Make a Miniature Castle and Dragon Diorama inside a light bulb Part 4



	Make a Miniature Castle and Dragon Diorama inside a light bulb Part 4 - adding the lighting The largest tower inside the diorama is actually a stack of two batteries. I used medical grade N size batteries. At the top of the tower is an LED or Light Emitting Diode. Thats the little red bulb. I needed two batteries because each battery is 1.5 volts and the LED needs 3 volts to operate. If you use AAAA batteries you just would make two towers and wire them together. This way each tower fits into the bulb. In this picture you can see the tower is completed. I wrapped the battery tower with paper then painted it with gray paint and even put a little painting of a dragon on there. The cone at the top is a single sheet of thin white paper. The LED is right under this so I want the whole cone to light up when the LED lights up. The picture below is a close up of the little switch I made. This is the switch that is sensitive to a magnet. You can see it is two parts. The first part is a wire that sticks straight up and at the end of it I have soldered the iron piece of a little push pin. You need that little iron piece on there because it will be moved by the magnet. Regular wire is non magnetic and a magnet won't affect it. The second wire goes up and forms a ring around the pin. In the normal position the pin is not touching any point of the ring. When you put a magnet near it the metal pin is pulled and touches the ring. This completes the electric circuit and the light goes on. Note how the center wire is made up of only two strands of copper wire. This is so it is strong enough to stand up straight yet can easily be moved by a magnet. But once the magnet is removed it springs back to its original position right in the center with no connection. This type of setup is called a magnetic reed switch and you can easily buy one. Or you can make one like I did. You don't have to do this kind of setup. I just think it makes the diorama a little bit magical in that you can activate the tower light with just a magnet from outside the bulb. You can go an easier method and run the wire from the light to the opening in the bulb socket and put a little switch right there. Here is a wiring diagram that shows how the lighted tower is wired. Notice the two batteries that are connected together and the led connects to one end. The other end of the battery connects to the led eventually through the little reed switch we made. A couple of notes about the LED. These little lights need to be hooked up to the correct polarity + and - . So you have to test it before you assemble it! Make sure it lights up. Generally if you have a new LED the two leads are of different lengths and the longer one is Positive (+). Or you can look at the leads from the end and see that one of them has a flat side. This one with the flat side is the negative (-). And, different LED's have different voltage requirements so you have to experiment with batteries. Most LED's need at least 1.8 volts to work which means a single battery won't do it. But there are also many leds which need 2.4 volts which is good, and some that need 3.6 volts which means another battery. Now all you have to do is install the tower into the lightbulb and you are done. Bringing a magnet near the reed switch activates the light! Return to the Diorama Main Page
Custom Search This is a Storm The Castle Website Index What is a diorama? How to Make a diorama - step-by step tutorial A short history of Dioramas Diorama Books Painting Miniatures Diorama Ideas Diorama Examples Diorama Making for the artist Diorama Making supplies & Tools Dioramas by Web Visitors Printable diorama box Diorama Images Diorama Making Videos Diorama words, terms and definitions Types of Dioramas to Make New Series: The Medieval Village WW2/Fantasy Action Figure Diorama (IronMan) Egyptian Diorama Military Dioramas Jack and the Beanstalk The Secret Grotto Diorama Make a waterfall diorama How to make a waterfall Rock Climbing diorama How to make a Paper Mache Diorama Diorama inside a lightbulb Insect Maker Diorama Mississippi River with Indians Really creative shoebox diorama Dinosaur Diorama Make a secret diorama Wildlife Diorama (African Oasis) Firefly Diorama with real blinking lights Rainforest Diorama Ocean Diorama Shadowbox diorama Make a shoebox diorama Massive Castle Diorama Diorama Examples Polymer Clay The Battle of Thermopylae Spartan Warrior Diorama - A tutorial HALO Diorama Wizards Tower Foam Diorama Cemetary Diorama Trench Warfare Simple Nature Diorama Water Woman Diorama WW1 Diorama submitted by a web visitor Christmas Holy Land Diorama submitted by a web visitor New and easy Rainforest diorama New Section: Making WW2 Dioramas and Miniatures Castle Siege Diorama project Easy water scene diorama making Roman Bath Colonial Times Diorama Desert Diorama Tree diorama that changes over time Make a Triarama Bridge with Dragon 3 Succubi Fantasy Diorama STORES Woodland Scenics Terrain Materials Revell Model Kits Tamiya military Models Woodland Scenics Turf and terrain Materials Diorama Making Books Diorama Kits Scene-A-Rama diorama Kits Plastic Scale Dinosaur Diorama Kits Harry Potter Dioramas Diorama Foam Conflix Medieval Buildings for Dioramas and wargaming Tatebanko Paper Dioramas Woodland Scenics Grand Valley Woodland Scenics rolled Grass -(RG) Diorama Accessories Plastic Models Tiger Tank 1/72 Scale Sherman Tank 1/72 Scale How to make plastic models: Tips, Tricks and techniques Painting Miniature German Soldiers (1/72 Scale) Painting Miniature American Soldiers (1/72 Scale) Check out the Diorama and Miniature store *Short Diorama Tutorials* Use Plexiglas to make bodies of water How to make bricks Make Water Effects How to make a waterfall How to make snow for your diorama How to Make realistic tufts of grass How to make trenches Terrain making with foamcoat Creative terrain shell making How to make Miniature Trees How to Make rubber rock and wall molds Motorize a drawbridge on your diorama Using foam to make a diorama How to make good looking rubble using cork Creative Shoebox Diorama Ideas for School A foam based diorama with water from start to finish Some great WW2 diorama trench making tips with video How to make plastic models- Tips tricks and techniques A look at some diorama buildings How to make barbed wire How to make mud in a diorama OTHER PROJECTS How to sculpt Miniatures Weapons/Armor Projects Build A Trebuchet! Build A Catapult Make a Paper Castle How to make a video game Make a cardboard Samurai Sword Make a Cardboard Medieval Shield Make Model Rockets How to Make a diorama How to Make a Shoebox Diorama How to make a fantasy shadowbox How to Play Classical guitar Fantasy Art Lessons Make the ultimate terrarium Make a Dragon Pinata How to make a volcano Make Origami Blacksmithing Paper Mache Projects Diorama Links and Resources My Youtube Channel Twitter - Follow Me Banner Exchange --------- All Materials, unless otherwise stated are Copyright©2001-2012 Kalif Publishing and StormtheCastle.com Hi, Thanks for visiting my website. My name is Will and if you have questions or would like to contribute you can ---------

Make a Miniature Castle and Dragon Diorama inside a light bulb Part 4 - adding the lighting