Project 17 - Minecraft Torch to Theatrical Lighting

If your child or grandchild has one of these Minecraft Torches then you will know they stop working in a short time if handled roughly. Three faulty ones have been donated to me. They are repairable but not without cutting the plastic body in half to gain access to the inners. This act is irreversible and renders them unusable as a child toy.

Of the two I took apart one had a broken wire and the other had a dislodged battery clip, both easy to fix.

The 'electronics' is very well made so I retrieved these to make some theatrical lighting for my Swanage Loco Yard project.

The LED array produces a spotlight with a very bright white light. I installed two of these (wired in parallel) into a holder made from foam board left over from the cabinet construction.

I intend to build a Winter or Autumn scene on the layout so I needed a cold light. I placed a medium blue plastic filter in front of the LEDS and about 10mm in front of that a frosted plastic diffuser to spread the light.

I wanted the unit to be removable for servicing so into its frame I glued two small neo magnets (very strong) that will latch onto a row of metal staples glued into the cabinet side wall. The second photo shows the staples held by the magnets.

I placed the light unit nearer to the front of the cabinet than the back.

My idea is that it represents the morning sun in the East.

I will not know for sure how effective this will be until most of the scenery is in place. As it stands the right hand side (East) is brighter than the left  hand side (West) giving the impression, I hope, of a diffused sun breaking through a patch of thin cloud on an otherwise dull day. In due course this will be emphasised further with an appropriate sky back scene.

In the last photo can be seen the Minecraft Torch battery box and switch resting on the baseboard. These will be built into the side panel later and be accessible from the outside.

Since the last posting a couple of stone effect retaining walls have also been installed. These are prominent features of the prototype. On the model the rising ground level towards the rear will create an effective scene on this small layout.



To Part 4.

To Part 1