Modeling-ABC by  Wilfried Eck
 
back to glossary back to homepage

How to make position-, navigation-, and warning lights
 

Position-, navigation-, and warning lights are so easily made it's really not necessary to spend any money. - In principle as follows:

   

Heat clear plastic rod (sprue from kit) over candle; turn rod to get an even heating.
   

Remove from flame when plastic gets soft (shines) and pull ends slowly apart to a thin rod (narrow for little light, thicker for bigger ones).
   

Cut in half; spare one end for further use.
   

Put one end near a candle flame (there should be no wind) until the end rolls back to mushroom form. Remove from flame.
   

Slightly squeeze mushroom to get the horizontal planform into a teardrop shape.
   

Use transparent permanent marker to get the desired colour (red for an anti collision light in this case).
   

Cut diagonally as appropriate to get the right shape.
   

Apply glue to underside of light and fix it onto model. Ready!

 
 

Position light in wing: Heat and press clear sprue as described above, If in the original a coloured light bulb is covered by transparent glass,  drill a hole and colour it with permanent marker (red right side, blue left side) to resemble the light bulb. Sand and polish to blend it in if necessary.

Alternative below:

   

My favorite way, perfect fit guaranteed: Heat and soften one end of clear sprue, then press it into the precut aperture. Take care it's completely covered.

If the original position light is covered by tinted glass apply cement to insides of the aperture before the clear sprue is pressed in (permanent fix).

If the light contains a coloured light bulb covered with transparent glass, remove clear sprue, bore hole in the appropriate place and colour it. Then glue clear part in (cement only to the insides of the aperture!).

 

   

Cut off outer parts of the clear sprue, sand remains to shape (as the outer parts of the clear part should not have contact with the glue they should go off easily). Fine grade sandpaper and polish is used in the last step to get a shiny appearance.

 
 

 
Rear position light: As described above, but leave some lenght of stump. Apply glue and insert part (colored white) into predrilled hole.