Module Lighting

[Lynn Caron]

UC&A crew member Peter Preisiger's Cooper and Sawyer Railway has always been a crowd favourite at any of the shows where its made an appearance. One of the things that in my mind really makes it stand out is that the fine modelling work is highly visible by well done lighting. You don't see this done on modules often enough in my opinion. Pete has seemed to have come up with the right formula for achieving that correct degree of intensity for great effect.
Pete, it would be great if you could briefly outline what you used and how it is arranged on the Cooper and Sawyer. My last trip to Lowes proved that there is a lot to choose from in the lighting department. We could all benefit from your experience.

Lynn

[Ron Wm. Hurlbut]

Hi Lynn,

Cooper & Sawyer is built with ends and back scene. The lights are mounted on arms from the back scene.

Although it could have a top and valance, it doesn't. If it did, it would be easier to mount lights.

Instead, the lights for Cooper & Sawyer are basically desk lamps mounted on the back scene.

For Free-MOn30 modules, we are dependent on the ambient lighting of the hall where we set up.

However, I did sketch up a way of lighting Free-MOn30 modules from lamps mounted on poles in the Adjustable Module Legs

You could use your work light on the tripod to support one end of French River.

[Lynn Caron]

Hi,
I remember you presented this concept before. You should get it out of the imagineering phase and build a prototype to see how stable it is.
I couldn`t remember the details of what Pete had done but I figured that what we did structurally with our double sided modules would need to be alot different. So my main interest at this stage was in the kind of fixture used on the C and S and the kind of wattage needed to do a good job and illuminate the module evenly. A little experimentation would give some of these answers but I thought Pete could give us some of his lessons learned as a primer to further design work we may wish to do.

Lynn

[Bill Uffelman]

I bought 10' x 1/2" conduit and cut it in half. Used a pipe bender to make L. Mounted L upside down to back of On3 modules with pipe clamps. Mounted 1 x 2 to top leg of L then used clamp on work lights about every 4 feet with 40w bulbs to light the set up. I did have sky panels too but not necessary.

Bill Uffelman
Las Vegas NV

[Ron Wm. Hurlbut]

John Roth replied on the Portable_On30 Yahoo! Group

I looked at your discussion link. Lighting is a challenge unless you have total control over its placement (ie. it your train room).

One has to consider what it is that you are lighting and at what angle the viewer will see it. Modules tend to be sprouting in the 36" to 50" above the floor range. Overhead lighting will produce "mid-day" lighting in terms of bright versus shaded/shadowed places. From a photographer's/aesthetic perspective, low angle (eg. morning/afternoon) lighting produces generally more pleasing photos. I would think that low angle light would be more flattering to a module's scene.

Putting on an imagineering hat, I think the lighting would have to be valanced above the viewing edges or above and behind the viewer. This doesn't strike me as very practical. I suppose one could achieve better lighting with an above-the-module scheme if it were muted enough to simulate a cloudy day (ie. more diffuse/soft overhead light).

Putting on my I-wanna-take-a-picture-of-your-module hat, valance lighting is a pain. I like to take shots at an "in-scene" height (roughly 1.5" above ground level). This sort of low angle puts the lights into the shot and over saturates the picture causing the good bits to come out dark. The only way around this it bring the camera up to a bird's height and shoot down on the scene. Good for some but not what I'm after.

Any kind of lighting idea should be tried in prototype to see if the effects are what's desired and how it interacts with the public.

Just my 2 cents.

-John