Light Sheets... where to buy?

[whb64]

I saw this years ago and now I have some builds that I could use it in...

I did a search and didn't find what I saw back then, so maybe it's not available anymore but I figure I would ask here. It was a luminescent sheet, as thin as paper. You could cut it to shape and size as long as you didn't cut where the power connected. All I could find was flexible LED sheets and that's not the same as what I remember seeing. These weren't super bright, but looked very interesting for back lighting areas or for a soft lighting effect.

Anyone have any idea what I am talking about and where to get it?

 

[teslabe]

Are you talking about Electroluminescent Light sheets? I'm not a fan of them for soooo many reasons, one is that they have a short life compared to LEDs and require high voltage to drive them, but if that's what you need here's some to look at.
New Electroluminescent A5 Cuttable EL Panel White/Aqua/Blue/Red Paper Neon Sheet | eBay

 

[whb64]

I did see those when I did my search. They are similar but not the same as what I saw before. I never used them so you're probably right on their short comings.

 

[jah5150]

Light Sheet went out of business several years ago, unfortunately.

 

[Duncanator]

Light sheet was a form of electroluminescent sheet. I'm sure there are others out there that could be used the same way.

 

[FZ6]

I can help a bit.

EL is a new way to make lighting in model kits or dioramas.

Called electro luminescent it comes in panels or wires, EL panels or EL wires, and there's also EL in paint!!!.

The EL panels are thin as a paper sheet and you can cut them with scissors.

The EL needs a driver that generates the necessary voltage to run it. It's a bulky unit that you can't put inside a model kit.

Other downside of the EL is that it has less lifespan than a LED and the light is weak compared with a LED.

One of the curiosities of EL is that you can cut the shape you want, keeping in mind that it need the two poles. Every EL sheet has several poles that you must keep in your shape cut.

The EL sheets comes in different colours: white, blue, red, etc.

You can find EL panels on Ebay and on other shops in the net, and they are quite cheap.

https://www.ellumiglow.com/electroluminescence/el-panels
EL Panels : Adafruit Industries, Unique & fun DIY electronics and kits
EL Panel - EL Panel & Tape

In the attached images you can see an EL panel with the driver -AKA Inverter- and the shape that I've cut to lighten my Millennium Falcon MPC backwall.

I hope this helps!

 

[belloq]

Cool info. I remember seeing that used on projects on the RPF years ago. To avoid the downsides of the large power source, might it be easier to try to find and glue tiny LED's onto the edge of a frosted thin flexible acrylic sheet that you could trim to size?

 

[3Dsf]

Yeah, EL wire and panels are cool but they just have too many drawbacks.

Lighting models I: Non LED lighting - Millennium Falcon Notes.

 

[whb64]

Thanks for the input everyone!

Sounds like a bad option then since it has a low life and the inverter.

 

[teslabe]

Thanks for the input everyone!

Sounds like a bad option then since it has a low life and the inverter.

If I may ask, what did you want to use them for, there are LED based options. When I get home tonight, I'll post some pictures.

 

[whb64]

If I may ask, what did you want to use them for, there are LED based options. When I get home tonight, I'll post some pictures.

It was just a thought, but to answer I was thinking for the overhead lighting in the K'Tinga shuttle bay. It's extremely cramped there, even LED tape is tight. Looks like it isn't a viable option.