Need advice for making a miniature illuminated sign

Jabberwocky

Member
Guys and gals,

I'm making a miniature Doctor Who TARDIS which will be approx 3" wide and about 7" tall, made from bass wood. I will be adding electronics to make the windows and sign illuminate, as well as the signal light glow.

Does anyone have any advice about making signs approx 2 3/4" x 3/8" that will read the typical "Police (Public Call) Box".

I need to make it as detailed as possible (the smallest letters would probably be around 3/32" tall).

Has anyone made an illuminated sign this small and detailed? I'd like to know any techniques/materials that would work!

Thanks for your advice
 
I have never worked with lighting, but from what I have seen others do, I would recommend you use paint or photo-shop to create the sign to scale and have the image printed onto a transparency. Then, all you have to do is back-light it with an LED using a simple battery power supply... piece of cake! :) I am sure others can be more creative, but I like simple solutions... Good-luck!
 
Thanks Cadeus, yeah i thought about using a laser printer with some OHP sheets. Will see if i can get a hold of some and give it a shot.

Printing on thin paper though may give a nice diffused effect.

Thanks
 
Thin clear or frosted styrene, some printers will print to it, with clear stryrene at .5 or 1mm could be lightly sanded or if your airbrush supports it you could sandblast it. The LED option sounds like it will suit you best. I do love the TARDIS so the end result should be interesting.
 
I would recommend printing the letters on a clear transparency, then using thin white ABS plastic to set it on. ABS is semi opaque and will allow light to shine through, whereas styrene won't. I am currently using ABS on a model scratchbuild. I am using it for the floor of an engine room as I want the floor to have a soft glow, and the ABS will allow for lighting it from behind.

Don't know for sure it would work for the TARDIS sign, but I would think it would give you the white background with the soft light behind it.
 
you can print onto velum and frame mount it on the back side of a cut-out in the box... then use a small led to light from behind. the velum is transparent enough to let a good amount of light though without looking fake. will look like slightly frosted glass in scale and will take paint when the ink is dry so you can weather it really well. printing onto transparency is tricky if you don't have a very nice printer. good luck and post some photos if you get something to work. would love to see the outcome
 
Velum on a laser printer would work well... if you have a Michaels or ACMoore around you, they sometimes sell single sheets of translucent papers in the scrapbooker sections - those usually run through laser printers on "card stock" settings.
 
i believe staples sells velum in 8.5 x 11... if not, get in touch with an Architecture firm in your area. they use it all the time and might even have scraps for you to use. you can even use an iron and use it to heat transfer velum onto surface... great for making decals
 
Transparent sheet is the way to go , but you need to add a light diffuser behind , like an artists lightbox . So I would laser print onto the transparency , and then sandwich that behind a clear sheet , to protect the ink from scratching. then a piece of vellum paper or plasticard sheet , then your light source - LED - behind , ensure the mount of the LED is high enough to clearly illuminate the complete sign . Ensure you cover the back sides etc , so you have sealed in the light and you have no light leaks from the edges and back of your sign .
 
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