Light diffusing


NJ-Vince

New Member
Hi,
On my HO layout, I have a few buildings without interiors that you can see right into. I don't want to have to spend the time and money building interiors. I want to put a light in it with diffused windows and live with that. Without having to spend $17 for the woodland scenics light diffusing film at my local hobby store, can anyone tell me techniques or inexpensive alternatives they use to diffuse windows?

thanks,
nj-vince
 
You can always take a dullcoat type of spray and spray this on the inside of the structure, making sure you hit the windows.
 
An old favorite for DIY softboxes in inexpensive studio lighting is to use a ultra lite sheer white cloth over the light source.
You simply layer it to get less light.
The downside may be if the bulb you are using produces heat that might be a problem plus the cost of the cloth might be on a par with simply buying the film.
 
Hi,
On my HO layout, I have a few buildings without interiors that you can see right into. I don't want to have to spend the time and money building interiors. I want to put a light in it with diffused windows and live with that. Without having to spend $17 for the woodland scenics light diffusing film at my local hobby store, can anyone tell me techniques or inexpensive alternatives they use to diffuse windows?

thanks,
nj-vince

I use the clear plastic then touch it up with sandpaper. It gives a nice look like dirty glass.
 
One thing you can do is paint the interiors of your buildings flat black. This helps tone down that empty look.
 
Agree with Torsion, if you don't paint the insides of the buildings, the light will shine through them and look weird. The flat black idea will also tone down the lighting as well.

If you are using LED's for your lighting, you can increase the size of the resistor to reduce the light output as well. You could possibly do that with a standard bulb, although I am only guessing on that.
 
I have also used clear mail labels which are really not clear but have a defused look to them. If you want to you can print a curtain on them and then stick that to your windows. I have done that a few times.
 
One trick I did years ago, was to take some interior shots of store fronts through their front windows at night using Kodachrome slide film. Then I affixed the slide to the inside window frame of my building and backlit it. Produces a very realistic look.

Joe
 
I have successfully used just Scotch Magic Tape to frost windows. You can also use spray-glue on wax paper.

But other ideas here sound better to me than just frosting. I love the back-lit color slide idea.
Diane
 
You're absolutely right, Kodak no longer produces Kodachrome, and I don't know if anyone else makes a positive color film either. Another idea just popped into my head though. Take a digital picture as I described, and print it on some decal film. Then just mount the decal on the inside of the window. You may have to print the picture backwards to print it to the correct side of the decal.

Joe
 
Couple of things:

Tony - yup, adding a resistor (or reducing the voltage) will reduce the output (brightness) of a standard incandescent bulb. Gives off a nice warm yellow glow.

Old Guy - Fuji still markets Provia and Velvia slide film. The better question is finding a film camera (yah, I still have one).

Joseph - I like the idea of printing from digital shots but I use "transparency film" (think overhead projector). Its much cheaper than decal film (which I've got as well) and prints as a positive, back lit image.

Any translucent plastic will work. I've used slices off a printer paper roll in background buildings.
 
Hi Kevin, are you talking about using the transparency film in your printer, or does it have to be developed like film? As you can tell, I'm not familiar with the transparency film, I've never had a use for it before. I forgot to mention that I also used an old Zeiss folding 6x9 cm sheet film camera loaded with 4x5" Kodachrome that I cut down to 6x9. That made a much bigger slide to work with. Sadly when I tore down my layout, I sold all the buildings that I used that procedure in. If I ever get to the point where I can take the time to look through all my slides and pictures, I'll see if I can find any pics of them, if I can remember. :eek:
 
You're absolutely right, Kodak no longer produces Kodachrome, and I don't know if anyone else makes a positive color film either. Another idea just popped into my head though. Take a digital picture as I described, and print it on some decal film. Then just mount the decal on the inside of the window. You may have to print the picture backwards to print it to the correct side of the decal.

Joe

Clear mailing labels work great for this. You can print them straight out or reverse the image and print them backwards.
 
Here is a photo of one of my last scratch built buildings with clear plastic windows and clear labels on them. all the signs and window images are printed on mailing labels. I haven't even found a place to put it yet.
 

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