AMPROEngineering]

Never tried the Tamiya stuff.

[@ricklewis950]

Your interiors kill it!!! Knight customs has nothing on your work and skill, I know where my interior will come from if I ever have the funds , skill and the patience to do it.

[@AMPROEngineering]

You are too kind! Knight customs does amazing work too and his interior is targeted at a different group, you know the ones that are not insane. Hahaha!

[@Hjerte_Verke]

One reason the LED bulbs don't diffuse very well is because most if not all of the light is generated at the tip of the LED and nearly none comes from the sides. I have heard of people painting the tips silver in an attempt to reflect the light towards the rear and sides. A small disc of foil glued to the tip is another option. Sanding the tip flat is yet another idea, combined with the aforementioned end reflector ideas. Not sure how well this would work in a scale tail light lens but using a naked LED to simulate a model ship's navigation lamp, it works well.

[@AMPROEngineering]

Yes, for some reason they opt for the clear LED's. You can get 270 deg LED's but I suspect these are cheaper and only weirdo's like me notice, lol

[@maadmaxx123]

@AMPRO Engineering, in the future if you ever have to remove your hot glue from your LED, or anything really, like at 9:50. A drop of isopropyl alcohol will release the hot glue with no effort at all. Hope that helps :)

[@AMPROEngineering]

Indeed that does help. Thank you for the tip!

[@roknroller6052]

Just wondering could you use something capacitor maybe to reduce the voltage to certain lights to reduce their intensity. Also could you use some thing like a yellow transparent paint to change the temperature of the lights for the front headlights.

[@AMPROEngineering]

I think you certainly can. The wire gauge is tiny and I just didnt feel like it. You can do that to the fronts but I would not paint the LED. Those seem to get hot. maybe a lens?

[@goesbysteve]

@@AMPROEngineering use a resister tho not a capacitor 😉

[@rcpatapouf]

Nice video dude 😉

[@AMPROEngineering]

Thanks!

[@MacGivre]

an idea : the silicone diffuses the light (translucent silicone -not transparent- from gel wrist pad), but how to work with it.... ?

[@AMPROEngineering]

Yeah that is why I like the glue, easy to work with and solidifies fast

[@FordFan01]

AMPRO, why are the Tamiya MFC-02’s so expensive?

[@AMPROEngineering]

Well they are really well made and if these are manufactured in Japan, there is your answer. Tamiya electronics are usually really pricey and have neat features but many are they not cheap.

[@AMPROEngineering]

Oh and the MFC-02 in particular comes with the ESC built in, the speaker, vibrator motor and tons of LEDs. It is an awesome unit but I fund the ESC is jerky an has a weird throttle curve.

[@andyrichey1192]

I just noticed the rollbar, something you may or is it something we can get

[@AMPROEngineering]

Hey Andy, it is part of the interior kit and will be on shapeways soon.

[@XxXdanmanXxX14]

Another option to avoid the heat is clear silicon that dries with a foggy look

[@AMPROEngineering]

That is a great idea!

[@bombshell31600]

why use round leds try the flat ones ? ? ? just a thought 🤔🤔🤔

[@AMPROEngineering]

Round ones are very common and flat ones will still illuminate a small area.

[@carbonitegamorrean8368]

I knew the HGGun was coming lol,

[@AMPROEngineering]

Haha!

[@colossalbigfoot256]

Use red hot glue for tails. They make hot glue in colors. I think you’ll find yourself using it for the next builds. 😉

[@AMPROEngineering]

I had no idea....

[@AMPROEngineering]

NOW I NEED THAT!

[@bombshell31600]

just a thought ... 🤔🤔🤔🤔

[@AMPROEngineering]

Oh?

[@emersonpedro3944]

Show,,,,,,,,,,

[@AMPROEngineering]

Already done! It is a beach run, one of the last videos.